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Peacekeeping: A Novel
by Mischa BerlinskiTHE DARING, EAGERLY ANTICIPATED SECOND NOVEL BY THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD–NOMINATED AUTHOR OF FIELDWORKMischa Berlinski’s first novel, Fieldwork, was published in 2007 to rave reviews—Hilary Mantel called it “a quirky, often brilliant debut” and Stephen King said it was “a story that cooks like a mother”—and it was a finalist for the National Book Award. Now Berlinski returns with Peacekeeping, an equally enthralling story of love, politics, and death in the world’s most intriguing country: Haiti.When Terry White, a former deputy sheriff and a failed politician, goes broke in the 2007–2008 financial crisis, he takes a job working for the UN, helping to train the Haitian police. He’s sent to the remote town of Jérémie, where there are more coffin makers than restaurants, more donkeys than cars, and the dirt roads all slope down sooner or later to the postcard sea. Terry is swept up in the town’s complex politics when he befriends an earnest, reforming American-educated judge. Soon he convinces the judge to oppose the corrupt but charismatic Sénateur Maxim Bayard in an upcoming election. But when Terry falls in love with the judge’s wife, the electoral drama threatens to become a disaster.Tense, atmospheric, tightly plotted, and surprisingly funny, Peacekeeping confirms Berlinski’s gifts as a storyteller. Like Fieldwork, it explores a part of the world that is as fascinating as it is misunderstood—and takes us into the depths of the human soul, where the thirst for power and the need for love can overrun judgment and morality.
Desire Street: A True Story of Death and Deliverance in New Orleans
by Jed HorneA searing anatomy of a New Orleans murder trial and a system of justice gone wrong.In a New Orleans supermarket parking lot in the fall of 1984 ,two disparate lives become inextricably bound for the next fourteen years. The first, the life of Delores Dye, a white housewife and grandmother. The second, a young black man with a gun in hand. Moments following their maybe not so chance encounter, Mrs. Dye lay dead on the sunbaked macadam, and the killer had made off with her purse, her groceries, and her car. Four days later, following a tip, authorities arrested a known drug dealer and father of five named Curtis Kyles. Kyles would then be tried for Mrs. Dye's murder an unprecedented five times, though he maintained his innocence throughout each trial. Convicted and sentenced to death in his second trial, he would spend fourteen years on death row. After a fifth jury was unable to reach a verdict, New Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick, Sr., finally conceded defeat and dropped the murder charge.But the case slowly yielded a deeper drama: The crime turned out to have been the side effect of an intricately plotted act of revenge. That police and prosecutors may have been complicit in the vengeance that framed Kyles cuts to the heart of a system of justice for Southern blacks in the era since lynch mobs were shamed into obsolescence. A compellingly written legal drama that has at its heart passionate intrigue and justice gone awry.Desire Street is a 2006 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime.
What's Become of Waring: A Novel
by Anthony PowellUnsavory artists, titled boobs, and charlatans with an affinity for Freud—such are the oddballs whose antics animate the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell. A genius of social satire delivered with a very dry wit, Powell builds his comedies on the foibles of British high society between the wars, delving into subjects as various as psychoanalysis, the film industry, publishing, and (of course) sex. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, these slim novels reveal the early stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in Powell’s epic A Dance to the Music of Time. In What’s Become of Waring, Powell lampoons a world with which he was intimately acquainted: the inner workings of a small London publisher. But even as Powell eviscerates the publishers’ less than scrupulous plotting in his tale of wild coincidences, mistaken identity, and romance, he never strays to the far side of farce. Written from a vantage point both high and necessarily narrow, Powell’s early novels nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and what makes people behave as they do. Filled with eccentric characters and piercing insights, Powell’s work is achingly hilarious, human, and true.
