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REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE THE PAPER PALACE IS: “Filled with secrets, love, lies and a summer beach house. What more could you ask?”—Parade “A deeply emotional love story…the unraveling of secrets, lies and a very complex love triangle.” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club July'21 Pick)'Nail-biting.'—Town & Country “A magnificent page-turner.” —Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author“[An] irresistible placement of a complicated family in a bewitching place.” —The New York Times A story of summer, secrets, love, and lies: in the course of a singular day on Cape Cod, one woman must make a life-changing decision that has been brewing for decades.“This house, this place, knows all my secrets.” It is a perfect August morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace”—the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn't forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity. Tender yet devastating, The Paper Palace considers the tensions between desire and dignity, the legacies of abuse, and the crimes and misdemeanors of families.

Dear Edie, I wanted you to know so many things. I wanted to tell you them in person, as you grew up by my side. But it wasn't to be…When Jess gives birth to Edie, it's the happiest day of her life. She knows, from the moment her little girl's hand grasps her finger, that her daughter owns her heart, completely and utterly. And even though Edie's father has left them, and single motherhood isn't easy, her beautiful, innocent child brings her untold joy.But then Jess receives a diagnosis that changes everything. Edie's life – that is just beginning – is interrupted by worried looks, heavy conversations. And Jess must face the possibility of leaving her daughter to grow up without her.Propelled by a ticking clock, Jess knows what she has to do. She begins to put pen to paper, to tell her daughter everything she might need to know.How to love, how to lose, how to forgive, and, most importantly, how to live when you never know how long you have…Readers love Laura Pearson:‘Gorgeous… Tender and beautiful… As hopeful as it is heart-breaking… I loved it.'Amy Beashel, author‘Wow. Seriously. Just beautiful. So many wonderful elements… Such a unique angle… So many memorable characters… Beautiful and utterly affecting.'Louise Beech, author‘Be still my beating heart. I've smiled and I've cried and everything in between. Most importantly I've learned… I'd give it 10 stars if I could.'Nicki's Book Blog‘This beautifully written story of friendship, love, loss and second chances captured my heart… Leaves you feeling warm, hopeful, and satisfied.'Lisa Timoney, author‘Such a treat!… Just beautiful… If you're looking for a charming, warm and moving read, this is the book you need. A beautifully written story about love and longing, and a poignant reminder that it's never too late to follow your heart.'Holly Miller, author‘I adored it. Laura has written a heartbreakingly beautiful story about love in all its different forms. (And she made me cry again, of course). Bravo.'Nikki Smith, author‘Well, I finished this in the same 24 hours as I started it. Oh… what a beautiful story and an amazing cast of characters. Poignant and inspiring!'Jennie Godfrey, author‘Such a poignant story. Brought a lump to my throat in many places.'Karen Angelico, author‘What a beautiful book about truth, love, relationships and how it's never too late to follow your heart… Moving, funny and emotionally clever. Highly recommend!'Alison Stockham, author

“Willy Vlautin is not known for happy endings, but there's something here that defies the downward pull. In the end, Lynette is pure life force: fierce and canny and blazing through a city that no longer has space for her, and it's all Portland's loss.”—Portland Monthly MagazineAward-winning author Willy Vlautin explores the impact of trickle-down greed and opportunism of gentrification on ordinary lives in this scorching novel that captures the plight of a young woman pushed to the edge as she fights to secure a stable future for herself and her family.Barely thirty, Lynette is exhausted. Saddled with bad credit and juggling multiple jobs, some illegally, she's been diligently working to buy the house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother Kenny. Portland's housing prices have nearly quadrupled in fifteen years, and the owner is giving them a good deal. Lynette knows it's their last best chance to own their own home—and obtain the security they've never had. While she has enough for the down payment, she needs her mother to cover the rest of the asking price. But a week before they're set to sign the loan papers, her mother gets cold feet and reneges on her promise, pushing Lynette to her limits to find the money they need.Set over two days and two nights, The Night Always Comes follows Lynette's frantic search—an odyssey of hope and anguish that will bring her face to face with greedy rich men and ambitious hustlers, those benefiting and those left behind by a city in the throes of a transformative boom. As her desperation builds and her pleas for help go unanswered, Lynette makes a dangerous choice that sets her on a precarious, frenzied spiral. In trying to save her family's future, she is plunged into the darkness of her past, and forced to confront the reality of her life.A heart wrenching portrait of a woman hungry for security and a home in a rapidly changing city, The Night Always Comes raises the difficult questions we are often too afraid to ask ourselves: What is the price of gentrification, and how far are we really prepared to go to achieve the American Dream? Is the American dream even attainable for those living at the edges? Or for too many of us, is it only a hollow promise?

Shortlisted for the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Crime Novel From the Giller-nominated author of Y comes How a Woman Becomes a Lake, a taut, suspenseful novel about the dark corners of a small town, and the secrets that lurk within...It's New Year's Day and the residents of a small fishing town are ready to start their lives anew. Leo takes his two young sons out to the lake to write resolutions on paper boats. That same frigid morning, Vera sets out for a walk with her dog along the lake, leaving her husband in bed with a hangover.But she never returns. She places a call to the police saying she's found a boy in the woods, but the call is cut short by a muffled cry. Did one of Leo's sons see Vera? What are they hiding about that day? And why are they so scared of their own father?Told from shifting perspectives, How a Woman Becomes a Lake is a compelling, lyrical novel about family, new beginnings, and costly mistakes, and asks, what do you do when the people who are meant to love you the most, fail?

The highly acclaimed author of Landslide delivers “[an] intricate, delicate-as-rice-paper novel'(O, The Oprah Magazine) about an ex-pat in China who embarks on a journey that takes her into the darkest corners of addiction, marriage, and motherhood. When Elsey's husband, Lukas, hands her a brochure for a weeklong mountain retreat, she knows he is really giving her an ultimatum: Go, or we're done. Once a successful painter, Elsey set down roots in China after falling in love with Lukas. Now, with two young daughters and unable to find a balance between her identities as artist, mother, and wife, Elsey fills her days worrying, drinking, and descending into boredom and unhappiness. So she agrees to go. There, she meets a group of men and women who will forever alter the way she understands herself and her marriage. Written in a voice at once wry, sensual, blunt, and hypnotic, Elsey Come Home is a modern odyssey and a quietly dynamic portrait of contemporary womanhood.

Part of the Gibbs Smith Women's Voices series: A collection of literary voices written by, and for, extraordinary women—to encourage, challenge, and inspire.Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) published more than thirty books in her lifetime, but it was her “girls'story” (written at the request of her publisher), Little Women, that has captured the imagination of millions of readers.This coming-of-age story spotlights beloved tomboy Jo March (arguably America's first juvenile heroine and a reflection of a young Alcott herself) and Jo's three sisters—Meg, Beth, and Amy—in a heartwarming family drama. Originally published in two parts, in 1868 and 1869, Little Women has never been out of print.Continue your journey in the Women's Voices series with Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (ISBN: 978-1-4236-5099-7), The Feminist Papers, by Mary Wollstonecraft (ISBN: 978-1-4236-5097-3), Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, the complete poems of Emily Dickinson (ISBN: 978-1-4236-5098-0), and The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (ISBN: 978-1-4236-5213-7).

