Contemporary Fiction Books

Book SynopsisLatha Bourne, the attractive postmistress of Stay More—a small town in the Arkansas Ozarks—didn’t expect to see Every Dill again. More than ten years before, he had raped her, robbed the bank, and vanished—leaving her pregnant. Now Every has the nerve to reappear. An erotic yet wonderfully innocent tale of loss and of finding.

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Book SynopsisA thirty-nine-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Edward Stanton lives alone on a rigid schedule in the Montana town where he grew up. His carefully constructed routine includes tracking his most common waking time (7:38 a.m.), refusing to start his therapy sessions even a minute before the appointed hour (10:00 a.m.), and watching one episode of the 1960s cop show Dragnet each night (10:00 p.m.). But when a single mother and her nine-year-old son move in across the street, Edward’s timetable comes undone. Over the course of a momentous 600 hours, he opens up to his new neighbors and confronts old grievances with his estranged parents. Exposed to both the joys and heartaches of friendship, Edward must ultimately decide whether to embrace the world outside his door or retreat to his solitary ways. Heartfelt and hilarious, this moving novel will appeal to fans of Daniel Keyes’s classic Flowers for Algernon and to any reader who loves an underdog.

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Book SynopsisFrom a captivating new author come twelve piercing stories, in which young women negotiate friendship and marriage, art and commerce, and the possibility their lives might not work out as planned. After the house of the young couple in “A Cane, an Anchor” goes up in flames, they’re unsure of what they lost in the fire and what they’d lost long before it. “The Living” asks, how would you arrange your life if you had only six months left? In “Youse,” two teenage girls are the targets of an attempted kidnapping. A trio of linked stories—including the title track—follows Meg and Dax, a curator and a butcher who married impulsively, from their eerie honeymoon in rural Wales through Meg’s identity crisis when the museum where she works is destroyed, to early parenthood, when a coyote’s spectral presence at their child’s birthday party in a Brooklyn park suggests deeper threats.Trade Review“A bowler hat, a volleyball net, a pig tattoo: Nicole Haroutunian’s stories all have unexpected details that attract the eye and alert the mind. Those details glitter on the surface while something else entirely goes on underneath: dark tides of life, death, illness, and love, and people who are carried away by them during the course of otherwise normal lives.” —Ben Greenman, author of The Slippage and Mo Meta Blues “Nicole Haroutunian is a master of excavating what is ominous and therefore worthy of examination in our everyday lives—sleepover games, damaged bodies, dying cities, Brooklyn parrots, and the prosaic catastrophes of love. I loved reading these perfectly formed stories about thoughtful urbanites and their search for meaning in the mundane.” —Amy Shearn, author of The Mermaid of Brooklyn and How Far Is The Ocean from Here “Haroutunian’s breezy prose, and her characters’ humor and relatability—even when dealing with a recently-paralyzed boyfriend, a rocky new marriage, or a father’s recent death—makes reading this captivating collection a true joy.” —Bustle, Best Books of March “Speed Dreaming is a book spilling over with talent. How enticing and accurately drawn these stories are, with their bright touches and ominous edges, their smart young characters blocked by what they can’t see yet. A wonderful debut.” —Joan Silber, author of Fools and Ideas of Heaven “An unforgettable portrait of what it’s like to be a young woman in contemporary America...A beautiful, funny, and unflinching collection.” —Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, author of Brief Encounters With the Enemy “The characters who appear (and reappear) in Speed Dreaming are full of intelligence, wit, and empathy—as well as regret, fickleness, and occasional selfishness. In other words, they are wholly human. With unbelievable precision and grace, Nicole Haroutunian examines the exquisite, transcendent, and inexplicably eerie moments of her characters’ everyday lives and gives meaning to the smallest details of their worlds. Speed Dreaming is unforgettable.” —Nelly Reifler, author of Elect H. Mouse State Judge “Nicole Haroutunian’s stories are precise little gems. I know I’ll return to them again and again, since there’s something new and beautiful to find in them every time I open this collection.” —Lauren Grodstein, author of The Explanation for Everything “These passionate stories of women and their half disasters, half-rotten men, and fully open hearts are written so nimbly and with such energy and momentum and compassion that I found myself carrying the book from room to room, brushing my teeth and feeding the dog while reading, unwilling to put them down.” —Deb Olin Unferth, author of Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War “Fire, accidents, mysterious disease, and a coyote at a child’s birthday party are only some of the calamities that these protagonists must confront, along with the minor indignities and incongruities of romance and work. Haroutunian brings her complicated young women to life with utter literary confidence. A splendid debut.” —Melvin Jules Bukiet, author of Undertown and A Faker’s Dozen “These honest and perceptive stories contend with the painful contradictions of modern love; that it is precious as it is quotidian; inadequate as it is essential.” —Julie Sarkissian, author of Dear Lucy “Though the stories in Nicole Haroutunian’s debut collection are entirely fictional, things still get too real: friendships are pitted against marriages, a couple’s belongings disappear in a fire, an end date is placed on a life, and two young girls face an imminent kidnapping. Urgent and frantic, there’s plenty more speed within the pages of this book.” —Refinery29 “Haroutunian is smart about contemporary relationships, and her collection will certainly resonate with the Modern Love crowd. Her protagonists, all women, admit to melodrama, but they go one step further than the characters in Girls in that they question what’s behind their woe-is-me antics.” —The Paris Review Blog, Staff Pick

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Book SynopsisSet in the 1990s and early aughts, a young film enthusiast-turned-teacher and a retired basketball player-turned-expat, as they seek out the significance of race, nation, and community across a globalising world.

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Book SynopsisThe moving story of two struggling medical students who find solace in their friendship amidst difficult decisions and uncertain futures.

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Book SynopsisFrom the Ernest J. Gaines Award-winning author of Everywhere You Don't Belong, a touching, timely novel-called a "tour de force" by Kaitlyn Greenidge (Libertie) and "wry and astonishing" by Publishers Weekly-about an attempt to found an underground utopia and the interwoven stories of those drawn to it.*Included in Fall Preview & Most-Anticipated Lists: New York Times, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Vulture.com, ELLE.com, The Millions, and Lit Hub*An abandoned restaurant on a hill off the highway in Western Massachusetts doesn't look like much. But to Rio, a young Black woman bereft after the loss of her newborn child, this hill becomes more than a safe haven-it becomes a place to start over. She convinces her husband to help her construct a society underground, somewhere safe, somewhere everyone can feel loved, wanted, and accepted, where the children learn actual history, where everyone has an equal shot.She locates a Benefactor and soon their utopia begins to take shape. Two unhoused men hear about it and immediately begin their journey by bus from Chicago to get there. A young and disillusioned journalist stumbles upon it and wants in. And a former soccer player, having lost his footing in society, is persuaded to check it out too. But no matter how much these people all yearn for meaning and a sanctuary from the existential dread of life above the surface, what happens if this new society can't actually work? What then? From one of the most exciting new literary voices out there, The New Naturals is fresh and deeply perceptive, capturing the absurdity of life in the 21st century, for readers of Paul Beatty's The Sellout and Jennifer Egan's The Candy House. In this remarkable feat of imagination, Bump shows us that, ultimately, it is our love for and connection to each other that will save us.

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Book SynopsisA Division of Brothers. Sins of the Tribe, by first-time author Mark Salter, explores the impact of intense tribalism and its resulting dehumanization through a popular and wildly flawed source: college football. Wally Hestia is on top of the world when he becomes a member of the Bastille University Tribe football team, a powerhouse with a pristine reputation and a nationwide following. But he's only on the team as the holder for his mentally deficient brother, Henry, a kicking prodigy and the person who gives Wally purpose. But once on the team, Wally sees morality trampled underfoot for the larger cause of tribal dominance. When Wally finds himself in opposition to Bastille to the point where he and Henry are in danger, he must choose between the adulation of the larger tribe or embrace the idyllic virtues Bastille had draped itself in, even if it means losing everything. Sins of the Tribe explores the dark side of tribalism and themes such as greed, jealousy, and the complexities of brotherhood and will appeal to football fans as well as readers of fiction in general.

