When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is...  more

When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin. Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk. The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail.

Charleston, S.C., gossip columnist Leopold Bloom King narrates a paean to his hometown and friends in Conroy's first novel in 14 years. In the late '60s and after his brother commits suicide, then 18-year-old Leo befriends a cross-section of the city's inhabitants: scions of Charleston...  more

Charleston, S.C., gossip columnist Leopold Bloom King narrates a paean to his hometown and friends in Conroy's first novel in 14 years. In the late '60s and after his brother commits suicide, then 18-year-old Leo befriends a cross-section of the city's inhabitants: scions of Charleston aristocracy; Appalachian orphans; a black football coach's son; and an astonishingly beautiful pair of twins, Sheba and Trevor Poe, who are evading their psychotic father. The story alternates between 1969, the glorious year Leo's coterie stormed Charleston's social, sexual and racial barricades, and 1989, when Sheba, now a movie star, enlists them to find her missing gay brother in AIDS-ravaged San Francisco.

"The memory starts here, in my apron pocket, with the gun." So begins The Doctor’s Wife, a stunning debut novel about four people and the cataclysmic intersection of their lives. Michael is a rising OB/GYN at a prominent private practice in Albany, New York; he also moonlights...  more

"The memory starts here, in my apron pocket, with the gun." So begins The Doctor’s Wife, a stunning debut novel about four people and the cataclysmic intersection of their lives. Michael is a rising OB/GYN at a prominent private practice in Albany, New York; he also moonlights at a local women’s health clinic. But Annie, his wife, has become tired of her workaholic husband’s absences, and the soccer-mom lifestyle has worn thin. She begins a passionate love affair with bad-boy, fading celebrity painter Simon Haas -- an affair that quickly goes awry when Simon’s wife Lydia, who is also the model upon whom he built his career, discovers the truth. Abortion, local evangelism, marital disenchantment, and the rifts of social class: Brundage takes on the fault lines of our era with a deft hand.

Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on...  more

Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University. Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind... Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.

On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen. Her little...  more

On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen. Her little brother, Sam, has grown up to be a levelheaded man who is still convinced that Lisa was abducted by a predator. When his girlfriend, Phoebe, receives a phone call from a frightened woman claiming to be Lisa, the two are seriously spooked and set out to discover the true identity of the mystery caller and what really occurred 15 years ago.

In this breathtaking and beautiful novel, the #1 New York Times bestselling author Anna Quindlen creates an unforgettable portrait of a mother, a father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions.   Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost...  more

In this breathtaking and beautiful novel, the #1 New York Times bestselling author Anna Quindlen creates an unforgettable portrait of a mother, a father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions.   Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor.  Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount.  And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterwards is a testament to the power of a woman’s love and determination, and to the invisible line of hope and healing that connects one human being with another. Ultimately, in the hands of Anna Quindlen’s mesmerizing prose, Every Last One is a novel about facing every last one of the the things we fear most, about finding ways to navigate a road we never intended to travel, to live a life we never dreamed we’d have to live but must be brave enough to try.    

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit... The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their...  more

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit... The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures. A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants... from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, Claire's elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys, except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before. When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down, along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy, if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom, or with each other.

Two half-brothers try to survive the fallout of their traumatic childhood and their abusive, alcoholic father... On a sprawling Southern estate, Tucker and his younger brother, Mutt, were raised by their housekeeper, Miss Ella Rain, who loved the motherless boys like her own. Hiring her to take...  more

Two half-brothers try to survive the fallout of their traumatic childhood and their abusive, alcoholic father... On a sprawling Southern estate, Tucker and his younger brother, Mutt, were raised by their housekeeper, Miss Ella Rain, who loved the motherless boys like her own. Hiring her to take care of Waverly Hall and the boys was the only good thing their abusive and alcoholic father ever did. When his brother escapes from a mental hospital and an old girlfriend appears with her son and a black eye, Tucker is forced to return home and face the agony of his tragic past. Though Miss Ella has been gone for many years, Tucker can still hear her voice and her prayers: "Life is a battle, but you can’t fight it with your fists. You got to fight it with your heart." But finding peace and starting anew will take a measure of grace that Tucker scarcely believes in.

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she's going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog -- and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets. Enter Jack...  more

Practical Melanie Middleton hates to admit she can see ghosts. But she's going to have to accept it. An old man she recently met has died, leaving her his historic Tradd Street home, complete with housekeeper, dog -- and a family of ghosts anxious to tell her their secrets. Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he's the smitten one... It turns out Jack's search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak -- and even murder.

Somer's life is everything she imagined it would be -- she's newly married and has started her career as a physician in San Francisco -- until she makes the devastating discovery she never will be able to have children. The same year in India, a poor mother makes the heartbreaking choice...  more

Somer's life is everything she imagined it would be -- she's newly married and has started her career as a physician in San Francisco -- until she makes the devastating discovery she never will be able to have children. The same year in India, a poor mother makes the heartbreaking choice to saver her newborn daughter's life by giving her away. It is a decision that will haunt Kavita for the rest of her life, and cause a ripple effect that travels across the world and back again. Asha, adopted out of a Mumbai orphanage, is the child that binds the destinies of these two women. We follow both families, invisibly connected until Asha's journey of self-discovery leads her back to India.

