Fiction: literary and general non-genre

Book SynopsisDefoe’s The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was almost always published together with The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Only after 1950 was the first volume printed alone—a shorter work for some classes. But in addition to fulfilling the promise of the first volume, The Farther Adventures is an exciting adventure novel by itself. Crusoe returns to his island to learn about his colony, and then travels to Madagascar, India, and China before returning to England after some exciting encounters. Complete with an introduction, line notes, and full bibliographical notes, this is an edition like no other. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press. Trade Review"With its informative introduction and annotations by Novak, Rothman, and Schonhorn, this new edition is a welcome attempt to restore The Farther Adventures’ status as an essential part of the Crusoe story. Continuing its hero’s exploration of global religious and cultural differences, Farther Adventures takes Crusoe from Europe to the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Russia. The urgent questions Defoe explores will fascinate anyone interested in early eighteenth-century ideas about the nature of humanity and English understandings of the wider world. An exemplary instance of literary and bibliographical scholarship, the Stoke-Newington edition of The Farther Adventures is also a great adventure story with the power to enthrall readers." -- Nicholas Seager * coeditor of The Afterlives of Eighteenth-Century Fiction *Table of ContentsContributors List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Note on the TextThe Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Notifications of Books Printed and Sold Textual Notes Bibliographic Descriptions Variants Selected Bibliography About the Editors Index

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Book SynopsisTake a trip to Blessings, Georgia, where bestselling author Sharon Sala welcomes you with a small-town romance filled with:An orphaned little girl who desperately needs a new homeA couple ready to welcome her with open armsFriendly neighbors who are always there for each otherA Southern small town where great things happen to good peopleRuby Butterman and her husband, Peanut, cannot have children, but they're given a second chance at a family when eight-year-old orphan Carlie is left in their care. It's a challenge for Carlie to adapt to a new town, a new school, and a new family, and when she gets bullied at school, Ruby and Peanut discover how to step up as parents, and how to make a forever family for their beloved little girl.No summer reading list is complete without a bright, hopeful, and uplifting romance by Sharon Sala!

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Book SynopsisUSA Today bestselling author Teri Wilson brings you the perfect beach read rom com with a bright, sparkling love story featuring: A heroine who's vowed never to date again-for real, this time! Her rambunctious Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy The handsome and brilliant marine biologist she can't ignore And the nonstop antics of her friends determined to be matchmakersSparks fly when Molly Prince's puppy Ursula constantly disrupts the beachfront area where new-in-town marine biologist Max Miller is studying sea turtle mating habits. Max and Molly are instantly attracted to each other, but Molly dismisses Max out-of-hand. She's not dating anymore. Maybe not ever, since her last relationship ended in a spectacular disaster. As for Max, he refuses to take Molly seriously when her job is to play pretend as the aquarium's mermaid. But when Ursula won't stop digging in Max's beachfront yard and reveals her unique ability to sniff out sea turtle nests, she might bring these two opposites close enough to help save the turtles, and maybe even save the aquarium...Praise for Teri Wilson:"Teri Wilson is the queen of romantic comedy." -Sarah Morgan, USA Today bestselling author"Fans of Kate Angell and Julie James will appreciate this fun, lighthearted story."-Publishers Weekly for A Spot of Trouble"Hilarious... A laugh-out-loud journey!" -Woman's World for The Accidental Beauty Queen"A delightful romp." -Library Journal Starred Review for Royally Roma

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Book SynopsisLose yourself in fifty chilling tales of horror and suspense from USA Today bestselling author Darcy Coates.Push past the curtains of your rational, safe world and explore the un-nameable horrors living in the darkest corners of our consciousness. This is the realm of monsters and shifting shadows, where a single wrong step can plunge you into a terrifying fight for your life, where... Something mimics human voices as it lures you into the woods. A corpse had gone missing from its drawer in the morgue. A friend's eyes are unnaturally bright as they approach you in the dark.Whatever your choice, these fifty small bites of horror are sure to leave you haunted.Also By Darcy Coates:The Haunting of Leigh HarkerThe Haunting of Ashburn HouseThe Haunting of Blackwood HouseCraven ManorThe House Next DoorVoices in the Snow