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Book SynopsisGrabeland takes place in a country that no longer exists, in a culture rooted in soil and projections. Like a travelogue, the story tours the inner exiles of its characters as they test the limitations of their actual existence. Focusing on Germany and The United States, Grabeland dramatizes the formation of national identity and ultimately its dissolution through an accumulation of personal and collective experiences, anecdotes, accidents, propaganda, falsifications, histories, victimizations, inventions, dreams, and hopes.Trade Review“The novel’s elusive form, and formal playfulness, does some of the work I mentioned of confronting, or at least complicating, the ethical problems their project presents at the outset. By never allowing their subject and object to clearly cement themselves in typical genre-encoded positions of power, eteam on the one hand are the owners and artists subjecting others to the abstract fancy of their whims, and on the other implicate the art-making subject as the actual object being abstracted, controlled, and reworked through the process. “ --Jacob Kahn, Full Stop“For a book whose title invokes an operating system and that presents itself as an attempt to ‘document and record the transformation the land was undergoing from being a place with fixed coordinates to becoming a location-independent platform,’ OS Grabeland is surprisingly friendly, humble, and familiarly structured. A more apt self-description from eteam might be this: ‘There is a fundamental reality, we thought, and these are its symptoms. How banal, how random.’” --Harriet "The Case of Distance Disengaged takes the reader on a mesmerizing, poetic journey through the post-war Balkans, a region whose past and the not-yet of its future move closely alongside the present. Lucid and dreamy at once, Distance Disengaged follows visual and cultural clues in search of an an ever-elusive culprit: human perception. How do we see (this part of) the world? How do we see ourselves? How does (this part of) the world see us? Weaving together suspenseful adventure with exquisite cerebral meanderings, Distance Disengaged opens up new possibilities for historical narrative, storytelling, and documentation, ultimately leading the reader through a most satisfying investigation of the tangle of reality and perception." - Hillit Zwick“For a book whose title invokes an operating system and that presents itself as an attempt to ‘document and record the transformation the land was undergoing from being a place with fixed coordinates to becoming a location-independent platform,’ OS Grabeland is surprisingly friendly, humble, and familiarly structured. A more apt self-description from eteam might be this: ‘There is a fundamental reality, we thought, and these are its symptoms. How banal, how random.’” -- The Poetry Foundation Harriet Blog"A random online purchase of a piece of land. Two ambitious artists on their newest art project mission: engaging a group of German villagers into imaginary cruise ship travel, or into a horse carriage ride. Grabeland successfully merges descriptions of banal everyday activities, political and historical facts and fictions, Proustian reminiscences of the artists’ own childhood and the elements of a road trip novel into a dazzling read. eteam’s diary-like storytelling unravels complicated, sometimes unnerving and quite often hilarious oppositions of generations, cultures, political views and ways of living, in which urgency of art making and community building is a constant undertone."—Zeljka Himbele-Kozul"I can think of no other visual artists who could synthesis their practice and emerge with a novel this good. They achieve what all art aims for—a pulse which keeps each page alive. This pulse creates a tension between the strange and the pure, between the compelling and the mundane—page-by-page it reminds me of Sebald. The few days I spent wandering its pages were precious."—Nick Flynn"This unique novel of visual ideas, Grabeland, imagines a literary, artful and art-inspired journey, a precise travelogue of sites and possible meanings."—Lynne Tillman

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Book SynopsisA youth group’s temple road trip through India is a liberating escape for a former mean girl and sunshine boy to explore their past and their feelings for each other in the much-anticipated novel about self-discovery by the award-winning author of My So-Called Bollywood Life. Born and raised in the US, Tara Bajaj hides her family secrets. With beautiful clothes, a popular social media presence, and a spot on the Rutgers High Bollywood dance team, she does it well—until her carefully cultivated image shatters. Shut out by friends and with her future in flux, Tara accepts a guide position for a youth group’s temple tour through North India. Rediscovering the heart of her ancestry is as good a place as any to start over. Silas D’Souza-Gupta is an aspiring photojournalist retracing the journey his two mothers took when they fell in love. The last thing he expects on this road trip through his roots is a girl with a history of her own. As Tara and Silas embark on the trip to remote pilgrimage sites from Punjab through the Himalayas, they each discover what it means to be a child in the Indian diaspora, the significance of karma, and the healing power of love.Trade Review“A heartwarming story about personal growth.” —Kirkus Reviews “Sharma smartly interlocks…classic road-trip novel tropes, capitalizing on the inherent freedom of self-discovery while navigating familial traditions and expectations…[and] issues of class, identity, and spirituality.” —Publishers Weekly “The book wrestles with the spirituality and ritualistic nature of Hinduism and centers the struggles of being a not-here-nor-there diasporic teen.” —Teen Vogue

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Book SynopsisSilence tore them apart. Can the truth bring them back together? "Marvellous” —Lesley Pearse "A hauntingly beautiful novel" —Imogen Clark "Gripping, heart rending and extremely satisfying” —Katie Fforde In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief. More than half a century later, Judith’s Mending Shop restores broken treasures, just as Judith herself has been bound back together by her late, much-missed partner, Catherine. But her tranquillity is shattered when Jimmy—so different and yet somehow the same—reappears, yearning to unpick the painful past. Realising they each know only half of the other’s story, Jimmy and Judith finally break the silence that tore apart what might have been their family. Amid heartbreak and hope, how much can now be mended?Trade Review“This profound story of loss delivers an emotional gut punch but also displays human resilience. Recommended for fans of Jodi Picoult.” —Library Journal (starred review) “It is brilliantly written, so many brilliant phrases which made me smile…I shall keep my fingers crossed that it is a huge hit. It ought to be, it’s marvellous. I shall be recommending it to all.” —Lesley Pearse, #1 bestselling author of The Woman in the Wood “Struggling to find words for how amazing this book is—a beautiful, thoroughly original story about love in all its forms, with so many unexpected twists and turns. It made me laugh, made me cry, made me think.” —Frances Quinn, author of The Bonesetter Woman “This is a hauntingly beautiful novel. The painful story of Judith and Jimmy is told with deep sensitivity in lyrical prose that was a joy to absorb, and the plot unfolds at a pace that keeps you turning the pages—such a winning combination.” —Imogen Clark, million copy selling author of Impossible to Forget “Evocative, emotional and original, every word has been expertly crafted.” —Catherine Isaac, author of The World at My Feet “When I First Held You is a wonderful kaleidoscope of passion, love, grief and misunderstandings. Heart-breaking and yet hauntingly beautiful…A stunning book—one to read and re-read many times.” —Celia Anderson, bestselling author of 59 Memory Lane “I loved this gorgeous, poignant novel about loss and love and how over time we are both broken and mended.” —Sara Sheridan, author of The Fair Botanists “Compelling…A story of broken dreams and unexpected healing. You’ll want to read this.” —Sarah Ward, author of The Shrouded Path “Anstey Harris never disappoints. When I First Held You is gripping, heart rending and extremely satisfying, from start to finish.” —Katie Fforde, bestselling author of A Wedding in Provence “A powerful, compelling and affecting read.” —Heidi Swain, bestselling author of The Summer Fair “This book has a very big heart. Full of hope and so beautifully observed.” —Samuel Burr, author of The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers

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Book SynopsisA powerful and emotional coming-of-age novel set amid the turmoil and profound changes of the 1960s by the bestselling author of West with Giraffes. In segregated High Cotton, Texas, in 1964, the racial divide is as clear as the railroad tracks running through town. It’s also where two girls are going to shake things up. This is the last summer of thirteen-year-old Corky Corcoran’s childhood, and her family hires a Haitian housekeeper who brings her daughter, America, along with her. Corky is quick to befriend America and eager to share her favorite new “grown-up” novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. America’s take on it is different and profoundly personal. As their friendship grows, Corky finds out so much more about America’s life and her hidden skill: she can run as fast as Olympian Wilma Rudolph! When Corky asks America to play with her girls’ softball team for the annual church rivals game, it’s a move that crosses the color line and sets off a firestorm. As tensions escalate, it fast becomes a season of big changes in High Cotton. For Corky, those changes will last a lifetime. Set on the eve of massive cultural shifts, Mockingbird Summer explores the impact of great books, the burden of potential, and the power of friendship with humor, poignancy, and exhilarating hope.Trade ReviewPREVIOUS PRAISE FOR LYNDA RUTLEDGE “A delightful read.” —The New York Times Book Review “[A] larger-than-life story about the power of both animal magnetism and human connection…witty, charming, and heartwarming.” —Booklist “West with Giraffes is truly a fun read…I [can’t] imagine a reading list that would not contain Lynda Rutledge’s astonishing novel.” —Old Naples News “Every year I find at least one book that soars above all the others. This year “West with Giraffes is that book.” —Florida Times Union “A flawless novel.” —Austin American-Statesman “A perfect balance between history and fiction.” —POPSUGAR