The global fiction sensation—published in thirty-two countries. “A warm and tender story about life, memories, and the power of love and friendship.” —Katarina Bivald, New York Times–bestselling authorMeet Doris, a ninety-six-year-old woman living alone in her Stockholm apartment. She has few visitors, but her weekly Skype calls with Jenny—her American grandniece, and her only relative—give her great joy and remind her of her own youth.When Doris was a girl, she was given an address book by her father, and ever since she has carefully documented everyone she met and loved throughout the years. Looking through the little book now, Doris sees the many crossed-out names of people long gone and is struck by the urge to put pen to paper. In writing down the stories of her colorful past—working as a maid in Sweden, modelling in Paris during the'30s, fleeing to Manhattan at the dawn of the Second World War—can she help Jenny, haunted by a difficult childhood, unlock the secrets of their family and finally look to the future? And whatever became of Allan, the love of Doris's life?A charming novel that prompts reflection on the stories we all should carry to the next generation, and the surprises in life that can await even the oldest among us, The Red Address Book introduces Sofia Lundberg as a wise—and irresistible—storyteller.“Written with love, told with joy. Very easy to enjoy.” —Fredrik Backman, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of A Man Called Ove

'Michelle Bailat-Jones has written a stark, haunting novel that explores the binds of family, of marriage, and of mothering and being mothered. In the wake of Ella's father's death, what appears to be an ending is in fact the beginning of unraveling a life's worth of mysteries, as well as what it means to forgive others and forgive oneself. This is a gorgeous, sea-drenched book of exceptional lyricism that drew me in from the very first page.”—Anne Valente, author of Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down'Unfurled is a poignant novel about the chaos of life, and the mind and heart. Bailat-Jones writes with clarity, control, beauty, and a crystalline understanding of people—our fragility and strength, flaws and virtues, wounds and recovery. A wonderful accomplishment.'—Ethel Rohan, author of The Weight of Him For more than twenty years, Ella has learned to live without her mother, Maggie, who disappeared into a fog of mental illness when Ella turned ten. Despite this trauma, Ella has forged ahead, becoming a veterinarian, getting married, and most of all, developing a deep, trusting bond with her father, John, a ferry captain in Seattle. Ella's contented life is shattered when her father is hit by a car and killed. Going through his papers, she learns that her father maintained a secret relationship with her mother. The unsettling questions raised by her father's death and her mother's unexpected reappearance sends Ella on a journey to discover the truth about the woman who abandoned her and the man who raised her, a journey that threatens her marriage, her unborn child, and ultimately, her sanity.

Winner of the Edge Hill Short Story PrizeA New York Times Notable Book of the YearAn NPR Best Book of the YearThe award-winning author of The Past once again'crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural'(Washington Post), in a collection of stories that elevate the mundane into the exceptional.The author of six critically acclaimed novels, Tessa Hadley has proven herself to be the champion of revealing the hidden depths in the deceptively simple. In these short stories it's the ordinary things that turn out to be most extraordinary: the history of a length of fabric or a forgotten jacket. Two sisters quarrel over an inheritance and a new baby; a child awake in the night explores the familiar rooms of her home, made strange by the darkness; a housekeeper caring for a helpless old man uncovers secrets from his past. The first steps into a turning point and a new life are made so easily and carelessly: each of these stories illuminate crucial moments of transition, often imperceptible to the protagonists.A girl accepts a lift in a car with some older boys; a young woman reads the diaries she discovers while housesitting. Small acts have large consequences, some that can reverberate across decades; private fantasies can affect other people, for better and worse. The real things that happen to people, the accidents that befall them, are every bit as mysterious as their longings and their dreams.Bad Dreams and Other Stories demonstrates yet again that Tessa Hadley'puts on paper a consciousness so visceral, so fully realized, it heightens and expands your own. She is a true master'(Lily King, author of Euphoria).

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an exquisite love story about Queenie Hennessy, the remarkable friend who inspired Harold's cross-country journey.“This lovely book is full of joy. Much more than the story of a woman's enduring love for an ordinary, flawed man, it's an ode to messy, imperfect, glorious, unsung humanity.”—The Washington PostA runaway international bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry followed its unassuming hero on an incredible journey as he traveled the length of England on foot—a journey spurred by a simple letter from his old friend Queenie Hennessy, writing from a hospice to say goodbye. Harold believed that as long as he kept walking, Queenie would live. What he didn't know was that his decision to walk had caused her both alarm and fear. How could she wait? What would she say? Forced to confront the past, Queenie realizes she must write again. In this poignant parallel story to Harold's saga, acclaimed author Rachel Joyce brings Queenie Hennessy's voice into sharp focus. Setting pen to paper, Queenie makes a journey of her own, a journey that is even bigger than Harold's; one word after another, she promises to confess long-buried truths—about her modest childhood, her studies at Oxford, the heartbreak that brought her to Kingsbridge and to loving Harold, her friendship with his son, the solace she has found in a garden by the sea. And, finally, the devastating secret she has kept from Harold for all these years. A wise, tender, layered novel that gathers tremendous emotional force, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy underscores the resilience of the human spirit, beautifully illuminating the small yet pivotal moments that can change a person's life.

In just a few heartbreaking days, Lexy Shaw's world has fallen apart. After her mother is killed in a tragic hit-and-run, her mother's childhood guardian, Ursula, also dies suddenly, leaving everything to Lexy. But as Lexy reads through Ursula's hidden papers, what she discovers raises doubts about her own identity and if she really is now all alone in the world.Desperate to find out if she has any surviving family, Lexy travels to Africa hoping she can unravel the mystery she's now tormented by, only to find that she's stumbled into a past full of lies and deceit and that her life is in grave danger.Winner of the Sunday Mail Fiction Competition 2015'Part detective thriller, part emotional journey, Ursula's Secret is a highly enjoyable and intelligent adventure that will appeal to fans of Kate Atkinson and Maggie O'Farrell. A very promising debut.'SOPHIE COOKE, author of The Glass House'Lovely straightforward and absorbing story telling of complex lives and a secret that spans decades and continents.'ISLA DEWAR, author of Dancing in a Distant Place'The complex story accelerates to a dramatic denouement that leaves Lexy enlightened and chastened, and on the verge of a new phase in her life, and leaves the reader wholly satisfied with Wilson's adept, sympathetic and colourful storytelling.'MORAG JOSS, award-winning author of the Sara Selkirk novels'Ursula's Secret is packed full of tension, questions, problems, secrecy and intrigue right until the concluding chapter.'EMMA CROWLEY, Shaz's Book Blog'This book is filled with twist after twist, secret after secret which will keep you guessing right to the end.'PORTOBELLO BOOK BLOG'I was completely captured from the beginning of Ursula's Secret, enveloped in the mystery and memories of Ursula and the beauty of her home. With it's ‘smiling'staircase and Lexy's obvious wonder I was lost to the tale and it's descriptive content… I loved this read.'•••• TRACY SHEPHARD, Postcard Reviews Blog

An emergency homecoming forces three sisters to deal with issues they'd rather ignore in this touching novel by the author of All About Evie. Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls, their mother, River, has written them a letter on pink paper when she has something especially important to impart. This time, the message is urgent—River requires open-heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and care for their brother and ailing grandmother. Isabelle has worked hard to leave Trillium River, Oregon, behind as she travels the globe taking award-winning photographs. Still, she and her sisters, Cecilia, an outspoken kindergarten teacher, and Janie, a bestselling author, share a deep, loving bond. And all of them adore their brother, Henry, whose disabilities haven't stopped him from helping at the bakery and bringing good cheer to everyone in town. But going home again forces open the secrets and hurts the Bommaritos would rather keep tightly closed—Isabelle's fleeting relationships, Janie's obsessive compulsive disorder, and Cecilia's plans to get even with her cheating ex-husband. Now, working together, Isabelle and her sisters begin to find answers to questions they never knew existed, unexpected ways to salve their childhood wounds, and the courage to grasp surprising new chances at happiness. As irresistible as one of the Bommaritos'giant cupcakes, Henry's Sisters is a novel about family and forgiveness, mothers and daughters—and gaining the wisdom to look ahead while still holding onto everything that matters most.“This finely pitched family melodrama is balanced with enough gallows humor and idiosyncratic characters to make it positively irresistible.” —Publishers Weekly

From #1 bestselling author Sophie Kinsella, an unforgettable story—by turns heartbreaking and life-affirming—of a renowned novelist facing a devastating diagnosis and learning to live and love anew. “The bravest book you'll read all year.”—Jodi Picoult “What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve's story is my story.”—Sophie Kinsella Eve is a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumor growing in her brain.As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again—and as she wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children—she begins to recall what's most important to her: long walks with her husband's hand clasped firmly around her own, family game nights, and always buying that dress when she sees it.Recounted in brief anecdotes, each one is an attempt to answer the type of impossible questions recognizable to anyone navigating the labyrinth of grief. This short, extraordinary novel is a celebration of life, shot through with warmth and humor—it will both break your heart and put it back together again.“Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”—Sophie Kinsella

A compelling and emotional novel that asks: What do you owe to a child you let go? A widow in her sixties, Geraldine is financially secure, happy, and about to marry her second husband, William. She's come a long way from being a motherless fourteen-year-old giving a baby up for adoption—but over the decades, she's made a special effort to support vulnerable girls as a way of compensating for her lingering guilt. Miles away in London, Beth has endured a painful divorce and the death of her adoptive mother—and now faces kidney disease. A transplant means waiting indefinitely for a stranger to die... unless someone volunteers as a living donor. She will not consider putting her three children at risk or burdening them with the truth, but with both her adoptive parents gone, could the time be right to track down the birth parents she knows nothing about? When biological mother and daughter finally meet, the emotions that accompany the reunion are complicated further by haunting questions: Is Beth driven by selfishness as much as—or more than—a desire to connect? Will Geraldine's urge to help Beth by being tested as a potential donor jeopardize her new life with William? What does she owe, and to whom? Thought-provoking and absorbing, this novel explores the meaning of family, the nature of guilt and regret, and the conflicts raised by the miracles of modern medicine.

