Search

From the moment she holds her baby niece, Rose is on a mission. Terrified that her baby niece will fall victim to the sexual abuse rampant in the family, Rose tells us in her own warm, funny, down-to-earth voice, how she reluctantly agrees to join a therapy group, hoping she can find out how to prevent disaster and see that baby Jenny grows up unharmed. In the group, she meets new friends who will become like family: Josie, who “sees” the future; Tammy, with a suspicious bruise on her neck; good and steady Marg, whose father is threatening to burn down her apartment house; and sweet, grieving, spiritual Sally. Rose's own chronic problem, she confesses, is picking wrong men. Josie finds a small magazine picture of a little town in northern Ontario. She sees, with her second sight, a resort hotel to be built in this town and a sunnier life for the group. As they begin to take the first painful steps of emotional recovery, an intense fantasy about this unknown town and dream hotel becomes the secret life of the group. Deep friendships evolve as the women help one another through the roller coasters of their recovery process. Despite setbacks, they cling to their dream of moving up north and running their own hotel.

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SECOND NOVEL FROM THE WRITER EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL (STATION ELEVEN) CALLS “SHARP, WITTY, AND IMMENSELY ENTERTAINING” Is a new life possible? Because Shira Greene's life hasn't quite turned out as planned. She's a single mom living with her daughter and her gay friend, Ahmad. Her PhD on Dante's Vita Nuova hasn't gotten her a job, and her career as a translator hasn't exactly taken off either.But then she gets a call from a Nobel Prize-winning Italian poet who insists she's the only one who can translate his newest book.Stunned, Shira realizes that—just like that— her life can change. She sees a new beginning beckoning: academic glory, demand for her translations, and even love (her good luck has made her feel more open to the entreaties of a neighborhood indie bookstore owner).There's only one problem: It all hinges on the translation, and as Shira starts working on the exquisitely intricate passages of the poet's book, she realizes that it may in fact be, well... impossible to translate.A deft, funny, and big-hearted novel about second chances, Good on Paper is a grand novel of family, friendship, and possibility.

Meet the Peterkins, a lovable crew with a notable lack of common sense. These comic tales chronicle their roundabout attempts to solve simple, everyday problems. Cheerful and energetic, the close-knit family of eight resides in a village near Boston. They play their piano from the front porch because the movers left it with the keyboard facing the parlor window, and they're ready to raise the ceiling to make way for a towering Christmas tree. Only the timely intervention of'the wise old lady from Philadelphia'keeps them from acting on their more elaborate madcap schemes.Author Lucretia Hale, sister to writer and cleric Edward Everett Hale, helped break new ground in children's literature by writing stories to amuse young people rather than instruct or uplift them. These tales first appeared in 1867 in a popular children's magazine of the era, and in the course of a decade, the Peterkins became a household word.'The years pass them along to every new generation,'noted Harper's Bazaar,'with the hint that human nature is about the same everywhere and all the time.'Hailed by The New York Times as'a masterpiece'and graced with 153 delightful black-and-white illustrations, this book offers a glimpse of nineteenth-century New England life that charms readers of all ages

This novel following a Korean adoptee, her white mother, and her best friend through two decades is “an intense and compelling read... terrific” (Kirkus Reviews). What is considered a family, and who gets to define it? In 1964, as racial tension simmers in America, Catherine and Jonathan adopt a baby girl from Korea. This unconventional choice brings disapproval from Catherine's family—which creates an even closer bond between her and her daughter. Narrated in alternating chapters by Catherine, her adopted daughter Min, and Min's best friend Laura, Scissors, Paper, Stone spans twenty years of love, loss, and the complex reality of female relationships. As Min grows up, we watch as she comes out as a lesbian and learns to embrace her heritage, and after she and Laura take a summer road trip together, the shifts in their friendship force all three women to examine the assumptions they've been living by and to make choices about the roles they want to play in each other's lives. “Davis writes with rare insight and compassion about the evolving American family and the struggle to belong... a wise and affecting novel.” ―Hilma Wolitzer, author of An Available Man

div>'The emotions unleashed in this tale... are painfully universal. Yet you know exactly where in the universe you are. This is the hallmark of great short stories, from Chekhov's portraits of discontented Russians to Joyce's struggling Dubliners.'—Radhika Jones, TimeNaja Marie Aidt's long-awaited first novel is a breathtaking page-turner and complex portrait of a man whose life slowly devolves into one of violence and jealousy.Rock, Paper, Scissors opens shortly after the death of Thomas and Jenny's criminal father. While trying to fix a toaster that he left behind, Thomas discovers a secret, setting into motion a series of events leading to the dissolution of his life, and plunging him into a dark, shadowy underworld of violence and betrayal.A gripping story written with a poet's sensibility and attention to language, Rock, Paper, Scissors showcases all of Aidt's gifts and will greatly expand the readership for one of Denmark's most decorated and beloved writers.Naja Marie Aidt was born in Greenland and raised in Copenhagen. She is the author of seven collections of poetry and five short story collections, including Baboon (Two Lines Press), which received the Nordic Council's Literature Prize and the Danish Critics Prize for Literature. Rock, Paper, Scissors is her first novel.K. E. Semmel is a writer and translator whose work has appeared in Ontario Review, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. His translations include books by Karin Fossum, Erik Valeur, Jussi Adler-Olsen, and Simon Fruelund.

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.

Peregrine Island is the recipient of the following 10 literary awards: 2017 Winner of the New York City Big Book Award for Mystery 2017 Best Book Awards Finalist in General Fiction for Fiction, for Literary, and for Mystery & Suspense 2017 Winner of the National Indie Excellence Award for Regional Fiction: Northeast 2017 Distinguished Favorite in Literary Fiction by Independent Press Awards 2017 International Book Awards Finalist for Literary Fiction 2017 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist for Fiction 2017 Bronze Award for US Northeast Fiction from the Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards 2018 Reader Views Literary Award Finalist and Honorable Mention for Adult - Fiction 2018 A Reader's Favorite literary fiction award winner 2018 Semifinalist, Somerset Award for Literary Fiction, Chanticleer International Book Awards ~~~~~ Literary Mystery Highlights an Heirloom Painting on Long Island Sound and the Relationships between Three Generations of Women Part “who-done-it” and part family drama, this award-winning novel reveals that neither people nor paintings are always what they appear to be. Contradictory relationships within troubled families are nothing new, but the award-winning psychological novel written by well-known journalist Diane B. Saxton elevates these relationships and the mysterious heirloom painting that both exposes and unites them to an art form. Peregrine Island interweaves the stories of three generations of women, one valuable painting, the artist who created it, and those who would do anything to possess it – including kill. Lush with sensory details, this psychologically complex mystery novel is set on a private island in the middle of Long Island Sound. It begins when the family's lives are turned upside-down one summer by so-called art experts, who appear on the doorstep of their isolated home to appraise a favorite heirloom painting. When incriminating papers along with two other paintings are discovered behind the painting in question, the appraisal turns into a full-fledged investigation and detectives are called into the case—but not by the family whose members grow increasingly antagonistic toward one another. During the course of the inquiry and as the summer progresses, the family members discover new secrets about one another and new facts about their past. Above all, they learn that neither people nor paintings can be taken at face value. The Peregrine family's lives are turned upside down one summer when so-called'art experts'appear on the doorstep of their Connecticut island home to appraise a favorite heirloom painting. When incriminating papers, as well as other paintings, are discovered behind the art work in question, the appraisal turns into a full-fledged investigation. Antagonism mounts between grandmother, mother, and child, who begin to suspect one another, as well as the shady newcomers in their midst, of foul play. As the summer progresses and the Peregrines discover facts about their past in the course of the investigation, they learn that people―including them―are not always who they appear to be.

