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CELA will be closed for Good Friday on April 18 and for Easter Monday on April 21. We will reopen with regular hours on Tuesday, April 22. Happy holidays!
Showing 1 - 9 of 9 items
By Yael van der Wouden. 2024
An exhilarating, twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch…
countryside during the summer of 1961 - a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past. A house is a precious thing... It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is truly over. Living alone in her late mother's country home, Isabel knows her life is as it should be-led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Eva, leaving her at Isabel's doorstep as a guest, to stay for the season. Eva is Isabel's antithesis: she sleeps late, walks loudly through the house, and touches things she shouldn't. In response, Isabel develops a fury-fueled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house-a spoon, a knife, a bowl - Isabel's suspicions begin to spiral. In the sweltering peak of summer, Isabel's paranoia gives way to infatuation - leading to a discovery that unravels all Isabel has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva - nor the house in which they live - are what they seem. Mysterious, sophisticated, sensual, and infused with intrigue, atmosphere, and sex, The Safekeep is a brilliantly plotted and provocative debut novel you won't soon forgetBy Elizabeth Strout. 2024
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK℗ ́Ø℗ From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout comes a "generous, compassionate novel" ( San Francisco Chronicle…
) about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world. "A rich tapestry, intricately wrought yet effortlessly realized, both suspenseful and meditative."- The Boston Globe With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters-Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess, and more-as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, "What does anyone's life mean ?" It's autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive's apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known-"unrecorded lives," Olive calls them-reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning. Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, "Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love."By Miranda July. 2024
FINALIST FOR THE 2024 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION! A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA…
to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey. Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.By Yael van der Wouden. 2024
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE &“Remarkable…Compelling…Fine and taut…Indelible&” —The New York Times • &“Mesmerizing and shockingly good…I was utterly blown…
away.&” —Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace • &“A brilliant debut, as multifaceted as a gem.&” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) • &“Moving, unnerving, and deeply sexy.&” —Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with the Pearl Earring • &“Fans of Patricia Highsmith and Ottessa Moshfegh&’s Eileen will find much to admire here.&”—Vulture An exhilarating, twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961—a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past.A house is a precious thing... It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is truly over. Living alone in her late mother&’s country home, Isabel knows her life is as it should be—led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Eva, leaving her at Isabel&’s doorstep as a guest, to stay for the season. Eva is Isabel&’s antithesis: she sleeps late, walks loudly through the house, and touches things she shouldn&’t. In response, Isabel develops a fury-fueled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house—a spoon, a knife, a bowl—Isabel&’s suspicions begin to spiral. In the sweltering peak of summer, Isabel&’s paranoia gives way to infatuation—leading to a discovery that unravels all Isabel has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva—nor the house in which they live—are what they seem. Mysterious, sophisticated, sensual, and infused with intrigue, atmosphere, and sex, The Safekeep is a brilliantly plotted and provocative debut novel you won&’t soon forget.By Elizabeth Strout. 2024
With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of…
Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters—Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess, and more—as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?” It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known—“unrecorded lives,” Olive calls them—reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning. Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love.” New York Times BestsellerBy Null Aria Aber. 2025
An electric debut novel about the daughter of Afghan refugees and her year of self-discovery—&“a stunning coming-of-age story&” (Publishers Weekly,…