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Book SynopsisDiscover fifteen chilling tales of gothic horror and suspense from USA Today bestselling author Darcy Coates.Push past the curtains of the rational, safe world and explore the un-nameable horrors living in the darkest corners of our conscience. This is the realm of monsters and shifting shadows, where a single wrong step can plunge you into a terrifying, irreversible fight for your life. You discover a door behind your bedroom's wallpaper. It's probably just a small crawlspace. There's nothing unusual about it... except for the quiet tapping noise you hear late at night. A young child went missing while exploring a disused cemetery in 1965. More than fifty years later you face the gate to the abandoned graveyard, armed with a clue that could lead to answers about the boy's fate. A mannequin is stored in the back of your rented basement room. Sometimes its dust cloth falls off. Sometimes you feel it watching you. And sometimes it moves while you're asleep...Also By Darcy Coates:The Haunting of Leigh HarkerThe Haunting of Ashburn HouseThe Haunting of Blackwood HouseCraven ManorThe House Next DoorVoices in the Snow

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Book SynopsisUSA Today bestseller and rising queen of atmospheric horror Darcy Coates returns with a ghost story that will haunt you long after the final page.Keira, hired as Blighty Graveyard's new groundskeeper, lives surrounded by the dead. They watch her through the fog. They wordlessly cry out. They've been desperately waiting for help moving on—and only Keira can hear them. But not every restless spirit wants to be saved.Sometimes the dead hate the living too much to find peace.As Keira struggles to uncover the tangled histories of some of the graveyard's oldest denizens, danger seeps from the darkest edges of the forest. A vicious serial killer was interred among the trees decades before, his spirit twisted by his violent nature. He's furious. Ravenous. And when Keira unwittingly answers his call, she may just seal her fate as his final intended victim.Horror Novels Also By Darcy Coates:The Haunting of Leigh HarkerCarrow HauntCraven ManorThe House Next DoorVoices in the SnowThe Haunting of Ashburn House

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Book SynopsisThe Bookish Life of Nina Hill meets Younger in a heartfelt debut following a young woman who discovers she'll have to ditch the "dream job" and write her own story to find her happy ending.Meet Nora Hughes—the overworked, underpaid, last bookish assistant standing. At least for now.When Nora landed an editorial assistant position at Parsons Press, it was her first step towards The Dream Job. Because, honestly, is there anything dreamier than making books for a living? But after five years of lunch orders, finicky authors, and per my last emails, Nora has come to one grand conclusion: Dream Jobs do not exist.With her life spiraling and the Parsons staff sinking, Nora gets hit with even worse news. Parson's is cutting her already unlivable salary. Unable to afford her rent and without even the novels she once loved as a comfort, Nora decides to moonlight for a rival publisher to make ends meet…and maybe poach some Parson's authors along the way.But when Andrew Santos, a bestselling Parsons author no one can afford to lose is thrown into the mix, Nora has to decide where her loyalties lie. Her new Dream Job, ever-optimistic Andrew, or...herself and her future.Your next book club read touching on mental health, happiness, and the peaks and perils of being a young woman just trying to figure it all out. Nora Hughes is the perfect heroine for anyone looking to get past their own chapter twenty-something and build their storybook life.Trade Review"A book for book lovers that takes a hard look at the predatory approach of the corporate world with a heroine who's easy to love and root for. I enjoyed all of the inside look at the publishing industry from the perspective of a young woman scraping together all of her wits just to get by. It's impossible not to root for Nora!" - Jesse Q. Sutanto, National Bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties"Honest, relatable, and real, Must Love Books is a tender reflection on finding your person while you're still desperately searching for yourself rolled up in a thoughtful novel about the changing work world." - KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times bestselling author of The Chicken Sisters"A compelling love story, dishy publishing goss, and a chic urban setting? Yes, yes, yes! But like the works she shepherds through publication, Shauna Robinson's true-to-life story of a struggling editorial assistant is much more than the sum of its parts. Within the pages of Must Love Books the lucky reader will find themselves on an poignant journey of a young booklover with too little support and too many dreams--a place we've all been at one point or another. With emotional honesty and a surprising wit that I found addictive, Robinson's debut is everything a book-about-books fan wants in a novel." - Kelly Harms, Washington Post bestselling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler"Must Love Books is a heartfelt and exciting debut. With a relatable protagonist in Nora, frank discussions of the Millennial experience, and pitch-perfect sweetness, Shauna Robinson puts forth a wise and honest story of how it feels to be a young woman in search of yourself." - Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising"Readers will be rooting for Nora from the first page and experiencing her grand highs and heartbreaking lows with their entire heart. Get comfy because you won't be able to put this book down!" - Sajni Patel, award-winning author of The Trouble with Hating You