‘Inspiring, thought-provoking and incredibly moving – Samantha Tonge hit me straight in the heart with the wonderful tale of Tilda and Milo.'No.1 bestselling author, Shari LowMeet Tilda Wright…Tilda has done everything she can to make her life neat, protected, tidy. No longer the girl who was scared of everything, whose family pushed her away, who hit rock bottom. Now she runs her life – as she does her successful business – with the utmost organization. As long as she keeps everyone at arm's length, she will be fine. She will be safe.But then a chance encounter with a man who's fallen on hard times changes everything. Milo needs a break, and self-contained Tilda surprises herself by deciding she should help him. Just for a while. A few days at the most.Maybe all he needs is someone to organize him, to help him clean up his act? She is sure she knows how to kick-start Milo into turning his life around.What Tilda doesn't know is that – with this single act of kindness – it might actually be her own life that's about to change forever…A totally gorgeous, heartbreaking and uplifting story, about friendship, trust, and finding love in unexpected places, perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Shari Low and Faith Hogan. Readers love A Single Act of Kindness:‘Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! A thought-provoking, heartfelt and uplifting read about learning to really live – and love – again… My single act of kindness would be to wrap up this book and press it into the hands of readers everywhere!'Fiona Collins, author‘Loved this book! An eye-opener and a page-turner, it celebrates our ability to change and to get up again when we fall. A beautiful story guaranteed to touch your heart and restore your faith in human nature.'Hazel Prior, author‘A joy to read. Sparkling with witty dialogue and full of wise words… a masterpiece of storytelling.'Celia Anderson, author‘Powerful and emotional… Really broke my heart before slowly putting it together again, it's filled with love, and I adored every single moment… Without question, this will be one of my books of the year – quite wonderful!'Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Oh my goodness!… a compelling and tender story… A book that touched my heart. A book I won't forget and a book that you truly need to read. If my heart had a library, A Single Act of Kindness would have a special place on its shelves.'Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Oh my goodness my heart feels full after reading this really emotional and heartwarming story… Beautiful… It was inspiring to read… Touched my heart on every page.'Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Oh wow!… One of my books of the year… If you like a read to restore your faith in human nature or even yourself, this could be the very thing. Of fortitude and bravery, of kindness and life. Stunning.'Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐‘Worthy of every star bestowed upon it!… My emotions were put through the wringer, I laughed, I cried and finished the book with a satisfied smile.'Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From bestselling author Clare Swatman comes an unforgettable story about being brave enough to be yourself.Starting over can be hard to do…So when mum of two Beth moves out of her beloved marital home and into an unloved and unkempt cottage, she can't help but feel demoralised. Faced with months of DIY and dust, her children Jacob and Olivia aren't impressed either. But when Beth finds a box of letters while she's clearing out the children's room, things start to look up.The correspondence is decades old, between agony aunt Evelyn and those in need of solace. Intrigued as to why the letters have been kept safe all these years, Beth can't resist reading them, and as the wisdom and kindness of Evelyn falls off the pages, so Beth starts to feel she has a friend and champion in this woman she has never met.Good advice doesn't age, and as life starts to look brighter, Beth begins to wonder if she could track down Evelyn and thank her for her help. But as Beth uncovers more about Evelyn's story, it becomes clear that everything is not as it seems. And now Beth is determined to bring peace to Evelyn as she has to her.A spell-binding, heart-warming story of friendship, love and being brave enough to be yourself.Praise for Clare Swatman:'Utterly believable, charming and immersive, full of acute emotional insights and truths, this is a novel every women will identify with. Highly recommended.'F.L. Everett'It was so easy to get absorbed into the world Clare Swatman has created for Beth. I felt her losses and disappointments acutely, which only made the ending more satisfying. It really kept me guessing, too.'Laura Pearson'Warm, immersive and hugely relatable, The Lost Letters of Evelyn Wright really tugged at my heartstrings. I galloped through this story of friendship, motherhood and love in all its forms in two days, and I'll miss Beth and the characters she gathers around her as she navigates her new life after heartbreak.'Lisa Timoney'Swatman does it again! I loved how the advice column pages wove into the story. An engaging read about heartbreak, navigating new normals and finding your feet in a new life you never expected to have. One to curl up with on a rainy day.'Rachel Dove'A sensitive, touching story with emotional depth and page-turning quality'Helen Rolfe'Irresistible... A delightfully bittersweet story that will appeal to fans of One Day'- Sunday MirrorReaders love Clare Swatman:‘I've enjoyed all of Clare's books, but this one I just couldn't put down. I was hooked from the first page.'‘Another amazing read from Clare. Another must read from her!'‘I really enjoyed this book,•• a real page turner••. Great characters in a brilliant mystery story. Worthy of a book club, I wish I had someone to discuss it with!!'‘Clare Swatman weaves a beautiful tale that grips you from the first page, leaves you wanting to travel on this journey and ultimately tells a beautiful story. I heartily recommend this book, I loved her style of writing and will be reading more from this author.'‘This is another great, page-turner from Clare Swatman. A really enjoyable read, as are all her books. The characters are believable and you are rooting for Laura right from the off. The book does not disappoint, give it a go. A great summer holiday read.'

Hannah McKinnon, the acclaimed author of the “charming and warmhearted” (PopSugar) The Summer House, returns with a fresh beach read about a group of outsiders threatening the status quo at an exclusive New England beach club.Mayhaven is the best keep secret in Massachusetts. Tucked between old cedars and a spring-fed lake, the Mayhaven beach club has long been the ultimate escape to understated exclusivity. It's the place where Darcy Birch is supposed to be experiencing the best summer of her life, but there are a few things standing in her way. Her high-strung mother won't stop hovering over her, her father is consumed by his job as president of Mayhaven, where she works as a summer camp counselor and things are not as rosy as they seem, and her neurodivergent little brother is struggling to live with a measure of independence not everyone is ready for. Then there is the matter of the new neighbors. Flick Creevy, his mother, and stepfather have arrived in town, parking their enormous RV, not to mention all-night music and clouds of marijuana, in the Birches's perfectly landscaped backyard. Flick is not interested in the perfect summer or the girl next door. Pushed to get a job at Mayhaven by his mother, who has her eyes on a new life for their family, his own eyes have been opened to the ways of the upper crust. Even though Mayhaven prides itself on being an inclusive association of good New England families with good New England values, the fact remains: either you're on the inside or the outside. As the heat of summer increases, it's soon clear that the members of Mayhaven will have to struggle to stay cool in this sharply written and refreshing new novel that is perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Jennifer Weiner.