The Civil War offers a 20-year-old midwife who dreams of becoming a doctor the medical experience she craves, plus hard work and heartbreak, in this rich debut that takes readers from a small upstate New York doctor's office to a Union hospital overflowing with the wounded and...  more

The Civil War offers a 20-year-old midwife who dreams of becoming a doctor the medical experience she craves, plus hard work and heartbreak, in this rich debut that takes readers from a small upstate New York doctor's office to a Union hospital overflowing with the wounded and dying. Though she's too young for the nursing corps, Mary Sutter goes to Washington, anyway, and, after a chance meeting with a presidential secretary, is led to the Union Hotel Hospital, where she assists chief surgeon William Stipp and becomes so integral to Stipp's work she ignores her mother's pleas to return home to deliver her sister's baby.

Halley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett. But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she's carrying his baby, she's devastated. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Though their friendship may be...  more

Halley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett. But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she's carrying his baby, she's devastated. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Though their friendship may be tested by the strain, like a true friendship, it will endure.

Laura Brandon's promise to her dying father was simple: to visit an elderly woman she'd never heard of before. A woman who remembers nothing?except the distant past. Visiting Sarah Tolley seemed a small enough sacrifice to make.But Laura's promise results in another death. Her husband's. And...  more

Laura Brandon's promise to her dying father was simple: to visit an elderly woman she'd never heard of before. A woman who remembers nothing?except the distant past. Visiting Sarah Tolley seemed a small enough sacrifice to make.But Laura's promise results in another death. Her husband's. And after their five-year-old daughter, Emma, witnesses her father's suicide, Emma refuses to talk about it?to talk at all.Frantic and guilt ridden, Laura contacts the only person who may be able to help. A man she's met only once?six years before. A man who doesn't know he's Emma's real father.Guided only by a child's silence and an old woman's fading memories, the two unravel a tale of love and despair, of bravery and unspeakable evil. A tale that's shrouded in silence?and that unbelievably links them all.

From her sensational sleeper hit Patty Jane's House of Curl to her heartwarming novel Welcome to the Great Mysterious, Landvik has won the hearts of readers everywhere. Now she returns to her beloved, eccentric stomping ground of small-town Minnesota where a most eclectic, and engaging group of...  more

From her sensational sleeper hit Patty Jane's House of Curl to her heartwarming novel Welcome to the Great Mysterious, Landvik has won the hearts of readers everywhere. Now she returns to her beloved, eccentric stomping ground of small-town Minnesota where a most eclectic, and engaging group of women share love, loss, and laughter. Sometimes life is like a bad waiter -- it serves you exactly what you don't want. The women of Freesia Court have come together at life's table, fully convinced that there is nothing good coffee, delectable desserts, and a strong shoulder can't fix. Laughter is the glue that holds them together -- the foundation of a book group they call AWEB -- Angry Wives Eating Bon Bons -- an unofficial "club" that becomes much more. It becomes a lifeline. The five women each have a story of their own to tell. There's Faith, the newcomer, a lonely housewife and mother of twins, a woman who harbors a terrible secret that has condemned her to living a lie; big, beautiful Audrey, the resident sex queen who knows that good posture and an attitude can let you get away with anything; Merit, the shy, quiet doctor's wife with the face of an angel and the private hell of an abusive husband; Kari, a thoughtful, wise woman with a wonderful laugh as "deep as Santa Claus's with a cold" who knows the greatest gifts appear after life's fiercest storms; and finally, Slip, activist, adventurer, social changer, a tiny, spitfire of a woman who looks trouble straight in the eye and challenges it to arm wrestle. Holding on through forty eventful years -- through the swinging Sixties, the turbulent Seventies, the anything-goes Eighties, the nothing's-impossible Nineties -- the women will take the plunge into the chaos that inevitably comes to those with the temerity to be alive and kicking. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons depicts a special slice of American life, of stay-at-home days and new careers, children and grandchildren, bold beginnings and second chances, in which the power of forgiveness, understanding, and the perfectly timed giggle fit is the CPR that mends broken hearts and shattered dreams.

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn's shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night. Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by a tragedy...  more

It happens quietly one August morning. As dawn's shimmering light drenches the humid Iowa air, two families awaken to find their little girls have gone missing in the night. Seven-year-old Calli Clark is sweet, gentle, a dreamer who suffers from selective mutism brought on by a tragedy that pulled her deep into silence as a toddler. Calli's mother, Antonia, tried to be the best mother she could within the confines of marriage to a mostly absent, often angry husband. Now, though she denies that her husband could be involved in the possible abductions, she fears her decision to stay in her marriage has cost her more than her daughter's voice. Petra Gregory is Calli's best friend, her soul mate and her voice. But neither Petra nor Calli has been heard from since their disappearance was discovered. Desperate to find his child, Martin Gregory is forced to confront a side of himself he did not know existed beneath his intellectual, professorial demeanor. Now these families are tied by the question of what happened to their children. And the answer is trapped in the silence of unspoken family secrets.

