Narrative theme: sense of place

Book Synopsis'Absorbing, intelligent and atmospheric... Genius' Elizabeth Haynes_________________________Fortune favours the fraud...When she was thirteen years old, Ada Howell lost not just her father, but the life she felt she was destined to lead. Now, at eighteen, Ada is given a second chance when her wealthy godmother gifts her with an extravagant art history trip to Italy.In the palazzos of Venice, the cathedrals of Florence and the villas of Rome, she finally finds herself among the kind of people she aspires to be: sophisticated, cultured, privileged. Ada does everything in her power to prove she is one of them. And when a member of the group dies in suspicious circumstances, she seizes the opportunity to permanently bind herself to this gilded set.But everything hidden must eventually surface, and when it does, Ada discovers she's been keeping a far darker secret than she could ever have imagined...'Intelligent, elegant and immersive' Claire Kendal'A compulsive story, written with steely intelligence and wicked prose' Elizabeth BuchanTrade ReviewA treat ... excellent insights ... elegant prose * Daily Mail *With a frisson of uneasiness throughout, this intensely captivating thriller will cast its spell, leaving you on edge with unexpected twists. * Heat Magazine *Intelligent, elegant and immersive. I found myself absorbed by the voice and story, and fascinated by a complex narrator who made me feel both empathy and horror. -- Claire Kendal, bestselling author of 'The Book of You'Absorbing, intelligent and atmospheric, full of cool, incisive observations on class, loyalty and friendship - and oh my goodness, a razor-sharp twist. Genius. -- Elizabeth HaynesAmbition, lust, family secrets and lashings of Italian art - what could go wrong? A compulsive story, written with steely intelligence and wicked prose, that should propel the author into the bestseller lists. -- Elizabeth BuchanA heady tapestry of desires, secrets and entitled cruelties, suffused with the heat and shimmer of Italy... beautifully written, intoxicating... Fab! -- Philippa EastGlamour and art with a very dark underbelly of deceit and jealousy, that kept me guessing (and gasping) to the very end. -- Cressida McLauglinThe Favour is a refreshing, fun and compelling read about deception and consequences that had me hooked from the start. Ada is a wonderful creation who will stay with me for some time. * Lisa Ballantyne *Intense and intelligent, with a deliciously dark and dangerous atmosphere, and a story suffused with secrets and lies. Not to mention the intrigue of Italy, a fascinating central character and a killer twist. I loved it! * Jenny Quintana, author of The Missing Girl *Devious and manipulative, she pulls the reader through this tale of gilded youth misbehaving and paying the price. The tension comes not so much from whether the truth about the crime will emerge as from whether or not Ada will ultimately get what she wants or the punishment she so richly deserves. * Literary Review *Riveting ... an enormously engrossing, satisfying book - darkly funny, sharply ironic, keenly observed and elegantly written * Western Mail *A gripping plot, fascinating characters and a glorious backdrop ... a hugely ambitious debut that delivers handsomely on its promise * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisOn every page of this delicious book you will meet characters and situations that tell you this could only be New York. The parents who are determined to get their children literally to fly at the school production of Peter Pan - the Cambodian cashier at the local deli who is more Jewish than Gopnik's grandfather - his gloriously peculiar analyst who argues that a name can be damaging to the human psyche, saying Adam's name is very ugly - the birder who takes Adam to see the huge flock of feral parrots that have taken over Flatbush. No one knows how they got there or how they survive the brutal winters, but they do. And flourish on it. 'These birds are so bold. They are real New Yorkers. They have so much attitude'. Through the Children's Gate is written with Gopnik's signature mix of mind and heart, elegantly and exultantly alert to the minute miracles that bring a place to life.Trade ReviewEngaging, witty, thoughtful, clever, casual, ebullient, erudite and thoroughly modern - Spectator * Spectator *The distinctive brilliance of Gopnik's essays lies in his ability to pick up a subject one would never have believed possible to think deeply about then cover it in thoughts … he is truly able to see the whole world in a grain of sand - Alain de Botton, New York Times * Alain de Botton *

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Book SynopsisThe River's Song is a moving, lyrical novel which deftly weaves together the themes of love, South-East Asian music and culture, and the social and political consequences of urban modernisation. Ping, the daughter of a renowned folk musician in Singapore's Chinatown's, loves Weng, the voice of the people, but family circumstances drive them apart. While Ping goes to university in America, Weng is sent to prison for his part in local protests. Many years later, Ping returns to a country transformed by prosperity. Gone are the boatmen and hawkers who once lived along the river. In their place rise luminous glass and steel towers proclaiming the power of the city state. Can Ping face her former lover and reveal the secret that has separated them for over thirty years?Trade Review"...Unashamedly details Singapore's past and present in gripping stories... Lim draws characters effortlessly and draws readers to them." The Sunday Times; “Lim’s affecting, lushly textured historical novel… A fine, deeply felt saga of lives caught up in progress that’s as heartbreaking as it is hopeful.” - Kirkus, 5 * Blue Star Review; “Just as the best novels should be but so rarely are: like immersion in a vivid dream. I couldn’t decide whether to read it slowly in order to savour every word, or to race along, mesmerised by Lim’s dazzling story-telling.” - Jill Dawson, British author of The Great Lover, (Richard and Judy’s Bookclub); “A winning coming of age novel that bridges the years and countries. Here is the buoyancy of sentences and a testimony of resilience.” - Krys Lee, award-winning Korean author of The Drifting House; “Powerful, deep and moving – draws you in and pulls you along irresistibly. Its heartfelt swell will carry you away to a place of passion and resonant conviction.” - Kevin MacNeil, Scottish author of the best-selling The Stornoway Way; “A touching story that retrieves Singapore’s fast disappearing past and gives its famous river the depth and colour of a people’s history, and a wonderful rendition of the pipa, on the page, as mother and daughter play their songs from the heart.” - Romesh Gunasekera author of Reef, shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

