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In the Aftermath: A Novel
by Jane WardWhen David Herron—overwhelmed and despairing, his family’s business and finances in ruin due to the bursting lending bubble of 2008—takes his own life one chilly spring morning, he has no idea the ripple effect his decision will set into motion. Two years later, his widow, Jules, is now an employee of the bakery she and David used to own—and still full of bitterness over David’s lies, perceived cowardice, and ultimate abandonment of her and their now-teenage daughter, Rennie. Rennie, meanwhile, struggles socially at school, resents her work-obsessed mother, and is convinced she’s to blame for her father’s death. When Denise, the former police detective who worked (and, due to her own personal struggles at the time, mishandled) David’s case, catches sight of Rennie at her sons’ school, she’s struck by the girl’s halo of sadness—and becomes obsessed with attempting to right the wrongs she believes she perpetrated two years ago. And as all this unfolds in Boston, Daniel, the guilt-ridden young man who, in his old life as a banker, helped create the circumstances that led to David’s suicide, continues to punish himself for his sins by living half a life, working odd jobs and bouncing from one US city to another, never staying long enough to make friends or build something lasting. Ultimately, each of these very different people—all of them tied together by one tragic event—must learn in their own way how to say good-bye to the past and move into a brighter future.
In the Bag: A Novel
by Kate KliseA European vacation. A luggage mix-up. A note from a secret admirer.Meet two single parents who think they're too busy to date. And two teenagers who can't stop writing flirty emails. This is a tale of connections—missed and made—in a universe that seems to have its heart set on reuniting Ms. 6B and Mr. 13C.WebbI can't believe I picked up the wrong bag at the airport. My dad is never going to let me hear the end of it.CocoI don't understand why Mom told me to pack my worst underwear. And now I've lost my bag? Ack!AndrewI cannot stop thinking about that woman in seat 6B on the flight to Paris.DaisyI don't have time to worry about the creep sitting in 13C who slipped a note in my purse. I have to find my daughter's missing bag before this ruins our vacation.In the Bag is a smart and stylish story that explores the old-fashioned art of romance in a modern world, where falling in love can be as risky as checking a bag on an international flight. Buckle your seat belt—it's going to be a bumpy vacation!
In the Beginning . . . There Were No Diapers
by Tim BeteIf you can change a diaper in an airplane lavatory ... If you can recite The Cat in the Hat by heart ... If you find cookie crumbs in your pocket ... . . . then you're a dad who'll get a good laugh-and inspiration-from In the Beginning . . . There Were No Diapers. Tim Bete understands that in the midst of the challenges of parenting there's always a chance to smile and recognize the miracle of the young life that is yours to care for. His real life stories will make you laugh out loud and they'll fill you with a sense of gratitude to God for this marvelous calling. Drawn from his beloved column, "Where I Live," each story is an insightful and uplifting lesson in parenting. With self-effacing humor and a playful sense of fun, Bete helps you to smile and relax, to enjoy parenting a little more, and to worry a little less. Permeated by a sense of faith but never preachy, In the Beginning . . . There Were No Diapers will open your eyes to the little miracles of daily life-when your child finally goes potty in the toilet, eats a vegetable, or finds first base. And once your eyes are open, the lessons begin to arrive every day. Whether you're doing the 3 a.m. feeding or taking the training wheels off a bike, Tim Bete will remind you why you're doing it. He'll keep you on track. And he'll make you laugh! Discover for yourself why readers are saying: "I laughed, I cried," "My sides split," and "The funniest thing I've ever read!"