In 1920s New Orleans, Raziela Nolan is in the throes of a magnificent love affair when she dies in a tragic accident. She narrates the story of her lost love, as well as the relationship of the couple whose house she haunts more than 75 years later. The couple's trials compel Razi to slowly...  more

In 1920s New Orleans, Raziela Nolan is in the throes of a magnificent love affair when she dies in a tragic accident. She narrates the story of her lost love, as well as the relationship of the couple whose house she haunts more than 75 years later. The couple's trials compel Razi to slowly unravel the mystery of what happened to her first and only love, and to confront a long-hidden secret.

Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, shows he's inherited some of his father's ghoulish golden touch in his debut novel, HEART-SHAPED BOX. Judas Coyne, a middle-aged Goth rocker, lives in seclusion, tinkering with cars and adding to his collection of the macabre. When he buys a haunted suit over the...  more

Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, shows he's inherited some of his father's ghoulish golden touch in his debut novel, HEART-SHAPED BOX. Judas Coyne, a middle-aged Goth rocker, lives in seclusion, tinkering with cars and adding to his collection of the macabre. When he buys a haunted suit over the Internet, he gets more than he bargained for: not only does the suit really have a ghost, but the ghost has a bone to pick with Jude. The ghost's step-daughter, "Florida," was one of Jude's many groupie girlfriends (Jude names all his girlfriends after the state he picked them up in), and the ghost thinks Jude is responsible for the girl's suicide. HEART-SHAPED BOX is filled with grisly set-pieces and plenty of chills, but, like his dad, Hill knows how to get inside his characters' slightly deranged minds, which is where true horror lies.

Alexa Poole's older sister, Rebecca, has lived at the Falkman Residential Center since an accident left her mentally compromised?vulnerable, innocent. Now, 17 years later, she has vanished. As Alexa searches for Rebecca, disturbing questions surface. Why did the car that Rebecca was riding...  more

Alexa Poole's older sister, Rebecca, has lived at the Falkman Residential Center since an accident left her mentally compromised?vulnerable, innocent. Now, 17 years later, she has vanished. As Alexa searches for Rebecca, disturbing questions surface. Why did the car that Rebecca was riding in swerve off the road killing her college friend, Leanne McNeil? And what about the mysterious check for $50,000 found in Rebecca's room signed by her friend's father, Gavin McNeil?

During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out. Disease sweeps the...  more

During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out. Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease. ALA Best Book for Young Adults/Junior Library Guild Selection/NYPL 100 Books for Reading and Sharing, Best Books for Teen Age/ABA Pick of the LIsts/IRA Teacher's Choice "Fever 1793" is based on an actual epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia  that wiped out 5,000 people--or 10 percent of the city's population--in three  months. At the close of the 18th century, Philadelphia was the bustling capital  of the United States, with Washington and Jefferson in residence. During the hot  mosquito-infested summer of 1793, the dreaded yellow fever spread like wildfire,  killing people overnight. Like specters from the Middle Ages, gravediggers drew  carts through the streets crying "Bring out your dead!" The rich fled to the  country, abandoning the city to looters, forsaken corpses, and frightened  survivors. In the foreground of this story is 16-year-old Mattie Cook, whose mother and  grandfather own a popular coffee house on High Street. Mattie's comfortable and  interesting life is shattered by the epidemic, as her mother is felled and the  girl and her grandfather must flee for their lives. Later, after much hardship  and terror, they return to the deserted town to find their former cook, a freed  slave, working with the African Free Society, an actual group who undertook to  visit and assist the sick and saved many lives. As first frost arrives and the  epidemic ends, Mattie's sufferings have changed her from a willful child to a  strong, capable young woman able to manage her family's business on her own.  

When the storybook-perfect Janvier family temporarily "adopts" their teenaged niece, Tally, they assume they'll be helping her. But when Tally befriends her cousin, Chase, she soon realizes that he badly needs encouragement, too. When the troubled teens interview two holocaust survivors for a...  more

When the storybook-perfect Janvier family temporarily "adopts" their teenaged niece, Tally, they assume they'll be helping her. But when Tally befriends her cousin, Chase, she soon realizes that he badly needs encouragement, too. When the troubled teens interview two holocaust survivors for a sociology project, will they trigger the healing process that everybody needs?

A beloved daughter. A devastating choice. And now there's no going back. Four years ago, nineteen-year-old Travis Brown made a choice: to raise his newborn daughter on his own. While most of his friends were out partying and meeting girls, Travis was at home, changing diapers and...  more

A beloved daughter. A devastating choice. And now there's no going back. Four years ago, nineteen-year-old Travis Brown made a choice: to raise his newborn daughter on his own. While most of his friends were out partying and meeting girls, Travis was at home, changing diapers and worrying about keeping food on the table. But he's never regretted his decision. Bella is the light of his life. The reason behind every move he makes. And so far, she is fed. Cared for. Safe. But when Travis loses his construction job and his home, the security he's worked so hard to create for Bella begins to crumble…. Then a miracle. A job in Raleigh has the power to turn their fortunes around. It has to. But when Travis arrives in Raleigh, there is no job, only an offer to participate in a one-time criminal act that promises quick money and no repercussions. With nowhere else to turn, Travis must make another choice for his daughter's sake. Even if it means he might lose her.