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Book SynopsisAn emotionally wrought debut fiction novel perfect for book clubs about a girl who escapes from a cult after a deadly fire destroys her family's compound, only to be haunted by That Night as she tries to build a new life for herself.A fire. Her escape. And the realization her entire life has been a lie.One night, nineteen-year-old Avery is awoken by a fire consuming her family's compound. She manages to escape and runs away with her younger brother, Cole, hiding in the woods and then a school gym for weeks, dodging stares and stealing food to survive. After police apprehend them for shoplifting, a horrific discovery is made-they were actually kidnapped as children, taken by the cult leaders they knew as Mom and Dad.Cole is quickly reunited with his family and permanently separated from Avery, who is taken to a women's shelter when no family comes forward. Avery isn't certain who survived the Bakelite cult fire or, more importantly, who set it. As she tries to move past the lies and the trauma of her childhood, the events of the night of the fire come bursting back into the news, and a police investigation throws Avery into the spotlight where she's pushed to answer questions she can't explain. The memories of that night and her former life threaten to undo all the progress she's made, but she must uncover the truth about the fire to truly be free.Suspenseful, emotionally charged, and deeply thought-provoking, After We Were Stolen delves into ideas of family-those we're born into and those we make, resilience, and the lengths a cult survivor will go to finally be free of her painful past. Brooke Beyfuss's powerful debut novel sparkles with heart, grit, and extraordinary characters who will stay with you long after the last page.

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Book SynopsisThree women, a nation seduced by a madman, and the Nazi breeding program to create a so-called master raceAt Heim Hochland, a Nazi breeding home in Bavaria, three women's fates are irrevocably intertwined. Gundi is a pregnant university student from Berlin. An Aryan beauty, she's secretly a member of a resistance group. Hilde, only eighteen, is a true believer in the cause and is thrilled to carry a Nazi official's child. And Irma, a 44-year-old nurse, is desperate to build a new life for herself after personal devastation. All three have everything to lose.Based on untold historical events, this novel brings us intimately inside the Lebensborn Society maternity homes that actually existed in several countries during World War II, where thousands of "racially fit" babies were bred and taken from their mothers to be raised as part of the new Germany. But it proves that in a dark period of history, the connections women forge can carry us through, even driving us to heroism we didn't know we had within us.

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Book SynopsisFrom International Latino Book Award-winning author Ann Dávila Cardinal comes a gorgeously written family saga about a Puerto Rican teenager who finds herself gifted (or cursed?) with a strange ability.There was always an old woman dying in the back room of her family's house when Isla was a child...Isla Larsen Sanchez's life begins to unravel when her father passes away. Instead of being comforted at home in New Jersey, her mother starts leaving her in Puerto Rico with her grandmother and great-aunt each summer like a piece of forgotten luggage.When Isla turns eighteen, her grandmother, a great storyteller, dies. It is then that Isla discovers she has a gift passed down through her family's cuentistas. The tales of dead family storytellers are brought back to life, replaying themselves over and over in front of her.At first, Isla is enchanted by this connection to the Sanchez cuentistas. But when Isla has a vision of an old murder mystery, she realizes that if she can't solve it to make the loop end, these seemingly harmless stories could cost Isla her life.

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Book SynopsisThere are thirteen knives. One by one they begin to disappearNora didn't expect Hidden Lake Camp to be in a state of ruin. Dock full of rotten boards, smashed windows, cabins falling apart. To her new husband, Paul, the camp is the past he'd just as soon bury. Nora agreed to drive north with him to get his elderly parents settled while he makes enough repairs to sell the property. Only a few months, Paul said. The summer camp, however, and its deep lake have other plans.After Nora's first meal with his difficult family, one knife-part of a prized collection-goes missing. By the time the fourth and fifth vanish from behind locked doors and out from under watchful eyes, Nora can barely sleep. There's talk of ghosts, secret rooms and someone at the summer camp found dead in the tall grass.Unsettling, gripping, and totally original, Book of Knives is a literary thriller that shows how one person's unraveling can bring the whole house down.

