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A Haitian émigré's exposure to shallow suburbanites is “social satire at its slyest and best” from the New York Times–bestselling author (Kirkus Reviews). When the heartbroken Simone flees her native Haiti, her best option to start a new life is a quick paper marriage to a Brooklyn cab driver and a job as an underpaid caregiver to two spoiled young children in the small community of Hudson Landing, New York. But her new boss is nothing like what she's been led to expect. The self-absorbed amateur sculptor Rosemary Porter and her morose, eccentric children George and Maisie—deserted by their philandering husband and father—rattle aimlessly around their crumbling suburban mansion. The people of Hudson Landing seem welcoming at first, but as Simone settles into this new home, her sense of unease grows. Rosemary's sarcastic best friend, Shelly, seems as suspicious of her as her shallow boyfriend, Kenny, a children's hair salon owner who appears eager to befriend the new au pair. A neighbor known only as “The Count” strings dead animals from trees for no reason anyone can understand. As the local community roils with secrets and attempts to outdo each other with self-importance, Simone begins to wonder just where on earth she has fled to—and if it's any better than the violence and betrayal she left behind. As always, National Book Award finalist Francine Prose “has a wickedly sharp ear for pretentious American idiom, and no telling detail escapes her observation” as Simone struggles to make sense of these odd people and this strange, new world (The New York Times Book Review).

“The Great American Novel (at last!)” by Hollywood's first female scriptwriter, and the basis for the movie starring Marilyn Monroe (Edith Wharton). Meet 1920s flapper Lorelei Lee, aka Mabel Minnow from Little Rock, Arkansas. She has it all: a millionaire “benefactor,” a lavish lifestyle, and dazzling good looks. The problem is she may be falling in love with a man who is temporarily married—and permanently poor. Luckily, Lorelei is distracted when her current male companion sends her on an “educational” tour of Europe with her plucky friend Dorothy. Gaining admirers and jewelry but never losing her heart, Lorelei eventually returns to New York, where she learns she had better stick with what works: charming men into love—and out of their money. “A guilty pleasure it may be, but it is impossible to overlook the enduring influence of a tale that helped to define the jazz age.... Long before Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones, Loos hit on a young woman's diary as the perfect medium for satirical romance.” —The Guardian, “The 100 Best Novels” “Anita Loos has captured an extraordinary voice, and therein lies not only the novel's charm, but also its compelling force.... The novel resonates today, as it did nearly a century ago.” —Chicago Tribune, “Editor's Choice” “Loos'satirical reflection on all her lived experiences—marriages to men who undermined her, strong friendships with glamorous actresses like Constance Talmadge, and her perpetual battle against a patriarchal world that wasn't eager to make space for her career ambitions.” —The A. V. Club

The acclaimed novel of Jewish immigrant life on New York City's Lower East Side from the literary phenomenon known as the “Cinderella of the Tenements.” It is Manhattan in the 1920s, and the Polish American Smolinsky family struggles to survive in their home on Hester Street. At ten years old, Sara, the youngest daughter, is keenly aware of the family's precarious financial situation. With food scarce, her unemployed and domineering father, a rabbi who spends his days studying, depends on the wages of his daughters. After years of watching him destroy the hopes and dreams of her three older sisters, Sara runs away, but forging a life for herself is not easy. She faces obstacles due to her background and gender, while working long days in a laundry and studying to become a teacher at night. Constantly rising above her circumstances—and her father's grasping reach—Sara finally finds happiness and love. Written in 1925 by Jewish American novelist Anzia Yezierska, Bread Givers describes “the emotional tone of an immigrant family in the dismal tenement of an overcrowded block of the east side of New York. It is a complex mood of grave joy and bottomless anguish, of Old World standards and New World values of hope and struggle and defeat and achievement” (The New York Times). “Paints real trials—and triumph—of immigrant women... The story of Sara's lonely struggles in an unforgiving world is a classic one. More than eight decades since its publication, this novel is a gem in Jewish-American literature.” —The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle

Three books in one volume by the author beloved for her smart, witty novels of Regency England. This collection of Jane Austen's novels includes three timeless classics.Sense and Sensibility: Torn between reason and passion, obligation and impulse, two sisters search for love in eighteenth-century England. Mansfield Park: A shy young woman of modest means is sent to live with her wealthy relatives—and discovers her true power—in this poignant love story.Emma: This enchanting romantic comedy stars one of literature's most delightful heroines, meddling matchmaker Emma Woodhouse.

