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After receiving news that her closest brother has been shot and killed while fighting in the Civil War, Mary Cabot is distraught. Having lost the majority of her family, Mary is left feeling alone and helpless. She seeks solace in the church, her neighbors, and friends, but is unable to find the comfort she needs. Becoming more reserved and losing her faith, Mary is relieved when her widowed aunt, Winnifred, and young cousin from Kansas decide to visit her in Massachusetts. As the women strengthen their bond and share conversations on their trauma, Winniefred offers a new perspective, describing her understanding and vision of heaven. Despite its divergence from the traditional Christian idea of the afterlife, Mary begins to heal, unaware that more hardships are around the corner. First published over one-hundred and fifty years ago in 1868, The Gates Ajar established author Elizabeth Stuart Phelps'career, earning her fame and recognition for her emotional and reflective spiritualist novel. Inspired by her own experience of losing loved one to the Civil War, Phelps wrote The Gates Ajar to assuage the pain of death in ways the Christian church was not providing. Quickly rising to fame, The Gates Ajar sold thousands of copies and inspired a new vision of heaven that really resonated with its audience, leading to references in music, literature, and even floral arrangements. With sympathetic characters, a relatable plot, and gorgeous imagery, The Gates Ajar remains to stimulate modern readers and addresses timeless topics that remain approachable and relevant. This edition of The Gates Ajar by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps features an eye-catching new cover design and is presented in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring The Gates Ajar to modern standards while preserving the original intelligence and impact of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps'work. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Mary Gray Phelps was born on 31st August 1844 in Boston, Massachusetts.Her mother, who wrote the Kitty Brown children's book series, died when she was only 8. The young girl asked to be renamed in honor of her mother.Two years later her father married her mother's sister, Mary Stuart, also a writer, but she died of tuberculosis only 18 months later. A mere six months later he married for a third time to Mary Ann Johnson, and they had two sons.Phelps received an upper-class education through her attendance at the Abbot Academy and Mrs. Edwards'School for Young Ladies. She had a natural gift for story-telling and at 13 she had a story published in Youth's Companion and other stories in various Sunday School publications.In most of her writings she used her mother's name ‘Elizabeth Stuart Phelps'as a pseudonym, even after her marriage in 1888 to Herbert Dickinson Ward, a journalist (and later co-author with her) 17 years her junior. Such was her talent that she gained a wide audience from her first publications. At age 19 she sent her Civil War story ‘A Sacrifice Consumed'to Harper's Magazine. A generous payment was made together with a request for more works to be sent for publication. During the 1860s she wrote her first books for children, the ‘Tiny'series and followed up with the 4-volume ‘Gypsy Breynton'series. In 1868, three years after the Civil War, came ‘The Gates Ajar', a controversial but best-selling Spiritualist work which told of an afterlife replete with home comforts and reunited families, and their pets, for eternity. Its success led her to write two more books to complete the trilogy and she was wont to use the word ‘Gates'in later book titles to allude to this success. She stated that she wrote ‘The Gates Ajar'to comfort a generation of women devastated by the loss of their loved ones who found no comfort in traditional religion. Phelps became a determined advocate through her lectures and other work for social reform, temperance, women's emancipation, and even clothing reform for women, and in 1874, urging them to burn their corsets.Her deteriorating health was now restricting some of her activities and kept her contributions to mostly literary in nature rather than public appearances.In 1876 Phelps was the first woman to present a lecture series at Boston University. Her presentations, ‘Representative Modern Fiction', analyzed the works of George Eliot.In 1877 she published ‘The Story of Avis'. The work focuses on many of the era's early feminist issues, portraying a woman's struggle to balance her married life and domestic responsibilities with her longing to become a painter. At no time did she attempt to hide, either in real life or her stories, her contempt of the inequities of the then class structure and gender disparities. Her work, ‘Mary Elizabeth'depicts a homeless girl's choices between theft and begging as a means of survival. ‘One Way to Get An Education'tells of a child laborer's desire for a better life than mill work offers and sees self-injuring as a way to a better education. Her work often depicted women succeeding in non-traditional careers such as physicians, ministers, and artists.In 1884 came her well-regarded poetry collection ‘Songs of the Silent World'Along with her husband she wrote two Biblical romances in 1890 and 1891. Her autobiography, ‘Chapters from a Life'was serialized and then published in book form in 1896. Phelps continued to write short stories and novels up to her death and over her life authored 57 volumes of fiction, poetry and essays. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps died 28th January 1911, in Newton Center, Massachusetts. She was 66.

From acclaimed crime novelist Gar Anthony Haywood comes a riveting tale unlike any he's told before... Diane Edwards has spent the last eight months praying for a miracle after losing her son Adrian in a freak car accident at Seattle's Lakeridge Park. When she finds Adrian back in his bed one night--alive and well and oblivious to his death--it appears her prayers have been answered. But this isn't the kind of miracle Diane was expecting, because she soon learns Adrian is not the only one who's forgotten that fateful day in Lakeridge Park. The entire world has no memory of it, with the exception of Diane and three other people: Michael Edwards--Diane's estranged husband and Adrian's father. Laura Carrillo--Adrian's teacher, who loved him almost as much as his parents did. Milton Weisman--The agnostic, sixty-eight-year-old widower and alcoholic who lost control of the car that killed Adrian in Lakeridge Park. Over the next six days, these four people must struggle to understand what Adrian's return to the living means, and why God Himself would choose them, and them alone, to play witness to it. In the end, all will learn that God's mercy knows no limits--but its permanence comes at a price.

With the dead you can go anywhere. When novelist Johnny Coma's daughter comes back from the dead as a talking octopus, will he be finally be able to write her story? Will his estranged wife, renowned war photographer Vivienne Pink, even believe him? In Stella Atlantis, the stunning follow-up to her visionary desert novel Death Valley, Susan Perly returns to the lives of these troubled artists, haunted by the death of their young daughter, Stella, killed on the sidewalk outside their home, as they search for healing in separate cities and with new lovers. Moving in and out of Toronto, Amsterdam and Barcelona, across the Mediterranean to Ibiza and out to the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, Perly's prose enacts grieving itself in the twinned stories of Johnny and Vivienne. Playfully dark and filled with beautiful flights of imagery, this is a story of fathers and daughters, of love lost and love reborn, of the redemptive power of art, the transformative power of the sea and how we can dare to reach for radiance and redemption.