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Book SynopsisThe third in an adorable witchy rom-com series by New York Times bestselling author Ann Aguirre, perfect for fans of:The bonds of sisterhoodA career-driven heroine who thinks she isn't marriage materialA pan hero who struggles with depressionAnd a shocking family secretAfter two failed marriages, Leanne Vanderpol is here for a good time, not for a long time. She only loves the witches in her coven, and she cares more about her career than happily ever after. A difficult past makes her skittish, and she doesn't trust relationships to stick. But when she decides to run for city council instead of wasting her talents cleaning up messes for the mayor's office, she fears her past could be used against her.Unless she can find the right husband to shore up her political career...Trevor Montgomery might have peaked in high school. He was popular then, and in college as well, but he partied away his future, met the wrong person, and everything fell apart. Now he's jobless, dateless, and hopeless, at least according to his toxic family. Then a chance meeting with the redhead of his dreams offers an unexpected ray of light just when he needs it most.Can a woman who doesn't believe in forever find true love with a man who's stopped believing in anything at all?

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Book SynopsisFour years after being exiled to Paris for disgracing the family name, Alabama debutante Zoe Barlow is still reeling from the horror of her ejection. Still, she's managed to create a new family among fellow expats and artists, including Hadley and Ernest Hemingway. When a valise containing all of Ernest's writings goes missing, Zoe volunteers to help Hadley track it down. Unfortunately, the valise leads to two murders-the train porter who stole the bag, and a young woman rumored to be Anastasia Romanov-shot to death on the edge of a small village. With much more at stake than the missing manuscripts, Zoe risks everything she holds dear to find out who among her adopted family is a murderer.

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Book SynopsisThe thirty-eighth book in the Cliff Hardy seriesThis wasn't Hardy's usual brief--uncover the mysteries of a nineteenth-century shipwreck--but he could do with an easy case and the retainer was generous. But is it ever that simple? Not with a notorious crime family tearing itself apart, and an undercover cop playing both sides against the middle. These and an alluring but fiercely ambitious female journalist give Hardy all the trouble he can handle. 'Ever feel manipulated?' Hardy asks. The body count mounts up as he pushes closer to the truth about the mystery and the loot.Trade ReviewReminds you just how good Peter Corris is, what a legend his private-detective character Cliff Hardy is. * Sydney Morning Herald *Hardy goes from strength to strength. * Adelaide Advertiser *Peter Corris is undoubtedly a major figure in our time. -- Stephen Knight

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Book SynopsisThe pope is dead and the corridors of the Vatican hum with intrigue as cardinals gather to elect his successor. The result is a surprise: the new pope is the youngest of them all - a bearded Ukrainian. The Shoes of the Fisherman is the moving story of Kiril I, recently released from seventeen years in Siberian labour camps and haunted by his past. Not only is he the leader of a fractured Catholic Church, but he also finds he must confront his inquisitor and tormentor in order to avert another world war.Trade ReviewHigh drama... beautifully executed. * Sunday Times *Tough, spare, brilliant, vital. * The Bookman *A masterpiece * Chicago Tribune *

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Book Synopsis'I worked with Anna Daniels on The Project, she was great then and she's just as funny in print!' Dave Hughes'There's lots to enjoy about Girl in Between -- notably the likeable, offbeat observational humour...Daniels' rather endearing comic style really shines ' The Sydney Morning HeraldAs the girl in between relationships, careers and cities, Lucy Crighton is facing some awkward truths -- like her mum's obsession with Cher, her father's unsolicited advice, and the probability there's more cash on the floor of her parents' car than in her own bank account.Thank goodness for Lucy's crazy-but-wonderful best friend, Rosie, who's around to cushion reality with wild nights at the local Whipcrack Hotel, escapades in Japanese mud baths and double dating under the Christmas lights in London.But will Lucy work out what she really wants to do in life -- and who she wants to share it with?Girl in Between is a warm, funny, charmingly Australian story about life at the crossroads. Featuring an endearing and irrepressible cast of characters, it will have you chuckling from start to finish. '...this is a super fun read that crosses several countries but knows that home is where the heart is.' Sam Still ReadingTrade Review'Unapologetically populist, homegrown and comfy . . . [Daniels] is a kind of latter-day Bridget Jones.' - The Australian'Girl in Between is a fast, entertaining read with an endearing cast of characters . . . will have you laughing and maybe shedding a tear.' - The Weekly Times'One of the most striking aspects of Anna Daniels' storytelling is the quintessential Australian flavouring throughout . . . A brilliant debut novel and certainly an author to keep an eye on.' - AusRom Today'Filled with great Aussie humour and witty charm.' - Hannah Plus Books (blog)'Girl in Between is a love letter to many?to Australia, to Aussie English and to those who find themselves wondering where everything is all going. With its easily likeable heroine Lucy, this is a super fun read that crosses several countries but knows that home is where the heart is . . . If you enjoyed The Castle, you'll love the Aussie-ness of Girl in Between.' - Sam Still Reading (blog)'A book that will light up your life . . . the romance gets an A+' - 21st Century Once Upon a Time (blog)'A witty, sharp and funny story about what it feels like to be thirty and have no idea what you want to be when you grow up . . . perfect for anyone who's feeling uninspired or unmotivated.' - A Girl and Grey (blog)'Light and breezy . . . perfect for those lazy days sitting on the beach or at a cafe as the world goes by.' - GLAM Adelaide'Never have I laughed out loud so much while reading a book.' - Victoria, My Books Are Me (blog)'Girl in Between was so refreshingly delightful and quintessentially Australian. Often hilarious, but never overdone.' - Theresa Smith Writes (blog)