New from the 2023 Pura Belpré Award-winning author of Burn Down, Rise Up!She is the reason no one goes in the water. And she will make them pay. A chilling new novel for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson, Lamar Giles, and Ryan Douglass.Bronwyn is only supposed to be in rural Hillwoods for a year. Her grandmother is in hospice, and her father needs to get her affairs in order. And they're all meant to make some final memories together. Except Bronwyn is miserable. Her grandmother is dying, everyone is standoffish, and she can't even go swimming. All she hears are warnings about going in the water, despite a gorgeous lake. And a pool at the abandoned rec center. And another in the high school basement.Anais tries her hardest to protect Bronwyn from the shadows of Hillwoods. She follows her own rituals to avoid any unnecessary attention—and if she can just get Bronwyn to stop asking questions, she can protect her too. The less Bronwyn pays attention to Hillwoods, the less Hillwoods will pay attention to Bronwyn. She doesn't get that the lore is, well, truth. History. Pain. The living aren't the only ones who seek retribution when they're wronged. But when Bronwyn does more exploring than she should, they are both in for danger they couldn't expect.Praise for Vincent Tirado's Burn Down, Rise Up:'A queer, heart-pounding thrill ride. Fans of Attack the Block and Vampires vs. the Bronx: prepare for your newest obsession.'— Ryan Douglass, New York Times bestselling author of The Taking of Jake Livingston'A creepy, mysterious rollercoaster of a novel that had me hooked from the explosive start. Tirado packs both action and heart into this timely story.'— Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of the Girls of Paper and Fire trilogy'A breathtaking, read-it-in-one-sitting thrill of a novel.'— Marieke Nijkamp, #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends'Readers will be on the edge of their seats and will have the chance to explore societal issues in a new way to answer the question'What are monsters?'when reading this book'— School Library Journal, STARRED review'A speculative novel that blends elements of horror with a history of gentrification and systemic racism...'— Publishers Weekly'A deadly game meets social commentary in an ode to the Bronx.'— Kirkus'A sense of dread and... plenty of vivid action sequences to keep readers engaged.'— Youth Services Book Review'Clever, tying into ripped-from-the-headlines police violence in the present-day world...'— Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

'The perfect summer read: mischievous and delicious. I devoured it in one go.'Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper PalaceChosen by The Irish Times and Tatler as a fiction highlight for 2023WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH, HOW LOW WILL YOU GO?Ayesha Scott has a perfect life. Home is an art-filled Cornish castle with her stratospherically wealthy, titled husband and their beloved daughter. But behind every realised dream lurks an unexploded nightmare and in the course of one day Ayesha discovers that she will be penniless, homeless and powerless unless she can outwit the international mafia, infiltrate the world of high finance and make backstreet deals with the shadiest members of the art world.Hurt and betrayed, she's determined to fight for herself and her daughter – but can she do it without enlisting the help of her beloved, deeply eccentric but estranged family?Sharp escapist fiction, High Time is a novel about high stakes and high jinx set in the world of high art and high finance.'Fun of this kind is irresistible'- GUARDIAN

The start of a new series from bestselling author Sarah Bennett.On paper, Hope Travers has an idyllic life.Living in a bustling farmhouse with her mum, aunt and uncles, cousin and too many dogs to count, surrounded by the breath-taking Cotswolds countryside, she knows she is privileged and protected.But all families have secrets, and the Travers family are no exception. Their farmhouse sits in the grounds of the Juniper Meadows estate, passed down through the generations and now being made to pay its own way with a myriad of businesses and projects. When a construction crew uncover what appear to be historical ruins, the history of the Travers family is put under ever closer scrutiny as a dig gets underway.Hope may have found a blossoming romance with local archaeologist Cameron Ferguson who is running the dig, but when things start to go wrong around the estate and family secrets begin to be revealed, Hope wonders if she's made a big mistake in digging up the past.A Sarah Bennett book is a ray of sunshine and a huge hug, guaranteed to brighten any day, perfect for all fans of Cathy Bramley, Katie Fforde and Phillipa Ashley.Praise for Sarah Bennett:'A gorgeous story packed with love, romance and heartfelt emotion. Will bring sunshine into your day!'Phillipa Ashley'An excellent read with a slow burning romance, family secrets, sabotage and some fascinating archeology details. Highly recommended'Maddie Please'Sarah's ability to weave complex characters and idyllic settings you want to move to is astonishing!A fantastic read combining complex family dynamics, friendship and of course romance! An unputdownable read!'Katie Ginger'Happy Endings at Mermaids Point has passion in spades, romance to make you blush and a community that cares. I hoped this story would just keep on going.'Celia Anderson'This is a real page turner, with a brisk plot and a really emotional core. The community we've grown to love at Mermaid's Point is alive with love, laughter and vibrancy!'Fay Keenan'I loved Nick and Aurora's story, and want the Morgan family to adopt me. Sarah Bennett has surpassed herself'Jules Wake'This is the perfect escapist read and I can't wait to follow the characters in what promises to be a wonderful series. Five sparkling stars!'Rachel Griffiths'What a Mer-mazing book! I'm so glad this is a series and I'll get to meet the characters again because you won't want to leave them after the final page'Catherine Miller‘I inhaled this book in two days. Absolutely gorgeous. Sarah Bennett is back, and better than ever!'Rachel Burton'A perfect heartwarming read full of family, romance and intrigue, set in a stunning location - what's not to love?'Bella Osborne

From bookfluencer and host of the BAD ON PAPER podcast, a riotous holiday rom-com about four friends in NYC who hold onto their unconventional Christmas tradition even when their paths diverge—but the changes they fear might be exactly what they need…Hannah and Finn have spent every Christmas together since college. Neither has anywhere else to go—Hannah's parents died, and Finn's disowned him when he came out. Their tradition of offbeat holiday adventures only grows more outrageous with time. When the pair starts their adult lives in New York City, they add stylish Priya and mysterious Theo to the group, solidifying a found family and sense of belonging they've always craved.But now, when Finn announces a move to L.A., this Christmas may be their last. Hannah is terrified of losing the family she's built for herself, even as her boyfriend nudges her toward commitment. Meanwhile, Finn struggles with the things he's about to leave behind—namely, his unexpressed feelings for Theo. Does growing up mean growing apart? This Christmas the changes these friends fear may be exactly what they need....

