Peter and Rebecca Harris: mid-forties denizens of Manhattan’s SoHo, nearing the apogee of committed careers in the arts—he a dealer, she an editor. With a spacious loft, a college-age daughter in Boston, and lively friends, they are admirable, enviable contemporary urbanites with every reason, it seems, to be happy. Then Rebecca’s much younger look-alike brother, Ethan (known in the family as Mizzy, “the mistake”), shows up for a visit. A beautiful, beguiling twenty-three-year-old with a history of drug problems, Mizzy is wayward, at loose ends, looking for direction. And in his presence, Peter finds himself questioning his artists, their work, his career—the entire world he has so carefully constructed. Like his legendary, Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Hours , Michael Cunningham’s masterly new novel is a heartbreaking look at the way we live now. Full of shocks and aftershocks, it makes us think and feel deeply about the uses and meaning of beauty and the place of love in our lives. Views: 11
With her eye for the unending power plays between the genders, Fay Weldon chronicles two decades in the lives of three generations of women—and has a devilish good time doing it “Down among the women. What a place to be!” So begins Fay Weldon’s novel, opening onto 1950s London, where Wanda, a former radical who has left her husband, has raised her daughter Scarlet to be as tough and independent as she is. But twenty-year-old Scarlet has already had one abortion, and is about to become a single mother to the child she’ll call Byzantia. The novel also follows the lives of Scarlet’s friends: Sylvia, a born victim; respectable Jocelyn, hopelessly trapped in her dull, bourgeois existence; Audrey, who finally breaks out of her conventional life; and Helen, beautiful, vibrant, and doomed. Over the course of twenty years, they will discover it’s never too late to become the women they are meant to be. Views: 11
"We are each the love of someone's life." So begins The Confessions of Max Tivoli,a heartbreaking love story with a narrator like no other. Born with the physical appearance of an elderly man, Max grows older mentally like any child, but his body appears to age backwards, growing younger every year. And yet, his physical curse proves to be a blessing, allowing him to try to win the heart of the same woman three times as at each successive encounter she fails to recognize him, taking him for a stranger, so giving Max another chance at love. Set against the historical backdrop of San Francisco at the turn of the twentieth century, The Confessions of Max Tivoli is a beautiful and daring feat of the imagination, questioning the very nature of love, time, and what it means to be human. ** Views: 11
Poppy Z. Brite, author of four novels, LOST SOULS, DRAWING BLOOD, EXQUISITE CORPSE, and THE LAZARUS HEART, plus several collections of short stories, has gone to the edge and back with ARE YOU LOATHSOME TONIGHT (titled SELF-MADE MAN in Europe). Join Poppy as she explores the outermost regions of murder, passion, death and religion in twelve extraordinary short stories. Views: 11
Ranging from the short and ever-so-sweet to make-you-cry passionate, Best Lesbian Romance 2010 is essential reading for anyone who favors the highly imaginative, the deeply sensual, and the very loving. Radclyffe's romance collections are eagerly anticipated each year because they keep getting better and better. Best Lesbian Romance 2010 revels in the seduction, love, and relationships that happen between women. All readers will enjoy these stories of romance by the best in the genre, including Sommer Marsden, Sacchi Green, Evan Mora, Andrea Dale, and the grand master Radclyffe herself. Whether readers are looking for young love, mature love, or lost love, these stories will more than fill the bill. Contributors include Colette Moody, Hannah Quin, Anna-Marie McLemore, Jean Roberta, Nell Stark, Trinity Tam, Shannon Dargue, Erin O'Riordan, and Dalia Craig. Views: 11
In this second installment of Melody Carlson's engaging Four Lindas series, four fifty-something women discover you really can go home again…but it's not always easy! After decades out of touch, four fifty-something childhood friends have returned to the little coastal town of Clifden, Oregon, where they grew up. They look forward to supporting one another as they reinvent their lives. But second acts can be a challenge, and each woman feels the stretch. Views: 11
Peter Dunstan is a big rancher who wants to become bigger, to control more land. So when he buys Dr. Henry Morgan's ranchland that has been unsuccessfully converted to farming, it is his intention to return it to open range. The only stipulation the doctor makes is that Dunstan must retain Sandy Sweyn, who has more or less been Dr. Morgan's ward. Though the man is of age, he is generally considered a half-wit, even by the doctor. Still, Sandy has a fabulous gift: he can communicate with animals. The most refractory and savage bronco will yield to his subtly persuasive methods even when expert horse breakers have failed. After Sandy gentles the totally recalcitrant gelding that Dunstan has been trying to break to the reins, he claims that his mare, Cleo, though used only for drudgery, could easily outrun the gelding in a race. Dunstan is so contemptuous of this boast that he bets $5,000 and ownership of the gelding if he loses the race. As it turns out, Cleo readily wins. Rather... Views: 11
A new collection of critical and personal essays on writing, obsession, and inspiration from National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates."Why do we write?"With this question, Joyce Carol Oates begins an imaginative exploration of the writing life, and all its attendant anxieties, joys, and futilities, in this collection of seminal essays and criticism. Leading her quest is a desire to understand the source of the writer's inspiration—do subjects haunt those that might bring them back to life until the writer submits? Or does something "happen" to us, a sudden ignition of a burning flame? Can the appearance of a muse-like Other bring about a writer's best work?In Soul at the White Heat, Oates deploys her keenest critical faculties, conjuring contemporary and past voices whose work she deftly and creatively dissects for clues to these elusive questions. Virginia Woolf, John Updike, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, J.... Views: 11
Sometimes love is the simplest choice of all.Still reeling from her husband's untimely death, Deborah Robinson needs a fresh start. So she decides to pack up her family, box up her bookstore, and return to her grandmother's ancestral home on Cavanaugh Island. The charming town of Sanctuary Cove holds happy memories for Deborah. And, after she spies a gorgeous stranger in the local bakery, it promises the possibility for a bright, new future. Dr. Asa Monroe is at a crossroads. Ever since the loss of his family, he has been on a quest for faith and meaning, traveling from one town to another. When he meets Deborah, the beautiful bookstore owner with the warm eyes and sunny smile, Asa believes he has finally found a reason to stay in one place. As friendship blossoms into romance, Deborah and Asa discover they may have a second chance at love. But small towns have big secrets. Before they can begin their new life together, the couple must... Views: 11
From the New York Times bestselling author of Little Girl Lost comes a brand-new thriller featuring Lucy Black—a twisting, gripping story of secrets and lies, perfect for fans of Louise Penny and Tana French.The body of an elderly man is hauled out of the rushing water of the River Foyle, cold dead. Detective Lucy Black is called in to investigate when it becomes evident that this was not a suicide: the man's body was embalmed before it ever entered the water.Confounded and exhausted, Lucy heads home to review the case in quiet; but there will be no rest for her tonight. She's barely in the front door when a neighbor knocks because his wife's sister has been attacked and they need her help.As a string of strange crimes is unspooled throughout the city, Lucy is pulled in countless different directions... until she realizes there may be something dark and dangerous connecting everything.Soulful and suspenseful, featuring one of the most appealing... Views: 11
