Alison Larkin had an interesting childhood. Born to Americans but adopted by British foster parents, she turned her unique perspective into a one-woman show. Now, in her debut novel, “The English American,” she gives her own background to Pippa — an adopted American who grew up in pleasant Sussex but decides later in life to investigate her American roots. But will she like what she finds?

Think Washington is wild? You should have checked out early 19th Century Vienna — which you can do in a new book by David King, “Vienna 1814.” The book details the 1814 Congress in Vienna, at which participants drew up the map of Europe following the defeat of Napoleon. And in “The Chimp Who Would Be Human,” author Elizabeth Hess provides a biography of Nim, a superstar of primate research gifted with amazing linguistic skills.