Angie Bigelow has won the jackpot: a $324 million lottery ticket. How will she spend the money? Will she share it with the father of her children, dissolute Dean Lee Grandet—even though he's an inveterate gambler she plans on leaving? Angie, the lost soul at the center of Bill Cotter's poignant and darkly comic novel, The Splendid Ticket, is facing this dilemma when a new tragedy tears through their household. Is that mere slip of numbered paper in the watch pocket of Angie's Levi's their ticket to freedom or the beginning of the end? In a fast-moving plot, shot through with originality and heart, this is the story of the Grandets discovering the alchemy that holds their family together, testing its limits and running headlong into whatever their futures hold. Set in the verdant and sun-soaked Texas Hill Country, The Splendid Ticket tracks the push and pull, the bitter tension and the potent attraction, between these two impulsive individuals—and everyone caught in the storm that surrounds them.

“Hypnotic.” – New York Times“Cinematic.” – USA Today'I gripped the covers of this book as though it might be blown from my hands...powerful.'- Ron Charles, The Washington Post'A full-throttle page turner.'– Miranda Cowley Heller, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Paper PalaceAn adrenaline-fueled story of lives upended and transformed by an unprecedented catastrophe To all appearances, the Larsen-Hall family has everything: healthy children, a stable marriage, a lucrative career for Brantley, and the means for Daphne to pursue her art full-time. Their deluxe new Miami life has just clicked into place when Luna—the world's first category 6 hurricane—upends everything they have taken for granted. When the storm makes landfall, it triggers a descent of another sort. Their home destroyed, two of its members missing, and finances abruptly cut off, the family finds everything they assumed about their lives now up for grabs. Swept into a mass rush of evacuees from across the American South, they are transported hundreds of miles to a FEMA megashelter where their new community includes an insurance-agent-turned-drug dealer, a group of vulnerable children, and a dedicated relief worker trying to keep the peace. Will “normal” ever return? A suspenseful read plotted on a vast national tapestry, The Displacements thrillingly explores what happens when privilege is lost and resilience is tested in a swiftly changing world.

Excerpt: “There was a considerable number of people in the little parlour—to wit, Mr. Bates in his big chair on one side of the fire, sipping rum-and-water, and reading a newspaper which was soft and crumpled with the usage of the day at the nearest public-house; and Mrs. Bates on the other, seated between the fireplace and the table, mending the stockings of the family. Charley was reading an old yellow novel behind his mother, and Matilda was making her winter bonnet with a quantity of materials in a large piece of paper on the table, which was covered with a red and green cloth. It was October, and not cold, but there was a fire, and a branched gas pendant with two lights, shed heat as well as light into the close little room. There was another daughter, Sarah Jane, who was coming and going about the table, now and then making incursions into the kitchen; and behind backs in the corner, on a black haircloth sofa against the wall, were seated the pair of lovers.'

Beloved writer Sean Dietrich—also known as Sean of the South—will warm your heart with this rich and nostalgic tale of a small-town sheriff, a mysterious little girl, and a good-hearted community pulling together to help her.Folks in Moab live for ice cream socials, baseball, and the local paper's weekly gossip column. Sheriff Winston Browne has watched over Moab with a generous eye for a decade, and by now he's used to handling the daily dramas that keep life interesting for Moab's quirky residents.But just after Winston receives some terrible, life-altering news, a seemingly mute runaway with no clear origin arrives in Moab. The residents do what they believe is right and take her in—until two suspicious strangers arrive and begin looking for her. Suddenly Winston has a child in desperate need of protection—as well as a secret of his own to keep.With the help of Moab's goodhearted townsfolk, the humble and well-meaning Winston Browne still has some heroic things to do. He finds romance, family, and love in unexpected places. He stumbles upon adventure, searches his soul, and grapples with the past. In doing so, he just might discover what a life well-lived truly looks like.Sometimes ordinary people do the most extraordinary things of all.Praise for The Incredible Winston Browne:“Sean Dietrich has written a home run of a novel with The Incredible Winston Browne. Every bit as wonderful as its title implies, it's the story of Browne—a principled, baseball-loving sheriff—a precocious little girl in need of help, and the community that rallies around them. This warm, witty, tender novel celebrates the power of friendship and family to transform our lives. It left me nostalgic and hopeful, missing my grandfathers, and eager for baseball season to start again. I loved it.” —Ariel Lawhon, New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia“Make no mistake. [The Incredible Winston Browne] is a classic story, told by an expert storyteller.” —Shawn Smucker, author of Light from Distant StarsStand-alone historical novel set in the 1950sIncludes discussion questions for book clubsAlso from Sean Dietrich: Stars of Alabama

'Gripping subjects, brilliantly drawn characters and a twisty turny journey from beginning to end. A tense, thrilling read and definitely 5 humongous stars from me'Angela Marsons. Someone stole a baby... One sunny day in July, someone took three-month-old Alicia Owen from her pram outside a supermarket. Her mother, Marie, was inside. No one saw who took Alicia. And no one could find her. They silenced her cry... Fifteen years later, a teenager on a construction site sees a tiny hand in the ground. When the police investigate, they find a baby buried and preserved in concrete. Could it be Alicia? But the truth will always out. When Alicia disappeared, the papers accused Marie of detachment and neglect. The Owens never got over the grief of their child's disappearance and divorced not long after. By reopening the case, DC Beth Chamberlain must reopen old wounds. But the killer may be closer than anyone ever suspected... The latest crime thriller featuring Family Liaison Officer DC Beth Chamberlain, Hush Little Baby is tightly plotted, fraught with tension and impossible to put down. Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter and K.L. Slater. Praise for Jane Isaac:'Jane Isaac knows how to tell a good yarn. Expertly plotted and true to life'Mel Sherratt on For Better, For Worse.'Isaac does a superb job of escalating the tension and dread'Publishers Weekly.'Move over La Plante...'Susan May, Suspense Magazine.'Tense, dark and gritty: perfect combination'Ian Patrick, author of Rubicon.'Crime writing at its best'David Evans, CWA Debut Dagger-shortlisted author of Torment.'Jane Isaac just gets better with every book. Deeply unsettling and unputdownable'Rebecca Bradley, bestselling author of the DI Hannah Robbins series.'Jane Isaac writes unmissable quality crime fiction'Michael Wood, author of For Reasons Unknown.'Gripped from the very first page... and just when you think it's over, it's really only the beginning'June Taylor, author of Losing Juliet.'Brilliantly and intricately plotted, Jane Isaac has produced a terrific page-turner'Lizzie Sirett, Mystery People.

In this autobiographical novel, Albania's most renowned novelist and poet Ismail Kadare explores his relationship with his mother in a delicately wrought tale of home, family, creative aspirations, and personal and political freedom.“Houses like ours seemed constructed with the specific purpose of preserving coldness and misunderstanding for as long as possible.”In his father's great stone house with hidden rooms and even a dungeon, Ismail grows up with his mother at the center of his universe. Fragile as a paper doll, she finds herself at odds with her tight–lipped and wise mother–in–law who, as is the custom for women of a certain age, will never again step foot over the threshold to leave her home. Young Ismail finds it difficult to understand his mother's tears, though he can understand her boredom. She told him the reason herself in a phrase that terrified and obsessed the boy: “The house is eating me up!”As Ismail explores his world, his mother becomes fearful of her intellectual son—he uses words she does not understand, writes radical poetry, falls in love far too easily, and seems to renounce everything she believes in. He will, she fears, have to exchange her for some other superior mother when he becomes a famous writer.The Doll is a delicate and disarming autobiographical novel, an exploration of Kadare's creative aspirations and their tangled connections to his childhood home and his mother's tenuous place within it.