'Grand and gorgeous and brave.'New York Times'Lively, beautiful... A richly imagined coming of age treat.'Daily Mail REBECCA MEETS THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES IN THIS GORGEOUSLY ATMOSPHERIC NOVEL SET ON SOUTH AFRICA'S EASTERN COAST Endlessly playful and richly imaginative, Shubnum Khan's vibrant debut delves into the transformative powers of love and grief as it explores the legacy of South Africa's complicated past. Sana and Meena will never meet. They share little beyond Akbar Manzil, the sprawling mansion high on a clifftop above Durban that they both call home. When Meena fell in love with the owner of the house it was the grandest residence on South Africa's eastern coast, its shining marble parapets and golden domes a testament to the wealthy Indian family's prosperity. Eight decades later when teenage Sana follows in her footsteps, Akbar Manzil stands in ruins, an isolated boarding house for eccentrics and misfits. This is a place where people come to forget. Or to be forgotten. But unlike her neighbours Sana is curious about her new home, and finds herself irresistibly drawn to its deserted east wing. As she moves closer to unearthing Meena's story, a grieving djinn begins to stir from its long sleep. The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, a mystery and an unforgettable tale of a young girl's search for belonging.'Filled with wonder and colour, the secrets of the dilapidated mansion Akbar Manzil come to life in this rich tale of loss and love... I was enthralled and completely swept away.'Yangsze Choo, author of The Night Tiger • A Cosmopolitan'Best Book for February'•

A black comedy, set in suburbia, about one woman's struggle to be free. When Winona Dalloway begins her day — in the peaceful early hours before her children, that ‘tiny tornado of little hands and feet', wake up — she doesn't know that by the end of it, everything in her world will have changed. On the outside, Winona is a seemingly unremarkable young mother: unobtrusive, quietly going about her tasks. But within is a vivid, chaotic self, teeming with voices — a mind both wild and precise. And meanwhile, a storm is brewing …

The BRAND NEW bestselling read from Saturday Kitchen's Helen McGinn!'I was hooked from the start and raced through to the end, rooting for Martha the whole way. Wonderful'Sara Lawrence, Daily MailMartha is the youngest of three sisters and, in her mid-thirties, has the dubious honour of being the only one to call off a wedding at the last moment.Now, feeling as if she'll be single forever, and trying to keep her low opinion of her sister Iris's fiancé to herself for risk of looking bitter, Martha needs a change of scene.When she is given the opportunity of a holiday to Paxos it seems too good to turn down, though the idea of travelling alone is daunting. And when the trip to the Greek island gets complicated, Martha wonders if this has all been a mistake.But soon the island and its residents start to work their magic on Martha, and when she meets single father Harry and his adorable son Milo, a new way of living is revealed in contrast with the drab routine of her life back home. How can Martha leave behind the warmth of the people, the freedom and the fun, not to mention Harry and Milo when it's time for her to go home…Let Helen McGinn magic you away to a world of sunshine and serenity, romance and relaxation. Perfect for fans of Erica James, Carol Kirkwood and Karen Swan.Praise for Helen McGinn:'This is McGinn's third novel and it's her best yet. Packed full of emotional wisdom, heartbreak and hope and is particularly brilliant on the importance of friendship and taking things one day at a time. Wonderful — I loved it.'Daily Mail'This is a lovely uplifting book that transported me away, firstly to the beautiful city of Rome and then to gorgeous Cornwall. It's a moving and emotional story of families in all their messy wonderfulness, of people losing one another, and then coming together again - sometimes in unexpected ways. A hugely enjoyable family tale, it was exactly what I wanted to read at this time.'Louise Douglas‘This Changes Everything is the perfect tonic. An uplifting, forget-about-everything-else read that I couldn't put down. Romantic, emotional and page-turning, Helen McGinn's debut novel can't fail to cheer you up!'Zoe Folbigg'I loved reading this book. I needed escapism and it gave me Rome, Cornwall and a family who immediately felt like old friends. I took it to the bath, to bed and had finished it within 24 hours. It was the perfect antidote to tough times.'Victoria Moore The Daily TelegraphReaders love Helen McGinn:‘The author has one of those writing style that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. She has a way of grabbing the reader's attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a read.'‘This book was a breath of fresh air. I basically couldn't put it down. I love Italy so a sprinkle of Florence in the middle was just perfect.'‘A beautifully written book packed with gorgeous characters who just come to life with their vivid description.'‘A great read with twists & turns. Characters you can believe in, made me want to go to Florence! Look forward to the next book.'‘I really enjoyed this book, Helen is such an authentic and genuine writer. Read it in one day, just loved all the twists.'

Three women—the old mother and her two daughters—contemplate their family life and their bottled-up feelings through the novel's placating yet oddly unnerving prose. Every Year is divided into four large chapters; the first unravels from the perspective of Sejin, younger daughter, the second from that of Youngjin, older daughter, the third from the mother's, and the fourth, back to Sejin's. Throughout the course of the novel, a number of themes are developed, including its discussion of interracial marriage, different forms of family, and sexual minorities. Circumstances and history forced the mother to the life of obedience, familial obligations and financial hardship forced Youngjin to give up her dream and support the family, and the reality of her culture forced Sejin to be in the closet. And all the while, these three women, while empathizing with each other, seem entrapped in the cycle of forcing each other to further succumb.

From the acclaimed author of The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks and Must Love Books comes a heartfelt bookclub read following one woman's journey to reconnect with her estranged Black family in the south, just as it's on the brink of falling apart, perfect for fans of The Chicken Sisters and The Last Summer at the Golden Hotel.One estranged family. One lost recipe. One last barbecue on the line. Mae is about to learn what happens when things go south…Mae Townsend has always dreamed of connecting with her estranged Black family in the South. She grew up picturing relatives who looked like her, crowded dinner tables, bustling kitchens. And, of course, the Townsend family barbecue, the tradition that kept her late father flying to North Carolina year after year, despite the mysterious rift that always required her to stay behind. But as Mae's wedding draws closer, promising a future of always standing out among her white in-laws, suddenly not knowing the Townsends hits her like a blow. So when news arrives that her paternal grandmother has passed, she decides it's time to head South. What she finds is a family in turmoil, a long-standing grudge intact, a lost mac & cheese recipe causing grief, and a family barbecue on the brink of disaster. Not willing to let her dreams of family slip away, Mae steps up to throw a barbecue everyone will remember.For better or for worse.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Three wildly different sisters reunite for a destination wedding at an English castle in this heartfelt and rollicking novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters.“The sort of novel that simultaneously tempts you to devour it in one greedy gulp and begs you to slow down and savor each page.”—Jenny Jackson, author of Pineapple Street Once upon a time, the Peacock sisters were little girls who combed each other's tangled hair. But decades of secrets have led them to separate lives—and to telling lies, to themselves and to one another. Sylvie is getting married. Again. A librarian and widow who soothes her grief by escaping into books (and shelving them perfectly), Sylvie has caught the attention of an unlikely match: Simon Rampling, a mysterious, wealthy man from Northern England. Sylvie allows herself to imagine a life beside him—one filled with the written word, kindness, and companionship. She's ready to love again... or is she? Cleo is the golden child. A successful criminal defense lawyer with the perfect boyfriend, she is immediately suspicious of Simon. Is he really who he says he is? Cleo heads to Mumberton Castle with a case of investigative files, telling herself she will expose Simon and save her sister from more heartbreak... but who is she really trying to save? Emma is living a lie. She can't afford this fancy trip—and she definitely can't tell her husband and sons why. She once dreamed of a line of her own perfumes. Fragrances allowed her to speak in silence. Now, that tendency for silence only worsens her situation. Will she emerge with her dignity and family intact? When their toxic mother shows up, the sisters assume the roles they fell into to survive their childhood... but they just might find the courage to make new choices.Set over a spectacularly dramatic weekend, in the grand halls of a sprawling castle estate—amid floor-to-ceiling libraries, falconry lessons, and medieval meals—Lovers and Liars is the unforgettable story of a family's ability to forgive and to find joy in one another once again.

'Une souris et ses hommes – 7 familles masculines et autres…'se présente comme un jeu de société qui retrace la vie d'une femme ayant vécu dans les années 70, une époque marquée par la liberté. Pendant cette période, elle a croisé le chemin de sept groupes d'hommes différents : les exotiques, les politiques, les artistes, les milliardaires, les écrivains et journalistes, les chasseurs et les spirituels. Le livre rend également un hommage particulier à son père, un grand résistant. En parcourant ces pages, on découvre sa jeunesse merveilleuse en Afrique, une époque où son amour de la lecture s'est forgé, alors que la télévision et les tablettes n'existaient pas encore.À PROPOS DE L'AUTRICEClaire Coudry est une amoureuse de la littérature qui, en remplissant des cahiers pour immortaliser ses expériences, nous offre son tout premier roman. Elle nous propose ce récit teinté d'humour et de gravité et parfois même de nostalgie.