Three of Dickens's most compelling orphan protagonists—Oliver Twist, Pip, and Esther Summerson—in three of his greatest novels. Perhaps no writer in the English language is more closely associated with orphaned characters than Charles Dickens. The trials and dangers for children without parental protection play a significant part in nearly all his work, as both a source of highly entertaining melodrama and pointed social criticism. Oliver Twist: Having endured deplorable conditions in an orphans'workhouse, Oliver Twist eventually escapes to London, where he falls in with the Artful Dodger, one of a gang of young pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin. Dickens's heartrending descriptions of institutional abuses as well as the brutal reality of life on London's streets for homeless children argued strongly for social reform. Great Expectations: Dickens's penultimate novel centers on the orphan Pip and his anonymous benefactor, whom he assumes is the wealthy and eccentric recluse Miss Havisham, and whose adopted daughter, the beautiful but emotionally distant Estella, he falls hopelessly in love with. John Irving called it “the most wonderful and most perfectly worked-out plot for a novel in the English language.” Bleak House: Dickens's masterful satire of the English judicial system features his only female narrator, Esther Summerson, who is raised as an orphan. Esther's true identity forms much of the mystery and drama of a complex novel involving an endless legal case—“the family curse”—and all the lives it affects. As an entertainer and a moralist, Dickens utilized his vulnerable young protagonists to great effect, creating some of the most unforgettable characters in the history of literature. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

This precursor to the works of Jane Austen and Maria Edgeworth takes a witty look at romance and womanhood in eighteenth-century high society. Denied by her aristocratic libertine father and raised by a clergyman in the English countryside, Evelina Anville is a stranger to fashionable London society. But with the arrival of her eighteenth year comes the time for her formal debut, whether or not she—or London—is ready. Through a series of societal faux pas, Evelina learns about the complexities of society and attracts the eyes of dashing and distinguished bachelors. Still, landing a man in the city won't be easy... This epistolary novel was the first by satirist Fanny Burney, acclaimed for her talent for comic fiction as well as her diaries chronicling eighteenth-century life among the aristocracy, in particular the struggles of women.

A tale of family secrets and the damaging corruption of the British legal system from the author of Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. In Bleak House, Charles Dickens not only pries apart the stultifying and ponderous conduct and contracts of British moneyed society, but also takes specific aim at an English judicial system in desperate need of modernization and reform. Featuring the voice of Esther Summerson—Dickens's only female narrator—the story unfolds around a generations-old legal case involving numerous inheritances. It is Esther's hidden birthright that sparks the drama, bringing to light such memorable characters as the Lady Dedlock, haunted by her shameful past; John Jarndyce, whose seemingly infinite kindness is driven by hidden guilt; and the sly lawyer Mr. Tulkinghorn, who secretly relishes the power his position gives him over his clients. Weaving a complex web of plots and subplots, Dickens created one of his most dramatically satisfying and boldly ambitious narratives in Bleak House, as the novel offers a scathing indictment of the mores and moral injustices of his time. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