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK! • An empowering, behind-the-scenes novel of a young Hollywood actress and the dark secret she's ready to confront. One of Summer 2020's Most Anticipated NovelsMarie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Oprah magazine, Bustle, E! Online, Popsugar, Goodreads, Today Show online, New York Post, Betches, Better Homes & Gardens, HelloGiggles, Bad on Paper podcast, The Stripe, Shondaland, HuffPost, CNN.com, Mashable“Beautifully written and compulsively readable…At its core, this book is about redemption, grace, and pain.”—Jenna Bush Hager“A novel so full-blooded, so humane, that the pages feel almost warm to the touch. A clarifying, purifying chronicle of a promising young woman gone astray and the story of her comeback. Grace Turner can do it. You can do it, too.” —A.J. Finn Grace Turner was one movie away from Hollywood's A-List. So no one understood why, at the height of her career and on the eve of her first Golden Globe nomination, she disappeared. Now, one year later, Grace is back in Los Angeles and ready to reclaim her life on her own terms. When Grace is asked to present a lifetime achievement award to director Able Yorke—the man who controlled her every move for eight years—she knows there's only one way she'll be free of the secret that's already taken so much from her. The Comeback is a moving and provocative story of justice—a true page-turner about a young woman finding the strength and power of her voice.

A troubled medical student enters a marriage of convenience with billionaire in this holiday romance by a USA Today–bestselling author.Greek tycoon Leo is a businessman, not a family man. Yet becoming guardian to his orphaned nieces and nephews leads him to make the ultimate sacrifice—finding a wife! And kindhearted Letty is the perfect bride for the job.Letty can't let her family fall into financial ruin. A convenient Christmas wedding with Leo is the ideal solution! Until their paper-only arrangement is scorched... by the heat of their unanticipated passion! Which awakens innocent Letty to the inescapable truth: she wants more from Leo than she signed up for...

AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘That night Stasia took an oath, swearing to learn the recipe by heart and destroy the paper. And when she was lying in her bed again, recalling the taste with all her senses, she was sure that this secret recipe could heal wounds, avert catastrophes, and bring people happiness. But she was wrong.'At the start of the twentieth century, on the edge of the Russian Empire, a family prospers. It owes its success to a delicious chocolate recipe, passed down the generations with great solemnity and caution. A caution which is justified: this is a recipe for ecstasy that carries a very bitter aftertaste … Stasia learns it from her Georgian father and takes it north, following her new husband, Simon, to his posting at the centre of the Russian Revolution in St Petersburg. Stasia's is only the first in a symphony of grand but all too often doomed romances that swirl from sweet to sour in this epic tale of the red century. Tumbling down the years, and across vast expanses of longing and loss, generation after generation of this compelling family hears echoes and sees reflections. Great characters and greater relationships come and go and come again; the world shakes, and shakes some more, and the reader rejoices to have found at last one of those glorious old books in which you can live and learn, be lost and found, and make indelible new friends.

Middle-class, clever and white, Nick is a child of privilege while his best friend Andie is the daughter of Indo-Chinese refugees. Despite their very different backgrounds, they share a conviction they can change the world for the better. At the outset, Nick is pushing papers in a dead-end job while Andie is embarking on a secular crusade against world poverty. This generates conflict with her white husband Benjamin, who feels that Australians should come first. Meanwhile, Andie's cousin, the teenage Tony is burdened by his parents'traumatic past and impossible expectations. To their dismay, he finds solace in radical faith. S. L. Lim acutely captures the dreams and disaffections of a millennial generation. Real Differences is an emotionally resonant novel about idealism, ethical ambition, and love, filled with unforgettable characters. It ultimately asks us the most important question of all: What is our life for?

Classic novel. According to Wikipedia:'George Robert Gissing (November 22, 1857 – December 28, 1903) was an English novelist who wrote twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.... In 1880 when his first novel, Workers in the Dawn, proved to be an abject failure, he became a private tutor to keep poverty from the door. In 1883, he separated from his wife, now an alcoholic, but gave her a weekly income on what little money he had until her death in 1888. In 1884 his second novel, The Unclassed, which saw a marked improvement in style and characterisation, met with moderate critical acclaim. After this Gissing published novels almost on a yearly basis, but so little money did they bring him, that for several more years he had to continue working as a tutor. Although notoriously exploited by his publishers, he was able to visit Italy in 1889 from the sale of the copyright of The Nether World, his most pessimistic book. Between 1891 and 1897 (his so-called middle period) Gissing produced his best works, which include New Grub Street, Born in Exile, The Odd Women, In the Year of Jubilee, and The Whirlpool. In advance of their time, they variously deal with the growing commercialism of the literary market, religious charlatanism, the situation of emancipated women in a male-dominated society, the poverty of the working classes, and marriage in a decadent world. During this period, having belatedly become aware of the financial rewards of writing short stories for the press, he produced almost seventy stories. As a result he was able to give up teaching.... The middle years of the decade saw Gissing's reputation reach new heights: by some critics he is counted alongside George Meredith and Thomas Hardy as one of the best three novelists of his day. He also enjoyed new friendships with fellow writers such as Henry James, and H.G. Wells, and came into contact with many other up and coming writers such as Joseph Conrad and Stephen Crane.... In 1903 Gissing published The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft, which brought him much acclaim. This is his most autobiographical work. It is the memoir of the last happy years of a writer who had struggled much like Gissing, but thanks to a late legacy had been able to give up writing to retire to the countryside.'

Arvin Kraft loves his complicated family, but they talk about him: how slow he is, how they need to share the burden of caring for him, how tired they all are. He hides in the walls of the family's old house in Boston and listens to their laments. And he also discovers there a lead box of old papers. Slowly he reads them and finds they are the original manuscript of Melville's Moby-Dick, long thought to have been lost in an 1850s fire at his publisher. The manuscript is valuable enough to save the family's failing construction business if marketed properly. But Arvin wants more and Professor Thorne is the Melville expert who can help. Arvin and the professor take turns telling this tale with its lyric resonances of Moby-Dick, the specter of the curse of Ahab and strange deaths, and the scramble of greed as the manuscript becomes more valuable by the hour.

This dramatic sequel to Johnnie Come Lately “masterfully weaves the story of the Kitchen family, capturing a vivid snapshot of the American South” (Eastern New Mexico News). Johnnie Kitchen is finally living her dream, attending college and writing a column for the local paper. She adores her husband Dale, their Chocolate Labrador, and their comfortable home in the small town of Portion in North Texas. With their three children nearly grown and thriving, all seems well with the world. But Johnnie is rattled when her youngest boy Cade goes to fight in Afghanistan. The less frequent his emails, the more she frets for his safety. And on the home front, Johnnie learns that Portion is not the forward-thinking town she believed. A young man—inflamed by a liberal bumper sticker and the sight of Johnnie's black friend Whit—commits a racial attack on them. Writing about the incident in her column, Johnnie soon learns the untold stories of Portion's shameful history. More tears and triumphs will follow, as Johnnie's eyes are opened to both man's capacity for hate and the power of love and forgiveness.