In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber (Bloody Jack #4)
by L. A. MeyerHas Jacky Faber's luck run out? Now that the King of England has called her a pirate and put a price on her head, Jacky hopes to find a safe hiding place in the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls in Boston, but the calm doesn't last long. On a class field trip to the Boston Harbor, the girls are abducted and forced into the hold of the Bloodhound--a ship bound for the slave markets of the Barbary Coast--to be sold on the auction block. Jacky wouldn't dream of going down without a fight, but will she be able to convince the delicate Lawson Peabody girls to trade petticoats and propriety for a daring escape plan? A Junior Library Guild Premier Selection www.jackyfaber.com Ages 12 and up
In the Best Interests of the Child: Loss and Suffering in Adoption Proceedings
by Mili MassMarshalling her experience as an expert witness in court proceedings on non-consensual, confidential adoption in Israel, Mass describes legal proceedings following the Israeli state petition that declares children eligible for adoption because of alleged parental incapability, and explores the politics of state intervention in the parent/child relationship. The selected case studies present the testimonies of the children, the parents, the designated adoptive parents, and the state’s representatives, as well as the author’s own testimony.
In the Best of Families: The Anatomy of a True Tragedy
by Dennis McDougalRonald Reagan's personal attorney Roy Miller was a California success story. The Miller family's friends could never have imagined the horror and darkness that were to follow as Michael, the Miller's youngest son killed and raped his own mother.
In the Blink of an Eye: A Novel
by Jesse Blackadder"Absolutely captivating....This is a masterpiece of women's fiction."—Booklist (starred review)"Absorbing....Fast-moving but emotionally resonant." —Kirkus reviews In the Blink of an Eye is award-winning author Jesse Blackadder’s deeply emotional drama that explores a family’s path to forgiveness and redemption in the aftermath of a tragedy.The Brennans—parents, Finn and Bridget, and their sons, Jarrah and Toby—have made a sea change, from chilly Hobart, Tasmania, to subtropical Murwillumbah, New South Wales. Feeling like foreigners in this land of sun and surf, they're still adjusting to work, school, and life in a sprawling purple clapboard house, when one morning, tragedy strikes.In the devastating aftermath, the questions fly. What really happened? And who's to blame? Determined to protect his family, Finn finds himself under the police and media spotlight. Guilty and enraged, Bridget spends nights hunting answers in the last place imaginable. Jarrah—his innocence lost—faces a sudden and frightening adulthood where nothing is certain.In the Blink of an Eye is a haunting, redemptive story about forgiveness and hope.
In the Blood
by June OldhamRigby's grandfather, Gilbert, has wandered from home and is roaming the Yorkshire countryside in distress. Finding an old map in his grandfather's home, peculiarly annotated and marked by his grandfather, Rigby begins to realise that it duplicates Normandy: the marked sites mirror places in another place and other time - the days following the Normandy landings in 1944. He is drawn down an elusive trail into the past, hunting old memories and new truths to the heart of his grandfather's youth in the raw days of the War. It shakes the very foundations of Rigby's own young life, and as he discovers the secret about another soldier - the quest becomes an inner journey for Rigby. He learns of the feelings of young men caught in the terrors and misery of the battlefield, and the impact of their lives on generations to come.
In the Castle of the Flynns
by Michael RaleighWhen Danny Dorsey's parents are killed in a car accident, Danny is adopted by his maternal grandparents, the Flynns, and raised with their surviving children, his Aunt Anne and Uncles Mike and Tom. He still has close contact with his father's family, too, including his deeply troubled cousin Matt. Altogether Danny grows up amid a bubbling stew of family interactions, often heated by alcohol, but always seasoned with love and understanding. Danny spies on the grownups and tries to make sense of their personal turmoils, while at the same time living out numerous adventures of his own.
In the Castle of the Flynns
by Michael RaleighThe year is 1954 and Daniel Dorsey learns at the age of eight the intimate meaning of death when his parents are killed in a car crash. Taken in by his colorful, at times mad, and always tender and caring extended family, Daniel learns that even the deepest sorrows and hurt can be healed. Michael Raleigh's In the Castle of the Flynns is about a young boy growing up Irish in a vibrant 1950s Chicago neighborhood. Now grown and looking back on those years, Daniel recalls his bouts with grief and fear of abandonment as he learns to adjust to his new surroundings amidst his oddball family. It is a time of wakes and weddings, conflicts and romance. Above all, it is a time when Daniel comes to understand both his own loss and the dark places in the lives of his loved ones. In the Castle of the Flynns is a poignant, often hilarious story of hope, passions and unforgettable memories. It is a novel that will make grown men weep, women cry and cause both to break out in great guffaws of laughter.
