From the New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls comes a spellbinding novel of love, despair, and revenge—set in war-ravaged Tuscany.
1943: Tucked away in the idyllic hills south of Florence, the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe. Eighteen-year-old Cristina spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate’s gardens and olive groves. But when two soldiers, a German and an Italian, arrive at the villa asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis’ bucolic tranquility is shattered. A young German lieutenant begins to court Cristina, the Nazis descend upon the estate demanding hospitality, and what was once their sanctuary becomes their prison.
1955: Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence police department, has her own demons. A beautiful woman, Serafina carefully hides her scars along with her haunting memories of the war. But when she is assigned to a gruesome new case—a serial killer targeting the Rosatis, murdering the remnants of the family one-by-one in cold blood—Serafina finds herself digging into a past that involves both the victims and her own tragic history.
Set against an exquisitely rendered Italian countryside, The Light in the Ruins unveils a breathtaking story of moral paradox, human frailty, and the mysterious ways of the heart. Views: 324
William MacLeod Raine was an American author who wrote classic adventure novels about the Wild West. Views: 324
Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction, and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?
Enter the Chathams, a warm, chaotic family who run a pizza parlor, play bluegrass on weekends, and pitch in to care for their mother, who has multiple sclerosis. Here Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance. And here she meets Mac, gentle, watchful, and protective, who makes Sydney feel seen, really seen, for the first time.
The uber-popular Sarah Dessen explores her signature themes of family, self-discovery, and change in her twelfth novel, sure to delight her legions of fans. Views: 324
This beautiful new novel by the beloved author of Open House and Talk Before Sleep tells the story of two young people growing up in Mason, Missouri, and how Arthur Moses, a shy young man, becomes the wise and compassionate person readers loved in The Story of Arthur Truluv.Nola McCollum is the most desirable girl in Arthur’s class, and he is thrilled when they become friends. But Arthur wants far more than friendship. Unfortunately, Nola has a crush on the wrong Moses—Arthur’s older brother, Frank, who is busy pursuing his own love interest and avoiding the boys’ father, a war veteran with a drinking problem and a penchant for starting fights. When a sudden tragedy rocks the family’s world, Arthur struggles to come to terms with his grief. In the end, it is nature that helps him to understand how to go on, beyond loss, and create a life of forgiveness and empathy. But what can he do about Nola, who seems confused about... Views: 324
Another chilling story from the Houses Without Doors collection. Presented with the research opportunity of a lifetime, a college professor leaves his pregnant wife in the States and heads for a British country estate. But nothing is as it appears, and soon the professor finds himself in a frightening situation. Views: 324
A mysterious murder on a flying express train, a wily Italian, a charming woman caught in the meshes of circumstantial evidence, a chivalrous Englishman, and a police force with a keen nose for the wrong clue, are the ingredients from which Major Griffiths has concocted a clever, up-to-date detective story. Views: 324
ohn Irving returns to the themes that established him as one of North America's most admired and beloved storytellers in this absorbing novel of fate and memory.
As we grow older--most of all, in what we remember and what we dream--we live in the past. Sometimes, we live more vividly in the past than in the present. As an older man, Juan Diego will take a trip to the Philippines, but what travels with him are his dreams and memories; he is most alive in his childhood and early adolescence in Mexico. "An aura of fate had marked him," John Irving writes, of Juan Diego. "The chain of events, the links in our lives--what leads us where we're going, the courses we follow to our ends, what we don't see coming, and what we do--all this can be mysterious, or simply unseen, or even obvious."
