Poor, plain spinster Bette is compelled to survive on the condescending patronage of her socially superior relatives in Paris: her beautiful, saintly cousin Adeline, the philandering Baron Hulot and their daughter Hortense. Already deeply resentful of their wealth, when Bette learns that the man she is in love with plans to marry Hortense, she becomes consumed by the desire to exact her revenge and dedicates herself to the destruction of the Hulot family, plotting their ruin with patient, silent malice.
Cousin Bette is a gripping tale of violent jealousy, sexual passion and treachery, and a brilliant portrayal of the grasping, bourgeois society of 1840s Paris. The culmination of the Comedie humaine, Balzac's epic chronicle of his times, it is one of his greatest triumphs as a novelist. Views: 522
At the end of Chéri the young Chéri left his aging mistress Léa on the eve of his marriage. Having served in the army during the war Chéri returns to Paris haunted by memories of his carefree youth and the bounty of his benevolent mistress. In the post-war 1920's he finds it impossible to settle down to a new life with his efficient and entrepreneurial wife and friends. As his looks and his reputation begin to deteriorate Chéri's life is thrown into crisis as he attempts to recapture the contentment and companionship of his luxurious youth. As Chéri and Léa confront each other, and the changes a decade has wrought on their lives and their looks, Colette displays the incredible sensitivity and insight for which she is justly famous. Views: 522
Growing up in Detroit in the 1950s, and going to college when the first seeds of sexual freedom are being sown, Jill and Donna are coming of age in an exciting, turbulent time. Wry, independent Jill thrives in the new free-spirited world, while her beautiful cousin Donna desperately searches for a man to make her life whole. As each cousin is driven by different demons and desires, they eventually realize that they cannot overcome fundamental differences in each others' lives. Still, as their futures assume contrary paths, Jill and Donna realize that they may be separated, but they'll never be truly divided from one another.
"Rings with passionate awareness...honest and impressive."
THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
From the Paperback edition. Views: 522
This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a broad and representative collection of classic works.This collection chronicles the fiction and non fiction classics by the greatest writers the world has ever known. The inclusion of both popular as well as overlooked pieces is pivotal to providing a broad and representative collection of classic works. Views: 522
When her father dies, Kay Wilkinson can't cry. Over ten years, Alzheimer's had steadily eroded this erudite man into a paranoid lunatic. Surely one's own father passing should never come as such a relief.Both medical professionals, Kay and her husband Cyril have seen too many elderly patients in similar states of decay. Although healthy and vital in their early fifties, the couple fears what may lie ahead. Determined to die with dignity, Cyril makes a modest proposal. To spare themselves and their loved ones such a humiliating and protracted decline, they should agree to commit suicide together once they've both turned eighty. When their deal is sealed, the spouses are blithely looking forward to another three decades together.But then they turn eighty.By turns hilarious and touching, playful and grave, Should We Stay or Should We Go portrays twelve parallel universes, each exploring a possible future for Kay and Cyril. Were they to cut life artificially... Views: 522
From the best-selling author of Snow Falling on Cedars--an emotionally charged, provocative new novel about a teenage girl who claims to see the Virgin Mary.
Ann Holmes seems an unlikely candidate for revelation. A sixteen-year-old runaway, she is an itinerant mushroom picker who lives in a tent. But on a November afternoon, in the foggy woods of North Fork, Washington, the Virgin comes to her, clear as day.
Father Collins--a young priest new to North Fork--finds Ann disturbingly alluring. But it is up to him to evaluate--impartially--the veracity of Ann's sightings: Are they delusions, or a true calling to God? As word spreads and thousands, including the press, converge upon the town, Carolyn Greer, a smart-talking fellow mushroomer, becomes Ann's disciple of sorts, as well as her impromptu publicity manager. And Tom Cross, an embittered logger who's been out of work since his son was paralyzed in a terrible accident, finds in Ann's visions a last chance for redemption for both himself and his son.