A small-town girl becomes a world-famous artist in this powerful coming-of-age novel from one of the twentieth-century's most celebrated authors From childhood piano lessons to center stage at the Metropolitan Opera House, The Song of the Lark is the poignant story of an artist discovering herself. Fiercely independent and singularly talented, Thea Kronborg realizes at an early age that she is destined to leave her family and the frontier town of Moonstone, Colorado, behind. In Chicago, she studies with the city's best voice teacher and begins the long and arduous process of mastering her craft. But ambition alone will not transform Thea into one of the world's greatest opera singers—she must find the courage to set aside her humble origins and romantic illusions and fully dedicate herself to her art. In the ruins of an Arizona cliff dwelling haunted by ancient voices and purified by the desert air, Thea is inspired to embrace her calling once and for all. Lyrical, authentic, and brilliantly constructed, The Song of the Lark is a masterwork of American literature. It is the second volume in Willa Cather's acclaimed Prairie Trilogy, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Romantic comedy meets social satire in this delirious novel about sexual freedom versus British tradition in swinging 1960s London. When dull professor Gerald leaves London for the United States, his fiancée, Ann, is a bit afraid and sad to see him go—never has he looked so handsome and masculine as when he's about to board the plane. But a few days later at a religious service, Ann is beckoned to sit next to a stranger with yellow curls and a nose like a prizefighter's. Her heart inexplicably begins to race; she feels like she has the flu. This stranger, William McClusky, tells Ann in his Scottish accent that he is a playwright who will be interviewed on TV the very next day. Furthermore, he promises to have a television dropped by her house so she can watch him! From this first bizarre seduction, Ann is infatuated, and in the days following, William begins to take over her life. In the throes of the affair, Ann gives up her BBC job, helps a friend get an abortion, encourages adultery, and writes a break-up letter to her fiancé. Her engagement to Gerald had been rushed, after all, and was designed to serve her mother's desires more than her own. With William, on the other hand, everything feels different. But is this new man really who he says he is? Is he a genius or a fraud, a compassionate soul or a cheater? Perhaps William is simply a means by which Ann can play out her dangerous fantasies and finally take part in the swinging sixties. Only one thing is certain: Now that she's with him, there's no turning back. An ironic investigation into the art of self-deception and the repercussions of sexual freedom, this blend of black comedy and social satire showcases the wit of award-winning author Beryl Bainbridge, and affirms her status as a mainstay in twentieth-century British literature.

An orphaned young woman finds hardship and romance on the Kansas prairie in this “enjoyable” historical novel by the New York Times–bestselling author (Library Journal). It is 1924 and nineteen-year-old Hallie Meredith and her five-year-old brother Jackie must fend for themselves in America's struggling heartland. Forced to leave a housekeeping job when her married employer, wealthy landowner Quentin Raford, makes romantic overtures, Hallie becomes the cook for a threshing outfit. As she and Jackie travel from farm to farm across western Kansas, they become valued members of Garth and Rory MacLeod's ragtag crew, which includes a Cherokee, a fugitive bootlegger, and a Mennonite who has been jailed for his stand against fighting. Hallie has finally found the home she desired, but her growing feelings for Garth threaten to set brother against brother at the worst possible moment—when the dangerous and powerful Quentin is ready to take vengeance for his wounded pride. A moving story of integrity, courage, love, and adventure on the Great Plains, The Unplowed Sky captures the beauty and the resilience of the American spirit that prevails against those who would destroy it and confirms author Jeanne Williams's reputation as “a master novelist” (TheDenver Post).

A masterful tale of a small town in the English midlands, and the hopes, regrets, and unrealized dreams of those who make it their home. In Middlemarch, George Eliot created a landmark of English literature as she incisively portrayed the drama and folly found in even the most simple and bucolic of precincts. Intertwined are the lives and stories of unforgettable characters such as Dorothea Brooke, whose desire for intellectual fulfillment leads her to marry the Reverend Edward Casaubon, who coldly refuses to let her follow her ambitions; Tertius Lydgate, a young doctor whose wife, Rosamond, sees him as a stepping stone to a greater place in society; Mr. Bulstrode, the wealthy town financier whose past corruptions return to plague him; and a menagerie of players large and small who find themselves both driven by their own motivations and held in stagnation by the will of others. As complex in theme as it is heart-wrenching and engaging, Middlemarch stands as a true classic of Victorian-era storytelling. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

The classic tale of one young woman's quest for fulfillment in 1820s England, and the price she would pay for true freedom. Maggie Tulliver's entire life has been spent in the shadow of Dorlcote Mill on the River Floss with her beloved older brother, Tom. But when their father meets an untimely death, the siblings'singular bond is strained as Tom is forced to leave his studies and Maggie struggles to find a sense of belonging. Maggie's sharp intelligence and spirited nature have made her an oddity in the rural hamlet of St. Ogg's, where such unique qualities are perceived as unbecoming for a woman. Her need for recognition and love eventually drives her to defy her brother, who casts her out of his house to survive on her own. Forced to grieve the losses of both their father and each other, the siblings will have to find it in their hearts to forgive in order to reconcile before tragedy strikes again. Inspired by events in the life of the author, The Mill on the Floss is George Eliot's most heartfelt novel and one of her most compelling and moving works. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