In the Coils of the Snake (Book III, The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy)
by Clare B. DunkleMiranda is finally in the goblin kingdom where she has always wanted to be, but she never imagined she would feel so lost. Her beloved Marak, the center of her world since childhood has reached he end of his long reign. But Marak raised Miranda to be brave, intelligent and proud -- the ideal woman to take her place beside the new goblin King. Then a mysterious and highly magical elf lord reignites the age-old battle between goblins and elves. Caught between two hostile rulers, Miranda becomes their greatest reason for war -- and their only hope for a future.
In the Company of Men
by Véronique TadjoNAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED READ OF THE YEAR BY MS. MAGAZINE Drawing on real accounts of the Ebola outbreak that devastated West Africa, this poignant, timely fable reflects on both the strength and the fragility of life and humanity&’s place in the world. Two boys venture from their village to hunt in a nearby forest, where they shoot down bats with glee, and cook their prey over an open fire. Within a month, they are dead, bodies ravaged by an insidious disease that neither the local healer&’s potions nor the medical team&’s treatments could cure. Compounding the family&’s grief, experts warn against touching the sick. But this caution comes too late: the virus spreads rapidly, and the boys&’ father is barely able to send his eldest daughter away for a chance at survival. In a series of moving snapshots, Véronique Tadjo illustrates the terrible extent of the Ebola epidemic, through the eyes of those affected in myriad ways: the doctor who tirelessly treats patients day after day in a sweltering tent, protected from the virus only by a plastic suit; the student who volunteers to work as a gravedigger while universities are closed, helping the teams overwhelmed by the sheer number of bodies; the grandmother who agrees to take in an orphaned boy cast out of his village for fear of infection. And watching over them all is the ancient and wise Baobab tree, mourning the dire state of the earth yet providing a sense of hope for the future. Acutely relevant to our times in light of the coronavirus pandemic, In the Company of Men explores critical questions about how we cope with a global crisis and how we can combat fear and prejudice.
In the Country of Others: A Novel
by Leila SlimaniThe award-winning, #1 internationally bestselling new novel by the author of The Perfect Nanny, about a woman in an interracial marriage whose fierce desire for autonomy parallels her adopted country's fight for independenceThe world of men is just like the world of botany. In the end, one species dominates another. One day, the orange will win out over the lemon, or vice versa, and the tree will once again produce fruit that people can eat. In her first new novel since The Perfect Nanny launched her onto the world stage and won her acclaim for her "devastatingly perceptive character studies" (The New York Times Book Review), Leila Slimani draws on her own family's inspiring story for the first volume in a planned trilogy about race, resilience, and women's empowerment. Mathilde, a spirited young Frenchwoman, falls in love with Amine, a handsome Moroccan soldier in the French army during World War II. After the war, the couple settles in Morocco. While Amine tries to cultivate his family farm's rocky terrain, Mathilde feels her vitality sapped by the isolation, the harsh climate, the lack of money, and the mistrust she inspires as a foreigner. Left increasingly alone to raise her two children in a world whose rules she does not understand, and with her daughter taunted at school by rich French girls for her secondhand clothes and unruly hair, Mathilde goes from being reduced to a farmer's wife to defying the country's chauvinism and repressive social codes by offering medical services to the rural population. As tensions mount between the Moroccans and the French colonists, Amine finds himself caught in the crossfire: in solidarity with his Moroccan workers yet also a landowner, despised by the French yet married to a Frenchwoman, and proud of his wife's resolve but ashamed by her refusal to be subjugated. All of them live in the country of others--especially the women, forced to live in the land of men--and with this novel, Leila Slimani issues the first salvo in their emancipation.