starred review) and a portrait of the artist as a young woman set in a Berlin that can&’t escape its historyA girl can get in almost anywhere, even if she can&’t get out.&“A no-bullsh*t, must-read debut.&”—Kaveh Akbar&“Kaleidoscopic, full of style and soul.&”—Raven Leilani&“An exhilarating debut novel.&”—R.O. Kwon, The New York Times Book Review"Once in a blue moon a debut novel comes along, announcing a voice quite unlike any other, with a layered story and sentences that crackle and pop, begging to be read aloud. Aria Aber&’s splendid Good Girl introduces just such a voice . . . Aber, an award-winning poet, strikes gold here, much like Kaveh Akbar did in last year&’s acclaimed Martyr!"—Los Angeles TimesA Most Anticipated Book of 2025: The New York Times, Vulture, Elle, New York Post, Lit Hub, Electric Lit, Bustle, Book Riot, Autostraddle, Daily Mail, Debutiful, Image, Our Culture, Write or Die MagazineIn Berlin&’s artistic underground, where techno and drugs fill warehouses still pockmarked from the wars of the twentieth century, nineteen-year-old Nila at last finds her tribe. Born in Germany to Afghan parents, raised in public housing graffitied with swastikas, drawn to philosophy, photography, and sex, Nila has spent her adolescence disappointing her family while searching for her voice as a young woman and artist. Then in the haze of Berlin&’s legendary nightlife, Nila meets Marlowe, an American writer whose fading literary celebrity opens her eyes to a life of personal and artistic freedom. But as Nila finds herself pulled further into Marlowe&’s controlling orbit, ugly, barely submerged racial tensions begin to roil Germany—and Nila&’s family and community. After a year of running from her future, Nila stops to ask herself the most important question: Who does she want to be?A story of love and family, raves and Kafka, staying up all night and surviving the mistakes of youth, Good Girl is the virtuosic debut novel by a celebrated young poet and, now, a major new voice in fiction.By Null Miranda July. 2024
A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEARA WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARONE OF TIME MAGAZINE&’S…
TOP 10 FICTION BOOKS OF 2024 ONE OF NPR&’S &“BOOKS WE LOVE&” 2024NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY:THE NEW YORKER ● VOGUE ● FINANCIAL TIMES ● OPRAH DAILY ● VULTURE ● VOXThe New York Times bestselling author returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and surprising novel about a woman upending her life&“A frank novel about a midlife awakening, which is funnier and more boldly human than you ever quite expect . . . nothing short of riveting.&” —Vogue&“All Fours has spurred a whisper network of women fantasizing about desire and freedom. . . . It&’s the talk of every group text."—The New York Times&“All Fours possessed me. I picked it up and neglected my life until the last page, and then I started begging every woman I know to read it as soon as possible.&” —The CutA semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.Miranda July&’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July&’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman&’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.By Sanam Mahloudji. 2025
Named a most anticipated book by Electric Literature, Publishers Weekly, The BBC, Daily Mail (London), and more. A darkly funny,…
life-affirming debut novel following five women from a once illustrious Iranian family as they grapple with revolutions personal and political.Meet the Valiat family. In Iran, they were somebodies. In America, they&’re nobodies. First there is Elizabeth, the regal matriarch with the famously large nose, who remained in Tehran despite the revolution. She lives alone but is sometimes visited by Niaz, her Islamic-law-breaking granddaughter, who takes her partying with a side of purpose and yet manages to survive. Elizabeth&’s daughters wound up in America: Shirin, a charismatic and flamboyantly high-flying event planner in Houston, who considers herself the family&’s future, and Seema, a dreamy idealist turned housewife languishing in the chaparral-filled hills of Los Angeles. And then there&’s the other granddaughter, Bita, a disillusioned law student in New York City trying to find deeper meaning by quietly giving away her belongings. When an annual vacation in Aspen goes wildly awry and Shirin ends up in jail, the family&’s upper-class veneer is cracked open. Shirin embarks upon a quest to restore the family name to its former glory, but what does that mean in a country where the Valiats never mattered? Can they bring their old inheritance into a new tomorrow? By turns satirical and philosophical, spanning from 1940s Iran to a splintered 2000s, The Persians upends the reader&’s expectations while exploring questions about love, family, money, art, and how to find yourself and each other when your country is lost. Wry and witty, brazen and absurd, The Persians is a deeply moving reinvention of the American family saga.By Nussaibah Younis. 2025
'By normal, you mean like you? A slag with a saviour complex?' Nadia is an academic who's been disowned by…
her puritanical mother and dumped by her lover, Rosy. She decides to make a getaway, accepting a UN job in Iraq. Tasked with rehabilitating ISIS women, Nadia becomes mired in the opaque world of international aid, surrounded by bumbling colleagues. Sara is a precocious and sweary East Londoner who joined ISIS at just fifteen. Nadia is struck by how similar they are: both feisty and opinionated, from a Muslim background, with a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines. A powerful friendship forms between the two women, until a secret confession from Sara threatens everything Nadia has been working for. A bitingly original, wildly funny and razor-sharp exploration of love, family, religion and the decisions we make in pursuit of belonging, Fundamentally upends and explores a defining controversy of our age with heart, complexity and humour.