“The greatest tragic writer among English novelists.”-Virginia Woolf “There is no other novelist alive with the breadth of sympathy, the knowledge or the power for the creation of Jude.'—H.G. Wells Jude the Obscure, the semi-autobiographical final novel from Thomas Hardy explores notions of surprising candor; within the eponymous protagonist lies the tragic truth of failed ambitions and relationships. In a fierce exploration of the darkness of love and the intellect, this is one of the great tragic novels of English literature. Jude Fawley, an earnest boy from a rural English village, dreams of a life of academia despite his working-class background. His childhood schoolmaster has moved away from the village to teach at the University in Christminster. Jude spends his free time self-educating himself with the aspirations of enrolling at Christminster, yet his dreams are thwarted when he falls in love with Arabella, a loutish and deceptive young woman who lures him into a disastrous marriage. After abandoning each other, Jude returns to his dream of becoming a scholar; he moves to Christminster, where he falls in love with his cousin Sue Bridehead, and subsequently abandons all hope of academia. An intricate web of darkness ensues when Arabella returns into his life with a troubled son, who she informs is Jude's. Trapped in an uncontrollable descent, Jude's fate delivers him unspeakable tragedy. Jude The Obscure is one of literature's great works that explore the alienation and intricacies of man's place in the world. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Jude the Obscure is both modern and readable. Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book. With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Hanna,'n dinamiese en suksesvolle personeelagent, lewe teen'n vinnige pas. Sy't haar eie besigheid, is gelukkig getroud en het twee kinders rondom wie sy haar besige lewe beplan. Maar toe sy een middag ná'n blitsbesoek aan die winkels by die huis opdaag, stort haar hele kaartehuis ineen. Sal sy in die maande wat kom ooit weer haar kop kan lig? “Hartverskeurend mooi.'n Aangrypende verhaal vir volwassenes sowel as tieners.” – Wilna Adriaanse

On the brink of a breakdown, two years after the death of his fiancée, Jim Hawkes quits his high-powered job in the City to rent a cottage in the Devonshire countryside seeking some well-needed rest. But Slyford St James is far from the peaceful haven Jim was hoping for. Almost immediately he is plagued by strange occurrences: a combination lock that won't open, loud noises in the attic, the figure of a little girl always just out of sight. His new village friends, Jed and Emma, are convinced Jim has found his way to the village for a reason, to solve the mystery surrounding the suspicious death of a child. But as Jim is haunted by the ghosts of his past and endangered by a real-world threat in the present, it soon becomes apparent that true evil never dies.

Jude is a layman who is cursed by an even larger figure: a pre-feminist minx. In the case of Jude, being associated with a woman in the then strange double is a fatal flaw. And not just any woman: Sue Briadhead, a Bovarian double, is ambivalent, mean and not romantic. Of course, she alone would betray Judah's affection, break his heart. She is the sad queen of drama!

For the first time in Penguin Classics, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's bestselling Civil War classicElizabeth Stuart Phelps's 1868 Reconstruction-era novel The Gates Ajar, in its portrait of inconsolable grief following the American Civil War, helped to shape enduring American ideas about heaven and demonstrated that for American women, the war didn't simply end at Appomattox. When Mary Cabot loses her beloved brother, Union soldier Royal, in the war, she feels as though she will never feel peace again until the arrival of her widowed aunt Winifred. Sharing the wisdom that has comforted her through her grief, Winifred offers Mary a groundbreaking view of the afterlife: a place of loving reunion with all those who were lost. As Winifred ministers to Mary, her vision of the afterlife circulates in the community and attracts local adherents who have similarly suffered losses in the war. Written with the intention of illuminating and bettering the lives of women after the war, The Gates Ajar is an empowering manifesto on conquering grief and a timeless manual for optimism.

In abuse situations, people can go to court for orders of protection. But in these twelve stories, people also seek protection from various demons in unusual ways — by impersonating famous musicians, cooking pet chickens, marching in parades, shooting at coyotes, calling lost dogs, and more. The characters don't always find their way to safety or even survival, but somehow optimism prevails anyway. Set in Illinois, these subtly linked stories explore circumstances and emotions through details that stay with you far beyond the last page. “Orders of Protection floored me. The range of style, voice, and angles of approach had me checking over and over to confirm I was still reading the same magical book. However, these stories do more than sing their own unique songs. As I read, the myriad voices came together in a perfect harmony of pain, longing, fear, and, however strangely, comfort. It's been a long time since I read a story collection with such excitement, so eager to see what each new installment would bring.” —Colin Winnette, author of The Job of the Wasp and Haints Stay, and judge

Céline Vaillancourt saw the untamed forest in shades of apprehension: a dark, trackless wilderness that ran from the shore of Lake Superior to an unknown boundary on an unnavigable map. But Edmund, her 11-year-old son, was possessed of a different vision, as though, having been brought into that country as a child in his father's arms, he had put the very same brooding colors together and produced a painting shot through with adventure and the light of discovery. There was no talking to either of them, husband or son. But talk no longer seemed to matter. Now they were in the maw of the great recession. Now her husband's construction business, built on the housing boom in the lake-side village of Port Landing, Wisconsin, was failing. And now, on a cold, moonless night in December, on the brink of the worst that Lake Superior could throw at them, Edmund was alone in the woods, the temperature plummeting, a killing storm bearing down, with little more than his beloved Border Collie, Breeze, to keep him warm.

A “subtle and poignant” novel about unexpected friendships, second chances, and dark secrets—from the international bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things (Good Housekeeping) “Despite tackling such huge topics as bereavement and cancer, Hogan's work is filled with hope and the power of friendship.” —Evening Standard They say friends make life worth living... Once a spirited, independent woman with a rebellious streak, Masha's life was forever changed by a tragic event twelve years ago. Unable to let go of her grief, she finds comfort in her faithful canine companion Haizum, and peace in the quiet lanes of her town's swimming pool. Almost without her realizing it, her life has shuddered to a halt. It's only when Masha begins an unlikely friendship with the mysterious Sally Red Shoes—a bag lady with a prodigious voice and a penchant for saying just what she means—that a new world of possibilities opens up: new friendships, new opportunities, and even a chance for new love. For the first time in years, Masha has the chance to start living again. But just as Masha dares to imagine the future, her past comes roaring back. Like her beloved debut, The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan's second novel introduces a cast of wonderful characters, both ordinary and charmingly eccentric, who lead us through a moving exploration of the simple human connections that unite us all.