The controversial classic novel of a young woman's journey from poverty to stardom in capitalist America. Dissatisfied with life in rural Wisconsin, eighteen-year-old Carrie Meeber travels to Chicago. With no money or prospects, her only means of survival is a job in a squalid factory—until Charlie Drouet, a charming, well-dressed man, offers to take her to dinner. Lavishing her with gifts, fine clothes, and her own apartment, Charlie introduces Carrie to a life of wealth and sophistication far removed from the Victorian moralizing of her youth. But when Carrie begins an affair with another man—and a career as an actress—her ambitions and desires reach far beyond what Charlie, or any man, can offer. Later adapted into the Academy Award–nominated film Carrie, starring Laurence Olivier, Sister Carrie is widely considered “one of the landmark novels of the twentieth century” and a masterpiece of literary realism (The New York Times). But when it was first published in 1900, it stirred controversy for its depiction of female sexuality. In his Nobel Prize speech, Sinclair Lewis declared that “Sister Carrie... came to housebound and airless America like a great free Western wind, and to our stuffy domesticity gave us the first fresh air since Mark Twain and Whitman.”This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

A master of American literature presents a tragicomic, coming-of-age romance. Set in New York against the backdrop of 1880s high society, Washington Square is one of the most beloved novels from master Henry James, and its exploration of interfamily strife and power dynamics, as well as its early take on gender issues, continue to resonate with readers today. Catherine Sloper is the only child of the successful Dr. Austin Sloper, residing with the physician in an upscale home on the edge of Washington Square in New York City. Shy and plain, yet honest and good-natured, Catherine is regarded as a perpetual disappointment by her father, who becomes suspicious of her young fortune-hunting suitor, Morris Townsend. As snooping Aunt Lavinia Penniman works to push Catherine and Townsend together—and provides some much appreciated comic relief—Catherine's father threatens to cut his daughter off if she pushes forward with the courtship and accepts Townsend's ultimate proposal of marriage. However, the dashing Townsend is willing to take the bluff, and Catherine's future hangs on what has become a game. And while Dr. Sloper has reason to question Townsend's intentions, the situation soon takes on an aspect of cruel sport for the good doctor. Based on a true story told to the author by British actress Fanny Kemble, Washington Square has become a cherished favorite of readers everywhere. Originally serialized in magazines, it is one of the shorter novels in the Jamesian canon, but nevertheless stands as one of the writer's most enduring tragicomedies and the perfect introduction to the novelist and his work. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

In 1950s London, a career girl decides it's high time she snared herself a husband Professional dog photographer Louisa Datchett is indiscriminately fond of men. And they take shocking advantage of her good nature when they need their problems listened to, socks washed, prescriptions filled, or employment found. But by the age of thirty, Louisa is tired of constantly being dispatched to the scene of some masculine disaster. It's all well and good to be an independent woman—and certainly better than a “timid Victorian wife”—but the time has come for her to marry, and marry well. With the admirable discipline and dedication she's always displayed in any endeavor involving men, Louisa sets out on her own romantic quest.

Jane Austen's gripping first novel of love and marriage The well-bred Miss Catherine Morland always seems to have her nose stuck in a book, and the Gothic classics are her favorites. During the winter social season, she catches the eyes of two men: the sweet and witty Henry Tilney and the vain John Thorpe. When Catherine is invited to the Tilney family estate of Northanger Abbey, she expects to be met with the brooding and dramatic architecture of her novels, full of hidden secrets behind locked doors. What she finds is even better. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Stevie Stevenson graduates from college and embraces the liberating California lifestyle in award-winning author April Sinclair's follow-up to her “vivid and brilliant” (San Francisco Review of Books) debut novel Coffee Will Make You Black Growing up black in 1960s Chicago, Jean “Stevie” Stevenson came of age amid the tumult of the civil rights movement, learning to value not just her race and gender but her sexuality as well. Now, nearly a decade later, Stevie is a college graduate enjoying a week of vacation in San Francisco. After getting a taste of the bohemian life, she can't bring herself to return home to her family and journalism career in Chicago. Instead, she's determined to spread her wings and discover her true self, experimenting with free love, gay pride, and vegetarianism; forging a friendship with a gay disco queen; and taking a job at the feminist Personal Change Counseling Center. As she falls in and out of love, Stevie takes time to observe both the absurd and the liberating qualities of the West Coast hippie lifestyle—and is constantly reminded that the journey to self-discovery likely has no end point. Written with the same bright wit and endless charm that made Coffee Will Make You Black such a beloved book, Ain't Gonna Be the Same Fool Twice is a delightful continuation of Stevie's story that was hailed by Salon as “ripely funny, unpretentious, and sincere.”

