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Showing 1 - 20 of 116 items
By Sage Cohen, Scott Sparling, Joanna Rose, Liz Prato, Clare Carpenter. 2014
A current of longing runs through twenty-two short stories by Oregon writers. As the characters strive for connection, they make…
mistakes, reach out to the wrong people, and recalibrate their lives based on what they desire, whether or not it's attainable-or even a good idea. Editor Liz Prato has curated a powerful collection of smart, funny, sad, and exquisite stories about the losses that shape our lives.By Junichiro Tanizaki. 1955
The conflict between traditional and modern Japanese culture is at the heart of this compelling Japanese novel.Kaname is a smug,…
modern man living in a modern marriage. He gamely allows his wife to become the lover of another man, an act that does not cure the profound sadness at the heart of their relationship. So Kaname gradually retreats into the protection of traditional rituals, attitudes and tastes, eventually making love to Ohisa, his father-in-law's old-fashioned mistress, as he abandons the modern world entirely. The novel's other characters, including Kaname's wife, his lover, his father-in-law, and even the cities in which they live, all symbolize the modern and ancient ways of life in Japan. Tanizaki's characteristic irony, eroticism, and psychological undertones make Some Prefer Nettles an exceptional and compelling read.By Rein Raud, Adam Cullen. 2008
The Brother is a spaghetti western told in poetic prose, simultaneously paying tribute to both Clint Eastwood and Alessandro Baricco.…
It opens with a mysterious stranger arriving in a small town controlled by a group of men-men who recently cheated the stranger's supposed sister out of her inheritance. Following his arrival, fortunes change dramatically, enraging this group of powerful men.By Tamsin Black, Pascale Kramer. 2013
"Intense and bravely uncompromising. An adult study of pain, thwarted affection, and guarded privacies in a world at the edge…
of violent public breakdown. An impressive achievement." -DAVID MALOUF, author of Ransom: A Novel and The Happy Life: The Search for Contentment in the Modern WorldSimone and Claude live in a house with a lush garden, surrounded by a hedge that barely protects them from the growing violence and unrest in their low-income neighborhood. Simone mourns the loss of youth and possibility as Claude, a gym teacher who has been diagnosed with cancer, edges toward death. This is an unflinching portrait of a couple ravaged by illness and locked into mutual isolation-that is, until the arrival of a young boy brings hope and upsets their delicate danse macabre to devastating effect.Pascale Kramer dissects romantic love's psychic carnage while unsentimentally revealing the unique beauty born of an adult's love for a child. As does Marguerite Duras, she wields spare language like a club and plumbs emotional depths rarely reached outside of poetry. A brilliant collision of hope and despair, The Child is a tour de force.Pascale Kramer is the author of The Living and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Prix Shiller (Switzerland) and the Prix du Roman de la Société des gens de lettres (France). The Child is her second novel to be translated into English. Born in Geneva, she lives in Paris, France.By Clark Blaise. 2011
Shortlisted for the 2011 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize NomineeLonglisted for the Frank O'Connor Short Story Award"Clark…
Blaise's brilliantly imagined The Meagre Tarmac is a novel in short-story form, warmly intimate, startling in its quick jumps and revelations, a portrait of individuals for whom we come to care deeply - and a portrait of an Indo-American way of life that shimmers before our eyes with the rich and compelling detail for which Clark Blaise's fiction is renowned .... The Meagre Tarmac is a remarkable accomplishment."-Joyce Carol OatesAn Indo-American Canterbury Tales, The Meagre Tarmac explores the places where tradition, innovation, culture, and power meet with explosive force. It begins with Vivek Waldekar, who refused to attend his father's funeral because he was "trying to please an American girl who thought starting a fire in his father's body too gross a sacrilege to contemplate." It ends with Pranab Dasgupta, the Rockefeller of India, who can only describe himself as "'a very lonely, very rich, very guilty immigrant.'" And in between is a cluster of remarkable characters, incensed by the conflict between personal desire and responsibility, who exhaust themselves in pursuit of the miraculous. Fearless and ferociously intelligent, these stories are vintage Blaise, whose outsider's view of the changing heart of America has always been ruthless and moving and tender.By K. E. Semmel, Naja Marie Aidt. 2015
"The emotions unleashed in this tale . . . are painfully universal. Yet you know exactly where in the universe…