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Book SynopsisA poignant story about hopes, dreams, and how far one man’s talent takes him before he realizes it’s about what you do—and how you do it. Frank Ryder is unstoppable on the baseball field—his pitches arrive faster than a batter can swing, giving his opponents no chance. He’s being heralded as a game-changing pitcher. But within the maelstrom of press, adulation, and wild speculation, Frank is a man alone. Haunted by a tragic incident from years past, he yearns to be the best but cannot reconcile the guilt he carries with the man everyone believes him to be. Frank’s path to redemption leads him on a journey back to where his life changed forever, to visit his family, his high school coach, and his brother. Through reconnection and reconciliation with those also deeply affected by the devastating event of Frank’s youth, he finds peace and his place in the world both in and outside the game. The Fireballer is a lyrical, moving story of undeniable talent and the life-changing power of forgiveness and a subtly romantic ode to America’s favorite pastime.Trade Review“Readers looking for sports fiction heavy on the baseball will enjoy this book.” —Library Journal “Like the game of baseball, the great American pastime, there is much to love in The Fireballer by Mark Stevens…a book to enjoy like it was the seventh game of the World Series and your team won.” —New York Journal of Books “Fleet and fun, The Fireballer will appeal to fans of The Natural and Robert Coover’s The Universal Baseball Association. Frank Ryder is a classic American hero—the phenom who has to overcome his own terrible past. Mark Stevens has done the impossible: He actually had me rooting for the Orioles.” —Stewart O’Nan, coauthor of Faithful and author of Ocean State “Seldom do I read a book that knocks my socks off the way The Fireballer did. This is a feel-good baseball story with a hold on the vernacular, the heart, the soul, the big picture, and the subtleties of America’s favorite summer pastime. The characters are beautifully etched, and pitcher Frank Ryder may be the most likeable hero since Gary Cooper gave life to Lou Gehrig on the big screen. I guarantee that you don’t have to be a baseball fan to be swept up by this moving tale. With a full heart, I recommend—no, insist—that you read The Fireballer.” —William Kent Krueger, author of Fox Creek and This Tender Land “Mark Stevens’s The Fireballer is a timeless baseball story told with a love of the game and fast-moving prose that will leave you cheering and crying at the same time. Frank Ryder is the most appealing of heroes, taciturn and loyal, talented and haunted—truly haunted—and with a fastball that will change the game. With its authentic baseball scenes and its rich heart, The Fireballer is a novel that rests comfortably with other classics of the game.” —William Lashner, author of The Barkeep “The Fireballer is not just a great baseball yarn that any fan of the game will enjoy—it is also a richly-layered exploration of character, regret, and redemption.” —Lou Berney, author of November Road and The Long and Faraway Gone “The old game of baseball keeps coming up with new stories about the next twist or turn in the sport. In The Fireballer, Mark Stevens has invented a startling ‘What if?’ that stretches the limits of the game. More than a baseball book, the novel is a journey through the mind and heart of a gifted, but tragic, athlete who finds a road to redemption.” —Stephen Singular, New York Times bestselling author “The Fireballer is a compelling story that I found hard to put down, rich with authentic baseball details and full of heart. Mark Stevens hits it out of the park with this intricate and moving tale of redemption.” —Robert Bailey, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Golfer’s Carol “Mark Stevens has crafted a powerful, heartfelt story—with a memorable baseball backdrop—that carves out a place alongside classics like The Art of Fielding and The Natural. Stevens knows the game—but it’s his deft narrative and characters that help this book truly sing. I couldn’t put it down.” —Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity “You don’t have to know baseball to love The Fireballer. At the center of this big-hearted book is Frank Ryder, a star pitcher tormented by a mistake in his past. Readers root for Frank not for his fastball, but because his redemption delivers us all.” —Stephanie Kane, award-winning mystery writer and author of True Crime Redux “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie…and heart. Pitcher phenom Frank Ryder’s heart is bigger than the game—as is his grief—and his fastball has the potential to transform or destroy both. As Mark Stevens divulges Ryder’s temptations and talent alongside the complexities of the sport, readers will find themselves captivated by a world-class athlete’s regrets and life choices in The Fireballer.” —Janet Fogg, award-winning author of Soliloquy and coauthor of the best seller Fogg in the Cockpit “The Fireballer goes straight into my pantheon of great baseball writing, alongside The Brothers K (David James Duncan), The Art of Fielding (Chad Harbach), You Gotta Have Wa (Robert Whiting), and the many treasures by Roger Angell. Mark Stevens’s ability to get ‘inside baseball’—while telling a moving human story—is both astounding and worthy of readers of all interests and tastes.” —John Galligan, author of the Bad Axe County series “In The Fireballer, Mark Stevens may have invented a new subgenre: the emotional thriller. As Frank Ryder journeys to the source of both his phenomenal talent and his psychic pain, I couldn’t stop turning pages. And when he earns his redemption? Reader, I cried. Love, loss, and ultimate triumph—this book delivers at 110 miles per hour.” —Keir Graff, author of The Three Mrs. Wrights (writing with Linda Joffe Hull as Linda Keir) “Brimming with humanity, The Fireballer is a richly imagined tale of the modern American pastime with a heart as big as center field. Pure storytelling genius.” — Scott Graham, winner of the National Outdoor Book Award and author of Saguaro Sanction “The Fireballer is about a baseball pitcher, sure. The way The Natural is about a bat and Shoeless Joe is about a corn field. But this many-layered tale deeply considers hope, fear, love, grief, and change, all through the prism of our beautiful national pastime. The writing is heartfelt and gorgeous. The Fireballer struck me out.” —Richard Cass, author of the Elder Darrow Jazz Mysteries and The Last Altruist “This is a great American novel that is about so much more than the great American pastime.” —Wendy J. Fox, author of If the Ice Had Held and What If We Were Somewhere Else “The Fireballer isn’t just about baseball. It’s about life and loss and what love can do. Mark Stevens shows not only a deep understanding of the game but of human frailty and grace as well. This book is a true triumph.” —Claire Booth, award-winning journalist and critically acclaimed author of the Hank Worth mysteries “With baseball as the backdrop, The Fireballer is a rich story that will have you rooting for Frank Ryder as he struggles with imprinted tragedies of his past. Don’t be dissuaded if you’re not a fan of baseball. The enjoyment of this novel comes from the talent of Mark Stevens and his craft of characters with depth and heart. The emotion is palpable and the story moving.” —Wendy Terrien, award-winning author of The Rampart Guards “The Fireballer is more than a story of a freakishly talented baseball pitcher. It’s the story of a good man trapped in an industry that both reveres and despises his abilities, and disregards the emotional toll the game takes. While reading The Fireballer I could see the players scattered in the field, smell the beer and hot dogs at the stadium, and feel the whoosh of Frank Ryder’s fastball zooming past the batter. A truly great sports novel.” —Stephanie Gayle, author of Idyll Threats “In fresh, evocative prose, Stevens spins a tale about a phenom baseball pitcher that transcends the genre of ‘sports fiction.’ Compelling and humane. Highly recommended.” —Karen Odden, USA Today bestselling author of the Inspector Corravan Mysteries

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Book SynopsisUnlikely road trip companions form an unexpected bond in an uplifting novel about the past—lost and found—by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author. Lewis Madigan is young, gay, out of work, and getting antsy when he’s roped into providing end-of-life care for his insufferable homophobic neighbor, Chester Wheeler. Lewis doesn’t need the aggravation, just the money. The only requirements: run errands, be on call, and put up with a miserable old churl no one else in Buffalo can bear. After exchanging barbs, bickering, baiting, and pushing buttons, Chester hits Lewis with the big ask. Lewis can’t say no to a dying wish: drive Chester to Arizona in his rust bucket of a Winnebago to see his ex-wife for the first time in thirty-two years—for the last time. One week, two thousand miles. To Lewis, it becomes an illuminating journey into the life and secrets of a vulnerable man he’s finally beginning to understand. A neighbor, a stranger, and a surprising new friend whose closure on a conflicted past is also just beginning. So Long, Chester Wheeler is an uplifting novel about looking deeper into the heart and soul to form bonds with the last people we’d expect—only to discover that they’re the ones who need it most.Trade Review“Fans of Erica Bauermeister and Jan Karon will appreciate Hyde’s deft handling of the contrast between Chester’s vulnerability and Lewis’s emerging talents as a caretaker. So Long, Chester Wheeler is a testament to unlikely friendships and the power of hidden strengths.” —Booklist “So Long, Chester Wheeler will change you in ways that you can’t imagine a book could... Once you read this story, there is no chance that you will ever forget it. It is a rare treasure that doesn’t come along often.” —Bookreporter