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Book SynopsisFlight from the USSR, the first novel from one of Georgia’s most famous author, Dato Turashvili, was originally published in Georgia in 1988. Since then, it has been adapted as a stage play entitled “Jeans Generation” and translated into German, Dutch, Italian, Greek and Croatian; receiving brilliant reviews everywhere. The novel is based upon an electrifying and tragic event in 1983. Gega Kobakhidze, a young actor, and seven friends hijack an airplane heading from Tbilisi to Leningrad. They desperately want to flee from the USSR and go to Turkey. They fail, are imprisoned and a number are killed. All of Georgia and the world were caught up in these events. Turashvili is a master of drama, with a precise and compelling sense of dialogue, his characterizations are complex but powerful, his story-line is totally engrossing, and we do not want to believe the inevitable and disastrous conclusion. He weaves a gripping literary work between historical fact and fiction, leaving the reader transfixed.

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Book Synopsis“All storytelling is driven by guilt.” So says Peter Chaff as he recounts the days and nights he spent with Geneva Farewell. He doesn’t remember how, when, or why Geneva vanished from his life. As he reconstructs those few weeks, his story expands to include the redemption of the human race. Is Peter making it all up, as he claims more than once? Is he hallucinating? Or does he actually live on a parallel version of Earth that waits uneasily for a second message from the Sirius star system? Is he moving closer to the truth of what happened to Geneva Farewell, or is he running from it as hard as he can? Equal parts comedy, tragedy and inkblot test, Geneva Farewell is an unforgettable portrait of the spirit of our times—flippant, flummoxed and fragmented.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2017 Brage PrizeFanny, a 17-year-old high school senior, has lost both her parents in a car accident. Granted permission to live independently in the family home located on the outskirts of a small Norwegian town, the days pass by as she performs her daily routine: going to school, maintaining the house, chopping and stacking wood, and keeping the weeds at bay. As Fanny grieves and attempts to come to terms with the sad circumstances of her life, a fairy tale-like world full of new possibilities begins to emerge around her.Written by Rune Christiansen, one of Norway's most exciting literary talents, and masterfully translated by Kari Dickson, Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest is a beautiful, poetic portrait of grief, friendship, independence and transgression.Praise for Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest:"Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest is among the saddest and most uplifting books I've read. This story of a grieving young woman is told in short bursts of lustrous writing crisp as aquavit that leave the reader seeing the world anew. Christiansen is taking on the big themes, love and death, but I know what side he's on." —Michael Redhill, Scotiabank Giller Prize winning author of Bellevue Square"Rune Christiansen's Fanny and the Mystery of the Grieving Forest is one of those special stories I find myself petting once I've finished, as if it were a wee forest creature I have fallen in love with. A shimmering musing on grief, Fanny is both ecstatic fairytale and Gothic novel—beguiling, haunting, and erotic in equal measure. There are very few books I would put in the category of heart places, but this is certainly one." —Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, author of All the Broken ThingsTrade Review"Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest is among the saddest and most uplifting books I've read. This story of a grieving young woman is told in short bursts of lustrous writing crisp as aquavit that leave the reader seeing the world anew. Christiansen is taking on the big themes, love and death, but I know what side he's on." -- Michael Redhill, Scotiabank Giller Prize winning author of Bellevue Square"Rune Christiansen's Fanny and the Mystery of the Grieving Forest is one of those special stories I find myself petting once I've finished, as if it were a wee forest creature I have fallen in love with. A shimmering musing on grief, Fanny is both ecstatic fairytale and Gothic novel -- beguiling, haunting, and erotic in equal measure. There are very few books I would put in the category of heart places, but this is certainly one." -- Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, author of All the Broken Things

