A small girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home. In the strangers' house she finds affection she has not known before, and slowly she begins to blossom in their care. But when a secret is suddenly revealed, she realizes how fragile her idyll is.
Signal Fires weaves the lives of two families across fifty years, revealing the profound connections between them. Under an ancient oak on Division Street, retired doctor Ben Wilf and ten-year-old genius Waldo Shenkman share a moment beneath the stars, unaware of their intertwined destinies.
In a world where secrets and lies intertwine, the Wilfs and the Shenkmans are brought together by unforeseen forces. As the narrative spans the cosmos and half a century, these families are bound by the gravity of their shared history.
Signal Fires is an urgent and compassionate tale of kinship, remembrance, and the ties that bind us together. Dani Shapiro crafts a masterful story that illuminates the heart's capacity to heal itself through connections that transcend time and space.
Thank You for Listening is an uplifting novel by Julia Whelan, the author of My Oxford Year. It follows the story of Sewanee Chester, a former actress who has found a new path and success as an audiobook narrator, which also allows her to care for her ailing grandmother. Despite the satisfaction her current life brings, Sewanee has lost sight of her old dreams after a tragic accident.
Her journey takes an unexpected turn when she attends a book convention in Las Vegas and spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger. Upon returning home, she learns that one of the world's most beloved romance novelists has requested her to narrate her last book alongside Brock McNight, the industry's most enigmatic and sought-after voice.
Sewanee, who has grown cynical of romance novels after her dreams were dashed, is hesitant to return to narrating them. However, her respect for the late author and the chance to help her grandmother more convinces her to take on the task. As she begins recording under her old romance pseudonym, Sewanee and Brock develop a genuine connection, veiled by the anonymity the job provides.
As she starts to dream again, Sewanee's life is upended by revelations and the harsh realities of life. Facing the risk of embracing long-buried desires, she stands to uncover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never thought possible—a world where she can finally listen to her heart.
Our Missing Hearts is a gripping novel about a mother’s unbreakable love in a world consumed by fear. Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left when he was nine years old, and her books have since been banned.
Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, pulling him into a quest to find her. His journey takes him through the many folktales she once shared, into an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he uncovers the truth about his mother and the future that awaits them both.
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, exploring the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore searing injustice. It delves into the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children and the power of art to create change.
Nora's life is about to get a rewrite...
Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it's her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage's collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it's picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home.
When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne'er-do-well husband, Nora's life will never be the same. The morning after shooting wraps and the crew leaves, Nora finds Leo on her porch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a proposition. He'll pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. The extra seven grand would give Nora breathing room, but it's the need in his eyes that makes her say yes.
For Nora and Leo, this kind of love is bigger than the big screen.
One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming... Nora Stephens' life is books—she's read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters' trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she's convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they've met many times and it's never been cute.
If Nora knows she's not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he's nobody's hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they've written about themselves.
It's been 20 years since his mother told Seiichi that she renounced motherhood, since she thanked him for being a killer, since he tried to strangle her there in the courtroom—and somehow he made it through. Living alone, working the night shift at a commercial bakery, barely speaking to his father, Seiichi's life is solitary and empty, and he likes it that way. But nothing lasts forever... The grand preface is over—and now the real story begins!!
Sunset Park is a luminous, passionate, and expansive novel, an emotional tour de force from the bestselling author Paul Auster. Set during the dark months of the 2008 economic collapse, this novel follows the hopes and fears of a cast of unforgettable characters.
At the heart of the story is Miles Heller, an enigmatic young man working as a trash-out worker in southern Florida, obsessively photographing thousands of abandoned objects left behind by evicted families. When Miles falls in love with Pilar Sanchez, he finds himself on the run again, returning to New York, where his family lives, and into an abandoned house of young squatters in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Woven together from various points of view, including that of Miles's father, an independent book publisher trying to stay afloat, and Miles's mother, a celebrated actress preparing her return to the New York stage, Auster creates a vibrant tapestry of contemporary America and its ghosts. Sunset Park is a surprising departure that confirms Paul Auster as one of our greatest living writers.
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo.
We've Got This: Stories of Disabled Parenting offers a profound insight into the lives of parents with disabilities. Writer and musician Eliza Hull presents an anthology where twenty-five parents share their personal narratives of raising children while navigating the complexities that come with being Deaf, disabled, or chronically ill.
The book explores the triumphs and challenges they face, and most importantly, it confronts the societal attitudes that often pose the greatest barriers. These stories are not commonly found in parenting literature, making this collection an essential read for understanding the diverse experiences of disabled parenting.
With contributions from a variety of voices such as Jacinta Parsons, Kristy Forbes, Graeme Innes, and many others, this anthology is a testament to the resilience and joy that can be found in the face of adversity. It challenges misconceptions and celebrates the existence and capabilities of disabled parents everywhere.
Delilah Green Doesn't Care is a clever and steamy queer romantic comedy about taking chances and accepting love—with all its complications. Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it's a different woman every night, but that's just fine with her.
When Delilah's estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back in the godforsaken town that she used to call home. She plans to breeze in and out, but then she sees Claire Sutherland, one of Astrid's stuck-up besties, and decides that maybe there's some fun (and a little retribution) to be had in Bright Falls, after all.
Having raised her eleven-year-old daughter mostly on her own while dealing with her unreliable ex and running a bookstore, Claire Sutherland depends upon a life without surprises. And Delilah Green is an unwelcome surprise…at first. Though they've known each other for years, they don't really know each other—so Claire is unsettled when Delilah figures out exactly what buttons to push. When they're forced together during a gauntlet of wedding preparations—including a plot to save Astrid from her horrible fiancé—Claire isn't sure she has the strength to resist Delilah's charms. Even worse, she's starting to think she doesn't want to.