The New Midwest: A Guide to Contemporary Fiction of Great Lakes, Great Plains, and Rust Belt
by Mark Athitakis&“Dives deep into Midwestern literature, unpacking the mythology of the region and how today&’s writers are complicating our simple idea of the Heartland.&” —Huffington Post In the public imagination, Midwestern literature has not evolved far beyond heartland laborers and hardscrabble immigrants of a century past. But as the region has changed, so, in many ways, has its fiction. In this book, the author explores how shifts in work, class, place, race, and culture has been reflected or ignored by novelists and short story writers. From Marilynne Robinson to Leon Forrest, Toni Morrison to Aleksandar Hemon, Bonnie Jo Campbell to Stewart O&’Nan this book is a call to rethink the way we conceive Midwestern fiction, and one that is sure to prompt some new must-have additions to every reading list. &“Using the lens of novels and short stories published over the past 30 or so years, Athitakis seeks to illuminate the ways we still lean on literary mythology of the Midwest when it comes to defining the region.&” —Chicago Tribune &“[The New Midwest] rightly praises the Midwestern novels of Marilynne Robinson, Jeffrey Eugenides, Toni Morrison and Jonathan Franzen, but also points out works of comparable merit that warrant rediscovery.&” —The Washington Post &“The New Midwest is a crisp, engaging tip sheet and guide for further reading.&” —Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel &“A journey through the Midwest and through some key works by writers [Athitakis] thinks are most effectively using the region in their fiction.&” —Kirkus Reviews
The Good, the Bad, and the Godawful: 21st-Century Movie Reviews
by Kurt LoderThe former Rolling Stone writer and MTV host takes off from classic Roger Ebert and sails boldly into the new millennium.Millions grew up reading the author's record reviews and watching him on MTV's "The Week in Rock." In this collection of more than 200 movie reviews from MTV.com and, more recently, the Reason magazine Website, plus sidebars exclusive to this volume, Loder demonstrates his characteristic wry voice and finely honed observations. The author shines when writing on the best that Hollywood and indie filmmakers have to offer, and his negative reviews are sometimes more fun than his raves. This freewheeling survey of the wild, the wonderful and the altogether otherwise is an indispensable book for any film buff.
Live Happy: Ten Practices for Choosing Joy
by Deborah K. HeiszAn eye-opening shift of perspective on the secret of authentic happiness: how surprisingly simple, everyday acts lead to lifelong joy and fulfillment, from the experts at Live Happy magazine.We are all increasingly hungry for soul-deep happiness. All over the globe, from the hallways of Harvard, where the university’s most popular course is a class on positive psychology, to the United Nations’ resolution naming March 20th the International Day of Happiness, the question of how to be authentically happy concerns millions of lives today.But what if the secret of lasting happiness is actually . . . simple? Now, in Live Happy, the editors of Live Happy magazine, the first lifestyle publication dedicated to the timeless quest to achieve authentic happiness, reveal that true happiness is all about the big impact of small acts of everyday happiness.Organized around the key components of a happy life, from gratitude to attitude and play to purpose, Live Happy brings together illuminating real-life happiness stories, eye-opening examinations on the science of happiness, and simple and inspiring everyday “happy acts” to empower readers to achieve big happiness breakthroughs.Authentic happiness is within reach—and Live Happy shows readers how they can manifest it not only in their own lives but also make a positive and lasting difference in the world.
Zodiac Spells: Easy Enchantments and Simple Spells for Your Sun Sign
by Lexa RoséanIn Zodiac Spells, Lexa Rosean has put together her most exciting collection yet: a book that marries astrology with Wiccan practice. Here you will discover how different spells work for different sun signs and how to maximize a spell using your date, time, and place of birth. In this enchanting collection you will learn how:*Almonds can help a Virgo heal a minor illness*Mint, chocolate, and chili powder can help a Scorpio attract anyone*A Taurus can get money using thyme and spinach*A Gemini can use pistachio nuts and pomegranate seeds for flirtation and romance*Libras can use rose water, cardamom, caraway, and mint to achieve balance and success*What spells your zodiac sign should avoid--and when they're safe to use*And much more!Let "the Martha Stewart of Witches" guide you though these fun, enchanting spells that call for simple ingredients and easy steps.
Rowing In Eden: A Novel
by Elizabeth EvansPynch Lake is quiet nine months of the year but bursts into life each summer when the vacationers arrive. In the summer of 1965, year-round residents Harold and Peg Wahl find the world that once belonged to them is now being taken over by their older daughters, returned from college for the summer. Cool and self-possessed Rosamund is receiving the attention of the family friend who formerly courted Peg. Martie is filling the house with parties and houseguests of her own. No one in the family is paying much attention to the precocious thirteen-year-old Franny, who sets out to find a life of her own and, in the process, turns the Wahl family upside down.In rich and lyrical language, Elizabeth Evans, author of the critically acclaimed novels Carter Clay and The Blue Hour, has created both a profound meditation and a haunting story about the promises and betrayals of love. And in Franny Wahl, Evans has created one of the most memorable and endearing characters in recent fiction.
The Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book: A Self-Nurturing Guide to Your Emotional Well-Being During Pregnancy and Early Motherhood
by Jennifer LoudenWith the wit, humor, and style that have made her Comfort Book series so popular, new mother Jennifer Louden brings her expertise to the wonderful world of pregnancy. From the blissful moments to the panic attacks, Louden guides women through the precarious emotional terrain of pregnancy and early motherhood with exercises, tips, and advice on a range of subjects including: your changing body image and self-esteem fears about your relationship with your partner a rational approach to eating (and eating and eating) dream exploration and the creation of a pregnancy comfort journal the joyous--and chaotic first months of motherhood and much more! This insightful, practical, and very comforting guide will speak to first-time and experienced mothers alike with this simple but vital message: taking care of yourself during pregnancy lays the groundwork for healthy and happy motherhood.
Rapture: Poems
by Carol Ann DuffyWinner of the T. S. Eliot Prize, "essential reading for the broken-hearted of all ages" (The Guardian)The effortless virtuosity, drama, and humanity of Carol Ann Duffy's verse have made her much admired among contemporary poets. Rapture is a book-length love poem and a moving act of personal testimony. But what sets these poems apart from other treatments of the subject is Duffy's refusal to simplify the contradictions of love and read its transformations-infatuation, longing, passion, commitment, rancor, separation, and grief-as either redemptive or destructive. This is a map of real love in all its churning complexity, simultaneously direct and subtle, showing us that a song can be made of even the most painful episodes in our lives. With poems that will find deep resonance in the experience of most readers, it is a collection that can and does speak for us all.
Hometown Heroes: Real Stories of Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things All Across America (American Profile)
by American ProfileAll across America, ordinary people are going out of their way to help one another and make our country a better place. Unheralded, unrecognized, and often taken for granted, these citizens continue their good deeds, happy just to make a difference.Hometown Heroes tells the stories of fifty such people from all over America, including Moody, Alabama, Ellisville, Illinois, and Lander, Wyoming. Spanning ages fourteen to ninety-three, the heroes inside this book show that it's never too early or too late to lend a helping hand and make inspiring choices. Capturing the true spirit of America—one of generosity, courage, and tireless devotion—these heroes warm our hearts and reveal a face of America we rarely hear about.
Beyond the Possible: 50 Years of Radical Change at Glide
by Cecil Williams Janice MirikitaniIn Beyond the Possible, Reverend Cecil Williams, one of the most well-known and provocative ministers in the United States, reflects on his fifty years creating radical social change as the head of San Francisco's Memorial Glide Church.Williams' innovations, such as HIV testing during services, have drawn protest from more conservative factions within the Methodist Church, but his work in the community has drawn praise from the likes of Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and Warren Buffett.Written with Glide Church founding pastor Janice Mirikitani, and with a foreword by Dave Eggers, Beyond the Possible is a book of wisdom, providing lessons that Reverend Williams has learned so that readers can learn to embrace their true selves, accept all those around them, and fully live day to day through social change as worship.
Midwest Pie: Recipes That Shaped a Region
by Meredith PangraceA historical tour of midwestern pies that recalls when recipes were shared through faded note cards and junior league cookbooks. New England may say it&’s the &“Great American Pie Belt,&” but pie has a rich and varied history in the American Midwest too. Stop by any church or community event in the heartland today and you&’re likely to see as many types of pie on the dessert table as there are people who made them. Midwest Pie highlights the treats, both sweet and savory, that have come to define this region. Here, you&’ll learn about bean pie&’s origins in the Nation of Islam, the popularity of &“desperation pies&” during the Depression, how Michigan miners ate lunch &“pasties," and much more. Full of accessible instructions and helpful sidebars, you&’ll learn the stories behind a variety of pies, including: Hoosier Pie Schnitz Pie Ohio Buckeye Pie Sawdust Pie Runza Midwest Pie is the perfect collection for any home chef looking to learn more about the diversity and deliciousness of one of the region&’s most enduring culinary contributions. &“Recipes spa[n] &‘old classic&’ pies such as funeral and sawdust; regional originals like the Nation of Islam&’s bean pie and Indiana&’s sugar cream Hoosier pie; &‘desperation pies&’ that relied on pantry staples when times were tough (chess, shoofly, mock apple); midwestern produce pies (persimmon chiffon); and retro relics (cottage cheese, chocolate rum).&” —Chicago Reader &“[An] unpretentious little book that will summon up old memories for some and introduce others to an era when seasonality often dictated what sort of pie might show up on the dinner table.&” —Booklist
The Witch of Little Italy: A Novel
by Suzanne PalmieriIn Suzanne Palmieri's charming debut, The Witch of Little Italy, you will be bewitched by the Amore women. When young Eleanor Amore finds herself pregnant, she returns home to her estranged family in the Bronx, called by "The Sight" they share now growing strong within her. She has only been back once before when she was ten years old during a wonder-filled summer of sun-drenched beaches, laughter and cartwheels. But everyone remembers that summer except her. Eleanor can't remember anything from before she left the house on her last day there. With her past now coming back to her in flashes, she becomes obsessed with recapturing those memories. Aided by her childhood sweetheart, she learns the secrets still haunting her magical family, secrets buried so deep they no longer know how they began. And, in the process, unlocks a mystery over fifty years old—The Day the Amores Died—and reveals, once and for all, a truth that will either heal or shatter the Amore clan.