Consider the irresistible narrative arc of Sedaris' personal essays, his indelible voice, and his crisp timing, and it will come as no surprise that he is an avid, insightful reader of short stories. He is so inspired by the form that he has put together an A-list anthology of his favorites,...  more

Consider the irresistible narrative arc of Sedaris' personal essays, his indelible voice, and his crisp timing, and it will come as no surprise that he is an avid, insightful reader of short stories. He is so inspired by the form that he has put together an A-list anthology of his favorites, thus creating a collection that will seduce readers heretofore resistant to the form, and induce fellow short story lovers to nod in pleased recognition. One can't go wrong with an anthology that includes Katherine Mansfield's "The Garden Party," Flannery O'Connor's "Revelation," and stories by Alice Munro, Lorrie Moore, Tobias Wolff, and Jhumpa Lahiri, let alone appearances by Dorothy Parker and Patricia Highsmith. An epilogue by Sarah Vowell explains that the proceeds from this collection will go to 826NYC, a nonprofit tutoring program designed to help students learn to write, one of a string of programs being established across the country by the creative and enterprising group at McSweeney's. -- Donna Seaman, Booklist

The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser's wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy -- a time-traveler's certain knowledge. Born in the year of Our Lord 1918, Claire Randall served England as a nurse on the battlefields of...  more

The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser's wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy -- a time-traveler's certain knowledge. Born in the year of Our Lord 1918, Claire Randall served England as a nurse on the battlefields of World War II, and in the aftermath of peace found fresh conflicts when she walked through a cleftstone on the Scottish Highlands and found herself an outlander, an English lady in a place where no lady should be, in a time--1743--when the only English in Scotland were the officers and men of King George?s army. Now wife, mother, and surgeon, Claire is still an outlander, out of place, and out of time, but now, by choice, linked by love to her only anchor -- Jamie Fraser. Her unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead ? or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes...

A cultured city scarred by war. . . . An eastern émigré with scars and secrets of her own. . . . A young woman claiming to be a Russian grand duchess. . . . A brazen killer, as vicious as he is clever. . . . A detective driven by decency and the desire for justice. . . . A nightmare political...  more

A cultured city scarred by war. . . . An eastern émigré with scars and secrets of her own. . . . A young woman claiming to be a Russian grand duchess. . . . A brazen killer, as vicious as he is clever. . . . A detective driven by decency and the desire for justice. . . . A nightmare political movement steadily gaining power. . . . This is 1922 Berlin. One of the troubled city's growing number of refugees, Esther Solomonova survives by working as secretary to the charming, unscrupulous cabaret owner "Prince" Nick, and she's being drawn against her will into his scheme to pass a young asylum patient off as Anastasia, the last surviving heir to the murdered czar of all Russia. But their found "princess," Anna Anderson, fears that she's being hunted—and this may turn out to be more than paranoia when innocent people all around her begin to die.

ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life,...  more

ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

A boy and a girl are stripped and marooned on a small island for the night. They are the “goats.? The kids at camp think it?s a great joke, just a harmless old tradition. But the goats don?t see it that way. Instead of trying to get back to camp, they decide to call home. But no one can...  more

A boy and a girl are stripped and marooned on a small island for the night. They are the “goats.? The kids at camp think it?s a great joke, just a harmless old tradition. But the goats don?t see it that way. Instead of trying to get back to camp, they decide to call home. But no one can come and get them. So they?re on their own, wandering through a small town trying to find clothing, food, and shelter, all while avoiding suspicious adults—especially the police. The boy and the girl find they rather like life on their own. If their parents ever do show up to rescue them, the boy and the girl might be long gone. . . .

Present day 40-something Jane Lindsey manages an antique store in Manhattan so she's surrounded all day long with remnants of other peoples' pasts. When the story opens, her husband of 23 years has just taken a job in another state and to her shock he's asked her not to come with...  more

Present day 40-something Jane Lindsey manages an antique store in Manhattan so she's surrounded all day long with remnants of other peoples' pasts. When the story opens, her husband of 23 years has just taken a job in another state and to her shock he's asked her not to come with him. He tells her he wants time alone to decide whether or not he wants to be married anymore. As she enters this time of waiting - a time she didn't see coming - she begins to see that all of the important decisions in her life were made for her by other people, her parents and her husband especially - and that she let them do it. While she's coming to this realization, she finds an old betrothal ring, engraved with her first name, hidden inside the binding a 17th century prayer book. But there's no sign that the ring was ever worn and this intrigues her. Jane begins a quest to find out who it belonged to and why it was hidden for 300-plus years. In time, she begins to believe it belonged to Lady Jane Grey. This second Jane, Jane Grey, is a true historical figure, and much like my present day Jane, most of Lady Jane's life-defining decisions were made for her by other people.

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she?...  more

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers? This fascinating novel represents a stunning new direction for acclaimed author Mary Pearson. Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. Mary Pearson's vividly drawn characters and masterful writing soar to a new level of sophistication.

After the Russian Revolution turns her world topsy-turvy, Anna, a young Russian countess, has no choice but to flee to England. Penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as servant in the household of the esteemed Westerholme family, armed only with an outdated...  more

After the Russian Revolution turns her world topsy-turvy, Anna, a young Russian countess, has no choice but to flee to England. Penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as servant in the household of the esteemed Westerholme family, armed only with an outdated housekeeping manual and sheer determination. Desperate to keep her past a secret, Anna is nearly overwhelmed by her new duties—not to mention her instant attraction to Rupert, the handsome Earl of Westerholme. To make matters worse, Rupert appears to be falling for her as well. As their attraction grows stronger, Anna finds it more and more difficult to keep her most dearly held secrets from unraveling. And then there's the small matter of Rupert's beautiful and nasty finacee. . . .