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Book SynopsisThe new satire from the author of Radio Sunrise.Who will be the next president of the Society of Journalists in Lagos? Who is qualified to lead the esteemed body of journalists and help uphold professional ethics in the state? Will honesty and integrity be able to beat charisma and misinformation?When a sick man flies in from a neighbouring country, he becomes Nigeria's first ebola case-patient zero. As the cases rise and journalists across the country vie for the lead in reporting the news on the imminent pandemic, Ifiok and his colleagues must immediately tackle the spread of the virus by raising awareness, sharing information, and supporting the outreach efforts of health workers. Unfortunately, they also have to battle against hysteria, misinformation, corruption and denial. Ifiok's love life could be a much needed escape from the stresses of work, if not for his meddling mother and the outdated traditions of society.Will Ifiok succeed in his quest to become the next president of the Society of Journalists, win the battle against misinformation and find love along the way?

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Book SynopsisA young, restless Alabama teacher searching for a sense of purpose accepts a position at a tiny Louisiana bayou school, where a lonely Cajun fisherman, a tight-knit community, and a legendary white alligator will change her life forever.

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Book SynopsisSet in rural Appalachia and told through the voices of three different present-day narrators, this harrowing novel about white supremacists attempting to take over a small town focuses an unflinching eye on America’s ongoing, fraught relationship with racial and political injustice.Trade Review“White imbues his prose with deep compassion and finely honed storytelling. These skills were already on display in White’s 2018 novel, In the House of Wilderness, but here they accelerate, fueled by powerful confrontation with the violent racism and environmental hazards that endanger our current national atmosphere. White holds nothing back, and these scenes spark and blaze.” * Chapter 16 *“White separates the principled from the opportunistic, the heroic from the cowardly, in a series of harrowing scenes accelerating at such a pace that the final chapters of the novel seem to disappear. Not merely action for its own sake, White again demonstrates the sure hand that illustrates consequences of many characters’ choices and sore trials of their resilience.” * Appalachian Journal *“How Fire Runs faces down one of the most worrisome contemporary social developments, a phenomenon that, after the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, is demonstrably problematic in Appalachia: the resurgence, expansion, and organization of white supremacist and fascist groups…. The novel warns that it is … the transformation of fear and suffering into hate for the perceived other that kindles flames and allows fires to run.” * Appalachian Review *“How Fire Runs in saner times might read as a cautionary tale against the lure of authoritarianism and racist agitators. As it stands, however, the novel instead reads like reportage from the front lines of an increasingly polarized and frightening political and social landscape… White delves headfirst into the difficult questions of how a community must respond to a threat anathema to what they believe.” * North Carolina Literary Review *“A spellbinding tale….Well-drawn characters are matched by evocative prose. Socially conscious readers will want to check this out.” * Publishers Weekly *“No novel could be more timely than this suspenseful thriller that follows a delusional white supremacist who gathers an army of supporters who seek to turn an East Tennessee community into a bastion of his racist precepts.” * Appalachian Mountain Books, April 4, 2021 *“Although a deftly crafted work of fiction, How Fire Runs offers a sobering perspective on America today. A compelling and original work… especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections.” * Midwest Book Review *“Both action-packed and introspective, How Fire Runs is a timely literary thriller that is hard to put down. Charles Dodd White continues to prove himself as one of the best prose stylists of Appalachian literature in a novel that transcends region to become raw commentary on this volatile moment in America.”“Moments of introspection from White’s well-delineated characters help How Fire Runs straddle successfully the contingent and the literary, transcending the ‘ripped from the headlines’ nature of many works dealing with political issues. Loss and the need to build an identity through connections that are more intimate than ethnic kinship is a theme that pulsates just as strongly in the personal stories of Kyle, Gavin, and Delilah’s partner, Harrison. Coupled with the tense pacing of a thriller and an apocalyptic ending [that] pits its characters against the fury of nature, White’s novel is an artful and suspenseful page turner.” * WV Independent Observer *“How Fire Runs is at once elemental and blisteringly contemporary—a story rooted in our past, yet crackling amid the fires of the American present. Charles Dodd White writes with the steady hand of a master, confronting complicated truths and emotions with clear eyes and grace, giving us a constellation of characters grappling over the identity of their town… and America itself. This is a brave and important novel from one of our best.”“Charles Dodd White puts to use his deep knowledge of the people who live in eastern Tennessee, the good as well as the bad. It’s a powerful portrayal of contemporary life in a landscape that serves as its own omnipresent character. White’s work gets better and better.”“With artfully complex characters…White’s work captures the rhythms of rural life as they begin to beat faster in the face of calamity.” * Booklist *“A work of artistic merit and a significant (and timely) contribution to our ongoing national discussion of extremism.”“Line for line, White is one of the most talented writers at work in the American South.”