Hester and Harriet are back and ready for more adventures! The gentle humour and relaxed pace make this an enjoyable read. - Daily Mail Hester and Harriet lead comfortable lives in a pretty cottage in an English village. Having opened their minds, home and hearts to Daria, a mysterious migrant, and her baby son Milo, the widowed sisters decide to further expand their own horizons by venturing forth to Italy for their annual holiday. Back in England, Daria and Milo are celebrating - they've received official refugee status with papers to confirm they can make England their home. Meanwhile, nephew Ben, who knows only too well how much he owes his aunts, is hurtling towards a different sort of celebration - one he's trying to backpedal out of as fast as he possibly can. With a huge secret hanging between the sisters, an unlikely new love on the landscape for Hester and new beginnings also beckoning for Harriet, Italy provides more opportunities for adventure than either of them could ever have imagined. But which ones will Hester and Harriet choose? As Hester and Harriet throw all their cards on the table in Italy, and potential catastrophe threatens Ben in England, it's anyone's guess how chaos will be kept at bay.

In a dawn raid, Ekaterina (Kate) is arrested. She is imprisoned, beaten, kept awake and tortured. She has no idea what has happened to her partner, Mercedes. The uncertainty plagues her. It is as if she has no history. Trying to retain her sense of self in a swirling psychic state, she invents stories. And she remembers stories of her mother, her grandmothers and aunts, the rich mythic traditions of Greece. She rearranges them and writes poems in her head. Thirty years later, her niece Desi is going through Kate's papers after her death, trying to make sense of her aunt's life. Susan Hawthorne's dark story uncovers hidden histories of organized violence. She traces fear and uncertainty, and finds a narrative of resilience created through the writing of poems and stories. The author asks: how do we pass on stories hidden by shame and resistance to shame? A novel that is both poetic and terrifying.

From the #1 New York Times author of Before We Were Yours!Experience three novellas about the joys and trials of sisterhood!The Sea Glass SistersA mother-daughter road trip is the last thing Elizabeth Gallagher needs. But with an impending hurricane, they are determined to convince Aunt Sandy to abandon her seaside store and return home. Instead, they discover that sisterhood can change hearts, lives, and futures... often in unpredictable ways.The Tidewater SistersTandi Reese and her sister, Gina, have complicated ties. Faced with legal papers for a fraud she didn't commit, Tandi heads to the North Carolina Tidewater for a reckoning. But to unravel lies from truth, she must first confront strained sibling bonds and uncover a dark family secret.The Sandcastle SisterNew York editor Jen Gibbs has not only acquired Evan Hall's blockbuster book deal—she's also accepted his engagement proposal. Now she's scared to death. In Jen's family history, marriage represents the death of every dream a woman holds. Will her mother's long-held secret change Jen's belief's about life and love?

WINNER OF THE 2017 VICTORIAN PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARD FOR FICTION WINNER OF THE 2016 UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND FICTION BOOK AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 STELLA PRIZE ‘Whenever I need reminding of the preciousness of ordinary life I return to this stunning novel of forgiveness and family, which gives clear, beautiful voice to the fierce luck of being alive.'Charlotte Wood Ester is a family therapist with an appointment book that catalogues the anxieties of the middle class: loneliness, relationships, death. She spends her days helping others find happiness, but her own family relationships are tense and frayed. Estranged from both her sister, April, and her ex-husband, Lawrence, Ester wants to fall in love again. Meanwhile, April is struggling through her own directionless life; Lawrence's reckless past decisions are catching up with him; and Ester and April's mother, Hilary, is about to make a choice that will profoundly affect them all. Taking place largely over one rainy day in Sydney, and rendered with evocative and powerful prose, the multi-award-winning Between a Wolf and a Dog is a celebration of the best in all of us — our capacity to live in the face of ordinary sorrows, and to draw strength from the transformative power of art. PRAISE FOR GEORGIA BLAIN ‘[An] elegant, intelligent and affecting novel from a writer at the height of her powers.'The Saturday Paper ‘Like all her novels, Between a Wolf and a Dog explores the often unarticulated complexities of the intersection of the personal and the political with exquisite grace and intelligence.'Australian Book Review

A widow returns to Boston to aid a family plagued by death Gillian stopped being a Decker when her husband, Stuart, died, and she considers herself lucky to have escaped. The Deckers are ruthless, a family of power-hungry backstabbers who live for profit and sneer at love. Stuart was different, but even he obeyed his older brother Raymond like he was a god. Since she lost her husband, Gillian has tried to forget his family, until a notice in the paper brings it all rushing back. Raymond is dead, and the Decker empire is being washed away by blood. When Raymond's widow begs Gillian to come to Boston and help her prove that her husband was murdered, Gillian can't deny her. Raymond was the fourth Decker to die in the last few months, just a few years after his son was kidnapped and killed. Someone is trying to wipe out the Deckers, and if Gillian doesn't tread lightly, she may join her husband in death.

People think Annie can handle anything, and she can—but only because the alternative is worse Annie's summer in New York City was every teenager's dream. Being chosen as a summer intern at Image magazine meant the chance to work on real articles during the day and enjoy the independence and excitement of city life outside office hours. But now, going back to her high school routine feels like punishment—especially when the promised editorial job at the school paper doesn't work out the way she planned. Annie knows she's ready for bigger challenges, but it feels like every time she keeps her calm and saves the day, she gets punished for her own success. Suddenly she's tired of being the boring old dependable honor student that everyone thinks is getting along just fine. Annie tells her mom she has a right to get angry sometimes, and at first it does feel good to tell people what she really thinks. But can Annie keep her job, her boyfriend, and her family close when getting mad turns into getting even?

In this coming-of-age novel, a white, small-town Kentucky teen uncovers dark secrets while investigating her mother's suspicious death in 1972.In 1972, on Mudas Summers's seventeenth birthday, her beloved Mama, Ella, is found hanging from the rafters of their home. Most people in Peckinpaw, Kentucky, assume that Ella's no-good husband did the deed. Others think Ella grew tired of his abuse and did it herself. Muddy is determined to find out for sure either way, especially once she finds strange papers hidden amongst her mama's possessions. But Peckinpaw keeps its secrets buried deep. Muddy's almost-more-than-friend, Bobby Marshall, knows that better than most. Though he passes for white, one of his ancestors was Frannie Crow, a slave hanged a century ago on nearby Hark Hill Plantation. Adorning the town square is a seat built from Frannie's gallows. A tribute, a relic—and a caution—it's known as Liar's Bench. Now, the answers Muddy seeks soon lead back to Hark Hill, to hatred and corruption that have echoed through the years—and lies she must be brave enough to confront at last.“Glorious… Liar's Bench succeeds on many levels…. Much of any reader's delight will be rooted in savoring the sounds, smells, tastes, and fragrances that enhance her captivating vision of a typical Southern small town during two linked periods of its history.”—Southern Literary Review“This has southern small-town charm… includes recipes and discussion questions and may appeal to those who like Rebecca Wells or Jennifer Chiaverini.”—Booklist“A satisfying mystery with thought-provoking historical elements, written in a sassy Southern voice.”—Historical Novels Review

Four distinct voices weave together the tale of a dysfunctional Montreal family obsessed with climbing the Kabbalah's Tree of Life. This literary debut by Jewish Daily Forward editor Sigal Samuel is reminiscent of Nicole Krauss's The History of Love and Myla Goldberg's Bee Season. The Meyer family lives in Mile End, home to a mashup of hipsters and Hasidic Jews, where down the street crazy Mr. Katz is building a tree out of plucked leaves, toilet paper rolls, and dental floss. When David, a skeptical professor of religion, is diagnosed with an unusual heart murmur, he becomes convinced that his heart is whispering divine secrets. But when David's frenzied attempts to ascend the Tree of Life lead to tragedy, his daughter Samara, who abruptly abandoned religion years earlier, believes it is up to her to finish what she started. As Samara's brother documents her increasingly strange behaviour, it falls to next-door neighbour and Holocaust survivor Chaim Glassman to shatter the silence that divides the members of the Meyer family. But can he break through to them in time? Long-held family secrets square off against faith and secularity in this remarkable debut novel, written with extraordinary heart and intelligence.