Amanda Eyre Ward's debut novel is an intimate portrait of three women whose lives collide during a brutal Texas summer. In Gatestown, Texas, twenty-nine-year-old Karen Lowens awaits her execution with a host of convicted serial killers on death row. In Manhattan, Dr. Franny Wren, also...  more

Amanda Eyre Ward's debut novel is an intimate portrait of three women whose lives collide during a brutal Texas summer. In Gatestown, Texas, twenty-nine-year-old Karen Lowens awaits her execution with a host of convicted serial killers on death row. In Manhattan, Dr. Franny Wren, also twenty-nine, tends to a young cancer patient, and resists the urge to run from her fiancé and her carefully crafted life. In Austin, Texas, brassy Celia Mills, a once-vibrant librarian, mourns her murdered husband. Over the course of the summer, fate pushes these eerily recognizable women together, culminating in a revelation of the possibility of faith, the responsibility of friendship, and the value of life. Sleep Toward Heaven is a luminous story of murder and desire, solitude and grace -- a rare literary page-turner where redemption seems perpetually within arm's reach.

Dear Anna, What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I'm so sorry… The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle's suicide. Everything they knew...  more

Dear Anna, What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I'm so sorry… The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle's suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle -- her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family -- described a woman who embraced life. Yet there was so much they didn't know. With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle's friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their lives -- and the life of a desperate stranger -- with love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.

"Best Friends Forever" is in part an answer to this question: "What if Thelma and Louise didn't have to die?"... clever, sad and sweet turn on Thelma and Louise-style rage. J Juggling the politics of broken families, heartbreaking betrayal and shaky self-esteem, two...  more

"Best Friends Forever" is in part an answer to this question: "What if Thelma and Louise didn't have to die?"... clever, sad and sweet turn on Thelma and Louise-style rage. J Juggling the politics of broken families, heartbreaking betrayal and shaky self-esteem, two girlhood pals -- ugly duckling Addie and wounded beauty Valerie -- reconnect after their high school reunion, where Valerie exacts a long-in-coming revenge on smug former beau Dan Swansea. But the payback gets more complicated when police chief Jordan Novick, nursing a broken heart and a crush-at-first-sight with Addie, is called in to investigate Dan's disappearance. Along the way, Val and Addie stage what may be the funniest not-quite-heist ever pulled off as they evade the heat over the missing Dan. The big payoff, of course, is that Addie and Valerie mend the mean-girls misunderstanding that drove them apart as teens and discover the shared pain and loss that bound them as kids and, once again, as adults.

Desire defies protocol in this torrid tale set at the dusk of English dominion in India. Revolt is seething in the loins of the colonial settlement at Uttar Pradesh, and the heart of memsahib Devora Hawthorne, wife of the local British diplomatic officer, harbors a carnal appetite. Awakened by...  more

Desire defies protocol in this torrid tale set at the dusk of English dominion in India. Revolt is seething in the loins of the colonial settlement at Uttar Pradesh, and the heart of memsahib Devora Hawthorne, wife of the local British diplomatic officer, harbors a carnal appetite. Awakened by her lustful young husband to passions that she cannot ignore and he cannot satisfy, Devora retreats increasingly from the formalities of her station among the British colonials who sip their tea with milk and complacency in the shade of their verandas. Instead, she seeks out the heat of a darker skin and the pleasures of a more exotic sensuality, ultimately surpassing every measure of her sexual expectations at the beck of the magnetic and inscrutable Rohan, the trusted Indian manservant who heads her own household. While dark, sultry Rohan educates Devora in the intricate social codes that govern the mean-spirited colonial community and in the political realities that threaten the stability of the world her husband upholds and represents, he also introduces his eager mistress to a way of loving that exceeds the English imagination. Scorchingly, insatiably, servant and memsahib, mentor and proselyte, man and woman, they explore a territory that neither class nor color can control.

Fresh from their improbable victory in the annual Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta get to enjoy the spoils only briefly before they must partake in a Capitol-sponsored victory tour. But trouble is brewing... President Snow tells Katniss directly he won't stand for being outsmarted, and she...  more

Fresh from their improbable victory in the annual Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta get to enjoy the spoils only briefly before they must partake in a Capitol-sponsored victory tour. But trouble is brewing... President Snow tells Katniss directly he won't stand for being outsmarted, and she overhears rumbles of uprisings in Panem's districts. Before long it's time for the next round of games, and because it's the 75th anniversary of the competition, something out of the ordinary is in order...

Kerry Cohen's journey from that hopeless place to her current confident and fulfilled existence is both a cautionary tale and a revelation. Loose Girl is Kerry Cohen's captivating memoir about her descent into promiscuity and how she gradually found her way toward real intimacy. The...  more

Kerry Cohen's journey from that hopeless place to her current confident and fulfilled existence is both a cautionary tale and a revelation. Loose Girl is Kerry Cohen's captivating memoir about her descent into promiscuity and how she gradually found her way toward real intimacy. The story of addiction -- not just to sex, but to male attention -- Loose Girl is also the story of a young girl who came to believe that boys and men could give her life meaning. Never less than riveting, Loose Girl re-creates what it feels like to be in that desperate moment when a girl tries to control a boy by handing over her body, when the touch of that boy seems to offer proof of something but ultimately delivers little more than emptiness. The unforgettable story of one young woman who desperately wanted to matter, Loose Girl will speak to countless others with its compassion, understanding, and love.