As Father Collins searches his own soul and Ann's, as Carolyn struggles with her less than admirable intentions, as Tom alternates between despair and hope, Our Lady of the Forest tells a suspenseful, often wryly humorous, and deeply involving story of faith at a contemporary crossroads. From the Hardcover edition. Views: 522
From Publishers WeeklyThe best thing about Collins's latest fictional foray (after Lady Boss ) is that despite its length, it doesn't take long to read: there's precious little in it. Two-dimensional characters, hilariously improbable situations, wooden dialogue and an impossible number of amazing coincidences all ensure that it will win stardom of its own. The story follows three young people from a small Midwestern town who overcome obstacles too numerous to mention on their way to superstardom in three different professions. Nick Angelo, abused son of a shiftless, alcoholic father, becomes Hollywood's most famous male actor. His black half-sister Cyndra finds fame as an international rock star after suffering through rape, incest, an abortion, a disastrous marriage and a murder charge. Poor little rich girl Lauren Roberts, who horrifies her socially ambitious parents by falling in love with the town pariah (Nick, of course), eventually becomes the world's most sought-after model--and she cooks, too. Collins has an effective way of dealing with characters who present obstacles to the minimal plot development; she simply kills them off in a highly dramatic fashion. Any mental effort by the reader is unnecessary and to be discouraged, as it would only prompt irritation with this lamentable effort, which will undoubtedly climb the bestseller lists nonetheless. Major ad/promo; 750,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; author tour. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsCollins (Lady Boss, etc.) returns to Hollywood (and New York and Kansas) in this perfunctory 20-year romantic saga between a small-town princess and a poor, rakish Italian-American stud- -nothing new from this author, but then who among her readers cares? Nick Angelo (think black hair, blue eyes, tight pants, dimpled chin) may have grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, but he's always been lucky when it comes to females--as demure Lauren Roberts discovers when Nick moves to Bosewell, Kansas, in the wake of his mother's death. Entering high school with plans to keep his head down and land the first girl willing to keep him warm, Nick is instead inexplicably smitten by prim, comely Lauren--who's unhappily engaged to the richest boy in town. A hot romance soon flares up, causing Lauren's outraged parents to lock her in her room and her would-be in-laws to see that Nick is expelled from school. Vowing to get rich quick and come back for Lauren, Nick takes off for Chicago, but a Kansas tornado, an unwanted pregnancy, and hard times in Chicago separate the couple until each is convinced that the other has given up on the affair. A decade later the two meet again in New York just as Nick Angelo (now Nick Angel, a film actor) is on the brink of success and Lauren, a New York businesswoman, is about to become an extremely well-paid model. This time Lauren's engagement to a wealthy older man and Nick's entanglement in a blackmail scheme stand in the star-crossed lovers' way, and it is many more years, romantic traumas, multimillion-dollar business deals, Beverly Hills parties, and Manhattan penthouse dinners before busy, thirtysomething Nick and Lauren find the time to fall into each other's arms once and for all. Standard fare told in plodding, unimaginative fashion--with the requisite sex scenes, career fantasies, and designer outfits all in place. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for June) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Views: 521
This collection of essays leads the reader into the searching and wildly fertile imagination of Gerald Murnane, one of the masters of contemporary Australian writing, author of the classics Border Districts and Tamarisk Row, and winner of the Patrick White Literary Award.Delicately argued and finely written, they describe his dislocated youth in the suburbs of Melbourne and rural Victoria in the 1950s, his debt to writers as unlike as Adam Lindsay Gordon, Marcel Proust and Jack Kerouac, his obsession with racehorses and grasslands and the Hungarian language, and above all, his dedication to the worlds of significance that lie within, or just beyond, the familiar details of Australian life. Views: 521
A man is found dead in the judge's chair inside the Great Hall of Oakham Castle, beaten to death with a ceremonial horseshoe. As Rutland Police investigate, they discover the victim was a charitable, public-spirited man who only ever wanted to help others. So who wanted to kill him so brutally? And why? DI Caroline Hills and DS Dexter Antoine are left disoriented and dejected. But the discovery of a shadowy and mysterious figure leads them onto a trail of deep corruption — one that will take them far from Rutland. And it seems their victim wasn't quite the man he made himself out to be. Is anyone ever truly innocent? Views: 521
Not since The 10th Good Thing About Barney or I'll Always Love You has there been such a peaceful and inspiring book to help children and adults cope with the loss of a pet. The talented multiple-medalist Jane Yolen takes on this difficult subject with her usual grace and poetic sensitivity, focusing not on the death as much as the life in the last day of an older cat named Tiger Rose. Tiger Rose's kitten days are long gone and she's grown too tired to stay, so she says her goodbyes to all the creatures and the joys of her natural world—from the scolding blue jay, to the dog and children she shares her home with, to a chipmunk, startled by her gentleness, to her favorite shady patch under a piney bush. In a final vision, Tiger Rose takes one last leap into the blue sky and becomes one with all—the earth, the air, the sun. . . . This is perhaps the most reassuring book on death available for children. Views: 521
George Emerson doesn't want his predictable life to change, but free-spirited ex-hippie Willow West has other plans for him. They may soon discover that no one is too old to change their lives—or find love. Views: 521
An epic yet personal look at several decades of life, love, and death in the imaginary city of Ambergris--previously chronicled in Jeff VanderMeer's acclaimed City of Saints & Madmen--Shriek: An Afterword relates the scandalous, heartbreaking, and horrifying secret history of two squabbling siblings and their confidantes, protectors, and enemies.
Narrated with flamboyant intensity and under increasingly urgent conditions by ex-society figure Janice Shriek, this afterword presents a vivid gallery of characters and events, emphasizing the adventures of Janice's brother Duncan, a historian obsessed with a doomed love affair and a secret that may kill or transform him; a war between rival publishing houses that will change Ambergris forever; and the gray caps, a marginalized people armed with advanced fungal technologies who have been waiting underground for their chance to mold the future of the city.
Part academic treatise, part tell-all biography, after this introduction to the Family Shriek, you'll never look at history in quite the same way again. Views: 521
