The year is 1905 and King Edward VII has invited himself and his mistress to a shooting weekend with the Dilbernes. Now Isobel, the Countess, must turn a run-down mansion into a palace fit for a king. Just as well the family fortunes have been restored, but money can't solve everything... not even a kidnapping.The servants refuse to condone the King's morals; Isobel's daughter, Lady Rosina - now widowed and wealthy - insists on publishing a scandalous book, and the mis-spent pasts of Viscount Arthur and his Irish-American wife Minnie rear up to blacken the family name. When fate deals a hand in the middle of the shooting party, Isobel must consider not only her leading position in Society, but her entire future.Fay Weldon brings an aristocratic Edwardian household to fabulous, vibrant life in this gorgeously witty tale of manners and morals, commoners and countesses, from one of Britain's best loved authors. Views: 39
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the YearAn Entertainment Weekly Best Novel of the Year An NPR Top Ten Novel of the YearA Washington Post Notable Book of the YearEsquire Book of the YearA jury chooses a memorial for the victims of a devastating terrorist attack on Manhattan, only to learn that the anonymous designer is an American Muslim -- an enigmatic architect named Mohammad Khan. His selection reverberates across a divided, traumatized country and, more intimately, through individual lives. Claire Burwell, the sole widow on the jury, becomes Khan's fiercest defender. But when the news of his selection becomes public, she comes under pressure from outraged family members and into collision with hungry journalists, opportunistic politicians, and even Khan himself. A story of clashing convictions and emotions, and a cunning satire of political ideals, The Submission is a resonant novel for our times.Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Best Books of the Month, August 2011: Amy Waldman has performed a rare and dangerous feat in writing an airtight, multi-viewed, highly readable post-9/11 novel. When a Muslim architect wins a blind contest to design a Ground Zero Memorial, a city of eleven million people takes notice. Waldman, a former bureau chief for the New York Times, explores a diversity of viewpoints around this fictional event, bringing in politicians, businessmen, journalists, activists, and normal people whose lives--whether by happenstance, choice, or even due to their country of origin--get caught up in the controversy. Incredibly, she manages to keep all the balls in the air without ever fumbling. The story is moving and keeps the pages turning, but there are also bigger themes at work: of individuals versus groups; about the purpose of art, commerce, government, and journalism in society; of how people respond to grief and terror. The result is honest, compelling, and breathtaking.--Chris SchluepReview“A masterful debut . . . Waldman unspools her story with the truth-bound grit of a seasoned journalist and the elegance of a born novelist.” —Entertainment Weekly“Gripping, deeply intelligent . . . panoramic in scope but thrillingly light on its feet . . . [A] dazzling tapestry of a grieving city.” —Kimberly Cutter, Marie Claire "The Submission reads as if the author had embraced Tom Wolfe's famous call for a new social realism...and in doing so has come up with a story that has more verisimilitude, more political resonance, and way more heart than Mr. Wolfe's own 1987 bestseller, The Bonfire of the Vanities."—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Book Review"A gorgeously written novel of ideas...The Submission is sure to generate a lot of discussion in book clubs across the land."—NPR's Fresh Air"Addictively readable...Not unlike The Wire's David Simon...Waldman has an eye for the less sound bite-worthy but crucial ways in which ideology and influence make their imprint on the world."—Vogue Views: 39
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jon Katz's Going Home."Dogs are blameless, devoid of calculation, neither blessed nor cursed with human motives. They can't really be held responsible for what they do. But we can." --from The Dogs of Bedlam Farm When Jon Katz adopted a border collie named Orson, his whole world changed. Gone were the two yellow Labs he wrote about in A Dog Year, as was the mountaintop cabin they loved. Katz moved into an old farmhouse on forty-two acres of pasture and woods with a menagerie: a ram named Nesbitt, fifteen ewes, a lonely donkey named Carol, a baby donkey named Fanny, and three border collies. Training Orson was a demanding project. But a perceptive dog trainer and friend told Katz: "If you want to have a better dog, you will just have to be a better goddamned human." It was a lesson Katz took to heart. He now sees his dogs as a reflection of his willingness to improve,... Views: 39
Tully and Sage each have a full plate, but will they make room for a side of love? Views: 39
Now that she is finally and happily married to her long-term suitor Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency of Botswana might have expected life to grow more sedate. But the many problems that lead customers to Mma Ramotswe’s door seem, if anything, to have multiplied, and no sooner has she settled her traditionally built person into the married state than she finds herself looking into several troublesome matters at once. There is, to begin with, a disturbing case of blackmail and theft from the Government catering college. Then, while on an errand for her husband to the Mokolodi Game Reserve Mma Ramotswe is seconded to investigate an unpleasant atmosphere that may be down to witchcraft, or something worse. There are sinister goings-on at a health clinic to be looked into, not to mention any number of small wrongs to be righted along the path to detective triumph. And all the time Mma Ramotswe has weighty questions of a philosophical nature to consider, such as whether it is right to find happiness in small things, such as a new pair of blue shoes, a slice of cake, or a red sunset over the Kalahari. Views: 39