you are. This is the hallmark of great short stories, from Chekhov's portraits of discontented Russians to Joyce's struggling Dubliners."-Radhika Jones, TimeNaja Marie Aidt's long-awaited first novel is a breathtaking page-turner and complex portrait of a man whose life slowly devolves into one of violence and jealousy.Rock, Paper, Scissors opens shortly after the death of Thomas and Jenny's criminal father. While trying to fix a toaster that he left behind, Thomas discovers a secret, setting into motion a series of events leading to the dissolution of his life, and plunging him into a dark, shadowy underworld of violence and betrayal.A gripping story written with a poet's sensibility and attention to language, Rock, Paper, Scissors showcases all of Aidt's gifts and will greatly expand the readership for one of Denmark's most decorated and beloved writers.Naja Marie Aidt was born in Greenland and raised in Copenhagen. She is the author of seven collections of poetry and five short story collections, including Baboon (Two Lines Press), which received the Nordic Council's Literature Prize and the Danish Critics Prize for Literature. Rock, Paper, Scissors is her first novel.K. E. Semmel is a writer and translator whose work has appeared in Ontario Review, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. His translations include books by Karin Fossum, Erik Valeur, Jussi Adler-Olsen, and Simon Fruelund.By Luis Jaramillo. 2012
In stylish, intimate, and devastating short flashes, The Doctor's Wifetells the story of three generations of a family in the…
Pacific Northwest.Winner of the Dzanc Short Story Contest, Luis Jaramillo's The Doctor's Wife pushes the limits of what a short story collection can be. In stylish, intimate, and devastating short flashes, Jaramillo chronicles the small domestic moments, tragic losses, and cultural upheavals faced by three generations of a family in the Pacific Northwest, creating a moving portrait of an American family and the remarkable woman at its center.By Susan Wiggs, Sheila Roberts. 2019
THE GOODBYE QUILT by Susan WiggsLinda Davis is driving her daughter, Molly, across the country to start college. As her…
only child readies for this big change, Linda is torn between excitement for Molly and heartache for herself. Who will she be when she is no longer needed in her role as mom? On the trip, Linda pieces together the scraps that make up Molly’s young life—the hem of a christening gown, a snippet from a costume. But in stitching the quilt, Linda realizes that making new memories is as important as cherishing those from the past.A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET by Sheila RobertsAs a wedding planner, Anne Richardson has seen mothers of the bride turn into Momzillas, and she’s determined not to do that when it’s her daughter’s turn to get married. But once Laney gets engaged, all bets are off. Anne becomes obsessed with giving Laney the perfect wedding she herself never had. And that wedding needs to be held in Icicle Falls at Primrose Haus, the perfect setting, with owner Roberta Gilbert at the helm. Linda is the best at event planning but no expert on mother-daughter relationships, especially her own. Can these mothers and daughters put aside their differences to pull off the perfect wedding?By Caroline Montague. 2018
'Thoroughly engrossing' - Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton AbbeyLove. War. Family. Betrayal.Italy, 1937. Alessandra Durante is grieving the loss of…
her husband when she discovers she has inherited her ancestral family seat, Villa Durante, deep in the Tuscan Hills. Longing for a new start, she moves from her home in London to Italy with her daughter Diana and sets about rebuilding her life. Under the threat of war, Alessandra's house becomes first a home and then a shelter to all those who need it. Then Davide, a young man who is hiding the truth about who he is, arrives, and Diana starts to find her heart going where her head knows it must not.Back home in Britain as war breaks out, Alessandra's son Robert, signs up to be a pilot, determined to play his part in freeing Italy from the grip of Fascism. His bravery marks him out as an asset to the Allies, and soon he is being sent deep undercover and further into danger than ever before.As war rages, the Durante family will love and lose, but will they survive the war...?'Enthralling...An Italian Affair snares us in an ever-tightening circle of love and despair, secrets and forgiveness' - Joanna LumleyBy Kim Hood. 2014
Shortlisted for the Bookseller YA Prize 2015! Jo could never have guessed that the friendship she so desperately craves would…
come in the shape of a severely disabled boy. He can’t even speak. Maybe it is because he can’t speak that she finds herself telling him how difficult it is living with her eccentric, mentally fragile mother. Behind Chris’ lopsided grin and gigantic blue wheelchair is a real person — with a sense of humour, a tremendous stubborn streak and a secret he has kept from everyone. For a while it seems life may actually get better. But as Jo finds out just how terrible life is for Chris, and as her own life spirals out of control, she becomes desperate to change things for both of them. In a dramatic turn of events, Jo makes a decision that could end in tragedy. This is the story of how an unusual friendship unlocks the words that neither knew they had.By Linda Thompson. 2014
A dramatic bush plane crash in coastal Alaska leaves the pilot injured. The passengers, a team of Special Olympic Athletes,…
