"Not everything that is faced can be changed," James Baldwin famously explained in 1962, "but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

At the time the late author, who is profiled in a new biography publishing Tuesday, had been talking of a writer's responsibility to grapple with the real, gritty details of life, racial and structural inequities and all. The comment has since transcended its original context as a call to action among activists, but it also could apply to the very nature of fiction writ large. Until characters face the complications that the writer has set before them, there is no conflict, often no story at all.

By extension, the same holds true for readers on the hunt for new books this week. If one were to pick up one of this week's publishing highlights, listed

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