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In this five-book compilation by the author of the Baby-Sitters Club, a group of teenage friends struggles with friendships, family,… and romanceDawn and Sunny aren't speaking. Maggie's eating disorder has become extreme and Amalia is making it her mission to help. Ducky's parents have left him alone--again--and this time he could really use their advice.A spin-off of the bestselling Baby-Sitters Club, the California Diaries are first-person accounts of five teenagers dealing with the ups and downs of growing up. Diary Two contains the second journal of each of the main characters, books six through ten in the series.This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Ann M. Martin, including rare images from the author's collection.
'First published in France in 1973, this unbearably sad novel from Swiss author Chessex, the first non-French writer to win… the Prix Goncourt, charts a man's slow but steady path toward tragedy.Chessex perfectly captures the juxtaposition of the profound and the banal in a surreal scene where a mortuary representative hawks different models of urns to hold cremated remains. Jean's burden of guilt only grows heavier with time, and the denouement will strike many as pathetically inevitable.' Publishers WeeklyA haunting work, reminiscent of Albert Camus, that portrays with exquisite psychological detail the emotional crisis in the life of Jean Calmet, a young Swiss schoolteacher. As we watch the father's cremation in the opening chapter, we sense that, even though his father's body has been reduced to ashes, his spirit survives to haunt Jean. His father's prodigious vitality and virility had crushed his family and ruined his son's childhood. Even after his father's death, Jean cannot be free. The parental ogre's actions continue to suck Jean into a vortex of despair.Jacques Chessex, a giant of Swiss literature, won the Grand Prix de la langue française and was awarded the Grand Prix Jean Giono for his entire work. Bitter Lemon Press published his novels The Vampire of Ropraz and A Jew Must Die to high acclaim. He died in 2009 at age seventy-five.
Crammed with humour, sorrow, folly, bravery and the richness of the everyday, Tulchinsky's fictional treatment of the Lapinsky family and… its remarkable fortunes-through the pivotal moment of the 1933 Toronto race riot, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and its attendant social tensions, World War II, and the post-war era-brings to life the character of an entire community.
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.
Called "remarkable" (The Wall Street Journal) and "an ambitious, colossal debut novel" (Publishers Weekly), Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai is… back in print at last Helen DeWitt's 2000 debut, The Last Samurai, was "destined to become a cult classic" (Miramax). The enterprising publisher sold the rights in twenty countries, so "Why not just, 'destined to become a classic?'" (Garth Risk Hallberg) And why must cultists tell the uninitiated it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise? Sibylla, an American-at-Oxford turned loose on London, finds herself trapped as a single mother after a misguided one-night stand. High-minded principles of child-rearing work disastrously well. J. S. Mill (taught Greek at three) and Yo Yo Ma (Bach at two) claimed the methods would work with any child; when these succeed with the boy Ludo, he causes havoc at school and is home again in a month. (Is he a prodigy, a genius? Readers looking over Ludo's shoulder find themselves easily reading Greek and more.) Lacking male role models for a fatherless boy, Sibylla turns to endless replays of Kurosawa's masterpiece Seven Samurai. But Ludo is obsessed with the one thing he wants and doesn't know: his father's name. At eleven, inspired by his own take on the classic film, he sets out on a secret quest for the father he never knew. He'll be punched, sliced, and threatened with retribution. He may not live to see twelve. Or he may find a real samurai and save a mother who thinks boredom a fate worse than death.
"A witty, roller-coaster ride of uncertain identity set against the gritty certainties of New York City. In compelling, unadorned prose,… Richard Wiley gives us a bewitching and ultimately moving tale." -Caryl Phillips, author of A Distant Shore and The Lost ChildDr. Ruby Okada meets a charming man with a Scottish accent in the elevator of her psychiatric hospital. Unaware that he is an escaping patient, she falls under his spell, and her life and his are changed forever by the time they get to the street.Who is the mysterious man? Is he Archie B. Billingsly, suffering from dissociative identity disorder and subject to brilliant flights of fancy and bizarre, violent fits? Or is he the reincarnation of Robert Louis Stevenson, back to haunt New York as Long John Silver and Mr. Edward Hyde? Her career compromised, Ruby soon learns that her future and that of her unborn child depend on finding the key to his identity. With compelling psychological descriptions and terrifying, ineffable transformations, Bob Stevenson is an ingenious tale featuring a quirky cast of characters drawn together by mutual fascination, need, and finally, love.Richard Wiley is the author of eight novels including Soldiers in Hiding, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and Ahmed's Revenge, winner of the Maria Thomas Fiction Award. Professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he divides his time between Los Angeles, California and Tacoma, Washington.