The Four of Us: A Play
by Itamar MosesFrom the author of Bach at Leipzig (Faber, 2005) comes a play about loyalty, integrity, and the price of success. When Benjamin's first novel vaults him into literary stardom, his friend David, a struggling playwright, is thrilled for his newfound success . . . or is he? Should Benjamin help David by using his new connections? Can David even expect such favors from his friend? More importantly, who should pick up the tab at lunch? Hailed as a writer who "makes the kinds of stylistic gambles that should be applauded" (Eric Grode, The New York Sun), Itamar Moses proves once again with this inventive exploration of the evershifting ground of friendship that he is a playwright to watch. The Four of Us had its off-Broadway premiere in March 2008 at Manhattan Theatre Club."Clever [and] smart…[The Four of Us] suggests that Moses will be displaying a big range as his career unfolds."--The San Diego Union-Tribune
Get Down: Stories
by Asali SolomonAsali Solomon's characters are vivid misfits—a heathen at Jesus camp, a scheming prep-school student, a middle-aged mom pining for her salsa-dancing salad days, a scheming twentysomething virgin, a college stud in love with his weight-lifting partner, a lonely girl in love with a yellow dress. The kids in Get Down are trapped between their own good breeding and their burning desire to join the house party of sex, romance, and bad behavior that seems to be happening on some other block, down some other more dangerous street. The adults in Get Down are just trying to hold it together.Here is a debut that will make you laugh and cringe in equal measure. Set mostly in middle-class black Philadelphia during the crack and Reagan years, the stories in Get Down are antic, poignant, and utterly universal—they'll bring back memories for anyone who has ever stood in the corner of a darkened school gym wondering whether to dance . . . or duck for cover. They announce a sparkling new talent, a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop whose work has been featured in Vibe, Essence, and the anthology Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts.
Not Pretty Enough: The Unlikely Triumph of Helen Gurley Brown
by Gerri HirsheyIn Not Pretty Enough, Gerri Hirshey reconstructs the life of Helen Gurley Brown, the trailblazing editor of Cosmopolitan, whose daring career both recorded and led to a shift in the sexual and cultural politics of her time.When Helen Gurley Brown’s Sex and the Single Girl first appeared in 1962, it whistled into buttoned-down America like a bombshell: Brown declared that it was okay— even imperative—for unmarried women to have and enjoy a sex life, and that equal rights for women should extend to the bedroom and the workplace. “How dare you?” thundered newspapers, radio hosts, and (mostly male) citizens. But more than two million women bought the book and hailed her as a heroine.Brown was also pilloried as a scarlet woman and a traitor to the women’s movement when she took over the failing Hearst magazine Cosmopolitan and turned it into a fizzy pink guidebook for “do-me” feminism. As the first magazine geared to the rising wave of single working women, it sold wildly. Today, more than 68 million young women worldwide are still reading some form of Helen Gurley Brown’s audacious yet comforting brand of self-help.“HGB” wasn’t the ideal poster girl for secondwave feminism, but she certainly started the conversation. Brown campaigned for women’s reproductive freedom and advocated skill and “brazenry” both on the job and in the boudoir—along with serial plastic surgery. When she died in 2012, her front-page obituary in the New York Times noted that though she succumbed at ninety, “parts of her were considerably younger.”Her life story is astonishing, from her roots in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, to her single-girl decade as a Mad Men–era copywriter in Los Angeles, which informed her first bestseller, to her years at the helm of Cosmopolitan. Helen Gurley Brown told her own story many times, but coyly, with plenty of camouflage. Here, for the first time, is the unvarnished and decoded truth about “how she did it”—from her comet-like career to “bagging” her husband of half a century, the movie producer David Brown.Full of firsthand accounts of HGB from many of her closest friends and rediscovered, little-known interviews with the woman herself, Gerri Hirshey’s Not Pretty Enough is a vital biography that shines new light on the life of one of the most vibrant, vexing, and indelible women of the twentieth century.