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Book SynopsisA Rogue's Decameron consists of ten stories - tales - that loosely follow the fabliaux style and are based within the spirit of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Boccaccio's The Decameron: extravagance, joy and ribald humour around sex, lust, vice, death and other ?hungers' of human beings. Using similar framing technique as these works - a prologue, a short description of each story and an epilogue, the stories explore themes such as social commentary and satire aimed at personal politics, societal mores and customs, hierarchies, and religious beliefs. All with Toronto as a backdrop and brought up to date for the sensibilities of a 21st century audience.

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Book SynopsisAt the age of twenty, Sheyda Porrouya's life is almost over. She was born in Iran on the day staunchly orthodox mullas declared the birth of the Islamic Republic and set about summarily purging the country of all things Western and un-Islamic. To make matters worse, as she matured, Sheyda seemed increasingly unable to distinguish between fairy tale and reality. She began to exhibit disturbing behavior. When Sheyda is accused of killing her mother, she is immediately jailed and sentenced to death by hanging. The narrative jumps back and forth from Sheyda's childhood to her current life in one of Iran's most notorious prisons, where she awaits either release or execution.

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Book SynopsisFrom Black Hand criminals to stand-up cops, from innocent victims and ordinary people to schemers and dreamers: a novel that chronicles one hundred years in the lives and relationships of those who have lived in New York City's Little Italy. A multi-generational, multi-dimensional tale that digs deep into the minds and hearts of this vibrant neighborhood.

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Book SynopsisA boy finds a vocation as a weaver of bread. A Russian woman, thought dead, e-mails greetings to her adolescent sister in a Canadian suburb. An investment banker vanishes and is found fifteen years later when his daughter discovers a painting of herself in a distant gallery. With wit and ache, Daniel Karasik's Faithful and Other Stories evokes a world of seekers, characters panning for meaning in environments by turns hostile, mystifying, and enchanted. This collection brings together stories honoured with the CBC Short Story Prize, The Malahat Review's Jack Hodgins Founders' Award for Fiction, and the Alta Lind Cook Prize.

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Book SynopsisIn 1941, 12-year-old Rivka Rosenfeld lives in the Warsaw Ghetto with her grandfather and two sisters in a synagogue because housing is scarce. When German soldiers slash her grandfather's beard, Rivka is compelled to write in between the pages of a library book by Hans Christian Andersen. Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum, founder of the Underground Archive--a compilation of Warsaw Ghetto experiences, asks her to contribute her stories to the archives and Rivka agrees, imagining her words rising up from the ground on wings of their own.

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Book SynopsisTaking place during World War II, Somewhere in the Stars is the story of three young men from San Francisco -- Nick Spataro, his cousin Paolo, and friend Nathan Fein -- and their adventures as members of an American tank battalion chasing the Germans up the Italian peninsula, while Nick's Sicilian dad is interned as an "enemy alien" back in the USA. Despite encountering prejudice both at home and during their tank training, the three show uncanny skill in outmaneuvering and destroying German tanks, until their own tank is blown up. Tragic events both on and off the battlefield, bravery, guilt in the loss of friends, romance, trauma, feelings of regret, daring rescues and eventual re-union with loved ones make for a powerful and explosive mix.

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Book SynopsisThere are unseen forces in our lives that shape who we are and what we become. How we respond to those forces determines our futures. These stories examine how characters respond to the unexpected. Do we carry our memories of the beautiful moments of life with us into death? And, ultimately, what do we value in life that defines us--from a hat to the shadow of a figure in a window reminding us of what we have lost or need to hold onto.Trade ReviewPortraits of Canadian Writers: Bruce Meyer has given us readers a serious bit of enlightenment for our minds with his Portraits of Canadian Writers. The combination of writing and images engage any reader's complete psyche and give insight to some of Canada's greatest wordsmiths.--Steven Buechler, The Library of Pacific Tranquility

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Book SynopsisImmortal Water offers a unique portrayal of the very human fear of ageing. The novel depicts two men from two time periods: the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon in the 16th Century and a retired teacher named Ross Porter in contemporary times, both in the midst of life altering crises. Inside parallel plots the two men form an obsession with a quixotic search for the mythical fountain of youth. The protagonists sparkle into fullness as each is depicted in his struggle to remain vital while age slowly steals his significance away.