Classic Hardy novel. According to Wikipedia:'Thomas Hardy, (1840 – 1928) was an English author of the naturalist movement, though he regarded himself primarily as a poet and composed novels mainly for financial gain. The bulk of his work, set mainly in the semi-fictional land of Wessex, delineates characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. Hardy's poetry, first published in his 50s, has come to be as well regarded as his novels, especially after The Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.'

Soon to be made into a major motion picture—Self Portrait—starring Zoë Kravitz and Thomasin McKenzieLonglisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a'rich and thorny page turner'(Los Angeles Times) literary psychological horror about an ambitious young artist whose accidental photograph of a tragedy could jumpstart her career, but devastate her most intimate friendship.Lu Rile is a relentlessly focused young photographer struggling to make ends meet. Working three jobs, responsible for her aging father, and worrying that her crumbling loft apartment is being sold to developers, she is at a point of desperation. One day, in the background of a self-portrait, Lu accidentally captures an image of a boy falling to his death. The photograph turns out to be startlingly gorgeous, the best work of art she's ever made. It's an image that could change her life…if she lets it. But the decision to show the photograph is not easy. The boy is her neighbors'son, and the tragedy brings all the building's residents together. It especially unites Lu with the boy's beautiful grieving mother, Kate. As the two forge an intense bond based on sympathy, loneliness, and budding attraction, Lu feels increasingly unsettled and guilty, torn between equally fierce desires: to advance her career, and to protect a woman she has come to love. Set in early 90s Brooklyn on the brink of gentrification, Self-Portrait with Boy is a “sparkling debut” (The New York Times Book Review) about the emotional dues that must be paid on the road to success and a powerful exploration of the complex terrain of female friendship. “The conflict is rich and thorny, raising questions about art and morality, love and betrayal, sacrifice and opportunism, and the chance moments that can define a life…It wrestles with the nature of art, but moves with the speed of a page-turner” (Los Angeles Times).

Natalie DeAngelo lost everything the day her two young sons were killed in a school shooting. Desperate to find relief from her unspeakable loss, she volunteers as a veterinarian on an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, but soon realizes she may be in over her head. Battling the memories that torment her day and night, Natalie must find a way to heal an angry, injured elephant named Sophie. Through love, acceptance, and gentle care, Natalie and Sophie heal together, finding new ways to enjoy life again.

The Gates Ajar is an 1868 religious novel by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps - later Elizabeth Phelps Ward - that was immensely popular following its publication. It was the second best-selling religious novel of the 19th century. Sequels Beyond the Gates (1883) and The Gates Between (1887) were also bestsellers, and the three together are referred to as the author's'Spiritualist novels.'Mary Cabot of Homer, Massachusetts, has recently been notified of Royal Cabot's death, the brother to whom she is intensely devoted. He was a soldier,'shot dead'in the American Civil War. Their parents are deceased, and Mary is unable to find sympathy and relief from anyone—acquaintances, the church deacon, or pastor. She is losing her religious faith and increasingly despairs. She eventually turns to Winifred Forceythe, her widowed aunt who fortuitously arrives from Kansas with her daughter, Faith. Over the course of their conversations, Winifred offers an inspiring image of heaven and gradually restores her niece's faith. Winifred Forceythe dies, leaving Mary Cabot as guardian of her cousin, Faith. Mary has again found meaning in life and her outlook is joyful.

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Jude the Obscure'from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Thomas Hardy'. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Hardy includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.eBook features: • The complete unabridged text of ‘Jude the Obscure'• Beautifully illustrated with images related to Hardy's works • Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook • Excellent formatting of the text Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

'Beautifully written, if disturbing, exploration of how grief affects friendships, marriage and the main character's sense of self'Anita DavisonA tragic accident, an unbearable loss and a marriage in crisis – but who can she trust or is she all alone?Veronica Pullman's comfortable suburban life comes to a shuddering halt when her young daughter, Grace, tragically dies in a car accident.Months later, unable to come to terms with her daughter's death, detached from her husband and alienated from her friends and family, a chance encounter on a rainy street pushes her into an unlikely new friendship.Scarlet is everything Veronica could've been: feisty, adventurous, unpredictable. But as she approaches what would have been Grace's 10th birthday, it becomes clear to Veronica that the friendship she thought was saving her life could be costing her everything.Consumed by grief and left questioning her own sanity, is there anyone she can really trust or is someone out to torment her as part of their twisted game?Readers love The Accident!'One of the best books I've read this year!'NetGalley 5• Review'I highly recommend this book and author to all!'NetGalley 5• Review

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in FictionFinalist for the PEN Faulkner AwardIn this literary masterwork, Louise Erdrich, bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning The Round House and the Pulitzer Prize nominee The Plague of Doves, wields her breathtaking narrative magic in an emotionally haunting contemporary tale of a tragic accident, a demand for justice, and a profound act of atonement with ancient roots in Native American culture.North Dakota, late summer, 1999. Landreaux Iron stalks a deer along the edge of the property bordering his own. He shoots with easy confidence—but when the buck springs away, Landreaux realizes he's hit something else, a blur he saw as he squeezed the trigger. When he staggers closer, he realizes he has killed his neighbor's five-year-old son, Dusty Ravich.The youngest child of his friend and neighbor, Peter Ravich, Dusty was best friends with Landreaux's five-year-old son, LaRose. The two families have always been close, sharing food, clothing, and rides into town; their children played together despite going to different schools; and Landreaux's wife, Emmaline, is half sister to Dusty's mother, Nola. Horrified at what he's done, the recovered alcoholic turns to an Ojibwe tribe tradition—the sweat lodge—for guidance, and finds a way forward. Following an ancient means of retribution, he and Emmaline will give LaRose to the grieving Peter and Nola. “Our son will be your son now,” they tell them.LaRose is quickly absorbed into his new family. Plagued by thoughts of suicide, Nola dotes on him, keeping her darkness at bay. His fierce, rebellious new “sister,” Maggie, welcomes him as a coconspirator who can ease her volatile mother's terrifying moods. Gradually he's allowed shared visits with his birth family, whose sorrow mirrors the Raviches'own. As the years pass, LaRose becomes the linchpin linking the Irons and the Raviches, and eventually their mutual pain begins to heal.But when a vengeful man with a long-standing grudge against Landreaux begins raising trouble, hurling accusations of a cover-up the day Dusty died, he threatens the tenuous peace that has kept these two fragile families whole.Inspiring and affecting, LaRose is a powerful exploration of loss, justice, and the reparation of the human heart, and an unforgettable, dazzling tour de force from one of America's most distinguished literary masters.

