Lowry's third novel about J.P. and his sister has J.P. in love and doing all sorts of weird things, such as wearing deodorant and even telling a lie to impress Angela. Views: 14
The Hours is both an homage to Virginia Woolf and very much its
own creature. Even as Michael Cunningham brings his literary idol back
to life, he intertwines her story with those of two more contemporary
women. One gray suburban London morning in 1923, Woolf awakens from a
dream that will soon lead to Mrs. Dalloway.
In the present, on a beautiful June day in Greenwich Village,
52-year-old Clarissa Vaughan is planning a party for her oldest love, a
poet dying of AIDS. And in Los Angeles in 1949, Laura Brown, pregnant
and unsettled, does her best to prepare for her husband's birthday, but
can't seem to stop reading Woolf. These women's lives are linked both
by the 1925 novel and by the few precious moments of possibility each
keeps returning to. Clarissa is to eventually realize:
There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives
seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us
everything we've ever imagined.... Still, we cherish the city, the
morning; we hope, more than anything, for more. As
Cunningham moves between the three women, his transitions are seamless.
One early chapter ends with Woolf picking up her pen and composing her
first sentence, "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."
The next begins with Laura rejoicing over that line and the fictional
universe she is about to enter. Clarissa's day, on the other hand, is a
mirror of Mrs. Dalloway's--with, however, an appropriate degree of
modern beveling as Cunningham updates and elaborates his source of
inspiration. Clarissa knows that her desire to give her friend the
perfect party may seem trivial to many. Yet it seems better to her than
shutting down in the face of disaster and despair. Like its literary
inspiration, The Hours is a hymn to consciousness and the
beauties and losses it perceives. It is also a reminder that, as
Cunningham again and again makes us realize, art belongs to far more
than just "the world of objects." Views: 14
Native American beauty Sunny Westcott arrives in town just in time to enjoy the hundredth annual Pendleton Round-Up rodeo. With the help of a handsome cowboy, she hopes to uncover family secrets at a nearby reservation. Will Sunny life what she finds out? Views: 14
After a close friend commits suicide, Faith, Monique, and Shannon head to the beach cottage on Hilton Head Island. Determined to heed her advice and make the most of their lives, they make a pact to spend the summer embracing new adventures. They also embrace new men and a new best friend along the way.Filled with profound passion and sensuality, witty dialogue and richly drawn characters, this is a story of women having fun, embracing life, taking charge, and doing the things they want –and discovering in the process that everyone deserves to kick the routine every once in a while, let their hair down and explore new things. And if the right man comes along, especially one who is willing to make an already hot summer even hotter, then pushing the envelope just might give her life the jolt it needs. Views: 14
Richard Cathar recalls his recently deceased father, Alaric, as a delusional hippie, one who fancied himself an intellectual and a historian. One of many far-fetched claims was that he had discovered—and then lost—documentation of a meeting between his hero, Richard the Lionheart, and Robin Hood after the Third Crusade. In a quest to sort out the fact and fiction of his father’s life, Richard (named for the legendary king) leaves London and travels to Jerusalem, where he falls in love with the mysterious Noor, a journalist who herself has many secrets. Back in England, he continues his research, finding his own evidence that Richard the Lionheart recovered the True Cross from Saladin. Again he sets out, this time on the trail of the True Cross, which leads him through the Middle East and Europe—and to the powerful sense that myth and history may be inseparable. Justin Cartwright’s latest novel is an utter original. Full of insight into the life and times of Richard the Lionheart, it is exciting, deeply moving, funny, and profound.** Views: 14
The New York Times bestselling authors of Celebutantes return with a dazzling new novel set among the star-studded crowds of the Cannes Film Festival, where everyone's hoping to discover, sign, screw or become the Next Big Thing. And a three-picture deal would be nice. Lola Santisi—CEO of a struggling fashion line, reformed Actorholic and daughter of Hollywood Royalty—is now not only bicoastal, she's Bi-Lolar: That is the condition which causes her to swing like a pendulum between the opposing poles of the fashion world in New York and the real world with her Doctor Boyfriend in Los Angeles. She hardly knows which shoe fits her anymore: the Louboutin stiletto or the Croc. As Lola tries to launch Julian Tennant's new dress line, it looks like they're about to get their next big break: his wedding dresses have been chosen to feature in the top film at the Cannes Film Festival. And suddenly Lola is staging a... Views: 14