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Book SynopsisA long-awaited second collection of original poems by Ryan Wilson that considers the haunting of the contemporary mind. With virtuosic formal variety and masterful craft, these poems range from rural America to Italy to the Holy Land, as they chronicle the dynamism of a spiritual odyssey toward the eternal through both past and present.Trade ReviewThese are brilliantly clear poems to read and read again, poems to study and to love. Few American poets working in rhyme and meter today could write poems to match them." - Shane McCrae"I have been waiting for a poet like Ryan Wilson, an unapologetic formalist whose metrical agility is precise and varied, and whose uncamouflaged rhymes unleash an intelligence that is at once wild and sensible." - Rodney Jones"In Ghostlight is a major book. With it, Wilson places himself among the best poets of his generation." - Dana Gioia

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Book SynopsisIn nine captivating short stories, RS Deeren presents a vivid portrait of life in rural Michigan. These stories reveal how a region resistant to change and outside intervention struggles to adapt and leaves locals feeling left behind.Trade ReviewThis book is the best thing I’ve read lately, with its dead-on depictions of rural life, both beautiful and heart-wrenching. With its floods, guns, car wrecks, dangerous bridges, bars that ‘stay open out of habit,’ there’s a lot at stake here. Deeren is a keen observer of what age, poverty, and bad luck can do to a body: forty-five is, he says, ‘the age where you’ll have enough to lose that you’ll lose yourself in the process of trying to hold onto everything.’ Some of his characters live so close to the edge that the failure of a freezer might mean going hungry, while others move closer to the edge to feel alive or to grieve fully. If you say these characters are stubbornly behind the times, it’s because they are not buying what America is offering them—they are holding out for something better and more meaningful. They have tasted the sweetness of romantic love, they have felt in their bones the elegance of a deer crossing a river. Deeren’s strong, sure, authentic voice sings the songs of Michigan, and you should listen." - Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of Mothers, Tell Your Daughters"Enough to Lose is compulsively readable. Like Denis Johnson, Richard Russo, and Daniel Woodrell, Deeren’s stories reflect the often brutal reality of working-class, rural life, punctuated by moments of beauty and brilliance. Filled with nuance, Enough to Lose prompts readers to think about the humanity of those who might have experiences vastly different than their own." - Donald Quist, author of For Other Ghosts and To Those Bounded"A barn burner of love and longing,Enough to Losedelivers gut-punch stories over and over, each one studded with fierce insights about class and family and rural living and rendered in tender, electric prose." - Karen Tucker, author of Bewilderness"RS Deeren’s riveting first collection, written in the vein of Jim Harrison, Bonnie Jo Campbell, and Breece D’J Pancake, spotlights rural Michigan in all of its variegated beauty and pathos. Deeren’s years as a substitute teacher, landscaper, and lumberjack perhaps contributed to the visceral quality of this fresh new work. The people in these stories often struggle to make it, but the struggle here feels real and true. Deeren’s unflinching yet empathetic attention fosters a human connection between the reader and the characters in these stories that outpaces the heartbreak and renders this book a must-read." - Kelly Fordon, author of I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press)"Reader, be prepared, as you open Enough to Lose, RS Deeren’s wonderful debut short story collection, to enter a world—in this case the thumb of Michigan—that’s as vividly and evocatively detailed as any in contemporary fiction." - Larry Watson, author of Montana 1948, Let Him Go, and other novels

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel It’s the opening weekend of deer season in Gunthrum, Nebraska, in 1985, and Alma Costagan’s intellectually disabled farmhand, Hal Bullard, has gone hunting with some of the locals, leaving her in a huff. That same weekend, a teenage girl goes missing, and Hal returns with a flimsy story about the blood in his truck and a dent near the headlight. When the situation escalates from that of a missing girl to something more sinister, Alma and her husband are forced to confront what Hal might be capable of, as rumors fly and townspeople see Hal’s violent past in a new light. A drama about the complicated relationships connecting the residents of a small-town farming community, Deer Season explores troubling questions about how far people will go to safeguard the ones they love and what it means to be a family.Trade Review"This is a standout novel of small-town life, powered by the characters' consequential determination to protect their loved ones at any cost."—Publishers Weekly, starred review“With incisive prose and finely wrought tension, Deer Season is an absorbing tale of a small town that is both severed and knitted together by tragedy. This book does not just return us to a forgotten place and time; it recreates it for us. This is fiction at its finest.”—Melissa Fraterrigo, author of Glory Days“Flanagan subverts the traditional whodunit by pointing the reader not just to multiple suspects but, more importantly and humanely, to the many victims of a single act of violence. She also does it with grace and humor, and without fetishizing or parodying her Nebraskan characters. . . . That it’s compelling, fun, and highly readable is simply the cherry on top.”—Xhenet Aliu, author of Domesticated Wild Things, and Other Stories“Flanagan takes clear-eyed aim at the foibles and strengths of the human heart, ultimately plumbing its tenderness through characters whose lives in Middle America are deftly rendered through a riveting plot. . . . Nuanced with unsentimental empathy, Deer Season delivers a literary mystery that will leave readers thinking about these characters and their story long after turning the last page.”—Jess Montgomery, author of the Kinship series of historical mysteries