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends comes a moving novel of two unfinished love stories and the music and lyrics that bring them together. Journalist Cecilia James is a sucker for a love song. So when she stumbles across a clue to the identity of the muse for one of rock’s greatest, she devotes herself to uncovering the truth, even as her own relationship is falling apart. While writing an article for Rolling Stone, Cecilia works to reveal the mystery that has intrigued fans and discovers a classic tale of two soulmates separated by fate and circumstance. Rock star Eddie Vee once sang with his soul, dedicating love songs to Sara Friedman, his inspiration and first love. Now, Eddie takes refuge in anonymity, closed off to the past. Sara, too, has distanced herself from their love, moving thousands of miles away to live the life she once railed against. As Eddie and Sara tentatively open up to Cecilia about broken dreams, she struggles to give them a happy ending. In the process, she learns that broken hearts can be healed—even her own. What You Do To Me is the story of a love song and of the triumph of the heart over the greatest of odds. Even for those who have written off love forever.Trade Review“Good music vibes and compelling characters make this good for public libraries.” —Booklist “Bestselling author Rochelle B. Weinstein had me at ‘mix tape.’ Her nostalgic new page-turner, What You Do To Me hits all the high notes: a strong, determined female protagonist, a dreamy love interest (ahh, the lead singer in a band), forbidden love, family drama, journalistic pursuits, suspense, and second chances. Rolling Stone reporter Cecilia James has committed the cardinal sin: She has become emotionally involved in her story, as she deep dives into finding the truth behind a hit love song while trying to detangle her own messy love life and family secrets. I sang, I wept, I laughed, and I applauded—holding my lighter high for an encore performance. Weinstein’s latest must-read gem doesn’t miss a beat.” —Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author of Woman on Fire “Weinstein had me at music. Throw in a retro timeline that brings back all the 90s feels and I’m a forever fan. What You Do To Me has everything I love in a story: romance, mystery, and suspense, the trifecta of an unputdownable read. Weinstein savvily crafts not one, but two love stories, each with a heart tugging emotional end, wraps them both in some of my favorite tunes from the best decades (IMHO), plus some new ones, and adds in a mystery detailed so visually I could easily picture this on screen. Fans of Daisy Jones & the Six and novels with music themes and persistent protagonists both flawed and edgy will obviously love this book, but I think Weinstein’s novel packs an extra punch for us romantics who grew up falling for a rock star or two, even if he was only a poster on the wall above our bed.” —Kerry Lonsdale, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Side Trip “Long a master of the family saga, Rochelle Weinstein now turns her formidable talent to a passionate and playful love story. What You Do To Me is the story of star-crossed lovers Eddie, a musician, and Sara, his muse, and Cecelia, the journalist who is trying to rewrite their ending—and her own. Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & the Six will flock to this sweet and soulful book about first love and second chances, and will be moved and inspired to revisit the playlist of their own lives.” —Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Sapphire “With a deft hand, Rochelle Weinstein has crafted a fascinating, multi-layered tale expertly weaving between then and now. She introduces not one, but several intriguing elements from the past and how they shaped the present, and I desperately needed to know how everything would end. And all I can say is, what a wild and wonderful ride.” —Tracey Garvis Graves, New York Times bestselling author of Heard It in a Love Song “Sometimes a book gets everything exactly right—the ultimate love story and a heart-pumping mystery all wrapped up in a Daisy Jones & the Six vibe. What You Do To Me is storytelling perfection.” —Annabel Monaghan, author of Nora Goes Off Script “I love everything Rochelle Weinstein writes, and I am still swooning over What You Do To Me, a story brimming with suspense, rock music, forbidden love, and a heroine who is determined to uncover a decades-long secret. Sexy, sweet, and ultimately so satisfying—you need to read this one!” —Maddie Dawson, bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners

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A man who thought he put his shattered past behind him embarks on a reflective journey home in a heartfelt novel by the bestselling author of The Singing Trees and A Spanish Sunrise. Haunted by a tragic decision he made twenty years ago, veterinarian Dr. Carver Livingston has not once returned to his Vermont hometown. Now his parents’ impending divorce and his mother’s plea for support lure Carver to a reluctant homecoming. His mission: sweep into Teterbury, save a marriage, and get out before anyone else from his past knows he was even there. Fate has other plans. It’s hard to hide from former friends. Harder still to fight old feelings for the crushing and beautiful high school soulmate whom he dreams of pursuing again. And Mrs. Cartwright, his fragile English teacher, who once pulled Carver out of sadness. She taught him to always look up and to see life’s grander perspective in the stars. Now it’s Carver’s turn to help Mrs. Cartwright find those bright lights in the dark. Against his need to leave, Carver decides to stay longer, as he, his mother and father, and Mrs. Cartwright are all at turning points in their lives. Hope is not lost. If they look up, they’ll see that tonight, the stars still shine.

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Book SynopsisA catastrophic disaster in China triggers a mother’s heartbreaking choice and a daughter’s reconciliation with the past in a powerful novel by the author of A Single Swallow and Where Waters Meet. In the summer of 1976, an earthquake swallows up the city of Tangshan, China. Among the hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for survival is a mother who makes an agonizing decision that irrevocably changes her life and the lives of her children. In that devastating split second, her seven-year-old daughter, Xiaodeng, is separated from her brother and the mother she loves and trusts. All Xiaodeng remembers of the fateful morning is betrayal. Thirty years later, Xiaodeng is an acclaimed writer living in Canada with a caring husband and daughter. However, her newfound fame and success do little to cover the deep wounds that disrupt her life, time and again, and edge her toward a breaking point. Xiaodeng realizes the only path toward healing is to return to Tangshan, find her mother, and get closure. Spanning three decades of the emotional and cultural aftershocks of disaster, Zhang Ling’s intimate epic explores the damage of guilt, the healing pull of family, and the hope of one woman who, after so many years, still longs to be saved.Trade Review“This beautiful, quietly profound story examines the resilience and fragility of humans in the face of disaster. But at its heart, Aftershock is about family and how we protect the ones we love.” —Booklist

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Vibrant Years comes an emotional story of three women navigating ugly truths and safe lies with only love to guide them on a journey of motherhood, friendship, and life. Bestselling advice columnist Vandy Guru built her career teaching others how to live honestly and courageously, but after the loss of her husband, Vandy’s public veneer can barely conceal her grief. When her beloved daughter Mallika suddenly disappears and her estranged childhood best friend Rani returns, stirring up long-buried secrets, Vandy’s carefully crafted life feels at risk. Aspiring choreographer Mallika Guru is tired of failure. When another audition ends in rejection, she signs up for a genetic study to find out why she’s so different from her accomplished family. But the results reveal her whole life to be a lie, and Rani seems to be the only one who knows the truth. Rani Parekh sacrificed everything for Vandy once. But to hold on to the life she’s rebuilt, she must confront her troubled history and face Vandy and Mallika. Join these three extraordinary women as they journey from LA to Mumbai on an incredible path of discovery, hope, and love.Trade Review“Dev’s characteristic strength at writing relationships between loved ones grounds this larger-than-life plot in a poignant reality… Deception and tenderness mingle in this touching story.” —Kirkus Reviews “Recommended for Dev’s lush descriptions of food, fashion, dancing, college life, romance, and friendship and her sensitive portrayals of infertility, loss, and hope.” —Library Journal “Dev excels at creating multilayered characters faced with the challenge of balancing Indian cultural traditions with modern Western culture, all while tugging on readers' heart strings.” —Booklist “How do we define love between friends, and how far would we go for that love? Sonali Dev’s book peels back one unexpected surprise after another as she blurs the lines between the family we make and the family we are born into, between altruism and selfishness, and between truth and lies.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author “Lies and Other Love Languages is a tender and compelling novel about how women navigate their relationships with families, friends, careers, and their pasts. Mallika’s disappearance and Rani’s emergence set the story on a path of intrigue and revelation. The contrast between Vandy’s carefully crafted public persona and her inner turmoil will resonate with many women. This is a story about discovering who we are.” —Balli Kaur Jaswal, internationally bestselling author of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows “Lies and Other Love Languages is a breathtaking novel that explores the depths of true female friendship, motherly love, marital love, and the challenge of finding your true purpose in life. Sonali Dev pulls the reader as deep as one can go into the hearts of the exceptionally well-drawn, relatable characters. I was emotionally invested from beginning to end, and I can’t recommend this gem of a novel highly enough.” —Julianne MacLean, bestselling author of Beyond the Moonlit Sea “Lies and Other Love Languages is a gripping mystery cloaked in a rich family drama. It’s full of unexpected twists and turns, and Sonali Dev did a masterful job weaving a tangled web of secrets, lies, love, and devotion. I found myself lost in the pages and wonderfully satisfied when the last one was turned.” —Suzanne Redfearn, bestselling author of In an Instant

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Book SynopsisA bighearted romantic comedy about family and finding the perfect match set against the exuberant backdrop of contemporary Delhi. Home has always been a temporary arrangement for Samara Mansingh, a wayfaring wedding photographer and the daughter of a diplomat. When her father is uprooted once again, Samara needs a place to stay in Delhi. Next stop: the Khanna family. Samara’s memories of the Khannas are vague at best, but she doesn’t remember their home feeling so much like a war zone. And the last thing their surly eldest son, Sharav, wants is a houseguest eavesdropping on the chaos. Sharav has a melodramatic sister pushing back on an arranged marriage, a withdrawn lead-singer brother who won’t sing, and a widowed mother hiding her grief in the garden. Sweeping into the household like a tornado, irrepressible Samara is a practically perfect distraction. She has a mind to help a girl find true love, push a young man to find his voice, and bring a lonely and loving widow out of mourning. Maybe Samara can even get on Sharav’s ruggedly handsome good side. The only sure thing is that the Khanna family will never be the same again. Neither will Samara, who may finally find what she’s been missing her entire life: a home.Trade Review“This quick-paced and refreshing tale will have readers rooting for Samara and Sharav’s love story—and for the entire Khanna clan.” —Publishers Weekly “Filled with quirky and lovable characters and sexual chemistry so hot it will leave you breathless. Unputdownable and delightful—a must read!” —Sonali Dev, bestselling author of The Vibrant Years “Never Meant to Stay is a sumptuously layered feast for the senses—part fam-dram, part romance. Trisha Das portrays Indian family dynamics with thoughtful, tender care, especially the ways in which love gets tangled up with past hurts, romantic relationships, and familial and societal expectations. As much about belonging as it is falling in love, Never Meant to Stay follows Samara Mansingh, a transient Mary Poppins–esque heroine who (unlike Poppins herself) is very much meant to stay. Das writes the Khanna family with empathy and warmth, from their squabbles to the fierce way they claim Samara as one of their own. Das’s Delhi setting bursts onto the page with vibrancy, with almost every chapter liberally sprinkled with dishes you’ll salivate for. You’ll gobble up this book.” —Lillie Vale, author of Wrapped with a Beau and The Shaadi Set-Up

