This novel, which jumps around in time, is based on an actual racehorse. In 1850, an enslaved groom bonds with a record-setting racehorse named Lexington. In 1954, an art gallery owner examines a mysterious painting of a racehorse. In 2019, a scientist studying Lexington's skeleton befriends a Nigerian-American art historian who is unearthing the story of the Black horsemen who were critical to Lexington's racing success. The Wall Street Journal refers to "Ms. Brooks's almost clairvoyant ability to conjure up the textures of the past and of each character's inner life ... Above all, she makes us both impatient to see and fearful to learn what might befall Theo, the black graduate student who rediscovers the painting, and, centuries earlier, Jarret, the enslaved horseman whose story forms the heart of the novel." Boston Globe: "Brooks is herself an ardent horsewoman, and her knowledge of and personal investment in the topic shine through Horse."

In this story of cultural collision, a Lutheran minister tries unsuccessfully to convert native reindeer herders to his religion in the far north of Scandinavia in the 1850s. His daughter falls in love with one of the herders and accompanies him on the herd's arduous annual journey north to the sea across newly drawn national boundaries. Minneapolis Star Tribune: "The best type of historical fiction - electrifying, edifying, and set in an utterly enthralling time and place." Christian Science Monitor: "An exquisite story that combines historical fiction, romance, and social commentary ... With her lush prose and balanced perspectives, Pylvainen tells the story with a fairness that does not cast one culture as 'advanced' and the other as 'primitive'. This novel was a finalist for the National Book Award.

In 1742, a British ship named The Wager wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia in southern Argentina. One group of survivors made their way to Brazil, where they were treated as heroes for overcoming extreme hardship. Months later, another group landed in Chile, where they told a very different story about the first group. Los Angeles Times: "A testament to the depths of human depravity and the heights of human endurance, and you can't ask for better than that from a story ... The Wager will keep you in its grip to its head-scratching, improbable end." The Guardian: "He fixes his spyglass on the ravages of empire, of racism, of bureaucratic indifference and raw greed ... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read." Washington Post: "Glorious, steely ... a tightly written, relentless, blow-by-blow account that is hard to put down."