“A funny, fresh novel about growing up African-American in 1960s Chicago” by an author who “writes like Terry McMillan's kid sister” (Entertainment Weekly). In this hilarious and insightful coming-of-age novel, author April Sinclair introduces the charming Jean “Stevie” Stevenson, a young woman raised on Chicago's South Side during an era of irrevocable social upheaval. Curious and witty, bold but naïve, Stevie grows up debating the qualities of good hair and dark skin. As the years pass, her family and neighborhood are changed by the times, from the War on Poverty to race riots and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., from “Black Is Beautiful” to Black Power. Against this remarkable backdrop, Stevie makes the sometimes harrowing, often comic, always enthralling transformation into a young adult—socially aware, discovering her sexuality, and proud of her identity. “Whether she's dealing with a subject as monumental as the civil rights movement or as intimate as Stevie's first sexual encounters,” writes the Los Angeles Times, “Sinclair never fails to make you laugh and never sacrifices the narrative to make a point.” Winner of the Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library and named a best book of the year in young adult fiction by the American Library Association, Coffee Will Make You Black is an exquisite portrait of adolescence that will resonate with readers of all ages.

Henry James's tragicomic masterpiece pits a headstrong Mississippi lawyer against his feminist cousin in a no-holds-barred fight for the heart of an impressionable young suffragette When Basil Ransom, a headstrong Mississippi lawyer, comes to Boston to call on his wealthy activist cousin, Olive, an epic battle of wills ensues. Basil is a conservative of the most ardent type while Cousin Olive is steadfast in her radicalism. Perhaps for a laugh, perhaps for a story to tell his lawyer friends back in Mississippi, Basil accompanies Olive to a women's emancipation rally, whereupon he falls irrevocably in love with a young suffragette, Miss Verena Tarrant, and sets about trying to rewrite her beliefs. The problem is that Olive has been grooming Miss Tarrant as her protégé. Will Basil reform the lovely young activist orator, or will Olive win the young woman's heart and mind? Often proclaimed James's funniest novel and regarded as his most successful political work, The Bostonians deals with love and friendship in the awkward landscape of shifting social roles, feminism in post–Civil War America, and a woman's place in this brave new world. Funny, astute, and merciless, The Bostonians is one of James's most successful portrayals of a world teetering between old values and the relentless march of social progress. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

A financial thriller based on the Panic of 1907 by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Jungle In 1907 the stock market crashed as a result of the manipulations of a group of powerful, wealthy, and unscrupulous men. The repercussions were felt across the nation, taking a devastating toll on thousands of small investors and hardworking Americans. The Moneychangers, written a century before the term “too big to fail” became part of the national lexicon, dramatizes the secret dealings of the one-percenters who brought the national economy to the brink of collapse. Lawyer Allan Montague is at home among New York City's wealthiest and most influential citizens. His position provides him with an insider's perspective on the motivations of the financial elite—and what he sees isn't always pretty. Now, a small group of very rich men intend to take down a rival, even if it means wiping out the livelihoods and savings of thousands and thousands of unsuspecting citizens in the process. Powerless to stop the plot, all Montague can do is try to save the woman he loves from a tragic collision of jealousy, avarice, and lust. This ebook has been authorized by the estate of Upton Sinclair.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize: In the midst of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a young schoolboy struggles to escape the destruction storming around himInside his home in Derry, Joe Logan's life is ruled by his tormented father; outside, by the tension and violence of the Troubles. Sometimes his father makes him run errands despite the nearby reports of gunfire. Other times his mother, afraid to be alone with her volatile and war-wounded husband, confines Joe to the home. A bright and sensitive young man, Joe finds solace and freedom in writing—a pursuit encouraged by Kathleen Doherty, a young teacher at a nearby school whom he meets and befriends. In Kathleen, Joe has found a friend who understands him, makes him laugh, and allows him to forget his burdens for a time. But everything changes when his brother, Brendan, arrives home from London, newly energized to join the raging fray, and cavalierly bringing the war straight into their home.