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2019 Minnesota Book Award for Novel & Short StoryPoignant portrayals of life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country, from the best-selling author of These Granite Islands and Vacationland Bitter winters are nothing new in Hatchet Inlet, hard up against the ridge of the Laurentian Divide, but the advent of spring can’t thaw the community’s collective grief, lingering since a senseless tragedy the previous fall. What is different this year is what’s missing: Rauri Paar, the last private landowner in the Reserve, whose annual emergence from his remote iced-in islands marks the beginning of spring and the promise of a kinder season. The town’s residents gather at the local diner and, amid talk of spring weather, the latest gossip, roadkill, and the daily special, take bets on when Rauri will appear—or imagine what happened to him during the long and brutal winter. Retired union miner and widower Alpo Lahti is about to wed the diner’s charming and lively waitress, Sissy Pavola, but, with Rauri still unaccounted for, celebration seems premature. Alpo’s son Pete struggles to find his straight and narrow, then struggles to stay on it, and even Sissy might be having second thoughts. Weaving in and out of each other’s reach, trying hard to do their best (all the while wondering what that might be), the residents of this remote town in all their sweetness and sorrow remind us once more of the inescapable lurches of the heart and unexpected turns of our human comedy.Trade Review"Hilarious, smart, moving, and kind, Laurentian Divide is good for the soul, or anyway, it was good for mine."—Richard Russo"There aren’t many writers on the planet who can take a reader’s heart apart and put it back together again with the sureness of Sarah Stonich, who does exactly that over and over again in Laurentian Divide, her best yet. Funny and wise in equal measure, here’s a novel for everyone. What a treasure."—Peter Geye, author of Wintering"With seamless grace, Sarah Stonich has again woven the towering majesty of Minnesota's Arrowhead Country with the endearing miscellany of its denizens, creating a tapestry both elegant and earthy. Here, reader, are joy and artistry."—Faith Sullivan, author of Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse"Laurentian Divide is rich, funny, and overflowing with life—Sarah Stonich at the top of her powers."—Will Weaver, author of Sweet Land"With a nimble hand and wry voice, Sarah Stonich pilots this generous tale—incisive, musical, and spiced with pungent observation so that Laurentian Divide becomes the best sort of trip."—Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River and Virgil Wander"It was a pleasure to spend time with these characters again and see the family they have created within their community. Sarah Stonich’s beautiful prose, sly humor, and obvious fondness for her subject matter make Laurentian Divide a must-read."—Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books"Thanks to Stonich’s keen depictions, this is a small town peopled with actual people: diverse individuals united by a common experience of place. Laurentian Divide transports attention to a ‘scrap of near-nowhere’ because ‘life isn’t something that happens to you—how you choose to react to what happens is life.’"—Foreword Review"Stonich weaves past and present into a lyrical, immersive novel. Fans of Kent Haruf and Paulette Jiles will fall in love with Stonich’s depiction of Minnesota: harsh and welcoming, friendly and unforgiving, all at once. Exploring the consequences of actions set in motion months, years, or even decades ago, Stonich’s slow burn of a novel questions what—and who—can belong to us."—Booklist "Laurentian Divide does what a good sequel should. It fills in details and updates on the characters that we love, but also tells a compelling story of its own. There is an understanding of the bittersweet realities of life, an acceptance of the good and bad that comes with the simple act of living." —Nicole M. Burrell

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Book SynopsisPittsburghese, Robert Gibb’s latest book of poems, is a work of poignant remembrance, filled with revelations found in the everyday “debris of paradise.” The collection is anchored by personal and public histories, the city’s “consensus things” and “standard archaeologies,” as well as by music—jazz, blues, R&B and gospel—“sweet rebuttal” to the world’s “cold hymns.” Throughout, motifs function like the thorns on the jaggers—Pittsburghese for brambles—whose points engage the reader “one by one.” Other poems elegize the great buildings and working stiffs of the city’s industrial past, celebrating its artifacts and artworks, the “necessary mystery” of its trees and wild creatures. Particulars of a world in which dialect is the alembic, the means of expression and the shapes it takes on as well—habitation and name.Trade ReviewPittsburghese is the language spoken in the pages of this poet’s singular concoction, a mix of keen musicality and uncommon sagacity that wound itself purposely and sinuously through my imagination like the twisty hills and bridges of its hometown. In the tradition of learning the sacred, secret loves of a burnished and bellowed metropolis, this poet’s voice masterfully testifies to neighborhoods and lives doused in enough heat to melt but then forged in enough wry and heart-busted love to craft the wiry steel of these poems. —Tyehimba Jess, author of Olio, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry"Robert Gibb’s Pittsburghese is an impressive homage to the “iron” city of Pittsburgh, its culture, its people, its industrial past of steel production, its subsequent economic decline, and its hard-won resurgence. Meditations, elegies, and ekphrastic pieces abound in which the poet renders in potent lyricism the “mills’ brutal music,” a muscular counterpoint to William Wordsworth’s “the still, sad music of humanity” from “Tintern Abbey.” Like Wordsworth, Gibb is a consummate poet of personal memory, specifically of his childhood and youth in nearby Homestead with its “crowded rows of houses [and] Steel mills billowing / Identical plumes of smoke.” His language is elegant and precise, rich with inventive images, such as the “auroras of white-hot scoria” of the blast furnaces. Gibb is the bard par excellence of Pittsburgh." —Orlando Ricardo Menes, author of The Gospel of Wildflowers and Weeds"Gibb’s poems are so natural in their tone that they might seem like someone, anyone, just talking; that is, if anyone but Gibb could have a genius for lyric precision, a painter’s eye for detail, an impeccable ear for the music of his native dialect, and an unbearable grief born from the awareness of losing everything that matters to him a little at a time." —Michael Simms, Plume Poetry

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Book SynopsisThis magical realist tale follows the travails of a burnt-out teacher from Queens who spends his time obsessing over the fact that he has been cheated out of living in his Grandma Rose’s Lower East Side apartment and is thus priced out of his “More Recent Ancestral Home” of Manhattan. In The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association, David Rothman weaves a rich story about real estate, family, and memory. Daniel, the protagonist, is haunted by the memories of his childhood experiences in his grandmother’s apartment, a home that he desperately wants to inhabit. One day he discovers a hidden relic on Rivington Street: a tenement reclamation office run by an eccentric centurion named Hannah. When Daniel inquires about the chances of reclaiming his grandmother’s old tenement, Hannah is not impressed. “Things don’t work like that, you rude, young schlub!” And so begins Daniel’s journey to take back his past and to secure an affordable space for his family in downtown Manhattan. This is a journey full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and an ending that would make even the most thick-skinned New York real estate agent shake.The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is the winner of the Omnidawn Fabulist Fiction Novelette Prize, selected by Meg Ellison. Trade Review“The Lower East Side Tenement Reclamation Association is a brilliantly-written work of magical fiction in which both contemporary New York and the Jewish immigrant experience come alive. I loved Daniel, who wants a Manhattan apartment in the most desperate way, his sensible wife Julie, and their wise little girl, Hannah. The book is both moving and comic.” -- Phyllis Smith, author of I am Livia“Rothman’s novel lands readers in a magical New York City, where portals and keys lead to wondrous places. But moreover, it’s a story that profoundly explores the weight of loss, the complexities of family, and the power of nostalgia.” -- Noah Lederman, author of A World Erased