In the Country of Queens
by Cari BestAn Amazon Best Book of the MonthEleven-year-old Shirley Alice Burns lives with her domineering mother, Hurricane Anna, and loving Grandmother. One day she unexpectedly discovers that her beloved father isn’t in Absentia as her family would have her believe, but dead. And she understands all too well why they haven’t told her; she’s always been shy and quiet, and Anna has always been protective of her. But if Shirley doesn’t start speaking up, she isn’t going to be able to do the things she wants to do: go on vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee with her cousins, stop taking ballet lessons, and talk about her father. Through the help of a mouse, her hero Pippi Longstocking, and her cousin Phillie, Shirley finds the strength to give her dreams a voice and convince everyone, even Hurricane Anna, that she doesn’t need to be sheltered, especially from the truth. In the Country of Queens is the debut novel from acclaimed picture-book author Cari Best.
In the Country of Women: A Memoir
by Susan StraightOne of NPR's Best Books of the Year“Straight’s memoir is a lyric social history of her multiracial clan in Riverside that explores the bonds of love and survival that bind them, with a particular emphasis on the women’s stories . . . The aftereffect of all these disparate stories juxtaposed in a single epic is remarkable. Its resonance lingers for days after reading.” —San Francisco ChronicleIn the Country of Women is a valuable social history and a personal narrative that reads like a love song to America and indomitable women. In inland Southern California, near the desert and the Mexican border, Susan Straight, a self–proclaimed book nerd, and Dwayne Sims, an African American basketball player, started dating in high school. After college, they married and drove to Amherst, Massachusetts, where Straight met her teacher and mentor, James Baldwin, who encouraged her to write. Once back in Riverside, at driveway barbecues and fish fries with the large, close–knit Sims family, Straight—and eventually her three daughters—heard for decades the stories of Dwayne’s female ancestors. Some women escaped violence in post–slavery Tennessee, some escaped murder in Jim Crow Mississippi, and some fled abusive men. Straight’s mother–in–law, Alberta Sims, is the descendant at the heart of this memoir. Susan’s family, too, reflects the hardship and resilience of women pushing onward—from Switzerland, Canada, and the Colorado Rockies to California.A Pakistani word, biraderi, is one Straight uses to define a complex system of kinship and clan—those who become your family. An entire community helped raise her daughters. Of her three girls, now grown and working in museums and the entertainment industry, Straight writes, “The daughters of our ancestors carry in their blood at least three continents. We are not about borders. We are about love and survival.”“Certain books give off the sense that you won’t want them to end, so splendid the writing, so lyrical the stories. Such is the case with Southern California novelist Susan Straight’s new memoir, In the Country of Women . . . Her vibrant pages are filled with people of churned–together blood culled from scattered immigrants and native peoples, indomitable women and their babies. Yet they never succumb . . . Straight gives us permission to remember what went before with passion and attachment.” ––Los Angeles Times
In the Dark
by Debbi VoiseyA woman learns that some things are meant to stay buried—and that uncovering them might cost her everything—in this harrowing psychological thriller. Maggie Milburn thought she&’d left her darkest days behind—until the trauma that has haunted her since she was sixteen rears its head again. As she unpacks her childhood with her therapist, her world begins to unravel. And when a hidden letter surfaces, Maggie uncovers a devastating secret her grandfather took to his grave . . . While Maggie is drawn into a mystery, her best friend Frances battles her own demons. Across town, ten-year-old Aaron finds relief after relentless cyberbullying, and Simon, a young man searching for his birth mother, is devastated when the results of a DNA test mysteriously vanish. As their lives intersect in unexpected ways, Maggie must confront the ghosts of her past to untangle the present. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous the secrets become . . . For fans of T. M. Logan&’s gripping psychological thrillers, In the Dark is a tense, twisting exploration of resilience and the unseen connections that can save us—or destroy us.