*Avenue of Mysteries *is the story of what happens to Juan Diego in the Philippines, where what happened to him in the past--in Mexico--collides with his future. Views: 324
Denis Hillier is an aging British agent based in Yugoslavia. His old school friend Roper has defected to the USSR to become one of the evil empire's great scientific minds. Hillier must bring Roper back to England or risk losing his fat retirement bonus. As thoughtful as it is funny, this morality tale of a Secret Service gone mad features sex, gluttony, violence, treachery, and religion. Anthony Burgess's cast of astonishing characters includes Roper's German prostitute wife; Miss Devi and her Tamil love treatise; and the large Mr. Theodorescu, international secret monger and lascivious gourmand. A rare combination of the deadly serious and the absurd, the lofty and the lusty, Tremor of Intent will hold you in its thrall. Views: 324
Large Format for easy reading. Fully illustrated version of a novel that sought to explore the possibility of more equal relationships between men and women. Views: 324
Paige Lindon wants to keep her booth at the farmers’ market open, but she can’t do it alone. When a mutual friend introduces her to an out-of-work farmhand, she hires him on the spot. Only Sterling Keller is not what he seems. Sterling agreed to investigate the small startup for his boss, thinking it would only take a weekend. Little does he know it will take all he has, even his heart.PAIGE LINDON arrives at the farmers’ market to find her booth rebuilt in cedar. JOE, a good friend and fellow vendor, has surprised her in hopes of becoming closer, but Paige isn’t interested. ELAINE, a wealthy customer, makes an offer to buy Paige’s Goat Milk Soap business, but Paige laughs it off. Elaine suggests she “hire” a boyfriend to help with the goats and to deter Joe. Paige laughs that off, too.By the afternoon Paige has sold out and has to hurry home to get more product. AUSTIN, a friend from her college days, introduces her to STERLING KELLER who she thinks is an out-of-work farmhand. She asks Sterling to watch her booth for a few minutes. Due to a break-in at her house, Paige returns late that night and takes Sterling to dinner. Not wanting to be alone, she asks for his help milking the goats, and he stays the night.The next morning is ideal until JULIE, Joe’s ex-girlfriend and an heiress, recognizes Sterling as a venture capitalist researching Paige’s business. He agrees to wash her feet so she won’t blow his cover. Paige grows jealous and forces him to wash ladies’ feet most of the day.When the farmers’ market closes, he leaves, and she believes she’ll never see him again. A few days later, Elaine calls Paige to explain a company is suing for her soap formula. As a family friend, Elaine agrees to use her legal team and hires Paige until the dispute is cleared up. Elaine proposes moving the goats to a neutral facility in exchange for a one-week deadline to negotiate a settlement. Paige agrees when she discovers Sterling works with Elaine. Trustworthy Austin agrees to help move the goats. Sterling and Paige go on a business trip to Texas to scope out a new company. Julie arrives and tells Paige that Sterling has lured her away so that Elaine can steal her goats. Paige flies home to find the goats moved right under Austin’s nose.A contrite Sterling rushes back to make things right. Austin has created a new tracking system, and they find the goats. The three friends decide to "kidnap" the herd in a U-haul. Sterling takes them to his family farm two hours south. Only he hasn't been there in twelve years due to a secret in his past. With Paige beside him, Sterling must face his past to win his future. Views: 324
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, Chickadee is the first novel of a new arc in the critically acclaimed Birchbark House series by New York Times bestselling author Louise Erdrich.
Twin brothers Chickadee and Makoons have done everything together since they were born—until the unthinkable happens and the brothers are separated.
Desperate to reunite, both Chickadee and his family must travel across new territories, forge unlikely friendships, and experience both unexpected moments of unbearable heartache as well as pure happiness. And through it all, Chickadee has the strength of his namesake, the chickadee, to carry him on.
Chickadee continues the story of one Ojibwe family's journey through one hundred years in America. School Library Journal, in a starred review, proclaimed, "Readers will be more than happy to welcome little Chickadee into their hearts."
The paperback edition includes additional material, such as an interview with the author and activities. Views: 324
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) was an English- American playwright and author. She was best known for her children's stories, in particular The Secret Garden (1911) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886). Her first story was published in Godey's Lady's Book in 1868. Her main writing talent was combining realistic detail of workingclass life with a romantic plot. Her first novel was published in 1877; That Lass o' Lowrie's was a story of Lancashire life. After moving to Washington, D.C., Burnett wrote the novels Haworth's (1879), Louisiana (1880), A Fair Barbarian (1881), and Through One Administration (1883), as well as a play, Esmeralda (1881), written with William Gillette. Her later works include Sara Crewe, or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's (1888) - later rewritten as A Little Princess (1905); and A Lady of Quality (1896) - considered one of the best of her plays. The Lost Prince was published in 1915, and The Head of the House of Coombe was published in Canada in 1922. During World War I, Burnett put her beliefs about what happens after death into writing with her novella The White People (1917). Views: 324
One of Cuba’s—and Latin America’s—greatest historical novels, about imperial conquest carried out under the guise of liberation, in its first new English translation in sixty years and featuring a new foreword by Alejandro ZambraA Penguin ClassicWhen he arrives in Cuba at the close of the eighteenth century, Victor Hugues, a merchant sailor from Marseille, brings with him not only the idealism of the French Revolution but also its ambition and bloodlust. Landing at the Havana doorstep of a trio of wealthy, eccentric Creole orphans, he sweeps them across the Caribbean Sea to Guadeloupe, whose enslaved Africans he frees only then to exploit them in his fight against the British for colonial sovereignty. What ensues in Alejo Carpentier’s swashbuckling, magical realist masterpiece is an explosive clash between the New World and the Old World, and between revolutionary ideals and the corrupting allure of power.For more than... Views: 323