A rich and riveting debut spanning four generations of Eastern European Jewish women bound by blood, half-hidden secrets, and the fantastical visitation of a shapeshifting stranger over the course of 100 yearsAn ambitious, delirious novel that tangles with queerness, spirituality, and generational silence, City of Laughter announces Temim Fruchter as a fresh and assured new literary voice. The tale of a young queer woman stuck in a thicket of generational secrets, the novel follows her back to her family's origins, where ancestral clues begin to reveal a lineage both haunted and shaped by desire.Ropshitz, Poland, was once known as the City of Laughter. As this story opens, an 18th century badchan, a holy jester whose job is to make wedding guests laugh, receives a visitation from a mysterious stranger—bringing the laughter the people of Ropshitz desperately need, and triggering a sequence of events that will reverberate across the coming century. In the present day, Shiva Margolin, recovering from the heartbreak of her first big queer love and grieving the death of her beloved father, struggles to connect with her guarded mother, who spends most of her time at the local funeral home. A student of Jewish folklore, Shiva seizes an opportunity to visit Poland, hoping her family's mysteries will make more sense if she walks in the footsteps of her great-grandmother Mira, about whom no one speaks. What she finds will make her question not only her past and her future, but also her present.Electric and sharply intimate, City of Laughter zigzags between our universe and a tapestry of real and invented Jewish folklore, asking how far we can travel from the stories that have raised us without leaving them behind.

From the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize finalist, whose short stories received instant acclaim (“Sparingly told, evoked with lacerating intimacy... Extraordinary”—Esquire), a debut novel about a young woman's coming of age, and the singular friendship that challenges her values, her beliefs, and the course of her lifeAt sixteen, Eva meets Jamie by chance. She lives in middle-class south Brooklyn; he comes from the super rich of upper Manhattan. She's observant, cautious, often insecure; he's curious, bold, full of mysteries. These two questers are drawn together in a strange and profound friendship, tested by forces larger than themselves. As Eva follows a path of conventional achievement—a prestigious degree, a classic romance, the start of an ambitious career—Jamie seeks out more radical experiments in finding himself: renouncing his family, joining a political movement, and eventually even talking to God.Carried forcefully along by Clare Sestanovich's exquisite prose, these two characters are pulled into separate spheres but circle the same questions: how to define their values and find their purpose, how to create a sense of self while discovering what they owe to society and to the cause of justice. These reckonings propel a surprising story of intimacy across time, exploring the alchemy of identity, the mystery of destiny, and the difficult journey of finding faith—in yourself, and in the world.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Part of Quindlen's gift is that you don't just read about these characters, you inhabit them.... Luminous with life, hope and the power of love.”—People (A Book of the Week Pick) “[A] quietly revelatory and gently gleaming gem of a book.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors'Choice) Anna Quindlen's trademark wisdom on family, friendship, and the ties that bind us are at the center of this novel about the power of love to transcend loss and triumph over adversity, by the author of Still Life with Bread Crumbs and One True Thing.When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Bill is overwhelmed without his beloved wife, and Annemarie wrestles with the bad habits her best friend had helped her overcome. And Ali, the eldest of Annie's children, has to grow up overnight, to care for her younger brothers and even her father and to puzzle out for herself many of the mysteries of adult life.Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody's fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. The lesson they learn is that no one beloved is ever truly gone.Written in Quindlen's emotionally resonant voice and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is about hope, and about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways.

A hilarious and empowering perimenopausal Ferris Bueller's Day Off, about Clover Hendry, 46, and the day she decides to stop keeping the plates spinning, say F@#! it all, and finally get hers.Today is not the day to mess with Clover Hendry. Clover hasn't said “No” a day in her life. Until today. Normally a woman who tips her hairdresser even when the cut is hideous, is endlessly patient with her horrendous mother, and says yes every time her boss asks her to work late—today, things are going to be very different. Because Clover is taking the day off. Today, she's going to do and say whatever she likes, even if it means her whole life unravels.What made Clover change her ways? Why doesn't she care anymore? There's more to this day than meets the eye.Clover Hendry's Day Off is a joyful, raging, galvanizing story about putting life on pause, pleasing yourself, and getting your own back. Whatever it takes. Because when Clover stops caring, she can start living.

A Ms. Magazine Most Anticipated BookA debut coming-of-age novel that delicately illuminates the fullness of identity despite fractures in language, culture, and relationshipsIn Silver Repetition, Lily Wang's endless, perfect loops of memory and dream, loss and return, combine to create a formally inventive coming-of-age novel. Told from the perspective of a young Asian immigrant thoughtfully navigating dual identities, grief, family, migration, and modern relationships, this is a novel infused with the rich language of a poet.Having left China for Canada with her parents as a child, Yuè Yuè yearns to discover who she is as she nears the end of her undergraduate degree and starts a new relationship. In urgent poetic fragments, she seeks common ground with her Canadian-born younger sister and grieves the beloved cousin she lost touch with back home. After Yuè Yuè receives a call from a girl making accusations, her date ghosts her. Meanwhile, her mother's illness advances like snow. On a walk in the woods, Yuè Yuè sees a little girl digging in the mud, but when she peeks behind the curtain of black hair, her own face haunts her.In a moving reunion, Yuè Yuè's cousin comes to visit and everyone is caught, laughing, in the rain. The novel shows how, despite the weight of grief, isolation, and difference, even the most delicate family bonds can knit together tightly enough for the future to overcome the past.

“The World After Alice is a lovely debut novel that glimmers with fine writing and notes of human insight. There's a quiet beauty to Lauren Aliza Green's work, and I am now a fan.”—Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful“A page-turner of a family drama. The World After Alice is at turns brutally honest, funny, and deeply empathic.” —Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black CakeNamed One of Forbes's 2024 30 Under 30 in Media For readers of Seating Arrangements and The Most Fun We Ever Had, a gorgeous and gripping story of two families brought together to celebrate an unexpected marriage, twelve years after a devastating tragedy upended their livesWhen Morgan and Benji surprise their families with a wedding invitation to Maine, they're aware the news of their clandestine relationship will come as a shock. Twelve years have passed since the stunning loss of sixteen-year-old Alice, Benji's sister and Morgan's best friend, and no one is quite the same. But the young couple decide to plunge headlong into matrimony, marking the first time their fractured families will reunite since Alice's funeral.As the arriving guests descend upon the tranquil coastal town, they bring with them not only skepticism about the impromptu nuptials but also deep-seated secrets and agendas of their own. Peter, Morgan's father, may be trying to dissuade his daughter from saying “I do,” while Linnie, Benji's mother, introduces a boyfriend who bears a tumultuous past of his own. Nick, Benji's father, is scheming to secure a new job before his wife—formerly his mistress—discovers he's lost his old one. Morgan, too, carries delicate secrets that threaten to jeopardize the happiness for which she has so longed. And as for Benji—well, he's just trying to make sure the whole weekend doesn't implode.As the whirlwind weekend unfolds, old passions reignite, deep wounds resurface, and unearthed secrets threaten to shatter the fragile peace the wedding promises. With each new revelation, the to-be-weds and their complicated families are forced to question just how well they know the ones they hold dear.

Si ce texte est tombé entre tes mains, c'est que je t'accorde une confiance très particulière! Ou tu es un fouineur… Dans ce cas, dépose ce livre immédiatement! Tu continues à lire? Soit… mais sache que tu découvriras ici MA vérité, celle de mes tripes. Dans mes notes, comme ma grand-mère avant moi, j'ai délivré mes souvenirs, ceux toujours un peu plus lointains de mon enfance, ceux brulants de mon adolescence ; j'ai avoué mes peines de cœur, mes déceptions amicales; j'ai décrit mes bonheurs, ma famille, mes colères, mon regard naïf ou prudent sur l'actualité des adultes. Bref, si tu embarques : bon voyage dans ma tête… Livia Trois générations, deux carnets intimes, une analyse adolescente et beaucoup d'émotions qui s'adressent à tous les âges. À PROPOS DE L'AUTRICESavina Lenoble, professeure de latin et de français, s'inspire de l'actualité comme de l'Antiquité dans les thématiques de ses écrits. Sa plume directe et précise injecte à l'ensemble du récit une profonde sensibilité.