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY VULTURE AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Against the Country is a gift for fans of Southern Gothic and metafiction alike. Set in the Virginia pines, and overrun with failed parents, racist sex offenders, cast-off priests, and suicidal chickens, this novel challenges literary convention even as it attacks our national myth—that the rural naturally engenders good, while the urban breeds an inevitable sin.In a voice both perfectly American and utterly new, Ben Metcalf introduces the reader to Goochland County, Virginia—a land of stubborn soil, voracious insects, lackluster farms, and horrifying trees—and details one family's pitiful struggle to survive there. Eventually it becomes clear that Goochland is not merely the author's setting; it is a growing, throbbing menace that warps and scars every one of his characters'lives. Equal parts fiery criticism and icy farce, Against the Country is the most hilarious sermon one is likely to hear on the subject of our native soil, and the starkest celebration of the language our land produced. The result is a literary tour de force that raises the question: Was there ever a narrator, in all our literature, so precise, so far-reaching, so eloquently misanthropic, as the one encountered here?Praise for Against the Country“Iconoclastic... Against the Country has obvious affinities to Southern Gothic, both in its voice and in the delight it takes in rural ignorance and grotesqueries.... [A] country cousin of David Foster Wallace.”—The New York Times Book Review“Exceptional in its verbal brilliance and conscientiousness, Against the Country involves us in a family's anguished and hilarious struggle against the strange dooms that seem peculiar to white rural America. This is a savage and gladdening novel.”—Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland and The Dog“Metcalf's unnamed narrator dazzles with his Puritan deadpan and capacious intellect, not to mention his double-barreled blasts of dark humor and wicked satire.... There are so many brilliant turns of phrase in Against the Country that it's hard to choose favorites, but Metcalf is at his sharpest and most seductive when his antihero does more than blast and blame, when he steps outside his sermons to say something real.... Every note in every solo is sounded with exquisite perfection.”—Slate “Faulknerian... eccentric, magnificent Southern Gothic metafiction.”—Vanity Fair“Ben Metcalf is a brilliant writer, and Against the Country is an ingenious and hilarious novel, a glittering, bitter celebration of how the lousiness of life can be redeemed in the hands (and mouth) of a top-shelf teller of life's stories.”—Sam Lipsyte, author of The Ask and The Fun Parts“A daring conglomeration of every trick, swindle and gimmick possible using only ink and paper, a pulpwood imagination machine so finely and expertly wrought that it can take on Jefferson, Thoreau, the church, patriotism, race relations, sexual identity, J. D. Salinger, the myth of America and a thousand other targets... [Against the Country] is absolutely and completely worth all investment of time and effort, because it is an undeniably beautiful object, sharp as a new razor.”—NPR “One of the more necessary—and most eloquent—expressions of a distinctly American, provincial rage in some years.”—Flavorwire

The love of a family is stronger than even the greatest tragedy...Twenty years after their impulsive marriage, Maggie and Bill Barrett are happily settled into the quiet comfort of their dream home with their three beautiful children. Then, the day after Christmas 2004, their world is shattered apart.Feeling isolated, Bill leaves to try to discover peace on his own. Maggie shuts down, incapable of connecting with her children or even sleeping most nights. Getting by in a daze, she has no idea how to begin picking up the pieces of their lives.Enter Kate: a woman who placed an ad in the paper to be a housekeeper and companion to a family. Kate has secrets and sorrows of her own, but her gentle caring has an immediate effect on the children—and on Maggie herself. When Bill announces that he's fallen for another woman, Maggie realizes that she will have to fight to put her family back together. But after all they've been through, can anything truly fix their broken ties?

Bernie only needs $99 for freedom, but he can't make a dimeBernie Segal has a lot of normal problems—like algebra, his height, and a sister who insists he help her learn her lines for the stupid school play. But he also has a lot of not-so-normal problems, like dealing with his father's death. His mother is about to remarry, and the thought of having a new man around the house makes Bernie sick. To get out of being at the wedding, Bernie decides to fly to Miami to live with his grandfather. All he needs is $99 for airfare—but where is he going to get the money? Bernie's asthma means he can't do anything strenuous, like having a paper route, so he's forced to take lame jobs, even babysitting, to get the cash. But as the date for his great escape approaches, Bernie begins to wonder if he's really trying to run away from the wedding and his new stepfather, or if he is running from himself. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.

“A stupendous, thought-provoking, devilishly delicious novel that reads like Zen koan meets Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man... Highly recommended” (Library Journal, starred review).Everything Happens Today records a single day in the life of Wes, a seventeen-year-old who attends Manhattan's elite Dalton School and lives in Greenwich Village in a dilapidated town house with his terminally ill mother, distant father, and beloved younger sister. In the course of one day everything will happen to Wes: he will lose his virginity to the wrong girl and break his own heart, try to meet a Monday morning deadline for a paper on War and Peace, and prepare an elaborate supper he hopes will reunite his family. Wes struggles through the day deep in thoughts of sex, love, Beatles lyrics, friendship, God, and French cuisine—a typical teenager with an atypical mind, a memorable young man who comes to the poignant understanding of how fragile but attainable personal happiness can be.“A deeply compassionate novel by a very fine writer.” —Joseph O'Neill, author of Netherland

Curl up with Cathy Lamb, an author you will come to cherish, as she makes you laugh, cry and reach for the chocolate. Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls their mother has written them a letter on pink paper when she has something especially important to tell them. And this time, the message is urgent and impossible to ignore, she requires open heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and to take care of their brother, Henry, and ailing grandmother. Poignant, funny, and as irresistible as one of the Bommarito Bakery's delicious giant cupcakes, Henry's Sisters is a novel about family and forgiveness, about mothers and daughters, and about gaining the wisdom to look ahead while still holding tight to everything that matters most.

