Sena Jeter Naslund (2003)

Naslund follows her 1999 novel, ''Ahab's Wife'' -- a 666-page historical epic about a 19th-century Nantucket woman -- with a similarly complex and ambitious book. Set in 1960s Birmingham, Ala., ''Spirits'' traces the blossoming civil rights movement through a host of characters, including Fred Shuttlesworth, minister of the Pilgrim Baptist Church; Stella Silver, a local college student; and Ryder Jones, a bomb-crafting racist: ''He took down his Klan robe on its hanger and made the robe flutter in the air like a ghost. The way it rippled was noble, like a flag.'' Not many authors can juggle multiple points of view, but Naslund manages the task beautifully -- and brings a fresh set of eyes to an oft-visited period.