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Book SynopsisFinding the family she has always longed for through her marriage to Lewis, Anny Butler vows alongside her new friends that they will live together in old age rather than enter assisted-living facilities, a promise that is tested in the wake of painful challenges.Trade Review"One of her best novels to date... A beautifully detailed evocation of privileged lives." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Readers [will] linger over Islands." -- Memphis Commercial Appeal

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Book SynopsisFrom Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford: the final novel in the world of Frank Bascombe, one of the most indelible characters in American literature Over the course of four celebrated works of fiction and almost forty years, Richard Ford has crafted an ambitious, incisive, and singular view of American life as lived. Unconstrained, astute, provocative, often laugh-out-loud funny, Frank Bascombe is once more our guide to the great American midway.Now in the twilight of life, a man who has occupied many colorful lives—sportswriter, father, husband, ex-husband, friend, real estate agent—Bascombe finds himself in the most sorrowing role of all: caregiver to his son, Paul, diagnosed with ALS. On a shared winter odyssey to Mount Rushmore, Frank, in typical Bascombe fashion, faces down the mortality that is assured each of us, and in doing so confronts what happiness might signify at the end of days.In this mem

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Book Synopsis#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs delivers a riveting story that challenges our deepest-held beliefs...Caught between two worlds, Caleb Stoltz is bound by a deathbed promise to raise his orphaned niece and nephew in Middle Grove, where life revolves around family, farm, faith—and long-held suspicions about outsiders. When disaster strikes, Caleb is thrust into an urban environment of high-tech medicine and the relentless rush of modern life.Dr. Reese Powell is poised to join the medical dynasty of her wealthy, successful parents. Bold, assertive, and quick-thinking, she lives for the addictive rush of saving lives. When a shocking accident brings Caleb Stoltz into her life, Reese is forced to deal with a situation that challenges everything she thinks she knows—and ultimately emboldens her to question her most powerful beliefs.Then one impulsive act brings about a clash of cultures in

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Book SynopsisA food truck from a famous New York City brand is roving around the island, selling goodies—and threatening her business.Lu Trusdale is spending the summer on her in-laws’ dime, living on Block Island with her two young sons while her surgeon husband commutes to the mainland hospital.Trade Review“Meg Mitchell Moore fills [Maeve Binchy’s] big shoes....If you’re feeling landlocked and water-deprived, The Islanders is the ticket to the getaway you need.” — New York Times Book Review “Moore’s narrative is fast-paced, and her lead characters are flawed and believable. Readers looking for an emotional tale will find much to enjoy.” — Publishers Weekly “A beautifully in-depth novel chronicling the intersection of the lives of three strangers during one fateful summer. [Moore’s] characters are strong, and the realistic situations are both heartfelt and heartbreaking. An excellent combination of character exploration and intrigue.” — Booklist “With complex characters and vivid landscape descriptions, this fun beach read from Moore has just enough drama to keep readers wondering how the story will unfold. For fans of women’s fictions such as the works of Elin Hilderbrand and Nancy Thayer.” — Library Journal "This fast-paced, witty beach read has all the elements of a great drama, including a Greek chorus of second-grade moms providing color commentary. Perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere." — Booklist on Two Truths and a Lie

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"My kind of book-- tense and frightening and twisted and FUN. I guarantee you-- everything from EEKS to SHRIEKS!" — R. L. Stine, author of the bestselling Goosebumps series “OBLITERATION is a bloody war zone of throat-clutching suspense and horror, showcasing humanity at its best and worst. The action is unrelenting, a true rollercoaster of savage twists, turns, and rolls. So strap in and get ready for the ride of your life!” — James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Crucible “What a finale to the trilogy. Obliteration is exactly what it says: loads of action, explosive fights, and of course…even more creatures. Join the fight and see how it ends. So much fun!” — Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist "This grim vision of humanity's possible extinction should satisfy those looking for a gruesome, diverting read." — Booklist

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Book Synopsis?Scary amazing fun.??Brad MeltzerEvils both above and below ground arise once again, threatening the world and all its inhabitants with extinction in this electrifying science fiction thriller?the final novel set in the Awakened universe?from the #1 internationally bestselling author and star of television?s Impractical Jokers and a bestselling science fiction writer.Thanks to the heroics of former New York City Mayor Tom Cafferty and his team, the world is once again safe. The villainous Foundation for Human Advancement has been dismantled, the cities of the world are safe from nuclear annihilation, and Cafferty is now on a hunt to decimate every nest of creatures on the planet.When Cafferty enters a nest underneath the Nevada desert, he is horrified to find it completely empty. It can only mean one thing: the battle for survival is not over. Across the planet, creatures are emerging from their subterranean homes. Now, the all-out war against humanity has begun?a war in which only one apex species will survive. Humankind has finally met its match.Cafferty knows that only one man can help him stop the onslaught. A man who is despised by the world. A man who has already caused the death of millions. A man who is a sworn enemy hell-bent on taking Tom Cafferty down forever: Albert Van Ness.But even this desperate move may not be enough to stop the creatures and save humanity . . .Trade Review"My kind of book-- tense and frightening and twisted and FUN. I guarantee you-- everything from EEKS to SHRIEKS!" — R. L. Stine, author of the bestselling Goosebumps series “OBLITERATION is a bloody war zone of throat-clutching suspense and horror, showcasing humanity at its best and worst. The action is unrelenting, a true rollercoaster of savage twists, turns, and rolls. So strap in and get ready for the ride of your life!” — James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Crucible “What a finale to the trilogy. Obliteration is exactly what it says: loads of action, explosive fights, and of course…even more creatures. Join the fight and see how it ends. So much fun!” — Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Escape Artist "This grim vision of humanity's possible extinction should satisfy those looking for a gruesome, diverting read." — Booklist