A young Native American woman remembers her volatile childhood as she searches for her lost brother in the Canadian wilds in an extraordinary, critically acclaimed debut novelAs she races along Canada's Douglas Channel in her speedboat—heading toward the place where her younger brother Jimmy, presumed drowned, was last seen—twenty-year-old Lisamarie Hill recalls her younger days. A volatile and precocious Native girl growing up in Kitamaat, the Haisla Indian reservation located five hundred miles north of Vancouver, Lisa came of age standing with her feet firmly planted in two different worlds: the spiritual realm of the Haisla and the sobering “real” world with its dangerous temptations of violence, drugs, and despair. From her beloved grandmother, Ma-ma-oo, she learned of tradition and magic; from her adored, Elvis-loving uncle Mick, a Native rights activist on a perilous course, she learned to see clearly, to speak her mind, and never to bow down. But the tragedies that have scarred her life and ultimately led her to these frigid waters cannot destroy her indomitable spirit, even though the ghosts that speak to her in the night warn her that the worst may be yet to come. Easily one of the most admired debut novels to appear in many a decade, Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach was immediately greeted with universal acclaim—called “gripping” by the San Diego Union-Tribune, “wonderful” by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and “glorious” by the Globe and Mail, earning nominations for numerous literary awards before receiving the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Evocative, moving, haunting, and devastatingly funny, it is an extraordinary read from a brilliant literary voice that must be heard.

An enchanting comedy of errors, Emma remains a classic two centuries after it was first published. Emma Woodhouse is a privileged young woman whose greatest pleasure in life lies in matchmaking for anyone but herself. Written, by Austen's own admission, as “a heroine whom no one but myself will much like,” Emma's charm and wit exist in constant tension with her capacity for selfishness and vanity. Despite her intelligence, Emma stumbles from one catastrophe to the next—from a misguided attempt at securing a husband for her friend Harriet Smith to her disastrous meddling in the affairs of new arrivals Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax—before ultimately falling into her own unexpected happy ending. Both a discerning look at the strictures of Regency England and an enchanting comedy of errors, Emma remains a classic two centuries since it was first published. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

“A beautifully written novel that should be read by everyone who cares about the human condition.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer Harvard physiologist Robert Merriwether has four whip-smart children, an attractive and intelligent wife, and a successful, stimulating career. True, he and Sarah have not slept together in years, and when he decides to stay behind in Cambridge for the summer while the rest of the family vacations in Maine, his newfound freedom is deeply unsettling. But that does not mean that Merriwether wants to change his life or feels unloved. To a man of science, desire is nothing more than a biological reaction. And Merriwether's personal philosophy is that once you're in your forties, real love is nothing but lust and nostalgia. Then Cynthia Ryder walks into his life. Twenty years old, she is beautiful, intelligent, witty, and kind. And, to Merriwether's great surprise, she wants to be with him. Initially, he evades her advances, sure that hers is just a passing fancy. But as he gets to know her better, Merriwether realizes that Cynthia is more mature than he first suspected and that the joy he feels when they are together has been missing from his life for a long, long time. When the summer ends and their need for each other does not fade, Merriwether realizes that he is being given a chance at true love. The question is, will he be brave enough to take it? Considered by many critics to be Richard Stern's finest novel, Other Men's Daughters is a tender, honest, witty, and life-affirming portrait of a love as transcendent as it is unlikely.

A “colorful family saga” set against the dramatic historical backdrop of twentieth-century Puerto Rico, from an author nominated for the National Book Award (Kirkus Reviews). Elvira Vernet narrates Eccentric Neighborhoods as she attempts to solve the mystery of who her parents truly are. Her mother, the beautiful and aristocratic Clarissa Rivas de Santillana, was born into a rarefied world of privilege, one of five daughters on the family's sugar plantation. Elvira's father, Aurelio Vernet, and his three brothers and two sisters were raised by Santiago, a Cuban immigrant who ruled his family with an iron hand. As Puerto Rico struggles for independence—and Aurelio takes his place among the powerful political gentry—a legacy of violence, infidelity, faith, and sacrifice is born. Set against the backdrop of a country coming of age, Eccentric Neighborhoods is a lush, transcendent novel, a family saga about mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, parents and children. In this magnificent follow-up to The House on the Lagoon, Rosario Ferré delivers a work of historical fiction influenced by magical realism and infused with forgiveness and love.