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Book SynopsisFrom Northern Ireland to Southern California and back—a mother and daughter confront the violence of the past in an enthralling novel about the possibility of love and redemption during the most transforming and unsettled times. It’s the final years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Bríd and her sister, Ina, try to maintain a stable life in a divided country. Pushed by her mother’s fanaticism and a family tragedy, Bríd joins the IRA and makes a devastating choice. Frightened and guilt ridden, she flees, leaving behind Ireland and her family for America. Years later, her guilt and tragic history still buried, Bríd is an overprotective mother raising her sensitive daughter, Bernie, in Southern California. Growing up amid a different kind of social unrest, Bernie’s need for independence and her exploration of her sexuality drive a wedge into their already-fragile relationship. When mother and daughter are forced to return to Northern Ireland, they both must confront the past, the present, and the women they’ve become. As they navigate their troubled legacies, mother and daughter untangle the threads of love, violence, and secrets that formed them—and that will stubbornly, beautifully, bind them forever.Trade ReviewThis book explores generational anger, whether these daughters should take up the mantels of their mothers’ fights or find a healthier path for themselves, and what exactly they owe to their mothers who have sacrificed so much.” —Booklist “An original and deftly crafted novel of cultural heritage, family life, and women's relationships, Trouble the Living by gifted author Francesca McDonnell Capossela is an inherently fascinating read from cover to cover...” —Midwest Book Review “Francesca Capossela is a startling new talent, elegant, erudite, humane, and with a true novelist’s sense of form and proportion. Her debut straddles continents and generations with seemingly effortless lyricism and verve. Her exacting insight into the emotional dynamics of family is astonishing.” —Jonathan Lethem, bestselling author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude “Trouble the Living is a beautiful, perceptive, heartfelt novel about family: how it shapes us, how we need it, how we struggle against it. Every page contains half a dozen perfectly captured nuances—of mood, of emotion, of weather, of politics. This is a debut by a novelist of startling gifts; Francesca Capossela’s scenes come powerfully to life on the page, and she has the true writer’s sense of character and place. A hugely impressive and enjoyable book.” ––Kevin Power, author of White City and Bad Day in Blackrock “Francesca Capossela’s Trouble the Living is that rare novel that’s both wonderfully propulsive and attuned to the textures of intimate exchange. An accomplished exploration of family, time, place, and autonomy by a writer of great power.” —Paul Lisicky, author of Later: My Life at the Edge of the World “Trouble the Living is an honest portrait of mothers and daughters that spans generations and cultures, illuminating the cracks formed when lies and deception define relationships. With exquisite writing that transports the reader through time and place, Capossela explores with heart and keen insight the lengths we will go to for the ones we love and ultimately what we are willing to sacrifice to protect our own hearts.” —Melissa Payne, author of A Light in the Forest and The Night of Many Endings “With soaring beauty and mighty undertows of pain and intimacy, Francesca Capossela’s Trouble the Living is a coming of age story that burns from within and announces the arrival of a great writer. I inhaled it.” —Lauren Mechling, author of How Could She “Francesca Capossela writes with outsider/insider clarity, following the trajectory of a brutal sectarian crime from Northern Ireland to the US and back with all its guilt and shame. A debut novel full of intrigue and heart.” —Hugo Hamilton, best-selling author of The Speckled People and The Pages “In Trouble the Living, Francesca Capossela has gorgeously braided the stories of two remarkable women, Brid Kane and Bernie Evans. A debut that will sweep you away and also make you rethink the boundaries between love and revenge, mothers and daughters, the old country and the promised land.” —Elizabeth Gaffney, author of Metropolis and When the World Was Young “A brilliant novel that navigates pain as gracefully as it does love, Trouble the Living will cast an unbreakable spell on you from its very first page. Francesca Capossela has written here a family saga so powerfully imagined, you’ll find yourself caught, like its heroines, between two generations; between Ireland and LA, between duty and desire—all while grappling with what it really means to be a mother, a sister, a daughter.” —Mina Seçkin, author of The Four Humors “Commanding and provocative, Trouble the Living is a hauntingly beautiful exaltation and cross-examination of family. Francesca Capossela’s sharp observations are as tremendous as her sure-handed guidance across time, violence, and oceans. Each page proves rich with generosity and sticky with resonance as Capossela expertly weaves together the competing textures of identity. Trouble the Living is a masterful debut from a singular new voice.” —Beck Dorey-Stein, author of From the Corner of the Oval and Rock the Boat “Trouble the Living is an exquisite meditation on violence—a contradiction that kept me riveted from start to finish. On every page, the intimate and the political are enmeshed and inextricable, brought to life by the novel's mothers and daughters who love and damage one another in equal measure. Francesca McDonnell Capossela's debut is an absolute stunner.” —Lauren Fox, New York Times bestselling author of Send for Me

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Book SynopsisIn this richly unnerving tale about family secrets and expectations, two sisters are at lifelong odds with each other, their mother, and themselves—and as every hour becomes more twisted than the last, they are all pushed to their breaking point. Lovely and Beauty know their place: at home, beneath the watchful eye of their mother. Life has never included friends, an education, or anything the sisters can call their own. Their comings and goings are supervised by Farida. Otherwise, they don’t come and go at all. That changes on Lovely’s fortieth birthday. In a stroke of inexplicable fortune, Farida permits her eldest daughter to go to the Gausia Market alone, with no instructions but to abide by her curfew. For once on her own, Lovely is goaded by the voice in her head to push her mother’s—and her own—boundaries. New experiences and old memories abound as her family awaits her return. But with the taste of freedom so fresh on her tongue, Lovely is spurred on by her disembodied companion to hang on to her newfound independence. When home isn’t a safe haven, Lovely must find somewhere else to turn.Trade ReviewPraise for Good Girls “Gazi aids her brisk plotting with flashbacks that emphasize the family’s abusive dynamics…” —Publishers Weekly “Written in lyrical prose, with nuanced characters, Gazi's first novel translated into English deftly unravels the complicated relationships between the sisters, their mother, and the secrets they’ve harbored.” —Booklist “Taut, unsettling, and at times wickedly funny, this sly novel will hold you in its thrall until the very last page.” —Ash Davidson, author of Damnation Spring