Gladiatrix
by Russell WhitfieldThe Ancient Roman public's hunger for gladiatorial combat has never been greater. The Emperor Domitian's passion for novelty and variety in the arena has given rise to a very different kind of warrior: the Gladiatrix.Sole survivor of a shipwreck off the coast of Asia Minor, Lysandra finds herself the property of Lucius Balbus, owner of the foremost Ludus for female gladiators in the Eastern Empire. Lysandra, a member of an ancient Spartan sect of warrior priestesses, refuses to accept her new status as a slave. Forced to fight for survival, her deadly combat skills win the adoration of the crowds, the respect of Balbus.But Lysandra's Spartan pride also earns her powerful enemies: Sorina, Gladiatrix Prima and leader of the Barbarian faction, and the sadistic Numidian trainer, Nastasen. When plans are laid for the ultimate combat spectacle to honor the visit of the emperor's powerful new emissary, Lysandra must face her greatest and deadliest trial. This is a thrilling first novel that combines fascinating historical detail with blistering action.
The Smile of the Lamb: A Novel
by David GrossmanIn a chorus of voices David Grossman's The Smile of the Lamb tells the story of Uri, an idealistic young Israeli soldier serving in an army unit in the small Palestinian village of Andal, in the occupied territories, and his relationship with Khilmi, a nearly blind old Palestinian storyteller. Gradually as the violent reality of the occupation that infects both the occupier and the occupied alike merges with the old man's stories, Uri, captivated by Khilmi's wisdom, tries to solve the riddles and deceits that make up his life.Originally published in Hebrew in 1983, The Smile of the Lamb is a novel of disillusionment and a piercing examination of injustice and dishonesty.
Frek and the Elixir
by Rudy RuckerIn the year 3003, nothing in the world is the same, except maybe that adolescents are still embarrassed by their parents. Society and the biosphere alike have been transformed by biotechnology, and the natural world is almost gone.Frek Huggins is a boy from a broken family, a misfit because he's a natural child, conceived without technological help or genetic modifications. His dad, Carb, is a malcontent who left behind Frek's mom and the Earth itself several years ago.Everything changes when Frek finds the Anvil, a small flying saucer, under his bed, and it tells him he is destined to save the world. The repressive forces of Gov, the mysterious absolute ruler of Earth, descend on Frek, take away the Anvil, and interrogate him forcefully enough to damage his memory. Frek flees with Wow, his talking dog, to seek out Carb and some answers. But the untrustworthy alien in the saucer has other plans, including claiming exclusive rights to market humanity to the galaxy at large, and making Frek a hero. Frek and the Elixir is a profound, playful SF epic by the wild and ambitious Rudy Rucker.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Weekend: A Novel
by Peter CameronOn a midsummer weekend, in a country house in upstate New York, three friends, Lyle, Marian, and John, gather on the anniversary of the death of John's brother, who was also Lyle's lover. As Tony's absence haunts each of them in different ways, the reunion is complicated by the presence of Lyle's new lover, a much younger man named Robert, and a faux-Italian dinner guest with a penchant for truth telling. As the seemingly idyllic weekend proceeds, each character is stripped bare, and old memories and new desires create a chemistry that will transform them all.