must fend for themselves to survive. An Alaska storm first threatens to overwhelm them during the night as they care for their unconscious pilot. Each must confront the challenges of survival in the wilderness, while transcending their limitations. Forced to overcome their habits of dependency and help each other, the group finds courage in the Olympic oath: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."By Various. 2016
&‘This new generation of Latin American writers has exchanged history for memory, dictators for narcos and political engagement for gender…
and class consciousness.&’ El País Ten years on from the first Bogotá 39 selection, which brought writers such as Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Alejandro Zambra and Junot Díaz to fame, comes this story collection showcasing thirty-nine exceptional new talents. Chosen by some of the biggest names in Latin American literature, together with publishers, writers and literary critics and a panel of expert judges, this exciting anthology paves the way for a new generation of household names. These stories have been brought into English by some of the finest translators around, including familiar names such as Daniel Hahn, Christina MacSweeney and Megan McDowell, as well as many new and exciting translators who are just launching their careers. With authors from fifteen different countries, this diverse collection of stories transports readers to a host of new worlds, and represents the very best writing coming out of Latin America today.By Marita Golden. 2019
This groundbreaking multicultural anthology shares moving personal stories about the impacts of Alzheimer’s and dementia. An estimated 5.7 million Americans…
are afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease, including 10 percent of those over sixty-five, and it is the sixth leading cause of death. But its effects are more pervasive: for the nearly 6 million sufferers, there are more than 16 million family caregivers and many more family members. Alzheimer’s wreaks havoc not only on brain cells; it is a disease of the spirit and heart for those who suffer from it but also for their families. This groundbreaking anthology presents forty narratives, both nonfiction and fiction, that together capture the impact and complexity of Alzheimer’s and other dementias on patients as well as their caregivers and family. Deeply personal, recounting the wrenching course of a disease that kills a loved one twice—first they forget who they are, and then the body succumbs—these stories also show how witnessing the disease and caring for someone with it can be powerfully transformative, calling forth amazing strength and grace. The contributors, who have all generously donated their work, include Edwidge Danticat, Julie Otsuka, Elizabeth Nunez, Meryl Comer, Greg O’Brien, Dr. Daniel Potts, Sallie Tisdale, and Nihal Satyadev. Reflecting the diversity and global nature of the dementia crisis, this anthology is published in collaboration with UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.By Anyi Wang. 2019
Nainai has lived in Shanghai for many years, and the time has come to find a wife for her adopted…
grandson. But when the bride she has chosen arrives from the countryside, it soon becomes clear that the orphaned girl has ideas of her own. Her name is Fu Ping, and the more she explores the residential lanes and courtyards behind Shanghai’s busy shopping streets, the less she wants to return to the country as a dutiful wife. As Fu Ping wavers over her future, she learns the city through the stories of the nannies, handymen, and garbage collectors whose labor is bringing life and bustle back to postwar Shanghai.Fu Ping is a keenly observed portrait of the lives of lower-class women in Shanghai in the early years of the People’s Republic of China. Wang Anyi, one of contemporary China’s most acclaimed authors, explores the daily lives of migrants from rural areas and other people on the margins of urban life. In shifting perspectives rich in detail and psychological insight, she sketches their aspirations, their fears, and the subtle ties that bind them together. In Howard Goldblatt’s masterful translation, Fu Ping reveals Wang Anyi’s precise renderings of history, class, and the human heart.By Earl Javorsky, Steven Manchester, Mary Marcus, Marcia Gloster, Lynn Voedisch, Roger Bagg, Christopher Slater, Eric Andersson, Carmen Siegers, Craig Ham, Kj Steele, Robert Herzog. 2017
This fiction anthology presents twelve short stories that illuminate universal truths about the human condition. Legendary publisher and editor…
Lou Aronica and author Aaron Brown have compiled a unique fiction anthology that combines the work of acclaimed novelists like Mary Marcus and Earl Javorsky with award-winning new voices. The eternal complexities of sibling relationships are explored in Steven Manchester&’s &“Lost.&” Marcia Gloster&’s &“Losing Will&” illuminates the heady mixture of hope and betrayal that so often underlies love. The reality behind a con man's illusions emerge in Craig Ham&’s &“Tonic and Spirits.&” These and the nine other tales collected in this volume demonstrate that the greatest truths are revealed in fiction. Contributors include Eric Andersson, Steven Manchester, Carmen Siegers, Marcia Gloster, Craig Ham, Lynn Voedisch, Mary Marcus, Christopher Slater, KJ Steele, Earl Javorsky, Roger Bagg, Robert Herzog.By Elizabeth Goudge. 1974