A lonely widow's second chance at love isn't the only surprise this family is getting for Christmas in this romance by a New York Times bestseller.Montana winters are harsh, but bad weather won't get in the way of the Calders'Christmas reunion. Patriarch Chase Calder is determined to make this holiday the happiest yet—especially for his daughter, Cat. And Chase knows the best gifts aren't always done up in paper and ribbon...It's high time for widowed Cat to have a man in her life again, whether she'll admit it or not. But Chase has more than one ace up his sleeve—he's been thinking long and hard, and this secret Santa will bring joy to the whole clan. As the magical season begins with a glorious snowfall, the Calders share a host of surprises—including a mystery solved, a special visitor, and the greatest gift of all: love, the forever kind.Praise for Janet Dailey and her Christmas novels“The spirit of Christmas permeates this charming holiday romance.” —RT Book Reviews on Merry Christmas, Cowboy“In what has become a delightful annual tradition, Dailey creates a lovely Christmas romance.” —RT Book Reviews on A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree“A definite stocking stuffer.” —Library Journal“A surefire winner.” —Publishers Weekly

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

In the sequel to her beloved Six of One, Rita Mae Brown returns with another witty tale of passion and rivalry in the small Southern town of Runnymede, Maryland. Newspaper editor Nickel Smith is scrambling to save the local paper from corporate extinction, even as she is engaged in an affair that would shock the town as much as it amazes Nickel herself. Meanwhile, her mother, Julia, and her aunt Louise, the infamous Hunsenmeir sisters, who've set the town on its ears for decades, keep an eagle eye on Nickel. No matter that she's a grown woman and that they're going on ninety; they need someone to gossip about! Not even the town's weekly bingo games can keep Louise and Julia out of trouble when Ed Tutweiler Walters, an eligible newcomer, arrives in town—and has the sisters fighting over him like schoolgirls. A telling look at the foibles of modern relationships, Bingo is full of wisdom about the comforts, trials, and absurdities of small-town life and especially of our own nearest and dearest.

From the blood-soaked streets of 1870s Paris, to the student riots of the 1960s; from the barren, Australian desert to the penal colonies of 19th Century New Caledonia - a magnificent epic novel of revolution, obsession and buried secrets.'I felt always that the crumbling paper must hold something that was more like speaking flesh and blood that somewhere amid these shreds I would learn something of this family lost to silence; something about a house that was quickly abandoned and a family divided, and then all gates shut on the past.'A young Australian man arrives in riot-ravaged Paris, armed with an old manuscript written in French and an obsessive desire to piece together the fragments of a mystery that has haunted him since childhood. His journey takes him back and forth in time, over the ruins of desert and city, and through the veils and mirages of history and memory.From the blood-soaked streets of the 1870 siege of Paris, to the tear-gas and chaos of its student riots of 1968; from the desolate, windswept Australian desert to the appalling dank prisons of 19th Century New Caledonia, Deception tells an epic story of a search for truth, spanning continents and generations.Michael Meehan is the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Salt of Broken Tears and Stormy Weather. Deception, his long-awaited third novel, is a triumph of storytelling, imagery and language, a powerful, haunting work from a writer with'an imagination of another order'(The Australian).'. complex, intellectually rich and often intriguing'- ABR'. told in opulent prose, sentences and paragraphs that build to irresistible crescendos. lusciously complex.'- Canberra Times'. quietly accomplished, intricately evoking a shifting cycle of disparate settings and times, while keeping its steady focus on the family mysteries at its core.'- Weekend Australian

Don Victor Sobrevilla, a lovable, eccentric engineer, always dreamed of founding a paper factory in the heart of the Peruvian rain forest, and at the opening of this miraculous novel his dream has come true—until he discovers the recipe for cellophane. In a life already filled with signs and portents, the family dog suddenly begins to cough strangely. A wild little boy turns azurite blue. All at once Don Victor is overwhelmed by memories of his erotic past; his prim wife, Doña Mariana, reveals the shocking truth about her origins; the three Sobrevilla children turn their love lives upside down; the family priest blurts out a long-held secret....A hilarious plague of truth has descended on the once well-behaved Sobrevillas, only the beginning of this brilliantly realized, generous-hearted novel. Marie Arana's style, originality, and trenchant wit will establish her as one of the most audacious talents in fiction today and Cellophane as one of the most evocative and spirited novels of the year.

In her previous work, Christine Pisera Naman has become well-known for sharing the small but inspiring lessons she has learned from the real-life struggles and triumphs of average people. Christmas Lights, Naman's first work of fiction, evokes that same warmth and tenderness in stories set during the holiday season and centered on the lives of ordinary women. In separate vignettes, we meet Katherine, who is taking care of her ailing husband; Julianna, juggling with construction paper, scissors, and rubber cement in a room full of high-spirited four-year-olds; Adrianna, struggling with the difficulties of marriage; Cassandra, the busy mother of toddlers; Victoria, searching for a love to call her own; Alexandra, a young woman waiting for word from her doctor about an uncertain diagnosis; and Isabella, discovering the gift of motherhood. The lives of all the women come together in a moving conclusion that perfectly captures the heart and soul of the holiday spirit. Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and poignant, Christmas Lights celebrates the most significant aspects of the season. Small, beautifully designed, and full of festive cheer, it is the ideal gift for anyone longing to rediscover the magic of Christmas.

From National Book Award-nominated authors Laura and Tom McNealAudrey and her two best friends have just transferred to Jemison High from their tiny private school. They're a nerdy little trio, so everyone is shocked when the handsome new guy, Wickham Hill, asks Audrey out. Audrey is so smitten that she doesn't pay much attention to The Yellow Paper, a vicious underground school newspaper...until it threatens to tell a tale that could change everything.

No one writes about Italian-American families with the humor, warmth, and heart of Peter Pezzelli. Now, with Francesca's Kitchen, he delivers another winning novel about how much we need the closeness of family--even if we don't know it. Where There's Food, There's Family For years, Francesca Campanile was the queen of her home. Standing in her Rhode Island kitchen, making sauce from sun-ripened tomatoes, dropping in basil from her garden, and adding fresh onion, Francesca dispensed advice as liberally as she did the garlic, arguing nonstop with her son and two daughters. It was wonderful. But now, her children and their children have moved away. And for the widowed Francesca, no longer having a family around to pester, annoy, guide, love, harangue and, of course, cook for, makes her feel useless. Who is she without them? What she needs is another family that needs her, and when she sees Loretta Simmons's ad in the Providence paper for a part-time nanny, she's sure she's found it. All the single mom wants is someone to fill in for a few hours a day. But it's obvious to Francesca that Loretta and her kids need more--a lot more. Loretta's struggling to make ends meet. Every man she brings home is a disaster. And her kids could definitely use some guidance--and a little lasagna, frankly. In these frazzled, disconnected people, Francesca senses a hunger and loneliness as deep as her own. It's time for Francesca to work her magic--if she can--and the best place to start is the kitchen... Funny and moving, with a heroine to adore, Francesca's Kitchen is a delicious story about sharing love, life, advice, and, above all, food. Peter Pezzelli was born and raised in Rhode Island. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he lives with his wife, two children and their dog in Rhode Island where, most days, he is busy at work on his next novel. Every Sunday, however, if he's not riding his bike, you'll find him and his family at the dinner table, enjoying a plate of rabes and sausage, or a nice fritatta, or some other favorite Italian dish cooked up by his wife. Praise for the Novels of Peter Pezzelli Every Sunday'A sweet, brave, and funny novel--with a heart as big as the entire state of Rhode Island.'--Claire Cook, author of Must Love Dogs Home To ItalyA BookSense Pick!'A beautiful novel...Peter Pezzelli captures the warmth of Italy--family, friendships, and food--invites us into the world of his wonderful characters, and takes us full circle on a journey of life and love.'--Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author'Bighearted and wise, Home to Italy is a charming ode to the romance of new beginnings and the Italian gusto for life. Peter Pezzelli's tale of a widower who returns to his childhood town in Abruzzo to rebuild his life, only to be struck by the legendary thunderbolt of love, is a continuous delight.'--Louisa Ermelino, author of Joey Dee Gets Wise'With heartwarming touches of humor, Home to Italy reaffirms that life can always be renewed. This is a wonderfully satisfying romance that brings to life the sights, sounds and tastes of Italy.'--Romantic Times'A warmhearted novel, perfect for an autumn evening in front of the fire.'--Litchfield Enquirer