A multigenerational family saga about the long-lasting reverberations of one tragic summer by'a wonderful talent [who] should be read widely'(Edward P. Jones). In 1948, a small stretch of the Woodmont, Connecticut shoreline, affectionately named'Bagel Beach,'has long been a summer destination for Jewish families. Here sisters Ada, Vivie, and Bec assemble at their beloved family cottage, with children in tow and weekend-only husbands who arrive each Friday in time for the Sabbath meal. During the weekdays, freedom reigns. Ada, the family beauty, relaxes and grows more playful, unimpeded by her rule-driven, religious husband. Vivie, once terribly wronged by her sister, is now the family diplomat and an increasingly inventive chef. Unmarried Bec finds herself forced to choose between the family-centric life she's always known and a passion-filled life with the married man with whom she's had a secret years-long affair. But when a terrible accident occurs on the sisters'watch, a summer of hope and self-discovery transforms into a lifetime of atonement and loss for members of this close-knit clan. Seen through the eyes of Molly, who was twelve years old when she witnessed the accident, this is the story of a tragedy and its aftermath, of expanding lives painfully collapsed. Can Molly, decades after the event, draw from her aunt Bec's hard-won wisdom and free herself from the burden that destroyed so many others? Elizabeth Poliner is a masterful storyteller, a brilliant observer of human nature, and in As Close to Us as Breathing she has created an unforgettable meditation on grief, guilt, and the boundaries of identity and love.

Accused of murdering her child, a suspected sufferer of Munchausen syndrome by proxy seeks help from Southern private eye Lena Padget, in this riveting thriller. Lena Padget has dedicated her life to helping women in trouble, but she's never dealt with a case as desperate and complex as that of Emma Marsden, who recently lost her infant son to a fatal liver ailment. The pediatrician who treated the child has accused the devastated mother of poisoning her son. Dr. Theodore Tundridge firmly believes that the tragedy was the result of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which can cause sufferers to inflict harm on others to draw attention to themselves. Now Emma is terrified that Children and Family Services will take her teenage daughter away from her. Lena's search for the truth leads her into the dark, shadowy regions of the medical establishment—where a nightmare of unethical science may be unfolding behind the doors of Dr. Tundridge's hospital pathology laboratory—and into troubling areas of her enigmatic client's psyche. What initially appeared to be a case of medical malpractice and character assassination suddenly takes a sharp and dangerously unexpected turn, setting Lena on a race to untangle a twisted web of secrets before more children die. Shamus Award–winning author Lynn Hightower delivers a must-read for fans of Karin Slaughter, Laura Lippman, and Marcia Muller—a powerful story of medicine, motherhood, and madness that will stay with the reader long after the mystery's surprising denouement. When Secrets Die is the 3rd book in the Lena Padget Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Thomas Hardy, (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. Charles Dickens was another important influence. Like Dickens, he was highly critical of much in Victorian society, though Hardy focused more on a declining rural society. “Jude the Obscure”, the last completed of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895. Its protagonist, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man, a stonemason, who dreams of becoming a scholar. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. The novel is concerned in particular with issues of class, education, religion and marriage.(Excerpt from Wikipedia)

'Jude l'obscur, le chef-d'œuvre de Thomas Hardy, est un roman poignant qui explore les thèmes de l'amour, de la destinée et de la société victorienne. L'histoire se déroule dans la campagne anglaise du XIXe siècle et suit la vie de Jude Fawley, un jeune homme rêveur et ambitieux.Jude aspire à une éducation supérieure et à une vie meilleure, mais il est constamment entravé par les conventions sociales et les attentes de sa famille. Malgré cela, il ne cesse de lutter pour réaliser ses rêves, notamment celui de devenir un érudit respecté.Cependant, Jude est également confronté à des obstacles amoureux. Il tombe éperdument amoureux de Sue Bridehead, une femme indépendante et libre d'esprit. Leur relation complexe et passionnée est mise à l'épreuve par les conventions sociales et les pressions de la société victorienne.Au fil du récit, Hardy explore les thèmes de la religion, de la morale et de la condition humaine. Il remet en question les normes sociales et les institutions établies, tout en dépeignant avec réalisme les luttes et les désillusions de ses personnages.Jude l'obscur est un roman profondément émouvant qui offre une réflexion sur la nature humaine et les limites imposées par la société. Avec sa prose poétique et sa vision réaliste de la vie, Thomas Hardy nous livre une œuvre intemporelle qui continue de captiver les lecteurs du monde entier.Extrait :''Le maître d'école quittait le village et chacun semblait attristé. Le meunier de Cresscombe lui avait prêté son cheval et sa petite charrette à bâche blanche pour transporter son mobilier à la ville où il devait se rendre, environ à vingt milles de là. Un tel véhicule était de dimensions suffisantes pour contenir les effets du magister qui s'en allait.'''