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest. With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite...  more

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest. With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence -- with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie?s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

The time is 1872. The place is New York City. Horace Carpetine has been raised to believe in science and rationality. So as apprentice to Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer, he thinks of his trade as a scientfic art. But when wealthy society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht orders a...  more

The time is 1872. The place is New York City. Horace Carpetine has been raised to believe in science and rationality. So as apprentice to Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer, he thinks of his trade as a scientfic art. But when wealthy society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht orders a photographic protrait, strange things begin to happen. Horace's first real photographs reveal a frightful likeness: it's the image of the Von Macht's dead daughter, Eleanora. Pegg, the Von Macht's black servant girl, then leads him to the truth about who Eleanora really was and how she acutally died. Joined in friendship, Pegg and Horace soon realize that his photographs are evoking both Eleanora's image and her ghost. Eleanora returns, a vengeful wraith intent on punishing those who abused her.

To save her failing bakery, Lina trades souls with Persephone, the Goddess of Spring -- and starts falling for hunky Hades.

Readers fell in love with Cannie Shapiro, the smart, sharp-tongued, bighearted heroine of Good in Bed who found her happy ending after her mother came out of the closet, her father fell out of her life, and her ex-boyfriend started chronicling their ex-sex life in the pages of a national...  more

Readers fell in love with Cannie Shapiro, the smart, sharp-tongued, bighearted heroine of Good in Bed who found her happy ending after her mother came out of the closet, her father fell out of her life, and her ex-boyfriend started chronicling their ex-sex life in the pages of a national magazine. Now Cannie's back. After her debut novel -- a fictionalized (and highly sexualized) version of her life -- became an overnight bestseller, she dropped out of the public eye and turned to writing science fiction under a pseudonym. She's happily married to the tall, charming diet doctor Peter Krushelevansky and has settled into a life that she finds wonderfully predictable -- knitting in the front row of her daughter Joy's drama rehearsals, volunteering at the library, and taking over-forty yoga classes with her best friend Samantha. As preparations for Joy's bat mitzvah begin, everything seems right in Cannie's world. Then Joy discovers the novel Cannie wrote years before and suddenly finds herself faced with what she thinks is the truth about her own conception -- the story her mother hid from her all her life. When Peter surprises his wife by saying he wants to have a baby, the family is forced to reconsider its history, its future, and what it means to be truly happy. Radiantly funny and disarmingly tender, with Weiner's whip-smart dialogue and sharp observations of modern life, Certain Girls is an unforgettable story about love, loss, and the enduring bonds of family.

Leafing through his newspaper's literary supplement one day, Charles Callahan, a middle-aged insurance broker, spots a photograph of his first love, Si?n Richards. Married, faithfully if not happily, with three daughters and a struggling business, Charles writes to Si?n, a published poet, also...  more

Leafing through his newspaper's literary supplement one day, Charles Callahan, a middle-aged insurance broker, spots a photograph of his first love, Si?n Richards. Married, faithfully if not happily, with three daughters and a struggling business, Charles writes to Si?n, a published poet, also married and mother of two children. Si?n writes back, and as their correspondence develops into intimacy, three decades after their childhood affair, they agree to meet again. Swept up in the past and consumed by an obsessive love, Si?n and Charles risk everything for each other, reaching across time to reclaim what they had in youth. "A thoughtful, beautifully written contemporary romance" (The Washington Post), Where or When is also a heart-wrenching, suspenseful story with a shocking conclusion.

Bestselling author Francine Rivers skillfully retells the biblical love story of Gomer and Hosea as a tale set against the romantic backdrop of the California Gold Rush. The heroine, Angel, is a young woman who was sold into prostitution as a child. Michael Hosea is a godly man sent into Angel's...  more

Bestselling author Francine Rivers skillfully retells the biblical love story of Gomer and Hosea as a tale set against the romantic backdrop of the California Gold Rush. The heroine, Angel, is a young woman who was sold into prostitution as a child. Michael Hosea is a godly man sent into Angel's life to draw her into the Savior's redeeming love. This remarkable novel has sold over 200,000 copies and was among the top 10 on the ECPA fiction bestseller list for four years running. Now available in a fresh, contemporary cover! California's gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep. Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside. THEN SHE MEETS MICHAEL HOSEA. A man who seeks his Father's heart in everything. Michael Hosea obeys God's call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel's every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw. But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband's pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does...the One who will never let her go. A powerful retelling of the book of Hosea, REDEEMING LOVE is a life-changing story of God's unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A sophisticated, layered, and...  more

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck... A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

Barcelona, 1945 -- just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer,...  more

Barcelona, 1945 -- just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona's guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel's father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax's work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn't find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

An odd book in that it mixes elements of science fiction with psychological analysis, Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a GI prisoner of war. He time-travels and wanders through a mysterious ether where spatial-temporal relationships are at odds with what we accept as reality.