If you enjoyed the Pilot's Girl series by bestselling author Fenella J. Miller, don't miss The Pilot's Story Missing, presumed dead…For Squadron Leader Alex Everton dogfights in his Spitfire have become his way of life. He knows every time he goes up in the air, he might not make it home again, but he'll keep fighting anyway.The boys in blue seem to be winning the Battle of Britain, but during a raid over Dieppe the Luftwaffe gain the upper hand and Alex's spitfire is shot down. Alex expects to either drown in the water beneath him or be incarcerated in a German prisoner of war camp. Instead, he becomes an evader, dodging the enemy as he tries to get back home to Blighty.If his luck holds, Alex will soon be reunited with his beloved wife Barbara, but it's a long way from Dieppe to Gibraltar then home and his journey is fraught with danger, disaster and difficulty.A gripping and authentic tale of courage, duty and bravery, perfect for fans of Lizzie Lane, Patricia McBride and Rosie Clarke.Praise for Fenella J. Miller:'Yet again, Fenella Miller has thrilled me with another of her historical stories. She brings alive a variety of emotions and weaves in facts relating to the era, all of which keep me reading into the small hours'Glynis Peters'Curl up in a chair with Fenella J Miller's characters and lose yourself in another time and another place'Lizzie Lane'Engaging characters and setting which whisks you back to the home front of wartime Britain. A fabulous series!'Jean Fullerton'Loved every word of this book. Fenella is a great author and leaves her books with you wanting more. I can't wait to read the next one'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reader ReviewPlease note: This was originally published as A Long Way Back

A debut literary page-turner from a new South African voice about fatherhood and family, loyalty and betrayal, inheritance and belonging. Daniel is a worldly and urbane journalist living in London. His relationships appear to be sexually fulfilling but sentimentally meager. A young gay man with no relationships outside of sexual ones, he can seem at once callow and, at times, cold to the point of cruel with his lovers. Emotionally distant from his elderly, senile father, Daniel nonetheless returns to South Africa to care for him during his final months. Following his father's death, Daniel learns of an unusual clause in the old man's will: he will only inherit his half of his father's considerable estate once he has spent time with Theon, a cousin whom he hasn't seen since they were boys, who lives on the old family farm in the Free State. Once there, Daniel discovers that the young son of the woman Theon lives with is seriously ill. With the conditions bearing on Daniel's inheritance shifting in real time, Theon and Daniel travel with the boy to Japan for an experimental cure and a voyage that will change their lives forever. S.J. Naudé's masterful novel is many things at once: a literary page-turner full of vivid, unexpected characters and surprising twists; a loving and at times shockingly raw portrayal of its protagonist's complex psyche; and a devastatingly subtle look into South Africa's fraught recent history.

Written by iconic Egyptian novelist Ihsan Abdel Kouddous, this classic of love, desire, and family breakdown smashed through taboos when first published in Arabic and continues to captivate audiences todayIt is 1950s Cairo and 16-year-old Amina is engaged to a much older man. Despite all the excitement of the wedding preparations, Amina is not looking forward to her nuptials. And it is not because of the age gap or because of the fact that she does not love, or even really know, her fiancé. No, it is because she is involved with another man.This other man is Dr Hashim Abdel-Latif, and while he is Amina's first love, she is certainly not his. Also many years her senior, Hashim is well-known in polite circles for his adventures with women. A Nose and Three Eyes tells the story of Amina's love affair with Hashim, and that of two other young women: Nagwa and Rihab.A Nose and Three Eyes is a story of female desire and sexual awakening, of love and infatuation, and of exploitation and despair. It quietly critiques the strictures put upon women by conservative social norms and expectations, while a subtle undercurrent of political censure was carefully aimed at the then Nasser regime. As such, it was both deeply controversial and wildly popular when first published in the 1960s. Still a household name, this novel, and its author, have stood the test of time and remain relevant and highly readable today.

The most thrilling work yet from the best-selling, prize-winning author of The Newlyweds and Lost and Wanted, a stunning new novel set in French Polynesia and New York City about three characters who undergo massive transformations over the course of a single year“A big-hearted, tightly-plotted novel that bravely takes on our times by looking at the timeless stuff of human intimacy. The Limits is an immersive and powerful book.” –Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World BehindFrom Mo'orea, a tiny volcanic island off the coast of Tahiti, a French biologist obsessed with saving Polynesia's imperiled coral reefs sends her teenage daughter to live with her ex-husband in New York. By the time fifteen-year-old Pia arrives at her father Stephen's luxury apartment in Manhattan and meets his new, younger wife, Kate, she has been shuttled between her parents'disparate lives—her father's consuming work as a surgeon at an overwhelmed New York hospital, her mother's relentless drive against a ticking ecological clock—for most of her life. Fluent in French, intellectually precocious, moving between cultures with seeming ease, Pia arrives in New York poised for a rebellion, just as COVID sends her and her stepmother together into near total isolation. A New York City schoolteacher, Kate struggles to connect with a teenager whose capacity for destruction seems exceeded only by her privilege. Even as Kate fails to parent Pia—and questions her own ability to become a mother—one of her sixteen-year-old students is already caring for a toddler full time. Athyna's love for her nephew, Marcus, is a burden that becomes heavier as she struggles to finish her senior year online. Juggling her manifold responsibilities, Athyna finds herself more and more anxious every time she leaves the house. Just as her fear of what is waiting for her outside her Staten Island community feels insupportable, an incident at home makes her desperate to leave.When their lives collide, Pia and Athyna spiral toward parallel but inescapably different tragedies. Moving from a South Pacific “paradise,” where rage still simmers against the colonial government and its devastating nuclear tests, to the extreme inequalities of twenty-first century New York City, The Limits is an unforgettably moving novel about nation, race, class, and family. Heart-wrenching and humane, a profound work from one of America's most prodigiously gifted novelists.

A moving tale about a brave hearing-impaired teen losing his vision, told through the perspective of his loving sister in poetry, prose, and the sign-language alphabet.Carlo is a teenager who happens to be hearing-impaired and can see only out of one eye. Now that eye is failing, and Carlo must have an operation to try to save his vision. His fierce and funny sister Emma, Carlo's closest companion, begins writing poems that express the fear she works hard to hide, while his seeing-eye dog Lulù remains steadfastly at his side. But even with the support and affection of his family, how can Carlo face such uncertainty? And what will happen if he can no longer communicate with them? Before Nightfall is a book about trust, imagination, empathy, and language, narrated through the poems Emma types and through prose passages told from multiple perspectives and illustrated with sign-language alphabet, drawn by the Italian artist Sualzo. Despite the immense challenges Carlo and Emma face, their story is one of hope and wonder.