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan returns to the setting of her beloved Little Beach Street Bakery series for a timely and heartfelt novel set in a Cornish seaside village.Marisa Rossi can?t understand why everyone else is getting on with their lives as she still struggles to get over the death of her beloved grandfather, back home in Italy. Everyone loses grandparents, right? Why is she taking it so badly?Retreating further and further from normal life, she moves to the end of the earth?the remote tidal island of Mount Polbearne, at the foot of Cornwall, hoping for peace and solitude, whilst carrying on her job as a registrar, dealing with births, weddings, and deaths, even as she feels life is passing her by.Unfortunately?or fortunately??the solitude she craves proves elusive. Between her noisy Russian piano-teaching neighbor, the bustle and community spirit of the tiny village struggling back to life after the quarantine, and the pressing need to help save the local bakery, can Marisa find her joy again at the end of the world?

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Book SynopsisAt long last, the legendary New York Times bestselling author returns with a heartfelt novel of womanhood, a wild heart, and the healing power of love.Run, run, as fast as you can!When life throws her one setback too many, midwife and young widow Tess Hartsong takes off for Runaway Mountain.Trade Review"...deeply felt romance...Phillips layers this poignant love story with robust descriptions of mountain scenery and society, and a well-handled subplot about Tess’s fight for comprehensive sex education for the town’s teens. This stirring romance is sure to capture readers’ hearts." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "In this superbly written stand-alone, this master storyteller's flair for highly imaginative plots and flawless characterization are on full display, resulting an emotionally enriching, breathtakingly brilliant tale of heartbreak and hope... lively writing liberally laced with multiple layers of delicious wit and snarky charm." — Booklist (starred review) "Ian and Tess are pitch-perfect in this sweet and sizzling stand-alone story from best-selling Phillips." — Library Journal

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“There’s sun, sea and major drama—you’ll be carried away.” — People "Irresistible." — vogue.com "What a pleasure to open Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore and be invited for the summer to midcoast Maine. A novel full of rich, complex characters, deep blue-gray ocean views, and simmering secrets, Vacationland is as sophisticated and delicious as lobster bisque." — Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters and The Lifeguards "Engrossing....A truly lovely tale of families, love, mistakes, forgiveness, and, yes, happiness." — Kirkus Reviews "Delectable...Readers are in for a treat." — Publishers Weekly "Captures the breezy feel of a summer in Maine while addressing a variety of problems, from work/life balance to paternity, that will resonate with readers." — Booklist "Full of breathtaking Maine sunsets and family drama writ large and small, Vacationland is both an escapist summer read and a thoughtful examination of motherhood, privilege and what makes a family." — Shelf Awareness “[A] scintillating, dishy, and dark novel perfect for those who enjoyed Never Have I Ever and Big Little Lies.” — Bookreporter.com on Two Truths and a Lie “Meg Mitchell Moore fills [Maeve Binchy’s] big shoes....If you’re feeling landlocked and water-deprived, The Islanders is the ticket to the getaway you need.” — New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisPerformed by Reese Witherspoon#1 New York Times Bestseller“Go Set a Watchman is such an important book, perhaps the most important novel on race to come out of the white South in decades.  — New York Times A landmark novel by Harper Lee, set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird.Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—“Scout”—returns home to Maycomb, Alabama from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise’s homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown in