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Book SynopsisFinalist for the 2019 Governor General's Literary AwardMyth, folklore, and magic permeate the stories in Marianne Micros' collection Eye. Set in ancient and modern Greece, and in contemporary Europe and North America, these tales tell of evil-eye curses, women healers, ghosts, a changeling, and people struggling to retain or gain power in a world of changing beliefs. Here you will find stories of a nymph transformed into a heifer, a young soldier who returns home to discover that his brother is a changeling, an ancient temple uncovered during the construction of a church, a betrayed woman lost in a labyrinth, a wise woman confronting changes to her position when modern technology comes to her village. Some stories show that people still seek refuge in myth and folk beliefs; the ways of the past are not gone. The paving of a village does not destroy the power of the evil eye or the ability to repel it. A temple in honour of the old gods comes again to the surface. An unfinished musical composition for piano magically completes itself whenever it is played.

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Book SynopsisIn Fate's Instruments, picking up the story from where Paul's brother Jay left it in No Safeguards, Paul, an aspiring writer, marries Carlos, with whom he lived in Guatemala, and brings him to Montreal. Things go wrong from the beginning, and they break up. Then fate, in the form of a brain tumour, strikes Paul. He receives support from Jay, Lionel (himself a brain tumour survivor), friends, and the enigmatic Professor Bram. But it is Paul's exploration of his Vincentian childhood and new-found love that restores his equilibrium.

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Book SynopsisPortrait of a Husband with the Ashes of His Wife addresses themes of destiny and the repercussions of our choices. Before she dies, actress Alma Joncas instructs her husband to bury her ashes where she was happiest. He decides that was their garden. But relatives, friends and Alma's colleagues disagree. After they tell him where they think she was happiest, not only is he no longer sure about the garden, he wonders if he truly knew the woman he was married to for twenty-four years.

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Book SynopsisFour strong women: Anjali, an Indo-Canadian single mother who eagerly accepts an African posting with her non-profit organization; Grace, her dedicated but dominating colleague, who opposes her; Fatimah, a farmer ousted from her home and fertile farmland, whom Anjali befriends; and Mary, Anjali's kindly maid, who must secure the future of her son, Gabriel. In Land for Fatimah, Anjali involves herself in Fatimah's quest to find new land for her scattered community, and is thrown into a web of intrigue that upturns her safe, orderly world. Capturing the warmth and vitality of Africa, illuminating everyday heroism, the novel explores expat life, the forced displacement of the poor and the complexities of development.Trade ReviewErudite and engaging The protagonist, Anjali, is a complex, multidimensional character, admirable for her attempts to put principle ahead of pragmatism.--H. Nigel Thomas, author of No Safeguards

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Book SynopsisA Japanese detective agency in Midwest America; a sex triangle with the vampish Angela at its apex, and love-sick Pohl and lust-warped Burnett at the receiving ends; a Fat Man devouring a huge luncheon amidst the splendors of his garden; and has-been vixen Violet seeking justice and revenge. Just some of the elements of No. 22 Pleasure City, a novel that ranges in flavor between Japanese manga, pulp fiction and tongue-in-cheek pornography. The novel is a story of betrayal, obsession, rejection, friendship, and--ultimately--redemption.

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Book SynopsisRamya immigrated to Canada from India with her husband about fifteen years ago. She typifies the first generation immigrant - a person who straddles two cultures, two countries, two continents, even perhaps two different worlds altogether.The novel has two intertwined threads of narration simultaneously unspooling. The one set in the present is about Ramya's battle to rebuild her life. The other, a series of sorties into the past, examines Ramya's sundry relationships. One narrative skein is Canadian, modern and multicultural, while the other is Indian, steeped in myth and mysticism. They are the two sides of the same coin, the obverse and the reverse - the world as seen through the bi-focal lens of immigrant reality.

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Book SynopsisA tour guide leads a Valentine's Day-themed ghost walk, visiting the sites of horrific, yet romantic, deaths. A homicide cop solves tough cases using tips from his plants. Scientists discover a new species of religiously observant gophers, and a young math whiz, on the hunt for her escaped boa constrictor, ponders the theory of multiple worlds. Replete with dark humour and cheeky interrogations of philosophy and metaphysics, the thirty-three stories in How to Tell if Your Frog is Dead expose the fundamental absurdity of the human condition.

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