Satan tempts mortal man and woman in Fay Weldon's witty and wildly inventive riff on Doctor Faustus Selling one's soul to the devil takes on new meaning in this fiendishly clever page-turner by Fay Weldon. Once upon a time, in the dullest town imaginable, there lived three girls: Laura, the pretty one; Annie, the one desperate to escape; and Carmen, the one who catches the devil's eye. She's sixteen when Bernard Bellamy spies her from the back seat of his big, black BMW. He's just made a bargain with Mephistopheles himself: his mortal soul in exchange for the fulfillment of his desires. And he wants Carmen to be his wife. As time passes, inexplicable things happen to Carmen, Laura, and Annie. But Carmen is determined to hang on to her soul, no matter what obstacles—and temptations—are erected in her path. Will she succumb? Only the devil knows...

Finalist for the National Book Award: Christine Schutt's masterful novel—hailed by John Ashbery as “an amazing achievement”—about a remarkable little girl who comes of age, adrift, in the care of a rotating cast of indifferent relatives Alice Fivey is seven years old when her father dies, and ten when her mentally fragile mother is institutionalized. So begins the “sleepover life” for Alice. Shuttled among the homes of wealthy relatives, retainers, babysitters, and reluctant caretakers, Alice must learn their habits and adapt if she is to survive. But how is she to remain intact after the loss of her parents, whose troubled pasts are invoked to punish and manipulate her? Books help, as do kindly teachers. Set largely in the chilly Midwest, the vision of a life in Florida, first offered up by Alice's father as a promise of good health and balmy weather, grows in significance for Alice. She is an orphan, and as such she must forge a home and an identity beyond that of her namesake: her unstable mother. Alice Fivey, consoled with reading, becomes a storyteller herself, building a home word by word in elegiac, luminous scenes that serve as evidence of the life-giving power of language. A finalist for the National Book Award, Florida is an elegant, lyrical, and dreamlike first-person portrait of a young artist in early bloom, and a hauntingly beautiful tale of survival and growth told in a unique and unforgettable voice.

A wry romp through 1930s mores, social and sexualProgressive for its time as well as ours, The Friendly Young Ladies is a deftly witty comedy set in England between the wars. At eighteen, Elsie has had enough of life at her bickering parents'Cornwall home. She decides to join up with her bohemian older sister, Leo, in the city. Leo's life is full of surprises—not least her significant other, Helen, a beautiful nurse. As Elsie gets acquainted with Leo's world, new characters—including a novelist and a doctor deluded enough to chase all three women at once—come into play. With acid humor and a supremely light touch, The Friendly Young Ladies colors in an unseen dimension of the 1930s.

Award-winning novelist Hilma Wolitzer's warm, true-to-life tale of a young woman on a quest for love and certainty Daphne has never met a man who treated her as well as Kenny. The only problem is he's married. Intoxicated by love in the afternoon, she luxuriates in his affection, but the afterglow fades when Kenny drives home to his wife and children. Although he promises Daphne that he'll leave them, she's not sure he will ever be able to give up his family. As Kenny tries to make up his mind about ending his marriage, Daphne finds herself with nothing to look forward to but their stolen hours together. She distracts herself with work in the Palomar Arms, a retirement home where decay hangs in the air. But this proximity to death will make Daphne aware that she is wasting her life. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.

Elly Kaufman is too young, too beautiful, and too intense to accept life on its own terms; instead, she creates havoc in the world around herIn postwar Indianapolis, young dreamer Elly is navigating adolescence in a tight-knit family. Her search for truth leads her through a variety of experiences—and loves. To a famous architect, she is a symbol of undying youth; to a struggling actor, she is the unspoiled image of creative will; to an ex-GI, she is a thief; to a young musician, she is the source of inspiration. But what will Elly be to herself?