Exit: The Endings That Set Us Free
by Sara Lawrence-LightfootFrom a renowned sociologist, the wisdom of saying goodbyeSara Lawrence-Lightfoot is enthralled by exits: long farewells, quick goodbyes, sudden endings, the ordinary and the extraordinary. There's a relationship, she attests, between small goodbyes and our ability "to master and mark the larger farewells."In Exit, her tenth book, she explores the ways we leave one thing and move on to the next; how we anticipate, define, and reflect on our departures; our epiphanies that something is over and done with. Lawrence-Lightfoot, a sociologist and a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has interviewed more than a dozen women and men in states of major change, and she paints their portraits with sympathy and insight: a gay man who finds home and wholeness after coming out; a sixteen-year-old boy forced to leave Iran in the midst of the violent civil war; a Catholic priest who leaves the church he has always been devoted to, he life he has loved, and the work that has been deeply fulfilling; an anthropologist who carefully stages her departure from he "field" after four years of research; and many more.Too often, Lawrence-Lightfoot believes, we exalt new beginnings at the expense of learning from our goodbyes. Exit finds wisdom and perspective in the possibility of moving on and marks the start of a new conversation, to help us discover how we might make our exits with purpose and dignity.
War Music: An Account of Homer's Iliad
by Christopher LogueA remarkable hybrid of translation, adaptation, and inventionPicture the east Aegean sea by night,And on a beach aslant its shimmering Upwards of 50,000 menAsleep like spoons beside their lethal Fleet. “Your life at every instant up for— / Gone. / And, candidly, who gives a toss? / Your heart beats strong. Your spirit grips,” writes Christopher Logue in his original version of Homer’s Iliad, the uncanny “translation of translations” that won ecstatic and unparalleled acclaim as “the best translation of Homer since Pope’s” (The New York Review of Books). Logue’s account of Homer’s Iliad is a radical reimagining and reconfiguration of Homer’s tale of warfare, human folly, and the power of the gods in language and verse that is emphatically modern and “possessed of a very terrible beauty” (Slate). Illness prevented him from bringing his version of the Iliad to completion, but enough survives in notebooks and letters to assemble a compilation that includes the previously published volumes War Music, Kings, The Husbands, All Day Permanent Red, and Cold Calls, along with previously unpublished material, in one final illuminating volume arranged by his friend and fellow poet Christopher Reid. The result, War Music, comes as near as possible to representing the poet’s complete vision and confirms what his admirers have long known: that “Logue’s Homer is likely to endure as one of the great long poems of the twentieth century” (The Times Literary Supplement).
Someone You Love Is Gone: A Novel
by Gurjinder Basran"A beautiful, haunting story of one family, spanning generations and continents, as they face life's inevitable losses, struggle with grief and reach for redemption."—Shilpi Somaya Gowda, New York Times bestselling author of Secret Daughter and The Golden SonPerfect for readers of Jhumpa Lahiri and Anne Tyler, Someone You Love Is Gone is a beautifully rendered, multi-generational story of secrets and ghosts that haunt a family.I sit at the table and forget myself for a moment and the past steps forward. The house is as it was before Father died, and even before that, before Diwa left and before Jyoti was born. The house had a different light then or perhaps that’s just memory casting a glow on everything, candlelight and sunset, everything only slightly visible. Mother is in the kitchen, washing the dinner dishes. Steam is rising and the window in front of her fogs over her reflection. Even here, she is a ghost.Simran’s mother has died but is not gone. Haunted by her mother’s spirit and memories of the past, she struggles to make sense of her world. Faced with disillusion in her marriage, growing distance from her daughter and sister, and the return of her long-estranged brother, she is troubled by questions to which she has no answers. As the life Simran has carefully constructed unravels, she must confront the truth of why her brother was separated from the family at a young age, and in doing so she uncovers an ancestral inheritance that changes everything. She allows her grief to transform her life, but in ways that ultimately give her the deep sense of self she has been craving, discovering along the way family secrets that cross continents, generations, and even lifetimes. Gurjinder Basran’s mesmerizingly beautiful novel, Someone You Love Is Gone, is a powerful exploration of loss and love, memory and history, family ties and family secrets, and the thin veil between this life and the next.
Delicacy: A Novel
by David FoenkinosReminiscent of novels by Nick Hornby, Muriel Barbery, and Jonathan Tropper,internationally acclaimed novelist David Foenkinosdelivers a heartfelt and deftly comedic tale of new love brightening the darkaftermath of loss—and of wounded hearts finding refuge in the strangest ofplaces. After her husband’s unexpected death, Natalie has erected a fortressaround her emotions—and Markus, clumsy and unassuming, will never be her knightin shining armor. Yet slowly but surely, an offbeat romance begins betweenthese two mismatched, complex souls, and contrary to everything Natalie knowsof affection, her perfect suitor may turn out to be love’s most unlikelycandidate—the fool, not the hero, who is finally able to reach her heart.