In the Dark, In the Woods
by Eliza Wass'Haunting, unexpected, beautifully written. One of the best books I've read this year' LOUISE O'NEILLAn unforgettable thriller from an incredible new author, for fans of We Were Liars and Half Bad, reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides.Father wants sixteen-year-old Castley and her five siblings to hide from the world. Living in a falling-down house deep in the woods, he wants to bury their secrets where noone will ever find them. Father says they are destined to be together forever. In heaven. Father says the sooner they get there, the better. But Castley wants to be normal. She wants to kiss boys and wear jean shorts. CASTLEY WANTS TO LIVE. 'A breathtaking, gut-wrenching coming-of-age saga from all sides. Readers will be swept into the Cresswells' claustrophobic world and ache for them long after it's set aflame' - Kirkus'A haunting family portrait centered on the power of belief' - Publishers Weekly
In the Distance (The Golden Greek)
by Hernan DiazPulitzer Prize Finalist: &“Something like Huckleberry Finn written by Cormac McCarthy: an adventure story as well as a meditation on the meaning of home.&”—The Times Winner of the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing A Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction A young Swedish immigrant finds himself penniless and alone in California. The boy travels East in search of his brother, from whom he was separated in the crowds and chaos during their journey across the sea. Moving on foot against the great current of emigrants pushing West, he is driven back again and again, meeting naturalists, criminals, religious fanatics, swindlers, Indians, and lawmen—and his exploits turn him into a legend. Just as its hero pushes against the tide, this widely acclaimed novel defies genre conventions—and &“upends the romance and mythology of America&’s Western experience and rugged individualism&” (Star Tribune). &“Suspenseful…a memorable immigration narrative, and a canny reinvention of the old-school western.&”—Publishers Weekly &“Exquisite: assured, moving, and masterful, as profound and precise an evocation of loneliness as any book I&’ve ever read.&” —Lauren Groff, National Book Award-nominated author of Florida and Fates and Furies
In the Early Times: A Life Reframed
by Tad FriendIn this &“dazzling&” (John Irving) memoir, acclaimed New Yorker staff writer Tad Friend reflects on the pressures of middle age, exploring his relationship with his dying father as he raises two children of his own. &“How often does a memoir build to a stomach-churning, I-can&’t-breathe climax in its final pages? . . . Brilliant, intensely moving.&”—William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Barbarian DaysAlmost everyone yearns to know their parents more thoroughly before they die, to solve some of those lifelong mysteries. Maybe, just maybe, those answers will help you live your own life. But life doesn&’t stop to wait. In his fifties, New Yorker writer Tad Friend is grappling with being a husband and a father as he tries to grasp who he is as a son. Torn between two families, he careens between two stages in life. On some days he feels vigorous, on the brink of greatness when he plays tournament squash. On others, he feels distinctly weary, troubled by his distance from millennial sensibilities or by his own face in the mirror, by a grimace that&’s so like his father&’s.His father, an erudite historian and the former president of Swarthmore College, has long been gregarious and charming with strangers yet cerebral with his children. Tad writes that &“trying to reach him always felt like ice fishing.&” Yet now Tad&’s father, known to his family as Day, seems concerned chiefly with the flavor of ice cream in his bowl and, when pushed, interested only in reconsidering his view of Franklin Roosevelt.Then Tad finds his father&’s journal, a trove of passionate confessions that reveals a man entirely different from the exasperatingly logical father Day was so determined to be. It turns out that Tad has been self-destructing in the same way Day has—a secret each has kept from everyone, even themselves. These discoveries make Tad reconsider his own role, as a father, as a husband, and as a son. But is it too late for both of them?Witty, searching, and profound, In the Early Times is an enduring meditation on the shifting tides of memory and the unsteady pillars on which every family rests.