A “rollicking and bawdy” tale of eighteenth-century England, inspired by Fanny Hill, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Fear of Flying (The Plain Dealer). Galloping from England to Africa to the high seas of the Caribbean, bestselling author Erica Jong's “perverse epic” follows the amorous adventures of a woman of pleasure and pluck (The New York Times). Falling in with randy highwaymen, witches, kidnappers, pirate queens, prostitutes, and such luminaries as Jonathan Swift, William Hogarth, and Alexander Pope, Fanny is seeking much more than fortune. In this unexpurgated “memoir” by the girl made famous in John Cleland's notorious Fanny Hill, our dauntless heroine finally reveals what really made her. Life begins somewhat ignobly for Fanny Hackabout-Jones. Abandoned as an infant on the doorstep of Lord and Lady Bellars's grand Wiltshire manor, she contemplates the literary life as she grows to ripe young womanhood. Fanny chooses, however, to pursue a very different future when she flees to London to escape the mortifying advances of her adoptive father. There, on the road, her life truly begins. Cast by pernicious Fate—and her own audacious will—into a series of astonishing escapades, Fanny learns that a woman's lot is not an easy one in these oppressive times. But she will not be discouraged, nor will she falter, on the uneven path toward notoriety, self-discovery, motherhood, and love. This is a delightful twist on classic literature—and “Erica Jong was the right person to write it” (Anthony Burgess, Saturday Review). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erica Jong including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.

Four novels—including a Pulitzer Prize winner and a National Book Award winner—by the #1 New York Times–bestselling master. Lie Down in Darkness is William Styron's stunning debut: a classic portrait of one Southern family's tragic spiral into destruction. Set This House on Fire is a story of evil and redemption involving three American men whose paths converge on a film shoot in Italy at the close of the 1940s, hailed as “one of the finest novels of our time” by the San Francisco Chronicle.Gripping and unforgettable, The Confessions of Nat Turner is the Pulitzer-winning portrait of the leader of America's bloodiest slave revolt. And Sophie's Choice is the National Book Award–winning novel of love, survival, and regret, set in Brooklyn in the wake of the Second World War. Taken together, these four novels—exploring themes of good and evil, sin and atonement, and the ineradicable bonds of place and family—represent Styron at the pinnacle of his literary brilliance.

Bestselling author Lisa Alther's classic coming-of-age novel set amidst the changing times of the 1960s American South Growing up in Tennessee in a family of privilege, Ginny Babcock's world is seemingly idyllic. Her father, the Major, runs the local plant—and, thus, the town—and her mother works on beloved home movies, or “kinflicks,” as her children call them, documenting the quintessential moments of her children growing up. But her mother's camera isn't there to capture Ginny's growing rebellion against her prim Southern upbringing. From her backseat exploits as a popular high schooler, to her late night adventures at the moonshine joint with a greaser boyfriend, to her passionate days with a lover at the militant feminist commune in Vermont, Ginny throws herself into the moment—until, finally, she must return home and look after her ailing mother. Funny, wise, and filled with unforgettable characters, Kinflicks is a captivating novel that draws on the human fallout of turbulent times. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lisa Alther, including rare photos from the author's personal collection.

This portrait of a Southern family's downfall was the literary debut of the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Sophie's Choice. A finalist for the National Book Award, Lie Down in Darkness centers on the Loftis family—Milton and Helen and their daughters, Peyton and Maudie. The story, told through a series of flashbacks on the day of Peyton's funeral, is a powerful depiction of a family doomed by its failure to forget and its inability to love. Written in masterful prose that “achieves real beauty” (The Washington Post), William Styron's debut novel offers unflinching insight into the ineradicable bonds of place and family. The story of Milton, Helen, and their children reveals much about life's losses and disappointments. Lie Down in Darkness, poignant and compelling, is a classic of modern American literature from the author who went on to earn high critical acclaim—with a Pulitzer Prize for The Confessions of Nat Turner and a National Book Award for Sophie's Choice—and a place at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.

Secrets and scandals steer a young woman's life as she comes of age and finds love in Victorian England. Seventeen-year-old Molly Gibson has grown up under the watchful eye of her widowed father, the doctor Mr. Gibson. After one of his apprentices develops an interest in Molly, Mr. Gibson feels the only way to protect her is to send her to live with the Hamley family. With his daughter away, Gibson decides to remarry, giving Molly a new mother and sister. Although her stepmother is manipulative, Molly gains an ally in her stepsister, Cynthia, who is educated, worldly, and irresistible to just about any man she meets. Growing closer to the Hamleys and her new stepsister, Molly also finds herself mired in their scandals—and the town's gossip. If she hopes to set things right, she must risk her own reputation, as well as the man she secretly loves. By the author of Mary Barton and North and South, this is a story of love, family, and the challenges of both, as relevant today as it was in the nineteenth century.