Three generations of women learn to own their mistakes and rebuild their bonds as they prepare to compete in the South Florida Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition.“A witty, touching story of resilience, forgiveness, complicated family dynamics, and second chances.”—Deepa Varadarajan, author of Late BloomersWest Palm Beach, 1999. A phone call summons fifty-eight-year-old Cherie Anderson from a frozen Minnesota to help her two mothers: Dale, the mother who left her when she was five and is facing eviction from her budget-apartment complex, Soleil City, and Marlys, the mother who raised her from that moment on—and who's now dying, but won't admit it to her daughter. Cherie seeks a reason to stay in town long enough to give Dale the help she's finally asked for and Marlys the help she clearly needs. And she must find a project to distract her pregnant daughter, Laura, whose marriage has fallen apart just weeks before her due date.The South Florida Senior Synchronized Swimming Competition seems to be the answer. The publicity from winning the contest, along with the ten-thousand-dollar prize money, could help save Soleil City. With Laura, who used to captain a dance team, as their coach, they've got a fighting chance. And with everyone else preoccupied by the competition, Cherie can focus on saving Marlys before it's too late.Over the course of a month in an apartment complex filled with feisty, funny, strong-willed women in their seventies, four women who make up an uneasy family will realize that in life, and motherhood, there isn't good and bad. There's only trying to get it right.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NAMED A BEST BOOK BY PEOPLE AND PARADE • The New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had (“wonderfully immersive…deliciously absorbing”—NPR) returns with another brilliantly observed family drama in which the enduring, hard-won affection of a long marriage faces imminent derailment from events both past and present.“Infidelity, dysfunction, secrets – this family novel delivers.'—The New York Times •'Lombardo has such a fine eye for the weft and warp of a family's fabric.'—The Washington Post • “Witty and insightful...a powerful exploration of marriage, motherhood, and self.”–Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of Lessons in ChemistrySame As It Ever Was showcases the consummate style, signature wit, and profound emotional intelligence that made The Most Fun We Ever Had one of the most beloved novels of the past decade. Featuring a memorably messy family and the multifaceted marriage at its heart, Lombardo's debut was dubbed “the literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Anne Tyler” (The Guardian) and hailed as “ambitious and brilliantly written” (Washington Post). In this remarkable follow-up—another elegant and tumultuous story in the tradition of Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, and Celeste Ng—Lombardo introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters, this time by way of her singularly complicated protagonist.Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed herself several times, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age fifty seven, that she has a firm handle on things.She's unprepared, though, for what comes next: a surprise announcement from her straight-arrow son, an impending separation from her spikey teenaged daughter, and a seductive resurgence of the past, all of which threaten to draw her back into the patterns that had previously kept her on a razor's edge.Same As It Ever Was traverses the rocky terrain of real life, —exploring new avenues of maternal ambivalence, intergenerational friendship, and the happenstantial cause-and-effect that governs us all. Delving even deeper into the nature of relationships—how they grow, change, and sometimes end—Lombardo proves herself a true and definitive cartographer of the human heart and asserts herself among the finest novelists of her generation.

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTELLER • Longlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize • One of Indigo's Most Anticipated Books • One of the CBC's Canadian Fiction Books to Read in Fall 2024From one of the greatest writers of our time comes a profound and moving novel of an unforgettable life.In the early morning dark, Emer McConnell rises for a day of teaching music in the schools of rural Saskatchewan. While she travels the snowy roads in the gathering light, she begins another journey, one of recollection and introspection, and one that, through the course of Jane Urquhart's brilliant new novel, will leave the reader forever changed.Moving as effortlessly through time as the drift of memory itself, In Winter I Get Up at Night brings Emer and her singular story to life. At the age of 11, she is terribly injured in an enormous prairie storm—the “great wind” that shifts her trajectory forever. As she recovers, separated from her family in a children's ward, Emer gets to know her fellow patients, a memorable group including a child performer who stars in a travelling theatre company, the daughter of a Dukhobor community, and the son of a leftist Jewish farm collective. The children are tended to by three nursing sisters and two doctors, whom the ever-imaginative Emer comes to call Doctor Angel and Doctor Carpenter.Emer's tale grows outwards from that ward, reaching through time and space in a dreamlike fashion, recounting the stories of her mother's entanglement with a powerful yet mysterious teacher; her brother's dawning spirituality, which eventually leads him to the priesthood; the remarkable lives of the nuns who care for her; and the passionate yet distant love affair of Emer and an enigmatic man she calls Harp—a brilliant scientist whose great discovery has forever altered millions of lives around the world.In luminous prose, and with exhilarating nuance and depth, Jane Urquhart charts an unforgettable life, while also exploring some of the grandest themes of the twentieth century—colonial expansion, scientific progress, and the sinister forces that seek to divide societies along racial and cultural lines. In Winter I Get Up at Night is a major work of imagination and self-exploration from one of the greatest writers of our time.

Despite knowing it's a mad idea, Lily agrees to take her mother on one last road trip around the UK, in this new novel by the bestselling author of His Other Woman. This trip will be challenging because Lily's mother can no longer be described as “just a bit forgetful”: Moira has started talking to imaginary friends and singing ABBA songs in public, and last week she began emptying boxes of cereal onto the floor in the supermarket. Lily is worried and embarrassed by her mother's behavior but, despite her recent dementia diagnosis, Moira is happy—albeit in a sweary sort of way—and insists the journey will help her write a memoir. As they trundle across the country in an ancient VW campervan, Lily feels the strain as she struggles to deal with her mother's decline, her own daughter's criticism and her ex-husband's upcoming wedding plans to a younger woman. One night, leaving Moira alone in the hotel, Lily meets a man in a bar and, for the first time in years, she feels alive. This road trip was intended to celebrate the past. But will it end in crisis, or might Lily's chance encounter help build a new future for this fractured family?Praise for Sarah Edghill's A Thousand Tiny Disappointments “Thoroughly gripping... Sarah Edghill knows how to pinpoint what goes on in families.” —Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry “An accomplished, moving and ultimately uplifting novel.” —Hannah Persaud, author of The Codes of Love

A wonderful, emotive story of forgiveness, new beginnings and happy-ever-afters from bestselling author Sian O'GormanA mother and daughter adrift, a friend in need, and a village to really call home…When Kate O'Hare discovers she's about to become a mother, she packs up her life in France to return home to regroup and put down some roots. Home is where the heart is, right?On her return to Ireland, Kate is surprised to find her best friend Flora's marriage and self-esteem is in tatters following her husband's rather public betrayal. With no marriage, home, or future, can Kate empower Flora to rediscover herself and reignite the career she put on hold to marry the man she thought she'd spend the rest of her life with?On the other side of the Atlantic, Kate's estranged mother, Lola, is heartbroken following the loss of her soulmate, Paulie. On hearing Kate's plan, Lola too decides to return home to seek a second chance at motherhood with her daughter.Will the music and magic of Sandycove be enough to carry these women through such challenging times and heal their hearts?Perfect from the fans of Faith Hogan and Laura PearsonPraise for the wonderful Sian O'Gorman'I absolutely loved this book. I've read 3 of the Sandycove books now and I really love them. This book the swimmers from the 1st book I read were mentioned. It was full of twists and turns and happy endings'- Reader Review'Utterly irresistible and joyful - the perfect summer read!'-• Faith Hogan•'Wonderful. What a wonderful story, I loved it. Full of surprises, of friendship, love and new beginnings. Thank you Sian O'Gorman for a lovely story.'- Reader Review'A gorgeous story of friendship, community and starting over'- Jessica Redland'Another beautiful book by Sian O'Gorman, I didn't want to put I down. It had me laughing out loud and crying in equal measure. I enjoyed everything about this book. Didn't want it to end. I would definitely recommend'-• Reader Review•'A book with everything. A real 5 star read.'- Claudia Carroll'A feel good book, based in the lovely Ireland. A story of regret, loss but most of all love 💕'- Reader Review'Delicious! An upbeat, witty read about friends, family and following your dreams.'- Gillian Harvey'So wonderful. It is a beautiful story of resilience and joy after hardship. It is about the strength within, the strength found in the love and support of those around you and of the incredible bonds between women. I absolutely loved it!!!'- Reader Review

A daring novel from the acclaimed author of Those Who Are Saved: female rage, grief, and creativity collide in the present and animate the past, when a woman reconnects with her essential self during a summer journey, and discovers an ancient female world that offers parallels to her ownKept busy by her obligations as a wife and mother, art history professor Ava Zaretsky has little time to devote to her research and writing. Now tagging along on her film-producer husband's shoot in Bulgaria for the summer, where she's mostly solo parenting her sweet son and rebellious budding tween daughter, she has a chance encounter with her fierce feminist mentor from college, which changes everything.Ava is swept up into a circle of women who reenact ancient Greco-Roman mystery rites of initiation, bringing her research to life and illuminating the story of a 5th-century-BC mother-daughter pair whose sense of female loyalty to each other and connection to the divine feminine guides Ava in her exploration of the eternal stages of womanhood. Reaching across time and deep into the female psyche, The Mother of All Things delivers a revelatory tale of a woman coming to terms with her evolving sense of responsibility to herself and her family, as she achieves a new appreciation of the gifts of female wisdom and self-belief.