Thomas Hardy's final novel: A passionate and tragic story of the follies of Victorian England's most rigid institutions: class, marriage, and higher education Growing up in southern England, Jude Fawley dreams of one day transcending his country life and becoming a scholar at Christminster's most prestigious college. It's the driving focus of his young life, leading him to rigorous study of classical Greek and Latin after spending long days working as a stonemason. But everything changes when Jude meets Arabella Donn, a calculating local girl who ensnares him in marriage. As his dreams of Christminster recede into the background, Jude finds himself trapped in one unhappy marriage while the woman her loves, his free-thinking cousin Sue Bridehead, is trapped in another. Though Jude and Sue are able to escape their first spouses, their new life together proves to be no simpler. With two young children born out of wedlock, Jude and Sue's unconventional relationship is burdened by the judgments of society. But it isn't until the unexpected arrival of Jude's first son, born of his troubled relationship with Arabella, that the accumulation of Jude's misfortunes reaches its final, shattering crescendo. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

From the acclaimed author of the prize-winning The Rainy Season, Martyrs'Crossing tells a poignant story of the ambiguities of war—of love, fear, divided loyalties, ruined friendships, and personal sacrifice—set in the turbulence of Israel and the West Bank.

How far would you go to replace the irreplaceable...? Richard and Rachel Marks seemingly have it all. He is a rising star in pediatric neurosurgery, her first children's novel has just been published, and they have a beautiful little girl, Max. When Max is injured and dies an agonizing death, the family is plunged into a living hell. Rachel is inconsolable and Richard desperately reaches out for the most radical solution imaginable. He will have Immunology Science Associates clone Max and bring her back to their family. Founder of ISA Nobel Laureate Eric Sommersby, “co restriction analysis,” that will perfect therapeutic cloning and provide an unlimited supply of perfectly matched human organs for transplantation. But ISA is under heavy pressure from Jay Frichter's The National Family Council who suspect that the company plans to use the technology to clone human beings. The Marks are Sommersby's answer to his critics, a perfect example for the benefits of human cloning. He sends the Marks to his facility in Sicily where they are prepared to produce an exact replica of their beloved Max. But the National Family Council is intent on exposing ISA‘s secret plan. Rachel and Richard risk their lives when they come face to face with the violent side of these two opposing camps and the insidious consequences of Sommersby's promising but untested technology. Second Child is a suspenseful journey across the boundaries of medical science and the limitless boundaries of a parent's heart.

• A New York Times Editors'Choice •“Assured and beautifully crafted... Hassib is a natural, graceful writer with a keen eye for cultural difference.... [She] handles the anatomy of grief with great delicacy.... In the Language of Miracles should find a large and eager readership. For the beauty of the writing alone, Hassib deserves it.” —Monica Ali, The New York Times Book Review“[A] sensitive, finely wrought debut... sharply observant of immigrants'intricate relationships to their adopted homelands, this exciting novel announces the arrival of a psychologically and socially astute new writer.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)For readers of House of Sand and Fog, a mesmerizing debut novel of an Egyptian American family and the wrenching tragedy that tears their lives apart, from the author of A Pure HeartSamir and Nagla Al-Menshawy appear to have attained the American dream. After immigrating to the United States from Egypt, Samir successfully works his way through a residency and launches his own medical practice as Nagla tends to their firstborn, Hosaam, in the cramped quarters of a small apartment. Soon the growing family moves into a big house in the manicured New Jersey suburb of Summerset, where their three children eventually attend school with Natalie Bradstreet, the daughter of their neighbors and best friends. More than a decade later, the family's seemingly stable life is suddenly upended when a devastating turn of events leaves Hosaam and Natalie dead and turns the Al-Menshawys into outcasts in their own town.Narrated a year after Hosaam and Natalie's deaths, Rajia Hassib's heartfelt novel follows the Al-Menshawys during the five days leading up to the memorial service that the Bradstreets have organized to mark the one-year anniversary of their daughter's death. While Nagla strives to understand her role in the tragedy and Samir desperately seeks reconciliation with the community, Khaled, their surviving son, finds himself living in the shadow of his troubled brother. Struggling under the guilt and pressure of being the good son, Khaled turns to the city in hopes of finding happiness away from the painful memories home conjures. Yet he is repeatedly pulled back home to his grandmother, Ehsan, who arrives from Egypt armed with incense, prayers, and an unyielding determination to stop the unraveling of her daughter's family. In Ehsan, Khaled finds either a true hope of salvation or the embodiment of everything he must flee if he is ever to find himself.Writing with unflinchingly honest prose, Rajia Hassib tells the story of one family pushed to the brink by tragedy and mental illness, trying to salvage the life they worked so hard to achieve. The graceful, elegiac voice of In the Language of Miracles paints tender portraits of a family's struggle to move on in the wake of heartbreak, to stay true to its traditions, and above all else, to find acceptance and reconciliation.

“An intimate family portrait.” —The New York Times “Eddie Joyce's terrific first novel is so American that the story might as well have taken place at the base of the Statue of Liberty.” —Richard Russo “An inside look at one Staten Island family's struggle with grief... [A] poignant, deeply affecting tale.” —Martha Stewart Living, a Book Club selection “[A] terrific debut novel.... Joyce layers... different characters'perspectives nimbly and skillfully, infusing his portrait of a messy, complicated, loving family with heartfelt emotion.” —Sara Vilkomerson, Entertainment Weekly, A- A startling and tender portrait of one family's struggle to make peace with their son's death An ingeniously layered narrative, told over the course of one week, Eddie Joyce's debut novel masterfully depicts an Italian-Irish American family on Staten Island and their complicated emotional history. Ten years after the loss of Bobby—the Amendola family's youngest son—everyone is still struggling to recover from the firefighter's unexpected death. Bobby's mother, Gail; his widow, Tina; his older brothers Peter, the corporate lawyer, and Franky, the misfit; and his father, Michael, have all dealt with their grief in different ways. But as the family gathers together for Bobby Jr.'s birthday party, they must each find a way to accept a new man in Tina's life while reconciling their feelings for their lost loved one.In unflinching but lyrical prose, Joyce shows us one mother's struggle to keep her family together and preserve the memory of her son. Following Gail as she moves from the corner offices of white-shoe Manhattan law firms to the blue-collar gin mills of the outer boroughs, Small Mercies reveals a different New York, one that exists in the hearts and minds of its inhabitants.Presented through multiple points of view, Small Mercies explores the conflicts and deep attachments that exist within families. Heart-wrenching and profoundly relatable, Joyce's debut is a love letter to Staten Island and a deeply affecting portrait of an American family.