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“It’s Catch Me if You Can meets Sweetbitter, from the woman who blew the whistle on Uber’s software engineering team—what’s not to love?” — Entertainment Weekly “[A] page-turner that’s hilarious in its dedication to vamping on viral news stories about real-life strivers and cons from Delvey to Instagram personality Caroline Calloway … a delicious read.” — TIME magazine “Taking inspiration from the Anna Delveys of the world, Cover Story is a delicious read about a young intern who gets caught up in a breathtakingly opulent—if claustrophobic—scheme (or four).” — Marie Claire “Rigetti's fiction debut has a roller-coaster plot that gives off huge Anna Delvey vibes and an ending that will leave you with your jaw on the floor…. If you're a fan of tales about scams, grifters, and mysterious schemes, Cover Story needs to be on your TBR list.” — Popsugar “Cover Story is a good read … man oh man, it’s got suites at the Plaza, the FBI closing in, Russian hackers, designer clothes and a plot that stays ahead of the reader. Rigetti has written a need-to-read story.” — San Francisco Chronicle “[A] ridiculously fun romp.” — E! Online “A clever epistolary novel with an elegant con woman at its center—in other words, perfect escapism for this moment.” — Seattle Times “[C]inematic…Rigetti’s propulsive narrative, which includes Instagram posts, text messages, and FBI case files, keeps the pages turning, and there’s a juicy twist.” — Publishers Weekly “Inspired by the stories of Anna Sorokin, Caroline Calloway, and others, Cover Story is a captivating novel that readers won’t be able to put down.” — Shondaland “Journalist Rigetti's debut kicks off beach-read season with a bang…. Drawing heavy inspiration from the true story of Anna Delvey, who conned New York's elite for several years in the mid-2010s, this book will be a must-read for the legions who followed Delvey's story with bated breath.… It’s The Devil Wear’s Prada meets Gone Girl, and it’s delightful.” — Booklist (starred review) “[E]ntertaining…clever, fast-paced…the crafty Rigetti makes fraud a lot of fun. An entertaining shell game of a novel.” — Kirkus Reviews “Cover Story by Susan Rigetti is an unforgettable tale of scams and double-crosses told through emails, diary entries, and FBI correspondence.” — Popsugar “I just loved Susan Rigetti's Cover Story, which is an insightful, tense story that's exactly what you want from a twisty thriller about a hustler (think Anna Delvey) who isn't what she appears.” — Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author of Evie Drake Starts Over “This juicy tale of stolen identities and ever-increasing fraud, set against a tony Manhattan backdrop, is told entirely through original documents—Instagram posts, FBI transcripts—that place the reader in the role of detective. But even self-styled Poirots won't see what's coming: the book ended with a wallop that made me literally gasp—and admire debut author Susan Rigetti's sure-handed, inventive page-turner all the more.” — Stephanie Clifford, New York Times bestselling author of Everybody Rise "The grifter gets a glow up in Susan Rigetti’s crafty caper. Devilish, innovative, and lightning-paced, Cover Story is like an internet rabbit hole you can hold in your hands. What fun!" — Lauren Mechling, author of How Could She “Cover Story is pure delight from its deceptively sweet start to its shocking finish—an ingénue tale unlike any I've read before. I audibly gasped at the end. Unpredictable, satisfying, and full of surprises." — Mary Adkins, author of Palm Beach “A cleverly constructed caper which beneath its charming exterior keenly examines grifter culture, the power dynamics of friendship, and the allure of the American dream. A deeply satisfying read which perfectly reflects today’s society.” — Kathy Wang, author of Impostor Syndrome “Every con woman needs a mark, and Susan Rigetti's clever telling of the friendship between sweet, naïve, ambitious Lora and the probably sociopathic Cat Wolff is a con woman/mark relationship for the ages. Cat may have seduced Lora, but Cover Story seduced me.” — Doree Shafrir, author of Thanks for Waiting and Startup “A breathless ride through a New York City of starving writers, glamorous con women, fashion magazines, and luxury hotels, Cover Story is irresistible and impossible to put down, a fast-paced tale of what we are willing to risk to make our dreams come true.” — Iris Martin Cohen, author of The Little Clan "Wow, I have to untangle my brain after reading this book! Rigetti's debut novel is compulsively readable and FUN. Well-crafted and irresistible, this caper will have readers gasping!" — Elissa R. Sloan, author of The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes

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Book SynopsisAn endearingly off-kilter coming-of-age story. . . . Debbie will win your heart. —People, The Best New BooksSelected as the One Dublin One Book choice for 2024An exquisitely talented young Irish writer makes her literary debut with this powerful and haunting novel—a tale of love and family, depression and joy, and coming of age in the twenty-first century.Eighteen-year-old Debbie was raised on her family’s rural dairy farm, forty minutes and a world away from Dublin. She lives with her mother, Maeve, a skittish woman who takes to her bed for days on end, claims not to know who Debbie’s father is, and believes her dreams are prophecies. Rounding out their small family is Maeve’s brother Billy, who lives in a caravan behind their house, drinks too much, and likes to impersonate famous dead writers online. Though they may have their quirks, the Whites’ fierce love for on

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Book SynopsisNow in paperback, the mad and wonderful” (Roddy Doyle) debut from your next Irish literary obsession (Shondaland): a novel about joy and despair, family and love, and coming of age in the 21st century. “Snowflake is a wonderfully inventive, deeply felt novel full of the best kinds of surprises.”—Margot LiveseyAn exquisitely talented young Irish writer makes her literary debut with this powerful and haunting novel. Eighteen-year-old Debbie was raised on her family’s rural dairy farm, forty minutes and a world away from Dublin. She lives with her mother, Maeve, a skittish woman who takes to her bed for days on end, claims not to know who Debbie’s father is, and believes her dreams are prophecies. Rounding out their small family is Maeve’s brother Billy, who lives in a caravan behind their house, drinks too much, and likes to impersonate famous dead writers online. Though they may ha

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Writers’ Guild Award for Best First NovelAn utterly original coming-of-age tale, marked by wrenching humor and staggering charisma, about a young woman resisting the savagery of adulthood in a community of the elderly rejecting the promise of youth.“Season Butler has written an imaginative, atmospheric and original novel that lingers in the memory long after reading. She is a bright new voice in literature.”  —Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other“It’s too hot for most of the clothes I packed to come here, when I thought this would only be for a week or two. My mother kissed me with those purple-brown lips of hers and said, we’ll be back, hold tight.”The seventeen-year-old Kid doesn’t know where her parents are. They left her with her grandmother Lolly, promising to return soon. That w

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan returns to the setting of her beloved Little Beach Street Bakery series for a timely and heartfelt novel set in a Cornish seaside village.Marisa Rossi can’t understand why everyone else is getting on with their lives as she still struggles to get over the death of her beloved grandfather, back home in Italy. Everyone loses grandparents, right? Why is she taking it so badly?Retreating further and further from normal life, she moves to the end of the earth—the remote tidal island of Mount Polbearne, at the foot of Cornwall, hoping for peace and solitude, whilst carrying on her job as a registrar, dealing with births, weddings, and deaths, even as she feels life is passing her by.Unfortunately—or fortunately?—the solitude she craves proves elusive. Between her noisy Russian piano-teaching neighbor, the bustle and community spirit of the tiny village struggling back to life after the quarantine, and the pressing need to help save the local bakery, can Marisa find her joy again at the end of the world?