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Book SynopsisFrom Steve Weddle, the author who the New York Times calls “downright dazzling,” comes the story of a prodigal son returning home to hard times and harder choices during the Great Depression. Life has never been easy for Cottonmouth Tomlin. Raised by an uncle in a hardscrabble Arkansas town, Cottonmouth couldn’t leave fast enough. As a young man, he set out to seek his fortune but was soon caught up in a life of low-level misdeeds, taking him from New Orleans all the way to Honduras. Now he’s back in Columbia County, mourning his uncle and worrying on what to do with the broken-down outlaw camp that represents the sum of his family legacy. And legacy is no small matter in a county like his. The townsfolk remember Cottonmouth and his kin, just like they remember everyone who ever put down roots in the area. Folks do like the way the outlaw camp helps out the local economy: so long as criminals undertake their troublemaking across county lines, they’re more than welcome to stay and spend some of that money in county establishments. But when Cottonmouth gets embroiled in some ill-conceived ransom plans with a few of those visiting scofflaws, he pushes the boundaries of the community’s forgiving nature. Set against the unyielding backdrop of the Great Depression and with an unforgettable cast of ornery characters, The County Line is a lyrical and loving celebration of community and opportunity in 1933 America.Trade Review“At once wry, thrilling, and full of heart, The County Line evokes the Coen brothers at their period best, while staking out a voice and milieu all its own.” —Chris Holm, author of Child Zero “A book both wistful for the past but also brutally honest about it. Steve Weddle has crafted a bluegrass hymn with the notes written in blood.” —S.A. Cosby, author of All the Sinners Bleed “It’s like Faulkner had a love child with a couple of Elmore Leonard’s 1930s-set novels.” —Nick Kolakowski, author of Boise Longpig Hunting Club “A slide into the American Abyss from one of our best fiction writers. Steve Weddle’s spectacular novel dramatizes how, in this country, all that glitters is only a gleam away from all that guilt.” — Aaron Gwyn, author of All God’s Children and Wynne’s War “The County Line is downright biblical. In his latest novel, Steve Weddle follows his truly unforgettable protagonist, Cottonmouth Tomlin, on a lyrical journey through Great-Depression-era Arkansas. As an Arkansawyer who’s often struggled to reconcile my place in this world—this book hit home.” —Eli Cranor, author of Ozark Dogs “This is the book I have been waiting for and it does not disappoint. Every word in every sentence on every page is jam-packed with pure TNT. Steve Weddle delivers cracking dialogue, tense action, and most of all: heart, to transport us to another time and place that you won’t want to leave. A perfect addition to the canon of Southern literature.” —Eryk Pruitt, author of Something Bad Wrong “With wit sharp as viper fangs and characters whose pulses vibrate on each page, The County Line is hilarious, tragic, thought-provoking, and relentlessly entertaining. Even the dust rising off dirt roads to drift between cypress limbs is vivid enough to pierce the veil between 1933 and now. This is a storytelling feat.” —Chris Harding Thornton, author of Pickard County Atlas and Little Underworld “I was lucky enough to get an early look at what is certain to be one of my favorite books of 2024. Cottonmouth Tomlin returns from running guns in Honduras to run the Arkansas outlaw camp left to him by his uncle. The camp is a safe place for criminals to lay low as long as their misdeeds take place over the county line. Cottonmouth has bigger plans, though author Steve Weddle keeps you guessing as to whether he has the brainpower to pull them off. There are echoes of Cormac McCarthy and Elmore Leonard in this drily witty tale, but Weddle’s colorful characters and savory dialogue are all his own. A hugely enjoyable read that builds to a tremendously satisfying conclusion.” —Scott Von Doviak, author of Lowdown Road

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Book SynopsisA literary debut subverting classic sci-fi tropes set in gentrified Chicago, Silicon Valley, and across the vastness of the cosmos. From the streets of gentrified Chicago, to the tech boom corridors of Silicon Valley, This Weightless World follows a revolving cast of characters after alien contact upends their lives. We are introduced to Sevi, a burned-out music teacher desperate for connection; Ramona, his on-again, off-again computer programmer girlfriend; and Sevi’s cello protégé Eason, struggling with the closure of his high school; after a mysterious signal arrives from outer space. When the signal—at first seen as a sign of hope—stops as abruptly as it started, they are all forced to reckon with its aftermath. In San Francisco, Sevi fights to find meaning in rekindled love; and Ramona–determined to build an AI to prevent mankind’s self-destruction–begins to feel the weight of past mistakes. And in Chicago, Eason measures his commitment to an estranged childhood friend against the chance of escaping neighborhood troubles. A dazzling deconstruction of science-fiction tropes, This Weightless World looks to the past for a vision of the future. "It's precisely Soto's refusal to be 'weighted' down by decades of genre tradition, to instead turn the trope on its head and in doing so remind us that no-one but ourselves is coming to save us, that makes This Weightless World such an exciting and radical novel." —Ian Monde, Locus "Set in Silicon Valley and Chicago, This Weightless World considers questions of morality in a world where people feel powerless in the face of formidable systemic forces." —Laura Adamczyk, A.V. ClubTrade Review"Soto brilliantly inverts the inherently outward aspect of the first-contact trope—the idea of seeking salvation in the stars—by forcing his characters to look inward, to question their acquiescence on issues like climate change, police brutality, and the smothering influence of Big-Tech . . . It's precisely Soto's refusal to be 'weighted' down by decades of genre tradition, to instead turn the trope on its head and in doing so remind us that no-one but ourselves is coming to save us, that makes This Weightless World such an exciting and radical novel."—Ian Mond, Locus"Set in Silicon Valley and Chicago, This Weightless World considers questions of morality in a world where people feel powerless in the face of formidable systemic forces."—Laura Adamczyk, A.V. Club"Though the novel gestures toward wider global reactions, Soto wisely focuses on a few specific humans . . . Soto’s characters are finely drawn, as are their philosophically thorny conflicts with each other . . . Amid the discovery of alien life, a touching meditation on humanity." —Kirkus Reviews“Highly recommended for idealistic and compassionate readers who enjoy scifi and fantasy that reflects on the nature of human empathy surrounding a world-changing event. See Cloud Atlas, 1Q84, Contact, and Station Eleven.”—Suncerae Smith, Read Well Reviews "What of our current moment is ephemeral, and what is part of some unstoppable machine? By starting with one of the big 'what ifs'—extraterrestrial contact—Adam Soto charts his own course in looking for the answer. At once utterly ambitious, moving, and intimate, This Weightless World stretches from domestic protests to centuries-distant planets, all while exploring the delicate hopes of its characters. I couldn't stop reading. The ending was unforgettable. I can't believe Soto pulled it off!"—Kawai Strong Washburn, author of the PEN/Hemingway Award-winning Sharks in the Time of Saviors"This Weightless World is pure polyphony. Adam Soto sets programmers alongside revolutionaries, the contours of love alongside the coruscations of code, the power of classical music alongside the beauty of video games, and he does it all with total authority. Here it is: the social novel for the 21st century."—Robin Sloan, author of Sourdough"This Weightless World filters its alien encounters and deep-space expeditions, its dreams and anxieties about the centuries to come, through the beating hearts of a few struggling, yearning, fumbling, desperate, modern-day human beings. It's not so much a novel of ideas, asking, 'What does the future hold for us?,' as a novel populated by characters who can't stop asking themselves that same question. Reading it, I was reminded that caring about the fate of the planet is really a matter of caring about the fates of its billions of distinct and individual inhabitants, with their billions of distinct and individual futures."—Kevin Brockmeier, author of A Brief History of the Dead"With This Weightless World—and its use of a classic alien contact story to reveal America’s constant struggle with race, class, inequality and mistrust— Adam Soto proves that he gets what science fiction is really about: it’s always the present rather than the far future, and the right here rather than the far away. A fascinating debut."—Tim Maughan, author of Infinite Detail, a Locus Award finalist