Sam and Holly Foster seemed to enjoy near-perfect lives. Each claimed a successful career and a legacy of goals set and achieved. Held above their possessions and accomplishments was their only child, James. He was the son they promised to raise together and the reason they came home each night. But when a life crisis jolts the Fosters from their comfortable routines, Sam and Holly find the foundation of their family tested to the breaking point until chance encounters guided by a higher power bring the couple back together.

Nominated for a 2014 Lime Award for Excellence in FictionNamed a Best Book of Summer 2014 by Publishers WeeklyNamed a Pick of the Week for the week of June 30th by Publishers Weekly'An earnest, well-done historical novel that skillfully blends fact and fiction.'--Publishers Weekly'A profound story of how one unforeseen event may tear a family apart, but another can just as unexpectedly bring them back together again.'--Publishers Weekly, Best Book of Summer 2014 Pick'Solomon enticingly described the novel Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night by Barbara J. Taylor (Akashic), set in a coal-mining town in 1913, as'one of those sit on the couch and don't bother me'reads.'--Shelf Awareness, NCIBA Spring Rep Picks'An absolute gem of a book filled with beautiful characters and classical writing techniques rarely seen in modern literature.'--The Christian Manifesto, Top Fiction Pick of 2014'This story is at once poignant and hopeful, spiced up by such characters as Billy Sunday, the revivalist, and Grief, the specter who haunts Grace to the very edge of sanity. A rich debut.'--Historical Novel Society'Like Dickens, the novel faces family tragedy, in this case the town blaming 8-year-old Violet Morgan for her older sister's death. As her parents fall victim to their own vices, Violet learns how to form her own friendships to survive.'--Arts.Mic'A fantastic novel worthy of the greatest accolades. Writing a book about a historical event can be difficult, as is crafting a bestseller, but Barbara J. Taylor is successful at both.'--Downtown Magazine'Taylor's careful attention to detail and her deep knowledge of the community and its people give the novel a welcome gravity.'--The Columbus Dispatch'One of the most compelling books I've ever read...a haunting story that will stay with the reader long after reading this novel.'--Story Circle Book Reviews'Rave reviews are pouring in for this historical novel of a family tragedy.'--The Halifax Reader,'6 New Books to Look for in July''This well-written book is peopled with characters the reader can really care about and captures the feeling of a gritty twentieth century coal mining community.'--Breakthrough, newsletter of the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation'Like all good historical fiction, I learned from this novel.'--Time 2 Read'This book has...prizewinner written all over it....Worth the read!'--I've Read This'This haunting story of tragedy and hope in an early twentieth century mining town is...an expertly crafted arrow that shoots straight for the heart. Reminiscent of classics such as How Green Was My Valley...this book is a must-read for fans of character-driven, authentic historical fiction.'--Amy Drown BlogAlmost everyone in town blames eight-year-old Violet Morgan for the death of her nine-year-old sister, Daisy. Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night opens on September 4, 1913, two months after the Fourth of July tragedy. Owen, the girls'father,'turns to drink'and abandons his family. Their mother Grace falls victim to the seductive powers of Grief, an imagined figure who has seduced her off-and-on since childhood. Violet forms an unlikely friendship with Stanley Adamski, a motherless outcast who works in the mines as a breaker boy. During an unexpected blizzard, Grace goes into premature labor at home and is forced to rely on Violet, while Owen is'off being saved'at a Billy Sunday Revival. Inspired by a haunting family story, Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night blends real life incidents with fiction to show how grace can be found in the midst of tragedy.

The novel tells the story of Jude Fawley, a village stonemason who yearns to be a scholar at Christminster, a city modeled on Oxford, England. The novela also follows his earthy wife, Arabella, and his cousin, Sue. The elaborately structured plot dwells on subtle details and accidents lead to the characters'ruin while exploring many different themes.

Upon its first appearance in 1895, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure shocked Victorian critics and readers with a frank depiction of sexuality and an unbridled indictment of the institutions of marriage, education, and religion, reportedly causing one Angli-can bishop to order the book publicly burned. The experience so exhausted Hardy that he never wrote a work of fiction again.Rich in symbolism, Jude the Obscure is the story of Jude Fawley and his struggle to rise from his station as a poor Wessex stonemason to that of a scholar at Christminster. It is also the story of Jude's ill-fated relationship with his cousin Sue Bridehead, and the ultimate tragedy that causes Jude's undoing and Sue's transformation. Jude the Obscure explores man's essential loneliness and remains one of Hardy's most widely read novels.

In an age when women are expected to know their place, be submissive, dutiful and chaste, Maggie Dickson, a Musselburgh fishwife, is often in trouble. She's outspoken, promiscuous and vituperative. While her husband's at sea, she sells he

Powerful and controversial from its 1895 publication to the present, Jude the Obscure scandalized Victorian critics, who condemned it as decadent, indecent, and degenerate. Between its frank portrayals of sexuality and its indictments of marriage, religion, and England's class system, the novel offended a broad swath of readers. Its heated reception led the embittered author to renounce fiction, turning his considerable talents ever afterward to writing poetry.Hardy's last novel depicts a changing world, where a poor stonemason can aspire to a university education and a higher place in society—but where in reality such dreams remain unattainable. Thwarted at every turn, Jude Hawley abandons his hopes, is trapped into an unwise marriage, and pursues a doomed relationship with his free-spirited cousin, Sue Bridehead. The lovers find themselves equally incapable of living within the conventions of their era and of transcending its legal and moral strictures. Hailed by modern critics as a pioneering work of feminism and socialist thought, Hardy's tragic parable continues to resonate with readers.

“A more-than-welcome return to a classic idea of the novel... A wonder to read” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). The field is all around us. It's our needs and our wants. This is what George tells Lydia. A disturbance, however, is something that keeps us from grasping and attaining the things we need. Usually, we can adapt to these disturbances and move forward. But, what happens if a disturbance becomes too great to move past? In this entrancing tale of loss and understanding, acclaimed author Lynne Sharon Schwartz plots the course of a woman's life, through the cycles of love, loss, and acceptance. Lydia's early life is marked by calm constants: a house in Cape Cod, a philosophy group in college. These remain her touchstones as she becomes a busy wife, mother, and music teacher. But when her family's world is suddenly shattered, she struggles to regain her equilibrium. Will she be able to find her way in such a radically altered field?