Since his reemergence with the publication of The Old Boys, Charles McCarry has been heralded as one of the few espionage writers whose books break out of the genre to shine as brilliant novels. The Secret Lovers is a McCarry tale at its finest– an exploration of the spying game, but also a riveting psychological portrait of a man ensnared by his own profession. A courier delivers a dissident Russian manuscript to Paul Christopher early one morning in West Berlin; minutes later, the courier is dead. Meanwhile in Rome, Christopher’s wife takes a lover to stir her husband out of his stoicism. These two seemingly discrete events set in motion a spiral of Cold War intrigue, both personal and political, that leads Christopher from Europe to the Congo. In this relentlessly suspenseful novel, McCarry, who "surpasses Len Deighton and John le Carre" (Washington Post), builds his multilayered story to a outstandingly satisfying end. Views: 39
As Confederate and Union soldiers take over their town, the local residents can do little more than hunker down in their homes while cannon and gunfire explode around them. But the battles are not only fought between soldiers. At home, fourteen-year-old Tacy and her disabled brother lock horns as David struggles with his desire to go to war. He has strong principles, and it tortures him to allow others to fight while he does nothing.In the aftermath of this great and terrible battle, in whichso many soldiers sacrifice their lives for their beliefs, David gives his last full measure...and leaves Tacy struggling to make sense out of it all. Views: 39
Patrick Hayward isn’t used to feeling helpless. He’s a man of action used to controlling his destiny. But falling in love with Emma Scarlett had a way of upending everything, his sanity included. Locked away as inmate number one-three-seven-oh for a crime he didn’t commit, Patrick spends his days slopping toxic sludge onto trays, resisting the urge to tear the scratchy, orange jumpsuit from his body, and making sure every hardened criminal behind bars with him knows he’s the biggest and baddest of them all. With the help of his handy little gift of teleportation, his nights are spent watching a certain green eyed goddess from the shadows. When he discovers a couple of Inheritors stalking her one night, he realizes the obstacle of explaining who and what he is to Emma might not be the biggest battle they face. Views: 39
A Vicarage Family is the first part in a fictionalized autobiography in which Noel Streatfeild tells the story of her own childhood, painting a poignant and vivid picture of daily life in an impoverished, genteel family in the years leading up to the First World War.Once there were three little girls - Isobel, the eldest, was pretty, gentle and artistic; Louise the youngest, was sweet and talented - and then there was Vicky, 'the plain one', the awkward and rebellious one who didn't fit in at school or at home. Growing up in a big family Vicky feels overlooked but gradually begins to realize that she might not be quite as untalented as she feels. The Vicky of this story is, of course, the much-loved Noel Streatfeild who went on to write so many wonderful family stories, the most famous being Ballet Shoes. Views: 39
In book two of the bestselling Chronicles of the Overworld trilogy, Nihal and Sennar forge ahead on their questNihal joins the most prestigious chivalric order of the Overworld: the Dragon Knights. Sent to complete her training, she finds herself up against a determined and valiant gnome, an Oarf named Ido. The encounter shakes Nihal's certainties; suddenly, she realizes that there are those who fight for higher ideals than mere revenge. At the same time, she is forced to face her shadowy past and solve the mystery of a stone that seems to have tremendous power.Meanwhile, Sennar is promoted to the Council of Sorcerers, which leads the resistance against the Tyrant in the lands that are still free. Sennar is sent to the Underworld, a watery realm about which very little is known, to request military aid. It is an almost hopeless mission. Together, Nihal and Sennar must try their hardest to emerge victorious. Views: 38
With his U.S.A. trilogy, comprising THE 42nd PARALLEL, 1919, and THE BIG MONEY, John Dos Passos is said by many to have written the great American novel. While Fitzgerald and Hemingway were cultivating what Edmund Wilson once called their "own little corners," John Dos Passos was taking on the world. Counted as one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Modern Library and by some of the finest writers working today, U.S.A. is a grand, kaleidoscopic portrait of a nation, buzzing with history and life on every page. The trilogy opens with THE 42nd PARALLEL, where we find a young country at the dawn of the twentieth century. Slowly, in stories artfully spliced together, the lives and fortunes of five characters unfold. Mac, Janey, Eleanor, Ward, and Charley are caught on the storm track of this parallel and blown New Yorkward. As their lives cross and double back again, the likes of Eugene Debs, Thomas Edison, and Andrew Carnegie make cameo appearances.Review"David Drummond is fully invested in the project.... His interpretation fits Dos Passos's unique style...Drummond's approach brings listeners into this distinctive fictional world with fervor and energy." ---AudioFileReview"The single greatest novel any of us have written, yes, in this country in the last one hundred years." -- Norman Mailer Views: 38
