When I was twelve, I made a naïve, yet desperate pact with God to keep my ailing mother alive. It was the first time I'd ventured something so brazen--making a contract with the Almighty... So begins the story of Becky Owens, a talented and passionate young pianist on the verge of adolescence when she learns the devastating news of her mother's critical illness. As the daughter of a country preacher in Lancaster County, Becky knows well the significance...

A planet on the edge of life. A woman on the edge of hope.Microbiologist Graysha Brady-Phillips accepts a hazardous position assisting in terraforming the planet Goddard, partly to get out of debt and partly in desperate hope. There's a chance that the colonists are conducting illegal genetic research, which could provide a cure for the genetic disorder slowly killing her.But genetic engineering is banned by the powerful Eugenics Board, and Graysha...

After more than half a century of marriage, Dorothy and George are embarking on their first journey abroad together. Three decades younger, Jan and Annemieke are taking their last, as illness and incompatibility bring their unhappy union to an end. At first the luxury of a Caribbean resort is no match for the well-worn patterns of domestic life. Then the couples' paths cross, and a series of surprises ensues - a disappearance and an assault - but...

For lovers of Meg Wolitzer, Maria Semple, and Jenny Offill comes this raucous, poignant celebration of life, love, and friendship at its imperfect and radiant best. Edith and Ashley have been best friends for over forty-two years. They've shared the mundane and the momentous together: trick or treating and binge drinking; Gilligan's Island reruns and REM concerts; hickeys and heartbreak; surprise Scottish wakes; marriages, infertility, and children....

At 34, Scarlet Kavanagh has the kind of homecoming no child wishes, a visit back to family and dear friends for the gentle passing of her mother, Addie, a famous bird artist and an even more infamous environmental activist. Though Addie and her husband, ornithologist Tom Kavanagh, have made their life in southeastern Pennsylvania, Addie has chosen to die at the New Jersey home of her dearest friend, Cora. This is because the Kavanagh's ramshackle...

Will Self possesses one of the greatest literary imaginations of any writer working today. How the Dead Live is his most extraordinary book yet-a novel that will challenge, entertain, and truly astonish. Lily Bloom is an aging American transplanted to England who has lost her battle with cancer and lies wasting away at the Royal Ear Hospital. As her two daughters-lumpy Charlotte, who runs a hugely successful chain of stationery stores called Waste...

The crew of the merchant ship Narcissus rally around a critically ill fellow crewmember, James Wait, putting their lives and the fate of the ship in jeopardy. Based in part on author Joseph Conrad's experience during a voyage from Bombay to London, The Nigger of the Narcissus is considered to be one of Conrad's best works.

Ruth Ritchie elopes with a stereo salesman, thinking that she has found her ticket out of Summerville, Tennessee where her future means selling pies at Durwood's Hardware. But Chuck "gets religion," and Ruth, who cherishes her freedom more than safety, buys a used car and heads north. When Ruth faints from hunger at a North Carolina five-and-dime, Rose, a feisty elderly reporter, rescues her. A friendship stronger than family ties blossoms; for all...

When her beloved mama falls ill from the ever-creeping mold overtaking their world, twelve-year-old fairy Canary Mossheart, armed with only a bucket and a prayer, sets out to find a magical, underground lake with healing powers but instead finds a terrifying secret.

Sam Bonner is a household name. He spent his life within the best-known circles of Hollywood. His name on a film guaranteed a gross of millions. Every actor and actress wanted to star in a Bonner film, and Bonner's casting choices made or broke careers; after all, he controlled the game. Success was so easy for him but in the bicentennial summer of 1976, a nation turned two hundred, and Sam's game has plateaued. On the road with his third wife, Sara,...