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Book SynopsisRevolutionary Road meets What Belongs to You, a novel about suburban malaise, following Andres, a gay Latinx professor, returning to his hometown for a twenty-year high school reunion. Crafted with masterful narrative detailing the struggles of life in suburbia, our protagonist, Andres - a distinguished gay Latinx professor, returns home to mend familial bonds as he nurses his ailing father. Challenged by the echo of his husband's unfaithfulness, Andres attempts to pick up the pieces of his shaken marriage and, at the same time, grapples with the ghostly remnants of his youth. Rekindling relationships with his past, he reunites with Jeremy, his first love, now leading a conventional life after wrestling with past incarceration and addiction. He finds an unexpected transformation in Paul, previously suspected of a homophobic hate crime, who has become an Evangelical minister. And to his dismay, he finds his childhood best friend Simone confined within the walls of a psychiatric institution battling schizophrenia. This short yet transformative visit impels Andres to confront these stirring relationships, the haunting loss of his brother, and his parents' countless sacrifices to provide him with a promising future. The Town of Babylon is an emotionally charged narrative, reflecting the intricacies of queer, racial, and class identity. It further advocates the indispensable role of a supportive community in preserving individual wellbeing. Join Andres on his profound journey of introspection, unveiling a tender homage to societal ties.Trade Review"Unsparing yet big-hearted, The Town of Babylon will delight anyone who's ever dreaded a school reunion-or believed they'd outgrown a community. Varela throws open the closet of queer suburban adolescence with verve, empathy, and insight. A deeply moving debut." -Julian Lucas, staff writer, The New Yorker "In portraying Babylon, the diverse working-class Long Island town where he grew up, Varela paid attention to the heart disease, drug abuse, and dwindling economic opportunities that add up to a kind of communal stress and desperation. But the book, set over a week following a 20th high school reunion, also features sex and longing, love for family and friends, and an overarching wry affection." -Kate Tuttle, The Boston Globe "A richly textured portrait of ordinary queer life." -Book Riot "The Town of Babylon is a grown up and realistic story that thoughtfully depicts the struggle to find out how to deal with the past when all you want is to move forward." -David Vogel, BuzzFeed "The Town of Babylon foregrounds the way social differences play out between white and non-white, non-white and non-white, white and white. Despite what some of the United States population would like to believe, differences of race, gender, class, sexuality, religion cannot be elided, cannot go unseen. Varela's keen attentiveness to the everyday unraveling of such relations indicates his sensitivity to the conditions of life as we know it." -Marcos Gonsalez, Protean Magazine "[Varela's] precise pacing of [the] pivotal moments make for storytelling both riveting and poignant... [the novel's] distinct and intertwining narrative voices justify the rich and pointed cultural critique of the American suburb." -Benedict Nguyen, INTO "A dynamic and resonant debut . . . Hopefully there will be more books to come from the talented Varela." -Bay Area Reporter "Line for vivid line, Alejandro Varela's The Town of Babylon is a deep breath of fresh air, while idea for incisive idea it is a howl of righteous rage. Rage at the suburbs, at the past, at a country whose promises are glibly made and rarely kept, at all the great and small ways we betray each other and ourselves. But it's also a novel about love. Love's power, limits, and impossible persistence in the first and last places we think to look for it. The Town of Babylon is a remarkable debut from a tremendous new voice." -Justin Taylor, author of Riding with the Ghost "In The Town of Babylon, Alejandro Varela, whose educational background is in public health, combines a social scientist's powers of observation and analysis with a master writer's ability to delineate character in rich, absorbing prose. This is a challenging, fascinating portrait of contemporary America." -John Clum, New York Journal of Books "New York-based Latino writer Alejandro Varela weaves together histories of immigration, economic unease, and the health complications of racism in America." -Marcela Rodes, Al Dia "A gay Latinx man reckons with his past when he returns home for his 20th high school class reunion in Varela's dazzling debut . . . an incandescent bildungsroman" -Starred review, Publisher's Weekly "Varela's debut novel shimmers with tension, navigating the personal and political with practiced ease. Treading the waters of adolescence and adulthood, The Town of Babylon navigates the complexities of home, queerness, and messy histories with measure and empathy. Weaving together histories of immigration, economic unease, and the health complications of racism in America, Varela troubles ideas of community and shared experience amidst a polarizing landscape." -Kaitlynn Cassady, Seminary Co-op Bookstores "The novel's achievement lies in its simultaneous depth and expansiveness-its huge ensemble of characters, the precision with which the landscape and culture of Andres' hometown are rendered." -Kirkus Reviews "Alejandro Varela's The Town of Babylon takes the tedium and heartbreak of life and renders it in extraordinary ways. I am astonished by the way Varela captures that difficult liminality: where love, under certain circumstances, slights as much as it heals. He gets to the core of all the human pressures of living in a country where everything-everything-has a price. The Town of Babylon is haunting, sublime, solemn, and true." -Robert Jones Jr., author of The New York Times bestselling The Prophets, finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction "Alejandro Varela's debut dazzles, astonishes, and grabs hold of your heart through the very last page. Heartbreak and secrets abound in this intense, astute meditation on race, family, class, love, and friendship. Varela's wry humor is the icing on the cake of this brilliant novel." -Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction "In Alejandro Varela's assured debut, a man's reluctant return to his hometown reveals that the past is not as distant as we sometimes tell ourselves it is. The Town of Babylon is funny and sexy as well as thoughtful, even heartbreaking. It's an incisive taxonomy of the American suburb, looking beyond the white picket fence to tell a different story-what it is to be queer, the child of immigrants, and a person of color in this country." -Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind, finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction "The Town of Babylon is epic, intimate, hilarious, and heartrending: an unqualified achievement of the highest degree. Alejandro Varela captures suburbia's gridlocked travails alongside the infinitude of the heart, excavating and illuminating questions of home, family, debt, and happiness. It's as much a love story as it is a story about love in the world, broaching the impossible question of whether we can ever really go home again-but Varela clears it with ease. This book is a queer masterpiece and Varela's prose is masterful. I didn't want it to end." -Bryan Washington, award-winning author of Memorial and Lot "A thoughtful deep dive into a gay Latino man's return to his working-class town, where his alienation lies in wait. Alejandro Varela's promising debut is filled with insight about the past that produced our wounds, and how, despite having answers to lifelong questions, it holds no redemption. Intimate and jarring." -Sarah Schulman, author of After Delores and Let the Record Show "Alejandro Varela dissects the disease of suburban life in The Town of Babylon, a finely-crafted literary scalpel with two edges, one that cuts through the layers of a dying body politic and another that clears arteries blocking the way to the heart of personal and political health: community." -Roberto Lovato, author of Unforgetting "The Town of Babylon marks the debut of a major talent. Alejandro Varela puts a new twist on the American contemporary novel dealing with immigration, identity, race and gender. His scope is wide, encompassing, and his vision of the 'melting pot' includes a generous portion of the various kinds of Americans that comprise the United States . . . The Town of Babylon made me consider pertinent questions that much contemporary fiction is too timid to delve into in a compassionate, piercing and unsentimental way. Varela's marvelous achievement reminds me of the world of John Updike's Rabbit Run and of the deeply troubled America in Philip Roth's American Pastoral." -Jaime Manrique, author of Latin Moon In ManhattanTable of ContentsCONTENTS 1. SIDEWALKS 2. SUBURBS 3. ITALIAN RESTAURANTS 4. NUNS 5. OPEN BAR 6. HIGH SCHOOL 7. MOM & DAD 8. PARKING LOTS 9. BASEMENTS 10. BAGELS 11. HENRY 12. PEARL JAM 13. THE NEIGHBORHOOD 14. LATE-STAGE CAPITALISM 15. PAUL'S DAD 16. COUPLES COUNSELING 17. FRIDAY NIGHTS 18. SUNDAY MASS 19. COMMUNITY COLLEGE 20. MARTYRDOM 21. THE HOLY SPIRIT 22. SAINT JOSEPH 23. MARGARITAS 24. GETAWAY ACKNOWL EDGMENTS

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Book SynopsisThe first complete English translation of the nineteenth-century Austrian innovator''s evocative, elemental cycle of novellas.For Kafka he was “my fat brother”; Thomas Mann called him “one of the most peculiar, enigmatic, secretly audacious and strangely gripping storytellers in world literature.” Often misunderstood as an idyllic poet of “beetles and buttercups,” the nineteenth-century Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter can now be seen as a radical experimenter with narrative and a forerunner of nature writing’s darker currents. One of his best-known works, the novella cycle Motley Stones now appears in its first complete English translation, a rendition that respects the bracing strangeness of the original. In six thematically linked novellas, including the beloved classic “Rock Crystal,” human dramas play out amid the natural cycles of the Alps or the urban rhythms of Vienna—environments so keenly observed that they emerge as the tales’ most indomitable protagonists. Stifter’s human characters are equally haunting—children braving perils, eccentrics and loners harboring enigmatic torments. “We seek to glimpse the gentle law that guides the human race,” Stifter famously wrote. What he glimpsed, more often than not, was the abyss that lies behind the idyll. The tension between his humane sensitivity and his dark visions is what lends his writing its heartbreaking power.

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Book SynopsisNow available for the first time in the United States, a celebrated translation of the first volume of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Swann’s Way, the first of the seven volumes that con­stitute Marcel Proust’s lifework, In Search of Lost Time, introduces the larger themes of the whole work while standing on its own as a brilliant evocation of childhood, hopeless love, and the French Belle Époque. We first encounter Proust’s narrator in middle age, consumed with regret for his misspent life. Suddenly, he is back in the past, seized by memories of childhood: his clinging attachment to his mother, his dread of his father, summers in the country and the two walks his family was in the habit of taking—one by an aristocratic estate, the other by the house of a certain Charles Swann, to whom a mystery was attached. A child’s world, and the world of adults the child struggles to imagine, spread out before us, while Proust’s pages teem with incident and puzzle­ment, pathos and humor. The novel then takes a further step backwards to tell the story of Swann’s infatuation with the courtesan Odette. Swann, man­-about­-town and familiar of royalty, is reduced to walking after midnight, forlorn as a child awaiting a good­night kiss. James Grieve began his career translating Proust in the early 1970s, driven by his dismay at how many readers recoiled from what they imagined to be the difficulty of Proust’s work, and his translation of Swann’s Way brings out the book’s fluency and speed as no other version does. It offers an unequaled introduction to an incompa­rably absorbing work of art.

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Book SynopsisA searing Southern story about confronting the difference between the family you're born into and the family you choose, from the acclaimed author of How to Bury Your BrotherLex fled Memphis years ago, making ends meet with odd jobs teaching English around the world. She only returns when she has no choice, when her godmother presents her with a bargain she can't refuse. Lex has never understood her mother, who died tragically right before Lex's college graduation, but now she's got a chance to read her journals, to try and figure out what sent her mother spiraling all those years ago.The Memphis that Lex inhabits is more bourbon and bbq joint than sweet tea on front porches, and as she pieces together the Memphis her mother knew, seeing the lure of the world through her mother's lush writing, she must confront more of her own past and the people she left behind. Once all is laid bare, Lex must decide for herself: What is the true meaning of family?Trade Review"Women's fiction lovers won't be able to put down this story of transformation, coming-of-age and the true meaning of family. Lindsey Rogers Cook has hit her stride!" - Kristy Woodson Harvey, USA Today bestselling author of Feels Like Falling"A quick and intimate read...Readers of Southern and women's fiction will become deeply immersed in this mother-daughter narrative." -"Evoking the south in language as rich as the mystical landscape, Lindsey Cook has confirmed her place in the lexicon of Southern Fiction. We meet Lex as she is at the edge of losing everything but her beloved love of words, language and how they shape our lives. You will dwell deeply in the lyrical narrative of Learning to Speak Southern and you will not want to leave. Imaginative, immersive and beautifully intense, this is your new favorite read!" - Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah

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Book SynopsisRage burns brighter than any spellfire...Deep in the birchwoods of Norway, magic courses through the veins of two sisters. For years they've been alone, but sweet-tempered Kaija is tired of living in shadows and longs for a life filled with community, even if it means stifling her magic. But Minna is a witch through and through, with wrath always simmering just below the surface. Different as they may be, both will never forget the day they were driven from their village. The day their mother burned.When Kaija leaves to pursue a new life, Minna is left alone in the darkness of the forest. Devastated and outraged at the betrayal, Minna casts a curse to punish those who took everything from her. What she doesn't realize is that this act will incite a deadly chain of events. Soon it will destroy everything, including the life Kaija has lovingly built. But once a witch's rage boils, regret means nothing-she can't take back what's already done.Someone will have to burn.