In the Event of Death: A Novel
by Kimberly Young&“In this poignant story, Kimberly Young explores one woman&’s struggle to come to terms with a childhood trauma that threatens to cripple her just when her family needs her the most. In the Event of Death will challenge the way you think about death, and make you laugh and cry while you rejoice in a family&’s resilience.&” —Tracey Lange, New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans When the Recession crushes their splashy event business in Silicon Valley, Liz Becker and Gabbi Rossi realize that parties are on hold—but funerals must go on.Planning a memorial with flowers, music, and food isn&’t that different from a wedding, right? But Liz has had a crippling fear of death since losing her younger sister in a childhood tragedy. Knowing her husband and twin sons depend on her income, she reluctantly agrees to produce end-of-life events. As Gabbi promised, the money starts rolling in. When an old real estate tycoon hires them to plan his &“after party,&” Liz finds an unlikely mentor. Just as things are looking up, she learns that someone she loves has a serious illness. Death planning gets personal.
In the Event of Love: A sweet and steamy Christmas rom-com! (Fern Falls)
by Courtney KaeGoodreads Summer Romance Reading RecommendationBuzzfeed's Most Anticipated LGBTQ Romances of 2022'Exactly the slow-burn, second-chance, friends-to-lovers romance I was craving' ALI HAZELWOOD'The perfect holiday romance! . . . Move over, Stars Hollow. I'm moving to Fern Falls!' Lacie Waldon'The holiday romance of my dreams! The sweetness of a Hallmark holiday movie, set in a town that rivals Schitt's Creek, with plenty of steamy scenes to heat things up!' Falon Ballard'Wintry perfection, a cozy flannel blanket of a book that wraps its reader in the warmest hug' Rachel Lynn SolomonOffering a steamy, queer spin on the feel-good tropes Hallmark movie, this sweet, funny #OwnVoices rom-com is perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alexandria Bellefleur!......................................... With her career as a successful Los Angeles event planner imploding, Morgan Ross isn't just heading home for the holidays, it's more of a strategic retreat. Breathtaking mountain backdrops, acres of pine trees, quirky townsfolk, and charming small businesses aside, Fern Falls is also the setting of Morgan's greatest heartbreak - and she'll do anything to avoid her one-time best friend turned first love, Rachel Reed. But when Morgan discovers that Rachel's struggling Christmas tree farm is the only thing standing between Fern Falls and a corporate takeover, she has to put her heartbreak on hold. Pouring her focus into planning the perfect Christmas event to save the town, Morgan finds herself spending more and more time with Rachel. Who can blame them if the romance of the season starts to get to them? Morgan knows one thing for sure though: she and Rachel will never have a heart-warming happy ending. And, anyway, she's only here for Christmas . . . right? .........................................'Sparkles with humor and charm. The residents of Fern Falls will draw you in with their warm banter and open hearts, while the sapphic romance will heat you up faster than a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy day' Sonia Hartl'Will make your heart soar. A sexy, sparkling debut' Annette Christie'Reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie and goes down like a mug of peppermint hot chocolate... Cozy, comforting, and surprisingly steamy - this is the queer Christmas story we deserve!' Alison Cochrun'Sweet as a cup of hot cocoa (with some spice mixed in) . . . the feel-good, queer, second-chance holiday romance we've all been waiting for' Anita Kelly'Kae's sparkling voice wraps you up like a warm blanket' Ava Wilder'Ultra cozy, heart-meltingly sweet, and full of warm wit. Courtney Kae shines with a fresh, bright voice and supremely relatable characters including a dreamy lumberjane who instantly stole my heart!' Rosie Danan'With its charming small town, snowy mountaintop kisses, and dreamy lesbian lumberjane, In the Event of Love is perfect for the holidays!' Helen Hoang
In the Event of My Untimely Demise
by Brian SackWhen Brian Sack's mother passed away, he was left with a letter and a pink cardigan. The cardigan was promptly placed in a drawer, but the letter was pure gold. In just a few pages of fancy cursive, her posthumous dispatch offered the kind of guidance you would expect from a mother to her young son. And while he didn't necessarily follow all the advice, he never forgot how very important those words—and that letter—were to him. Decades later, on the verge of parenthood himself, Brian decided to write something for his own child, wanting a legacy, and not just a pink cardigan, to leave to his son. But far from the usual collection of advice, Brian has written a sharp, sage, warts-and-all survival guide to life.With quick wit and self-deprecating honesty, Sack draws from his experiences, tapping them for the humor within. Holding nothing back, he:Gives the skinny on relationships—don't let the woman you love wander alone in FranceCommiserates about the death of the meritocracy—wanting to sing doesn't mean you canRecounts his awkward entry into fatherhood—you'll overcome your aversion to pooOffers firsthand advice—avoid any bipolar lady with a drug-sniffing wonder-catAnd argues that the Empire State Building is not a phallic symbol—no matter what the professor saidEvery chapter takes on subjects ranging from the universal and mundane to the life changing and inevitable. With its funny and heartfelt musings from a father to a son, In the Event of My Untimely Demise is a delightful life primer for all of us.