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to...  more

When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too -- but on his own terms. Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success -- his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family -- Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.

New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon has captured the hearts of millions with her critically acclaimed novels, Outlander. Dragonfly In Amber, Voyager, and Drums Of Autumn. From the moment Claire Randall accidentally steps through a magical stone that transports her back in time more...  more

New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon has captured the hearts of millions with her critically acclaimed novels, Outlander. Dragonfly In Amber, Voyager, and Drums Of Autumn. From the moment Claire Randall accidentally steps through a magical stone that transports her back in time more than 200 years to 1743, and into the arms of Scottish soldier Jamie Fraser, readers have been enthralled with this epic saga of time travel, adventure, and love everlasting.Now Diana Gabaldon has written the ultimate companion guide to her bestselling series, the book only she could write - a beautifully illustrated compendium of all things Outlandish. As a special bonus for those who are eagerly awaiting the next appearance of Jamie and Claire, she includes never - before - published excerpts from upcoming works in the series. And there's lots more in this lavish keepsake volume for the many devoted fans who yearn to learn the stories behind the stories: Full synopses of Oulander, Dragonfly In Amber, Voyager, and Drums Of Autumn A complete listing of the characters in all four novels, including extensively researched family trees and genealogical notes Professionally cast horoscopes for Jamie and Claire A comprehensive glossary and pronunciation guide to Gaelic terms and usage The fully explicated Gabaldon Theory of Time Travel Frequently asked questions to the author and her (sometimes surprising) answers An annotated bibliography Tips, personal stories - even a recipe or two Essays about medicine and magic in the eighteenth century, researching historical fiction, and moreWith the insight, humor, and eye for detail that has made her novels such an outstanding success story. Diana Gabaldon here gives her readers the best gift of all - The Outlandish Companion

The married couple in this novel pull off a remarkable achievement: They purchase a three-story house with oodles of bedrooms, and, on a middle-class income, in the '70s, fill it to the brim with happy children and visiting relatives. Their holiday gatherings are sumptuous celebrations of life...  more

The married couple in this novel pull off a remarkable achievement: They purchase a three-story house with oodles of bedrooms, and, on a middle-class income, in the '70s, fill it to the brim with happy children and visiting relatives. Their holiday gatherings are sumptuous celebrations of life and togetherness. And then the fifth child arrives. He's just a child--he's not supernatural. But is he really human? This is an elegantly written tale that the New York Times called "a horror story of maternity and the nightmare of social collapse . . . a moral fable of the genre that includes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and George Orwell's 1984."

Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very...  more

Tamsin Greene comes from a long line of witches, and she was supposed to be one of the most Talented among them. But Tamsin's magic never showed up. Now seventeen, Tamsin attends boarding school in Manhattan, far from her family. But when a handsome young professor mistakes her for her very Talented sister, Tamsin agrees to find a lost family heirloom for him. The search - and the stranger - will prove to be more sinister than they first appeared, ultimately sending Tamsin on a treasure hunt through time that will unlock the secret of her true identity, unearth the sins of her family, and unleash a power so vengeful that it could destroy them all.

A fascinating window into the daily life of a medieval household, originally written as instructions for a young wife from her husband -- with more then fifty medieval woodcuts and printed in two colors throughout. 

After 13-year-old Charlie Hall’s mother dies and his father retreats into the silence of grief, Charlie finds himself drifting lost and alone through the brutal halls of junior high school. But Charlie Hall is not entirely friendless.  In the woods behind his house, Charlie is...  more

After 13-year-old Charlie Hall’s mother dies and his father retreats into the silence of grief, Charlie finds himself drifting lost and alone through the brutal halls of junior high school. But Charlie Hall is not entirely friendless.  In the woods behind his house, Charlie is saved from a mountain lion by a grizzly bear, thought to be extinct in northern Idaho.  And this very unusual bear will change Charlie’s life forever.

In 1176, King Henry II sends his daughter Joanna to Palermo to marry his cousin, the king of Sicily. Henry chooses Adelia Aguilar, his Mistress of the Art of Death, to travel with the princess and safeguard her health. But when people in the wedding procession are murdered, Adelia and Rowley...  more

In 1176, King Henry II sends his daughter Joanna to Palermo to marry his cousin, the king of Sicily. Henry chooses Adelia Aguilar, his Mistress of the Art of Death, to travel with the princess and safeguard her health. But when people in the wedding procession are murdered, Adelia and Rowley must discover the killer's identity and whether he is stalking the princess or Adelia herself.

What options does a Christian woman have after she’s brutally assaulted by a stranger...and becomes pregnant? That’s the heartrending situation Claire Holland faces. Happily married and the mother of two when she is attacked, Claire begins an incredible journey on the painful pathway...  more

What options does a Christian woman have after she’s brutally assaulted by a stranger...and becomes pregnant? That’s the heartrending situation Claire Holland faces. Happily married and the mother of two when she is attacked, Claire begins an incredible journey on the painful pathway to trusting God “in all things.” When Claire’s husband, Dan, confesses he can’t be a father to the expected child, Claire’s decision to put the baby up for adoption creates a sense of tremendous loss for Claire. Later, unexpected circumstances turn this seeming loss into victory. This wonderful first novel isn’t a love story....but a life story, presenting the twin themes trusting God in tragic circumstances and reaping the rewards that eventually come with sacrificial loving.