When orphan Maria arrives at Moonacre Manor, she feels like she's come home. Her new guardian is kind, like an…
old friend. However, beneath the beauty and comfort lies a tragedy. Maria is determined to find out about it, change it, and give her own life story a happy ending.By Cathy Mansell. 2020
Dramatic, emotional and romantic, if you love Lorna Cook, Tracy Rees and Jenny Ashcroft, you'll love this gripping and heartrending…
novel from Cathy Mansell, author of A Place to Belong.'Glorious - a cross between Maeve Binchy and Catherine Cookson' 5* early reader review'A superb saga' PETERBOROUGH TELEGRAPH'A heart-warming story full of characters you'll come to love' ROSIE GOODWIN'Page-turning and compelling... Most highly recommended' MARGARET KAINE'Rarely have I read a book where every character springs from the pages so authentically' JEAN CHAPMAN'A warm-hearted, engaging story' MARGARET JAMES, WRITING MAGAZINEIn 1950s Dublin, life is hard and jobs are like gold dust.Nineteen-year-old Nell Flynn is training to be a nurse and planning to marry her boyfriend, Liam Connor, when her mother dies, leaving her younger sisters destitute. To save them from the workhouse, Nell returns to the family home - a mere two rooms at the top of a condemned tenement.Nell finds work at a biscuit factory and, at first, they scrape through each week. But then eight-year-old Róisín, delicate from birth, is admitted to hospital with rheumatic fever and fifteen-year-old Kate, rebellious, headstrong and resentful of Nell taking her mother's place, runs away.When Liam finds work in London, Nell stays to struggle on alone - her unwavering devotion to her sisters stronger even than her love for him. She's determined that one day the Dublin girls will be reunited and only then will she be free to follow her heart.Look for more gripping, heartwrenching page-turners from Cathy Mansell - don't miss A Place to Belong, out now.By Alex Allison. 2019
'A bold, unflinching debut' GUARDIAN'Brutal, tender, philosophical, visceral, complex and so well written' EMMA JANE UNSWORTHMaintaining one person's dignity comes…
nearly always at the expense of someone else's. I have learned this for you.Janet is caught between care work and caring for herself. Her life revolves around Sean, a talented fine art student, living and working with cerebral palsy. Both Janet and Sean are new to London and far from their families. Both are finding a means of escape through pushing their bodies to the limit.When Sean is faced with an unexpected and deeply personal tragedy, Janet must let her guard down at last and discover what she's prepared to fight for. The Art of the Body is a novel about dignity and intimacy, tenderness and brutality, unafraid to explore uncommon bodies in unusual ways.'Raw and powerful' IMAGEBy Marie NDiaye. 2016
The Cheffe is born into a very poor family in Sainte-Bazeille in south-western France, but when she takes a job…
working in the kitchen of a couple in the Landes region, it does not take long before it becomes clear that the Cheffe has an unusual, remarkable talent for cooking. She dreams in recipes, she's always imagining food combinations and cooking times, she hunts down elusive flavours and aromas, and she soon usurps the couple's cook.But for all her genius, the Cheffe remains very secretive about the rest of her life. She becomes pregnant, but will not reveal her daughter's father. She shares nothing of her feelings or emotions. And when the demands of her work and caring for her child become too much, she leaves her baby in the care of her family, and sets out to open her own restaurant, which will soon win rave reviews and be lauded by all.But her relationship with her daughter will never be easy, and before long, it will threaten to destroy everything the Cheffe has spent her life perfecting.'One of the nation's favourite saga writers' Lancashire PostThe Sister's Secret is a powerful new saga from Jennie Felton, in…
her Families of Fairley Terrace series, in the grand tradition of Josephine Cox, Dilly Court, Maggie Hope and Rosie Goodwin of secrets, romance, drama and triumph in the wake of a bitter tragedy.Can she hide the truth to protect those she loves?The Sykes family have lived at Fairley Terrace since their youngest daughter, Rowan, was born. Fiercely clever, Rowan finds it difficult to fit in with the other village children, so when her beloved older sister, Laurel, takes a new job and moves back home, Rowan is overjoyed. Laurel is happy to be with her family - even if she's keeping the real reason for her return to herself. It seems like she's destined to keep repeating the mistakes of her past when it comes to matters of the heart. The two sisters are each longing for excitement and a fresh start, and when familiar faces return to Fairley Terrace, along with an enigmatic new resident, it looks like they might get their wish. But their harmony is about to be shattered by a mysterious stranger who threatens to expose a long-kept secret - and is prepared to stop at nothing to wreak revenge on the family.Don't miss the rest of the Families of Fairley Terrace series, which began with Maggie's story in All The Dark Secrets and continued with Lucy's story in The Miner's Daughter, Edie's story in The Girl Below Stairs, and Carina's story in The Widow's Promise.