In the Family Way: A Novel
by Laney Katz Becker"In the Family Way bursts with the complexity, drama, and warmth of Call the Midwife, but set at the canasta and kitchen tables of 1960s suburban America. This timely, timeless novel captures not only the reproductive horrors of that era but also political awakening and a kind of nostalgic hope: it's a changing world, and Roe, behind us now, was glimmering on the horizon then. Laney Katz Becker so beautifully reveals that where there are women's hardships, there is consolation to be found, then and still, in each other's company and care."—Catherine Newman, New York Times bestselling author of SandwichSet in the 1960s before Roe, a poignant and powerful novel in the vein of Lessons in Chemistry and Big Little Lies, about the friendship between a group of suburban housewives who help one another navigate through their personal challenges, marriages, and their pregnancies—both wanted and unwanted.In 1965 America, women can’t have their own bank accounts, credit cards, or sign their own leases; divorce is scandalous and difficult; and abortion is illegal. Every week, a group of suburban housewives meet for their Tuesday canasta game. As cards are drawn and discarded, the women share advice and confidences. When prim and proper Lily Berg, a doctor’s wife, discovers she’s pregnant with their second child, she follows her friend Becca’s suggestion and takes in Betsy, a pregnant teen from the local home for unwed mothers. Betsy, who’s never met anyone Jewish before, is to live with the Bergs for six months, help with babysitting and housekeeping, have her own baby, and agree never to contact the family again. But things quickly get complicated. Lily, who’s opened her home to the teenager, never planned on opening her heart, yet that’s exactly what happens. Meanwhile, Becca is pregnant with her fourth, and comes up with a scheme to get a legal, therapeutic abortion, and Lily’s sister, Rose, discovers the man she married isn’t who he purported to be, and turns to Lily and her husband for help.Moving and atmospheric, full of history and heart, In the Family Way is a timely novel that captures the experiences of women on the cusp of liberation as they struggle with their own complex feelings about being wives, mothers, and women with their own dreams and ambitions.
In the Field
by Claire TaconEllie Lucan's about as far as she can get from the screwed-up teenager she used to be. She's got a doctorate, her husband's a prominent academic, and their children are excelling at a Montessori.When she loses her teaching job, however, she packs up her sons to spend the summer in her hometown. She finds her mother suffering from dementia and the house in squalor, and she is forced to confront small town prejudice towards her biracial sons.As Ellie is drawn back into the community, the strain on her marriage intensifies and she is forced to decide where her loyalties lie.Clare Tacon has an MFA in writing from the University of British Columbia and is a past editor of Prism Magazine. In the Field is her first novel.
In the Flesh: A Novel
by Hilma WolitzerAs her marriage disintegrates, a woman finds that living for herself might be just what her relationship needsIt's 1957, and Paulette has just gotten into trouble in the backseat of a car. Her beau, Howard, is a handsome musician with an ability to inspire lust that she has never encountered before. So, although some women in her position might choose a different path, Paulette persuades Howard to get married. After a small ceremony, the happy couple takes up residence on the nineteenth floor of a high rise in Forest Hills. For a time they are shockingly happy, but then things start to go wrong. And when Howard's eye begins to wander, Paulette must ask herself: If a person lives for love alone, what happens when the love disappears? This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.