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Book SynopsisAriadne Hui thrives on routine. So what if everything in her life is planned down to the minute: that's the way she likes it. If she's going to make partner in Toronto's most prestigious law firm, she needs to stay focused at all times.But when she comes home after yet another soul-sucking day to find an unfamiliar, gorgeous man camped out in her living room, focus is the last thing on her mind. Especially when her roommate explains this is Choi Jihoon, her cousin freshly arrived from Seoul to mend a broken heart. He just needs a few weeks to rest and heal; Ari will barely even know he's there. (Yeah, right.)Jihoon is kindness and chaos personified, and it isn't long before she's falling, hard. But when one wrong step leads to a shocking truth, Ari finds herself thrust onto the world stage: not as the competent, steely lawyer she's fought so hard to become, but as the mystery woman on the arm of a man the entire world claims to know. Now with her heart, her future, and her sense of self on the line, Ari will have to cut through all the pretty lies to find the truth of her relationship...and discover the Ariadne Hui she's finally ready to be.

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Book Synopsis“…an extraordinarily immersive narrative, and a fascinating story of the little-known Ouled Nail dancers.” The Island Prize Judges "A compelling storyteller, fresh and engaging." Karen Jennings, An Island Tourists know it as the City of Joy. For Ouled Nail dancers, Bousaada is a city of horrors. It is 1931 when two sisters arrive in Bousaada bursting with dreams of becoming successful dancers. But the city, occupied by the ruthless French colonial army, changes their lives forever. When they kill a soldier in self-defence, Fahima and Salima must outsmart the French Colonel who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. The sisters are driven further into a cycle of violence with every attempt to hide their crime. Risking their lives and the lives of their loved ones, the dancers find themselves at the heart of a civilizational clash. SAND ROSES is a tale of resistance, sisterhood and the shameful past of two colliding nations. This extraordinarily immersive narrative thrusts its reader into the Algerian city of Bousaada during the 1930s and the story of the Nailiya dancers.

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Book SynopsisIt's 1997, three years after the end of Apartheid. Two girls, Leilah, who is mixed race, and Frankie, who is white, are drawn together when they start at a new school, one that remains racially divided despite the country's new laws. Their friendship deepens and intensifies before suddenly falling apart when each tells the other secrets.

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Book SynopsisSouth-West Scotland, 2010. Air-traffic controller Helena's baby is born with unexplained paralysis. Faced with an unforgiving medical establishment, she turns to the Jewish grandmother she never knew, unfolding the past in search of answers. Berlin, 1937. Single mother and kitchen hand Dora struggles in a city growing increasingly hostile, with questions being asked of bloodlines and identity. Will she always be alone? And how long will she and her daughter be able to call this home? Based on extensive research into Eleanor Thom's lost family history, Connective Tissue is a story of migration, motherhood, and our need to know the people and places that make us.Trade Review'A finely-drawn portrait of family and memory and history - tender and true.' Rachel Seiffert, author of Man Booker Prize-shortlisted The Dark Room

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Book SynopsisIf the River is Hidden charts the journey of two writers from the source to the mouth of the Bann, Northern Ireland’s longest river. Through a dialogue of prose and poetry the history, landscape and divisions that have come to define the North are explored and challenged. With backgrounds from each side of the sectarian divide, theirs is a journey of uncovering a sense of place and of searching for meaning; a reshaping of the authors' own memories, experiences and expectations. For like the river, it is not just what is visible, but what is hidden, that comes to define us.

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Book SynopsisIf you could save the life of a loved one by trading in years of your own life, how many years would you give? How many lives could you save? Would you know when to stop? Francis Broad has done just that and has negotiated the day of his death, now he must come to terms with the decisions he has made. Three Gifts explores one man's attempt to live a good life, his sense of responsibility, gratitude and what it means to love.

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Book SynopsisRobert Bunny, a toy bunny rabbit, observes the steady decline of a family he so desperately wants to be a part of. His is the only voice of reason as he connects the crumbling mind of Deborah to her son Alex, whilst she tries to save him from the very worst of himself. The Shape of Guilt charts a pattern of secrecy and trauma, one which culminates in a brutal and drastic action. Will Robert Bunny be able to save the ones he loves?

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Book SynopsisAre we more like a coffee bean, a carrot or an egg? What happens to us when we are boiled in the trials and tribulations of life? Jessica Miller is fascinated by the somewhat perplexing tendency of humans to end their own lives, but she secretly believes such acts may not be that bad after all. Or at least, she did. Jessica is coming to terms with her own relationships, and reflecting on what it means to be queer, when a single event throws everything she once believed into doubt. Can she still defend the act?

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Book SynopsisNeveah is fifteen, a schoolgirl who is neglected in different ways by both her parents. She lives with her mum, Marie, who works nights and isn't too bothered what Neveah gets up to, as long as it doesn't affect her. Neveah's dad is the lead singer of a band and is often on the road, maintaining sporadic contact with his daughter. Neveah is a good student and is ambitious for herself. She also has a secret life. She’s earning good money by moonlighting as a digital freelancer. Neveah is also having an affair with her biggest client, Giles, who is married with a troubled home life. Neveah lies to him about her age, telling him she's twenty-two and he believes her. Neveah will do just about anything to stop him from finding out her true age. Not only does she need the money, but she has developed strong feelings for Giles. But a secret this big can't stay under wraps forever. When it all comes out, the consequences are devastating. Not only for Neveah and Giles, but for Giles's family. The novel examines toxic masculinity and the early sexualisation of young girls and society's collective collusion in this process, including by the girls themselves. Why do some young girls become sexually active way sooner than is good for them, and if a man has sex with a girl who lies about her age, is he still culpable? Welcome to the murky world of contemporary sex, where everyone has something to hide.Trade ReviewGiles loves his wife Christine, but they haven’t had sex for seven years, since she was violently attacked. He has no intention of leaving her, but is sleeping with Neavah, the young digital freelancer he employed to design his website. As well as all the usual things a man risks by having an affair, Giles is also dicing with Christine’s recovery. Neveah told Giles she is 22 when she’s actually 15, so he’s got no idea he’s also flirting with a prison sentence. The narrative is split between the perspectives of these three, and also people connected to them, including Neavah’s nightclub hostess mother, Marie, and Giles and Christine’s daughter, Serena, who is the victim of an online porn scandal. It’s brilliant on consent and underage sex — if a man has sex with a girl who lies about her age, is he still culpable? Compelling. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-12546357/DEBUTS.html -- Sara Lawrence * Debuts *

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Hamburg, 1947. Adam is a young British lawyer is posted to the destroyed city to assist in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, an exhausting, soul-destroying and demoralising task. He falls in love with a German prostitute during a time of strict anti-fraternisation rules. Rose is beautiful, educated, clever, witty … and Adam becomes increasingly obsessed with her. Then a Nazi prisoner, responsible for the cold-blooded killing of hundreds of innocents, escapes while in Adam’s custody. There is only one place for the desperate man to hide: in Hamburg’s forbidden Dead Zone. And Adam is even more desperate to find him, no matter what the cost.

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Book SynopsisIn the City of London, the scent of money and power lingers in the corridors of the shiny office buildings and clings to the suits of the men who work in them. Chasing that scent is the only thing that matters. But not to Katy Daly. She has spent her life working in the City, but wealth and power are things granted to other people. Her childhood was shattered by the pursuit of them, and since then she's coasted along on a course of risk-avoidance and underachieving. Then Katy starts working for Riley Daniels, the beautiful and charismatic CEO of Byrsa, one of the most successful yet secretive tech companies in the world. Katy can't help but be fascinated by this clever, fiercely ambitious woman making it in a man's world. Riley has a way of making her wonder if there could be more to life than letting other people shape your destiny. But power comes at a cost. As Katy is drawn deeper into Riley's intoxicating world, she is forced to confront who she is, who she has become, and how far she will go to protect Riley's secrets - and her own.

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