[A] haunting novel. . . . This book brims with the poetry of the working class, seldom sung lyrics of… working men and women.--from the introduction by Larry Woiwode"Shepherd is a master craftsman, and the subtlety of his art, the unassuming elegance of its architecture, rendered me spellbound and finally grateful. I don't think I shall ever forget this fine book, its honest, guileless voice leading me along into the fire."--Bob Shacochis"A riveting exploration of what it is to be an outsider even in your own head. Shepherd has written a gripping story of childhood angst--psychologically thrilling, lyrically exact."--Janet BurrowayLevi Revel is a boy in danger of losing his family and maybe his mind. He's in awe of his father, Everest, a majestic dreamer, a master builder, a man with a violent, secret past. As the family moves from state to state, Levi hears solace in the voice of God, a voice that sends him preaching from treetops and roofs.But the family begins to fall apart, and as Levi enters adolescence, he hears more troubling things: other voices, terrifying sounds, warnings. When Everest takes him on a high-speed, cross-country chase to win back Levi's mother--by force if necessary--Levi realizes how much danger they all are in.Tender and frightening, this debut novel takes readers across America, through the eyes and ears of a child whose family is haunted by a past they can't outrun. From a boy lost in a world of imaginary voices and chilling destruction to a young man who can rebuild steeples, the story Levi tells is the triumph of persistence over moments of isolation and despair.Paul Shepherd lives in Tallahassee, Florida.
Philadelphia 1793. Hercules, President George Washington’s chef, is a fixture on the Philadelphia scene. He is famous for both his… culinary prowess and for ruling his kitchen like a commanding general. He has his run of the city and earns twice the salary of an average American workingman. He wears beautiful clothes and attends the theater. But while valued by the Washingtons for his prowess in the kitchen and rewarded far over and above even white servants, Hercules is enslaved in a city where most black Americans are free. Even while he masterfully manages his kitchen and the lives of those in and around it, Hercules harbors secrets-- including the fact that he is learning to read and that he is involved in a dangerous affair with Thelma, a mixed-race woman, who, passing as white, works as a companion to the daughter of one of Philadelphia's most prestigious families. Eventually Hercules’ carefully crafted intrigues fall apart and he finds himself trapped by his circumstance and the will of George Washington. Based on actual historical events and people, The General's Cook, will thrill fans of The Hamilton Affair, as they follow Hercules' precarious and terrifying bid for freedom.
An addictive psychological suspense about ambition, female rivalry, and how far you'd go to get what you want.'Brilliant and insidious'Lucy… Clarke, author of You Let Me In***********NOWHelena is a career woman with no job and a mother without a baby. She blames Ashley for destroying her life. But is what happened really Ashley's fault?THENWhen Helena hires Ashley to work for her, she's startled but impressed by her fierce ambition. They form a dream team and Helena is proud - maybe this is the protégée she's always wanted to have. But soon Helena realizes that nothing will stand in the way of Ashley's drive to get to the top. And when Helena becomes pregnant, everything she has worked so hard for is suddenly threatened, with devastating consequences...***********'Absolutely terrific, a beautifully written debut from an exciting new voice in psychological fiction' Cass Green, author of The Woman Next Door and Don't You Cry'A compelling addictive read... I absolutely loved it' Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect Girlfriend'A chilling and compelling debut'Lucy Dawson, author of The Daughter
Maggie is going to stay in control--even if it kills herMaggie can't do much about the demands her dad puts… on her. Or her mother's alcoholism. Or even her insecurity about being the lead singer of her band, Vanish. The only thing that she can control is what she eats. Or, more accurately, what she doesn't eat. Losing weight makes her feel clean; it gives her the power she so desperately wants.When Maggie's friends begin to worry that she has an eating disorder, Maggie doesn't care. It's her body; it's her life . . . which is what her mom says about her drinking problem. Could Maggie and her mom have more in common than she thinks?This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Ann M. Martin, including rare images from the author's collection.
A moving, funny, sweeping and emotional family drama perfect for fans of David Nicholls, Beth O'Leary, Mike Gayle and Caroline… Hulse.* * * * * * *If you're reading this, my funeral must have just finished. I've got something to ask of you...Who knows, you might even enjoy it?The Cadogan children haven't spoken to each other for three years. But their father, Gerry, has a plan to bring them together. To scatter his ashes, they must first drive his old camper van up to Scotland...For the trip, Gerry has provided them with three family photo albums and a bottle of single malt whisky.But will the journey help banish their ghosts and turn them back into a family? Or will it show them exactly why they've stayed apart for so long?* * * * * * * Praise for Jamie Fewery:'Moving, honest, sad and hopeful' MIRANDA DICKINSON'Will melt your heart' VERONICA HENRY'Clever, moving, funny, insightful' ZOE FOLBIGG'Made me do a proper ugly cry' DOMESTIC SLUTTERY