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde’s delightful Twilight, Texas, series continues with this sparkling Christmas novel. A reality TV show producer returns to her hometown of Twilight in this lovers reunited story filled with holiday spirit and perfect for readers of Susan Mallery and Jill Shalvis. She was the one who got away…Noelle Curry has returned to Twilight to plan the most spectacular double wedding the town has ever seen—and do it on national television. But the woman known as “The Wedding Whisperer” is knocked speechless when she notices her teenage crush, Gil Thomas, is about to plunge into icy cold water wearing nothing more than a pair of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer swim trunks. He is the sexiest guy participating in the annual polar bear plunge and seeing him pushes all thoughts of white lace and rose blossoms right out of her mind. Trade Review“Second Chance Christmas is a sweet friends-to-lovers story set at Christmastime. It’s about making peace with the past and learning to let people in.” — HarlequinJunkie.com “A charming visit to two of our favorite Lori Wilde destinations: Cupid and Twilight, Texas, of course... [in this] sassy, sexy romantic tale set in the holiday season. Lori Wilde has created two wonderful somewhat crazy families that have captured our hearts.” — Fresh Fiction on The Christmas Backup Plan “Holiday spirit pervades this emotional second chance romance... Kelsey and Noah’s sizzling chemistry leaps off the page. Plenty of Christmas trimming will put readers in a festive mood.” — Publishers Weekly on The Christmas Dare “[A] joyful, romantic Christmas read with a mostly satisfying, redemptive second-chance arc.” — Kirkus Reviews on The Christmas Dare “An absolute crowd-pleaser...The magnetism between Naomi and Mark is breathtaking and real, and the magic of Christmas enhances their romance.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Christmas Key "Page-turning and passionate, Lori Wilde's novels are always a delight!" — Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author, on The Keepsake Sisters “Lori Wilde has created a rich and wonderful story about the charm of small town life combined with the power and passion of first love. Delicious!” — Robyn Carr “…A a superbly executed contemporary romance. From the book’s richly nuanced characters to its heartwarming small-town setting, each element plays off the others in perfect harmony. And when it comes to striking exactly the right balance between sweet and sexy, Wilde has the equivalent of perfect pitch.” — Booklist

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde returns to Twilight, Texas, with a delicious love story about a sexy cowboy and a love-shy nurse determined to win the Christmas Cookie Bake-off challenge. He’s sexy, single, and he can bake!Roan Sullivan is the answer to Jazzy Walker’s prayers. The doting single dad is also fresh off his win on a popular cooking show and a whiz at campfire cooking, so who better to help her win this year’s annual cookie bake-off? With his help, Jazzy is sure she can finally take first prize right out the grasping hands of Andi Browning, the gal who stole her fiancé right from under her nose.A widower with a four-year-old daughter, Roan tells himself there’s a million reasons not to help Jazzy. She’s too kind, too optimistic, and could do so much better than hitching up with a curmudgeon like him. But every time she draws near, he canTrade Review“Second Chance Christmas is a sweet friends-to-lovers story set at Christmastime. It’s about making peace with the past and learning to let people in.” — Harlequin Junkie “A charming visit to two of our favorite Lori Wilde destinations: Cupid and Twilight, Texas, of course... [in this] sassy, sexy romantic tale set in the holiday season. Lori Wilde has created two wonderful somewhat crazy families that have captured our hearts.” — Fresh Fiction on The Christmas Backup Plan “Holiday spirit pervades this emotional second chance romance... Kelsey and Noah’s sizzling chemistry leaps off the page. Plenty of Christmas trimming will put readers in a festive mood.” — Publishers Weekly on The Christmas Dare “[A] joyful, romantic Christmas read with a mostly satisfying, redemptive second-chance arc.” — Kirkus Reviews on The Christmas Dare “An absolute crowd-pleaser...The magnetism between Naomi and Mark is breathtaking and real, and the magic of Christmas enhances their romance.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Christmas Key

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Book SynopsisThe instant New York Times bestseller!?Sublime...Colgan infuses her latest book with humor, wit, suspense and a perfectly cast love triangle.?--USA TodayThe Christmas Bookshop is literary hot chocolate with a bourbon shot: hot, sweet but with a surprising emotional kick.--The Times (UK)Perfect for the holidays! A brand-new heartwarming Christmas novel from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Bookshop on the Corner and Christmas at the Island Hotel. Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia's perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.Frankly, Sofia doesn't exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie's ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping? What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of Raft of Stars comes a heartfelt novel of marriage and whitewater rafting, following one couple as they navigate the changing currents of family, community, and the river itself.As the summer of 1993 begins, Sam and Swami Brecht roll into town with a twenty-six-foot Winnebago camper van, their three young kids, and the deed to Woodchuck Rafting Company. Sam and Swami met as young, adventurous river guides but, a decade later, find themselves weighed down by money worries and the demands of adulthood. The town of Thunderwater, in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, could be the fresh start their marriage needs. But Woodchuck, once the property of Sam’s eccentric uncle, has seen better days and will need a serious overhaul if it is going to stand a chance at survival.Soon Sam and Swami learn they are not the only ones looking for change and profit on the river. A competing rafting outfit, clashing raft guides, st

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Book Synopsis“Exquisite and gripping. . . . The Gulf is a page turner to be savored; Cochran is a master of both prose and plot.”—Ilana Masad, author of All My Mother’s LoversIn this electrifying debut literary thriller, set on the gulf coast of Texas in the 1970s at the height of the women’s liberation movement, a closeted young woman attempts to solve her surrogate mother’s murder in a tight-knit, religious small town.In Parson, Texas, a small town ravaged by a devastating hurricane and the Vietnam War, twenty-nine-year-old Lou is diligently renovating a decaying old mansion for Miss Kate, the elderly neighbor who has always been like a mother to her. Mourning her brother’s death in Vietnam, Lou dreams of enjoying a more peaceful future in Parson. But those hopes are crushed when Miss Kate is murdered, and no one but Lou seems to care about finding the killer.The situation becomes

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