Apricot Jam: And Other Stories

After years of living in exile, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia in 1994 and published a series of eight powerfully paired stories. These groundbreaking stories— interconnected and juxtaposed using an experimental method Solzhenitsyn referred to as “binary”—join Solzhenitsyn’s already available work as some of the most powerful literature of the twentieth century.With Soviet and post-Soviet life as their focus, they weave and shift inside their shared setting, illuminating the Russian experience under the Soviet regime. In “The Upcoming Generation,” a professor promotes a dull but proletarian student purely out of good will. Years later, the same professor finds himself arrested and, in a striking twist of fate, his student becomes his interrogator. In “Nastenka,” two young women with the same name lead routine, ordered lives—until the Revolution exacts radical change on them both.The most eloquent and acclaimed opponent of government oppression, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, and his work continues to receive international acclaim. Available for the first time in English, Apricot Jam: And Other Stories is a striking example of Solzhenitsyn’s singular style and only further solidifies his place as a true literary giant.ReviewPraise for Apricot Jam"A haunting meditation on [Solzenhitsyn's] lifetime’s dominant theme . . . Solzhenitsyn writes in bracing prose, eschewing artifice." —Financial Times"The best stories in this collection stand among Solzhenitsyn’s best work, and present a depth seldom found in the short story form . . . these latest stories are a significant contribution to his work available in English." —Full-Stop.net"Via fiction he interrogates history, and reveals truth." —RIA NovostiAbout the AuthorAleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his writings, particularly The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, he helped to make the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system. Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974 and returned to Russia in 1994. He died on August 2, 2008.
Views: 41

Once Hunted

"A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page." —Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone) ONCE HUNTED is book #5 in the bestselling Riley Paige mystery series, which begins with the #1 bestseller ONCE GONE (Book #1)—a free download with over 600 five star reviews! A prison break from a maximum security prison. Frantic calls from the FBI. Special Agent Riley Paige's worst nightmare has come true: a serial killer she put away years ago is loose. And his main target is her.Riley is used to being the one hunting, but for the first time, she finds herself—and her family—to be the ones being hunted. As the killer...
Views: 41

Lesson to Learn

Read this classic romance by New York Times bestselling author Penny Jordan, now available for the first time in e-book! Tangled dreams...Gray Philips had hired Sarah to be his son's nanny out of desperation—she alone could reach and comfort the unhappy child.But Gray made no secret of the fact he resented her presence in his home and in his life.Forging a bond between father and son was near impossible task—as was hiding her growing feelings for a man who'd forsaken love and trust...Originally published in 1992
Views: 41

Then Sings My Soul

When Nel Stewart returns home due to the sudden death of her mother, she realizes her beloved father, Jakob, is struggling with dementia.With the reappearance of a high-school sweetheart, deliveries from Ukraine addressed to her, and the discovery of a mysterious, vintage aquamarine gemstone, Nel senses God is pulling her into the past to restore their faith and their futures. Told partially through Jakob's flashbacks of fleeing genocide-ridden eastern Europe at the turn of the twentieth century, the novel combines elements of mystery, history, faith and romance to reveal how God redeems the broken years ... and our future.
Views: 41

Beth and the Bachelor

New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery delivers her acclaimed story about how life—and love—can change in an instant.Beth Davis's fairy-tale days are over…or so the single mother of two thinks. She suddenly finds herself on a date with her very own Prince Charming, millionaire bachelor Todd Graham. He's smart, sexy and very eligible—everything a woman could want in a man. But Beth's a suburban mom, and approaching forty… She's not sure if she's Cinderella material.Todd was supposed to be raising money for charity, not auctioning off his heart, but he never expected to be so taken with his date. Something in Beth's smile captures the Texas tycoon's attention, and suddenly life as a bachelor seems less exciting than it used to. But they're worlds apart, and building a life with Beth isn't as simple as all that. Can these unlikely lovers find their courage—and the fairy-tale ending they deserve?
Views: 41

Four Stories

The Laying on of Hands, the painfully observant account of a memorial service for a masseur to the famous. The Clothes They Stood Up In, the comic tale of an elderly couple's trials after their flat is stripped completely bare. Father! Father! Burning Bright, the savage satire on the family of a dying man who rules over them from his hospital bed. The Lady in the Van, the true story of the eccentric old woman who is invited to live in a homeowner's front garden. She stays there, in her van, for fifteen years. The home is Alan Bennett's. It became a West End hit, starring Maggie Smith.Like everything Bennett does, these stories are playful, witty and painfully observant of ordinary people's foibles. They all have brilliant twists, are immensely entertaining and highly moral. And all are modern classics.
Views: 41

Falling Angels

The three daughters of the Field family, aged 17 to 19 are bound together by the love and protection of their fragile alcoholic mother and fear of their abusive father. In a family on the brink of madness, they learn to survive in a dangerously psychotic environment. First published in 1990, FALLING ANGELS is a gripping portrait of a family in trouble, by the author of the highly acclaimed MISTER SANDMAN.From Publishers WeeklyAfter opening on the 1969 funeral of a woman who fell or leaped from a rooftop, this narrative shifts to the 1950s; through her three daughters, we learn that she is an alcoholic who once dropped or threw an infant son over Niagara Falls. "Scrupulously and evocatively wrought, with fully formed characters, it poses but does not quite resolve a mystery rooted in character and fate," said PW. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalDisenchanted eccentrics wending their way through eerie situations seem to be the dominant theme in most of the postmodern "new fiction." Troublesome as these forays into nihilism's gloomy landscapes are, an effective work of new fiction is as bracing as a dive into a chilly pond, offering more than a few surprises with its odd meld of quirky characters and wickedly audacious scenes. Gowdy's is one such dark gem of a novel. Through a series of vignettes it charts the lives of the Field family, recounting bouts of alcoholism, neglect, and verbal abuse. A story otherwise laden with sad escapades, Fallen Angels remains lively throughout because of the inventiveness and strength of its main characters: Lou, Norma, and Sandy. These three unfortunate sisters will amaze readers with their ability to endure the many traumas of childhood and adolescence, despite the antics of their even more unfortunate parents. This coming-of-age novel is not likely to appeal to those who wear a shield of optimism.-Lauren Bielski,"Printing News"Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Views: 41

Funny Once

Michael Chabon once said, "I scan the tables of contents of magazines, looking for Antonya Nelson's name, hoping that she has decided to bless us again." And now she has blessed us again, with a bounty of the stories for which she is so beloved. Her stories are clear-eyed, hard-edged, beautifully formed. In the title story, "Funny Once," a couple held together by bad behavior fall into a lie with their more responsible friends. In "The Village," a woman visits her father at a nursing home, recalling his equanimity at her teenage misdeeds and gaining a new understanding of his own past indiscretions. In another, when a troubled girl in the neighborhood goes missing, a mother worries increasingly about her teenage son's relationship with a bad-news girlfriend. In the novella "Three Wishes," siblings muddle through in the aftermath of their elder brother's too-early departure from the world.The landscape of this book is the wide open spaces of Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and...
Views: 41