A bright June day. A split-second distraction. A family forever changed. Life is good for Maura Corrigan. Married to her college sweetheart, Pete, raising three young kids with her parents nearby in her peaceful Chicago suburb, her world is secure. Then one day, in a single turn of fate, that entire world comes crashing down and everything that she thought she knew changes. Maura must learn to move forward with the weight of grief and the crushing guilt of an unforgivable secret. Pete senses a gap growing between him and his wife but finds it easier to escape to the bar with his friends than face the flaws in his marriage. Meanwhile, Maura's parents are dealing with the fault lines in their own marriage. Charismatic Roger, who at sixty-five, is still chasing the next business deal and Margaret, a pragmatic and proud homemaker, have been married for four decades, seemingly happily. But the truth is more complicated. Like Maura, Roger has secrets of his own and when his deceptions and weaknesses are exposed, Margaret's love and loyalty face the ultimate test.Those We Love Most chronicles how these unforgettable characters confront their choices, examine their mistakes, fight for their most valuable relationships, and ultimately find their way back to each other. It takes us deep into the heart of what makes families and marriages tick and explores a fundamental question: when the ties that bind us to those we love are strained or broken, how do we pick up the pieces? Deeply penetrating and brimming with emotional insight, this engrossing family drama heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

Thomas Hardy's last novel, Jude the Obscure, has been enjoyed by readers around the world for over a century. Somewhat autobiographical, the story follows Jude Fawley, a stonemason in the fictional county of Wessex, who moves to Christminster to follow his dream of becoming a scholar. He becomes embroiled in a social scandal which leads to murder and suicide.

Thirty-something midwesterner Mark Fife believes he has successfully moved past the accidental death of his young son Brendan, as well as his subsequent divorce from his college sweetheart Chloe. He's successful, he's in love again, and he believes he's mastered his own memories. But then he is contacted by a strange woman who tells him not only that she owns his old house, but that she believes it to be haunted by Brendan's ghost. Will Mark--who does not believe in ghosts--come to accept the mounting evidence that Brendan's is real? Will his engagement to his new love Allison be threatened by the reappearance in Mark's life of Chloe--who does believe? If the ghost is real, what can these two wounded parents do to help their son? You Came Back examines the beauty and danger of belief in all its forms--not only belief in the supernatural, but in the love that binds parents and children, husbands and wives.

The Ryries have suffered a loss: the death of a baby just fifty-seven hours after his birth. Without words to express their grief, the parents, John and Ricky, try to return to their previous lives. Struggling to regain a semblance of normalcy for themselves and for their two older children, they find themselves pretending not only that little has changed, but that their marriage, their family, have always been intact. Yet in the aftermath of the baby's death, long-suppressed uncertainties about their relationship come roiling to the surface. A dreadful secret emerges with reverberations that reach far into their past and threaten their future. Moving, psychologically acute and gorgeously written, The Grief of Others asks how we balance personal autonomy with the intimacy of relationships, how we balance private decisions with the obligations of belonging to a family, and how we take measure of our own sorrows in a world rife with suffering. This novel shows how one family, by finally allowing itself to experience the shared quality of grief, is able to rekindle tenderness and hope.

Bestselling author Carolyn Jess-Cooke has written a brilliant novel of suspense that delves into the recesses of the human mind and soul—perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Lisa Unger. The Boy Who Could See Demons follows a child psychologist who comes up against a career-defining case—one that threatens to unravel her own painful past and jeopardizes the life of a boy who can see the impossible. Dr. Anya Molokova, a child psychiatrist, is called in to work at MacNeice House, an adolescent mental health treatment center. There she is told to observe and assess Alex Connolly, a keenly intelligent, sensitive ten-year-old coping with his mother's latest suicide attempt. Alex is in need of serious counseling: He has been harming himself and others, often during blackouts. At the root of his destructive behavior, Alex claims, is his imaginary “friend” Ruen, a cunning demon who urges Alex to bend to his often violent will. But Anya has seen this kind of behavior before—with her own daughter, Poppy, who suffered from early-onset schizophrenia. Determined to help Alex out of his darkness, Anya begins to treat the child. But soon strange and alarming coincidences compel Anya to wonder: Is Alex's condition a cruel trick of the mind? Or is Ruen not so make-believe after all? The reality, it turns out, is more terrifying than anything she has ever encountered. A rich and deeply moving page-turner, The Boy Who Could See Demons sets out to challenge the imagination and capture the way life takes unexpected turns. In the best storytelling tradition, it leaves the reader changed.Praise for The Boy Who Could See Demons “A well written, engaging read filled with compassion for those suffering the whims of an untamed mental illness... A poignant read, The Boy Who Could See Demons is a suspenseful novel that probes the issues surrounding the devastating effects of mental illness. The author delves into the psychological issues of schizophrenia and mental disorders with such dexterity it leaves the reader stirred and affected, questioning throughout the story what is real and what is not.... As the conclusion draws near, the story takes unexpected turns, making it even more dramatic and compelling.”—New York Journal of Books “Impressive... Jess-Cooke is every bit as skillful in her vivid portrayals of unworldly beings... as in illustrating the dreadful toll taken by mental illness.”—Booklist “A searing novel of suspense.”—Publishers Weekly“A psychologically complex thriller, told with compassion in a marvelously suspenseful narrative that keeps you engaged from the first page to the last... This book has it all: a dark and dangerous setting, characters full of depth, rich emotions, and a clever plot. You'll fall in love with Alex—and his demons.”—Chevy Stevens, author of Still Missing “Top-notch psychological suspense... Beware what you think you know. It might be only the demons talking.”—Lisa Gardner, author of Touch & Go “Brilliant! Rich with fully formed characters, this heart-gripping novel will keep you riveted from first page to last.”—Jeffery Deaver, author of XO “Utterly captivating, this is a book I adored and savored from the first to the very last magical page.”—Tess Gerritsen, author of Ice Cold