LONGLISTED FOR THE TORONTO BOOK AWARD“Powerful and unrelenting prose.... I loved this book.” —Reema Patel, author of Such Big Dreams Gorgeous and compelling, The Afterpains is a heartbreaking portrait of two families trying to cope with grief, isolation, and living far from one's homeland—told in the voices of four distinct narrators.Nearly twenty years after the death of her infant daughter, Rosy is still reeling from all that she's lost. Desperate to repair the connections to the family she does have—her husband, Desmond, and her eighteen-year-old son, Eddie—she's determined to lay her grief to rest by the twentieth anniversary of her daughter's death.At the same time, Isaura dreads what may be coming for her teenage daughter, Mivi. For centuries in her homeland of Honduras, the young women in Isaura's family have been subjected to a curse of teenage motherhood and the untimely death of the men they loved. But even after moving thousands of miles away from Pespire to Toronto, Isaura fears that her daughter will not be spared.Soon, Rosy and Isaura, essentially strangers, become connected in a way neither of them could predict. As they try to look to their future and their children's, they struggle to put the past behind them—all while Eddie and Mivi contend with the weight of their mothers'pain and guilt.Tender and compassionate, The Afterpains is a moving debut novel on motherhood, grief, identity, and belonging.

'Une sœur si dévouée'plonge le lecteur au cœur d'une romance brisée entre Éloïse et Marc, parents de quatre enfants. Malgré l'arrivée d'un dernier-né, la trahison de Marc, cupide, scelle leur destin. Éloïse et ses enfants gardent néanmoins des liens étroits avec l'oncle de son ex-mari, qui leur lègue sa maison plutôt qu'à sa propre sœur qui a tout sacrifié pour lui. La jalousie de cette dernière entraîne un dénouement inattendu…À PROPOS DE L'AUTRICELucie Durand trouve dans l'écriture un moyen de laisser libre cours à son imagination. Son intérêt pour les mystères et les crimes transparaît dans son œuvre Une sœur si dévouée.

How do you mend a family that was already patchwork? When Catherine's world-travelling son Ryan dies suddenly overseas, she is left reeling. For so long, it was just Ryan and her; now her foundation is ruptured. She's never quite found the stability and comfort she needs from her husband, Jack, and now he's all she has. Ryan's girlfriend, Kate, stays overseas, away from Catherine and Jack and all the memories of her and Ryan's life on Prince Edward Island. She doesn't want to move forward; what if she leaves Ryan behind? But both Kate and Catherine feel an echo of the truth: Ryan is still around, lighter than air and floating on the wind, a sentient soul trying to make sense of an unexpected transition to what feels like the ultimate freedom. Listening in on his own funeral, hopping around the planet to join in the pipe bands of his dreams… he has found the bright side of his floating days. With his invisible but palpable presence, can he help his mother, his stepfather, and his love find a new path forward…together? A light in the darkness, The Floating Days explores one family's attempt to make sense of tragedy as they discover that perhaps true freedom is the beautiful, brief time we share on earth with the people we love.

When Josie Serafini's brother Vic loses his wife and children in a tragic accident, Josie leaves her home and beloved horses in Upstate New York to join him in Los Angeles. While helping Vic pick up the pieces of his shattered life, Josie confronts broken relationships with her estranged father and rebellious, singer-songwriter daughter. Josie and Vic each struggle to find where they belong in their changing worlds. Josie finds comfort in nature and in a budding, long-distance relationship with the empathetic equine veterinarian caring for her horses back home. Vic battles depression as he seeks purpose in his life. Josie's three horses and a Siberian husky help open hearts to tenderness and healing—but it's an unexpected journey to the US-Mexico border that offers this fragmented family a chance to reconnect. A story of love, loss, and forgiveness, Josie and Vic conveys hope—even in the darkest of times.

From the bestselling author of Mistakes to Run With, a heartrending tale of a mother hell-bent on saving her family after her daughter's suicide attempt—despite the destruction it might mean for herself.When Rose's seventeen-year-old daughter, Juliet, attempts suicide, she does everything she can to hold her family together despite the inevitable unraveling that follows. Her husband Syd thinks their daughter is fine, that she's going through a phase, and tells Rose she's overreacting—as do the doctors, the school principal, and even Juliet herself. But Rose knows her daughter better than anyone. Doesn't she?Rose and Juliet begin to drift apart and then fade into each other until they aren't sure who's saving whom—or if they're saving each other. As Rose struggles to navigate this unknown territory, the family unwittingly makes decisions that suddenly send them all into an escalated tailspin toward disaster.Capturing the tightly coiled tension of seeing someone on the edge of a bridge about to jump, Yasuko Thanh takes us on a journey into the psyche of a woman grappling to understand why her daughter would want to die, and how to protect her child when she's chosen not to protect herself.Haunting, emotional, and unforgettable, To the Bridge shows how a bridge is not something to leap from, but something to cross—how a mother and her daughter can find a way to connect, even when there is a river of difference raging between them.

“Stradal serves up another saga of food and family, hurt and healing, pitched between cliff-hanger moments... that make the pages fly.” —PeopleFrom the New York Times bestselling author J. Ryan Stradal, a story of a couple from two very different restaurant families in rustic Minnesota, and the legacy of love and tragedy, of hardship and hope, that unites and divides them Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identity crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she's been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel's grandmother embraced the business, seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed. Ned is also an heir—to a chain of home-style diners—and while he doesn't have a head for business, he knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams dashed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, and will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation? In this colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds, J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.

The third title in Roxane Gay Books'inaugural list, Hot Springs Drive is an urgent, vicious blade of a novel about a shocking betrayal and its aftermath, asking just how far you'll go to have everything you want Jackie Stinson's best friend is dead, and everyone knows who killed her. Jackie wants to be many things, but a martyr has never been one of them. She is an ex–emotional eater and mother of four, who has finally lost the weight she long yearned to be free of. In her new, sharp-edged body, she goes by Jacqueline. But leaving her old self behind proves harder than she ever imagined. And while she believes she should be happier, misery still chases her, and motherhood threatens to subsume what little is left of her. Jacqueline's only salve is her best friend Theresa, whose seemingly perfect life she desperately covets. Since they met in the maternity ward fifteen years earlier, the two have survived the trials of motherhood side by side—Theresa with her quiet, cherubic daughter, and Jacqueline with her rambunctious, unruly boys. Their bond is tight, but it is not enough to keep Jacqueline, finally moving through the world in the body she has always wanted, from stealing a bit of Theresa's perfect life. Hot Springs Drive is a dark, heart-pounding exploration of one woman's deepest desires, and how the consequences of betrayal can ripple outward beyond the initial strike point. In her third and fiercest novel, acclaimed literary voice Lindsay Hunter deftly peels back the fragile veneer of two suburban families and the secrets roiling between them.

A quirky, thrilling, darkly-funny page-turner that explores the fuzzy lines between sanity and insanity, magic and reality, love and duty. It's 1969. An eight-year-old girl, Elizabeth Squire, has a choice to make: to be disabled by the circumstances of her own botched birth or to become extraordinary. In Buffy Cram's captivating new novel, Elizabeth narrates the story of her childhood in the late sixties, describing how she came to be at a Vancouver halfway house at the age of nineteen. Once Upon an Effing Time chronicles the sometime-exploitative relationship between Elizabeth and Margaret, her mother, and the bizarre and criminal misadventures they have after running away from Ontario's cheese belt and their “Big Sad Story.” Attempting to bond with her neglectful mother, Elizabeth learns to adopt personas and live multiple lives, transforms into a fortune teller named MeMe who speaks primarily in Bob Dylan lyrics, and joins an American hippie doomsday cult. Elizabeth's life is fragmented between ordinary childhood pleasures and indulging her mother's conspiracy theories about the upcoming moon landing by hiding pamphlets in New York City public library books. Throughout, Buffy Cram weaves humour and heartbreak together to form an engaging narrative about cults—the cult of family, the cult of counterculture, the cult of Rock n'Roll—and the role of story within those cults.