From the cradle to college, tell your daughters the truth about life before they believe the culture's lies. For mothers with girls newborn to eighteen, Five Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter is simply a must-have book. Youth culture commentator Vicki Courtney helps moms...  more

From the cradle to college, tell your daughters the truth about life before they believe the culture's lies. For mothers with girls newborn to eighteen, Five Conversations You Must Have With Your Daughter is simply a must-have book. Youth culture commentator Vicki Courtney helps moms pinpoint and prepare the discussions that should be ongoing in their daughters' formative years. To fully address the dynamic social and spiritual issues and influencers at hand, several chapters are written for each of the conversations, which are: 1. You are more than the sum of your parts 2. Don't be in such a hurry to grow up 3. Sex is great and worth the wait 4. It's OK to dream about marriage and motherhood 5. Girls gone wild are a dime a dozen dare to be virtuous The book is linked to online bonus features offering: invaluable tips on having these conversations across the various stages of development: five and under, six to eleven, twelve and up.

Lulu and Merry's childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu's birthday it became a nightmare. Mama warns Lulu not to let her father in, but he bullies his way past her. She runs for help, but discovers upon her return that he's murdered her mother, stabbed five year old...  more

Lulu and Merry's childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu's birthday it became a nightmare. Mama warns Lulu not to let her father in, but he bullies his way past her. She runs for help, but discovers upon her return that he's murdered her mother, stabbed five year old Merry, and tried to kill himself. Effectively orphaned by their mother's death and her father's imprisonment, the girls' relatives abandon them to a terrifying group home. Even as they plot to be taken in by a well to do family, they come to learn that all they have to hold on to is each other. As the sisters spend thirty years trying to make sense of what happened, their jailed father shadows their every choice. One spends her life pretending he's dead, while the other feels compelled to keep him close. Both dread that someday he'll win parole.

Before terror flowered in the attic there was a young girl. An innocent, hopeful girl... When young Olivia arrives at Foxworth Hall, she thinks her marriage to handsome Malcolm will bring the joy she has longed for. But in the gloomy mansion filled with festering desires and forbidden...  more

Before terror flowered in the attic there was a young girl. An innocent, hopeful girl... When young Olivia arrives at Foxworth Hall, she thinks her marriage to handsome Malcolm will bring the joy she has longed for. But in the gloomy mansion filled with festering desires and forbidden passions, a stain of jealous obsession begins to spread--an evil that will threaten her children, two charming boys and one very special, beautiful girl. For within the halls of this cursed house a shocking secret lives. A secret that will taint the Foxworth family for generations to come...

Born in 1937 in a port city north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the...  more

Born in 1937 in a port city north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of her Eurasian stepmother. Determined to survive, Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong Kong to England and eventually to the United States to become a physician and writer.

Readers have been waiting with bated breath for the seventh volume in bestselling author Diana Gabaldon's epic Outlander saga -- a masterpiece of historical fiction featuring Jamie and Claire, from one of the genre's most popular and beloved authors. Jamie Fraser, erstwhile Jacobite...  more

Readers have been waiting with bated breath for the seventh volume in bestselling author Diana Gabaldon's epic Outlander saga -- a masterpiece of historical fiction featuring Jamie and Claire, from one of the genre's most popular and beloved authors. Jamie Fraser, erstwhile Jacobite and reluctant rebel, knows three things about the American rebellion: the Americans will win, unlikely as that seems in 1778; being on the winning side is no guarantee of survival; and he'd rather die than face his illegitimate son --a young lieutenant in the British Army -- across the barrel of a gun. Fraser's time-traveling wife, Claire, also knows a couple of things: that the Americans will win, but that the ultimate price of victory is a mystery. What she does believe is that the price won't include Jamie's life or happiness -- not if she has anything to say. Claire's grown daughter Brianna, and her husband, Roger, watch the unfolding of Brianna's parents' history-- a past that may be sneaking up behind their own family. 40 sound discs (46.5 hr.) : digital

When her father orchestrates a surprise trip to the summer house of her childhood, Bailee Cooper is unprepared for what follows. What is intended to be a happy reunion for Bailee and her sisters, Geena and Piper, quickly becomes shrouded by memories from the past. Together again, the three...  more

When her father orchestrates a surprise trip to the summer house of her childhood, Bailee Cooper is unprepared for what follows. What is intended to be a happy reunion for Bailee and her sisters, Geena and Piper, quickly becomes shrouded by memories from the past. Together again, the three sisters sift through their recollections of fifteen years ago...of an ill mother, and of their father making a desperate choice. They vowed, as children, to be silent -- but one sister believes the truth must now be revealed. Yet can they trust their memories? Mark Delahunt arrives in the wake of this emotional turmoil. Determined to win Bailee's affection, Mark becomes the strong fortress for her in this time of confusion, and what was once a tentative promise begins to take root and grow. Caught between the past and an uncertain future, can Bailee let God guide her to heal the past and ultimately to embrace love?

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, an iconic rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her...  more

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, an iconic rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer, and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance. But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is tested by a torturous secret from his past.Part irresistible romance and part darkly engrossing mystery, this contemporary retelling of the beloved classic Jane Eyre promises to enchant a new generation of readers.