Now in one volume, two novels from the National Book Award winner that follow the life of a Southern man searching for love and connection. In The Last Gentleman, Will Barrett has never felt at peace. After moving from his native South to New York City, Will's most meaningful human connections come through the lens of a telescope in Central Park, from which he views the comings and goings of the eccentric Vaught family. But Will's days as a spectator end when he meets the Vaught patriarch and accepts a job in the Mississippi Delta as caretaker for the family's ailing son, Jamie. Once there, he is confronted not only by his personal demons, but also his growing love for Jamie's sister, Kitty, and a deepening relationship with the Vaught family that will teach him the true meaning of home. And in The Second Coming, now in his late forties, Will Barrett lives a life other men only dream of. Wealthy from a successful career on Wall Street and from the inheritance of his deceased wife's estate, Will is universally admired at the club where he spends his days golfing in the North Carolina sun. But everything begins to unravel when, without warning, Will's golf shots begin landing in the rough, and he is struck with bouts of losing his balance and falling over. Just when Will appears doomed to share the fate of his father—whose suicide has haunted him his whole life—a mental hospital escapee named Allison might prove to be the only one who can save him. From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Moviegoer, these novels have been acclaimed by Time magazine for “irony, understatement, and compassion” and praised by the New York Times as “wonderfully good reading.”

Pathogen begins as a medical investigation into an unreported toxin that is causing death among children. A Pathologist gathers case studies and tries to correlate the data in an attempt to find a vector: mice, berries, mosquitoes, etc. that could be infecting a wide disparity of children over different parts of the Country. One adult female has died the same distinctive death.

Shannon Pitcher was trying to forget the brutal murder of her ex-husband and the loss of her only daughter, when fate brought her to a lost, scared little girl named Charity at the gate of an abandoned and haunted place called Feral Park. Now she must save Charity from the same Bogey Man who killed her own daughter, and from the wild children of Feral Park.

Jeremiah Williams has been tending the gardens of the Tennessee governor's mansion for over twenty-five years. And like most first families who have come and gone, this one has stolen his heart. Mackenzie and her husband, Governor Gray London, have struggled for ten years to have a child and are now enjoying a sweet season of life—anticipating the coming reelection and sending their precious daughter, Maddie, off to kindergarten—when a tragedy tears their world apart. As the entire state mourns, Mackenzie falls into a grief that threatens to swallow her whole. Though his heart is also broken, Jeremiah realizes that his gift of gardening is about far more than pulling weeds and planting flowers. It's about tending hearts as well. As he uses the tools that have been placed in his hands, he gently begins to cultivate the hard soil of Mackenzie's heart, hoping to help her realize what it took him years to discover. A Southern tale of loss, love, and living, The First Gardner reminds us that all of life is a gift, but our heart is the most valuable gift of all.

National Book Award Finalist: A lonely Southerner forges a surprising bond with a New York family in this “brilliant” novel by the author of The Moviegoer (Time). Will Barrett has never felt at peace. After moving from his native South to New York City, Will's most meaningful human connections come through the lens of a telescope in Central Park, from which he views the comings and goings of the eccentric Vaught family. But Will's days as a spectator end when he meets the Vaught patriarch and accepts a job in the Mississippi Delta as caretaker for the family's ailing son, Jamie. Once there, he is confronted not only by his personal demons, but also his growing love for Jamie's sister, Kitty, and a deepening relationship with the Vaught family that will teach him the true meaning of home.

Esperanza's Box of Saints is a magical, humorous, and passion-filled odyssey about a beautiful young widow's search for her missing child -- a mission that takes her from a humble Mexican village to the rowdy brothels of Tijuana and a rarely seen side of Los Angeles. Rescued from turmoil by her favorite saint, Esperanza embarks on a journey that tests her faith, teaches her the ways of the world, and transforms her from a fervently religious innocent to an independent, sexual, and passionately devout woman.

Belly marks the arrival of a talented young writer whose assured debut has the perfect blend of humor and poignancy. Lisa Selin Davis gives us an engaging story of fatherhood, daughters and family ties that will undoubtedly have wide appeal.

What if you could visit heaven and hell, traveling when and wherever you wish... without ever dying? What if your teenage daughter, the joy of your life, had died a tragic death and you discovered a way to visit her? What if there were people and beings, on both sides of the grave, who want to stop your return? These are the questions facing novelist David Kauffman. As a single parent he is devastated when his young daughter meets an untimely death. Desperate to contact her, he meets Gita Patekar, a beautiful and committed Christian with a scarred and shame-ridden past. She works for “Life After Life”—an organization dedicated to tracking and recording the experiences of the soul once it leaves the body. Despite Gita's warnings that God is opposed to contacting the dead, David uses the organization's computer to try to find his daughter. In the process they discover Gita's organization has some very deep and dark secrets. A suspense-filled game of cat and mouse begins—both on earth and beyond the grave—as the couple work together, fall in love, and struggle to expose the truth... until they come face to face with the ultimate Love and Truth.

The bestselling author of Bee Season brilliantly explores the cruelty of children, the unreliability of memory, and the unpredictable forces that shape our adult selves. •'Haunting.... A compelling exploration of the fallibility of memory, explored through richly drawn characters.” —San Francisco ChronicleTwenty years after Celia's best friend, Djuna, went missing, memories of that terrible day come rushing back—including the lie Celia remembers having told to conceal her role in Djuna's disappearance. But when Celia returns to her hometown to confess the truth, her family and childhood friends recall that day very differently. As Celia learns more about what may or may not have happened, she becomes increasingly uncertain whom she should trust.

Social worker Claire Conover honestly believed she could make a difference in the world until she gets the phone call she's dreaded her entire career. One of her young clients, Michael, has been found dead and his mother, Ashley, has been arrested for his murder. And who made the decision to return Michael to Ashley? Claire Conover.Ashley had seemingly done everything right-gotten clean, found a place to live, worked two jobs, and earned back custody of her son. Devastated but determined to discover where her instincts failed her, Claire vows to find the truth about what really happened to Michael.What Claire finds is no shortage of suspects. Ashley's boyfriend made no secret that he didn't want children. And Ashley's stepfather, an alcoholic and chronic gambler, has a shady past. And what about Michael's mysterious father and his family? Or Ashley herself? Was she really using again? Amidst a heap of unanswered questions, one thing is for certain: Claire Conover is about to uncover secrets that could ruin lives-or end her own.