'A seamless tale of love, loss, betrayal and, above all, hope'Alexandra Walsh AD 61Brittania is in the hands of the Romans but when the conquering army betray the dead King Prasutagus by defiling his daughters, his Queen, Boudicca, is determined to regain her land.Iceni slave Brea remembers little of the time before the Romans, and has grown used to their louche and indulgent customs. She diligently goes about her duties looking after the artless Aurelia, wife-to-be of the handsome war hero Marcellus, but her longing for freedom and her desire to find her lost father, are never far from her mind.Present DayWhen Hanna returns to Norfolk from years working abroad, the strange dreams of her adolescence return: indistinct figures in tunics, mighty soldiers in armour, gladiators, temples, an Iceni warrior woman leading her people. Gradually Hanna's dreams begin to slip into the present as visions in the famous mists rolling across the fens, and as shocks of recognition when a new face moves to her childhood home.As Hanna realises that she has a connection with a tragedy that occurred many years before, so Brea has to understand that her fate is bound up with her Roman master. And as the drumbeat of rebellion gets ever closer Brea must make the fatal choice between love and loyalty while Hanna has to find a way to make peace with the past.USA Today bestselling author Judy Leigh writing as Elena Collins, brings you this heart-breaking and unforgettable timeslip novel, perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, Diana Gabaldon and Louise Douglas.Praise for Elena Collins:'Very highly recommended.'Louise Douglas'The Lady of The Loch held me spellbound from the first page to the last. With two storylines beautifully woven together to create a seamless tale of love, loss, betrayal and, above all, hope, it's a must-read. Collins's detailed knowledge of the period trickles through the tale wrapping the reader in a vivid shifting world as it moves between the 14th century and present day. Cleverly researched and exquisitely written, The Lady of The Loch is a timeless story of hope, family and love. I loved it.'Alexandra Walsh'Loved this book, didn't want it to end well worth 5 stars. I will definitely read more books by this author.I love the duel story line and this author writes a lot like my other favorite author Barbara Erskine'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review'I really enjoyed The Witches Tree also written by Elena Collins... and The Lady of the Loch was just simply amazing! The characters will stay with me for a long time..and that's a sign of a great book!'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review'This was fabulous, I couldn't put it down, read in two days and was so sorry that I'd finished it! Loved her first book but this was something else, I was totally gripped, beautiful story and I actually felt like I was back in 1307, best book I've read in a long time, hope I don't have to wait too long for the next one'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review'This was such an evocative and atmospheric story, it was truly engrossing to the point that on a very sleepless night I ended up reading until 4am to finish the book, because I was thinking about it so much! I loved being whisked away to Scotland in 1307, and enjoyed the way the story came full circle in the present day'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader Review

From Jennifer duBois, “one of a handful of living American novelists who can comprehend both the long arc of history and the minute details that animate it” (Karan Mahajan) and “a writer of thrilling psychological precision” (Justin Torres), comes a spellbinding new novel.A few months after the death of her husband, Angela is ejected from her doctoral program in linguistics at Harvard University. Spinning and raw, and with few other options, the young widow and her four-year-old daughter move into her mother's house in Medford, Massachusetts.Trained with an understanding of spoken language as the essential foundation of thought, Angela finds underpaid work at the Center, a fledgling organization that is developing an experimental therapy aimed at helping nonverbal patients with motor impairments. Through the Center, Angela begins to work closely with Sam, a twenty-seven-year-old patient who has been confined to his bedroom for the majority of his life. Following some faltering steps, Sam takes to the technology, proving to be not just literate but literary, and charming. Angela is initially stunned, then drawn intensely to Sam, and they develop an intimate relationship.When their secret is discovered, Sam's family intervenes and brings charges. As Angela tells her story in the form of an unrepentant plea addressed from prison to her beloved, we are plunged into a Nabokovian hall of mirrors in which it is hard to know whom or what to believe. Is this a haunting story of doomed love, a manipulative account of pitiful self-delusion, or, as the state has charged, a criminal assault of a victim who doesn't have the agency or intelligence required of a willing participant in a love affair?Provocative and profound in its exploration of what makes us human, this is an extraordinary novel from one of our most acclaimed contemporary writers.

A NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION'5 UNDER 35'HONOREE“There is so much heart in these pages, so much wisdom on how we love. This book had me in its orbit, from beginning to end.” – Weike Wang, author of Joan is OkayHolding Pattern. Noun.1. A state of suspended progress.2. The awkward way your mother tries to hug you now that you live with her. Again.Kathleen Cheng has blown up her life. She's gone through a humiliating breakup, dropped out of her graduate program, and left everything behind. Now she's back in her childhood home in Oakland, wondering what's next.To her surprise, her mother isn't the same person Kathleen remembers. No longer depressed or desperate to return to China, the new Marissa Cheng is sporty, perky, and has been transformed by love. Kathleen thought she'd be planning her own wedding, but instead finds herself helping her mother plan hers—to a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur.Grasping for direction, Kathleen takes a job at a start-up that specializes in an unconventional form of therapy based on touch. While she negotiates new ideas about intimacy and connection, an unforeseen attachment to someone at work pushes her to rethink her relationships—especially the one with Marissa. Will they succeed in seeing each other anew, adult to adult?As they peel back the layers of their history—the old wounds, cultural barriers, and complex affection—they must come to a new understanding of how they can propel each other forward, and what they've done to hold each other back. Brilliantly observant, tender, and warm, Holding Pattern is a hopeful novel about immigration and belonging, mother-daughter relationships, and the many ways we learn to hold each other.

PERFECT SUMMER ESCAPISM: THE TIME-TRAVELLING LOVE STORY YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO PUT DOWN HOW FAR WOULD YOU TRAVEL TO FIND A LOVE LOST IN TIME?'A beautiful exploration of family, love and loss across the generations. Fresh, fun... I didn't want it to end.'Gemma Chan This is the story of Joshua, Lily, Tommy and Eva: one family with an extraordinary gift – they can all travel through time. But when their parents disappear, Tommy and Eva must work out how to move on. Tommy takes refuge in the past, and a love affair with a woman from a different era keeps him there. Escaping his unhappy life in contemporary London feels like a relief at first. But no one can live two stories. Eventually, Tommy will have to decide where his heart – and his future – really belong. The Moon Represents My Heart is a stunning debut about grief, resilience, and the courage it takes to face an uncertain future, from an outstanding new literary talent.'An immediately compelling, unusual story with a totally fresh voice.'Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne • A Prima Book of the Year •

'I'm obsessed with this novel.'Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2023 AN UNFORGETTABLE NOVEL ABOUT MATERNAL FEAR AND THE MYTH OF IDYLLIC EARLY MOTHERHOOD The baby I hold in my arms is a leech, let's call her Button. Button is crying. There is a before, and there is an after. In her cramped New York apartment, a mother wilts beneath the intense August heat, struggling to adapt to her role as the silent interpreter of her newborn baby's needs. She is not the first woman to give birth, to hold and carry and soothe and cradle. But the walls of her home seem to press ever closer as she balances on the fragile tightrope between maternal instinct and the longing for all she has left behind. A lifeline emerges in the unexpected form of Peter, her ailing upstairs neighbour, who hushes the baby with his oxygen tank in tow. They are both confined to this oppressive apartment building, and they are both running out of time. Something is soon to crack. In this mesmerizing portrait of the first days of motherhood, Szilvia Molnar lays bare the strength it takes to redefine who you are, rediscovering the simple pleasures of life along the way.'I was blown away by this book... At once somber and joyful, sly and earnest, nimble and painstaking, perverse and profoundly invigorating.'Lydia Kiesling, award-winning author of The Golden State