Anna Byrne is fighting to make her dream come true. She’s studying for a graduate degree in literature at Queen Mary in London, a city she’s longed for since she was a child. But making ends meet is hard; Anna grew up poor, lost her mother a few years ago, and no longer speaks to …
Lord Jonathan Leighton, third son of the Duke of Falconridge, was on a grand tour when he and thousands of other British civilians were forced into detainee camps in France. Jon attempted escape alongside his two best friends and his mentor, Dr. Isaac Morris, but they were captured and sent to prison, where Morris died …
In 2017, several years after her first suicide attempt, Rebolini became so tormented by a desire to die that she checked herself into a psychiatric ward. In the years since that stay, she has performed sweeping literary, sociological, historical, and psychological research on the topic of suicidality, in an “effort to stake a claim in …
The German philosopher and sociologist Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) remains famous today for his Marxist critiques of popular culture as well as for a prose style as intricately knotty as a macrame vest. Among his most characteristically memorable pronouncements was this: “The critique of culture is confronted with the last stage in the dialectic of culture …
The Hellas Station is a trailblazing Mars colony staffed by only a handful of international, highly competent astronauts. One of these exceptional colonists is extra-special: Adam Flynn is the first human born on Mars (sadly, his mother died from cancer in the radiation-rich environment). Seventeen-year-old Adam has matured to be a survival-hardened and resourceful youth …
Every town should have a place like the Geode Cafe and Bookshop, where the citizens of Umbra River, California, can gather to chat, read, and sip espresso drinks. Geode—its name a nod to the town’s Goldrush past—is owned by retired schoolteacher and empty-nester Olivia, a cheerful woman plagued by occasional migraines. She loves that her …
A young child spends the day on the beach and receives advice on how to build the perfect sandcastle. The child is first encouraged to ask a friend to help. The pair then builds a solid base by forming a crater in a sand hill and packing it down. The book offers different options for …
Now living in Germany, Hanefeld, who was born in 1958, grew up in England with her English mother and Czech father. The six relatives she knew on her father’s side were her grandparents, an aunt, and a great-uncle and great-aunt, who’d all resettled in England. The family never spoke of their background, and it was …
A married man (generously called Adonis) engages in various sexual escapades with a parade of different women. Readers begin the story knowing that Adonis has died, and the author uses a variety of different formats to tell the story of his downfall. These include poetry, short prose, quotes (some of which are in French), and …
Brielle Petitfour dreams of becoming a renowned chef, serving up food from her Haitian culture to Miami’s upper crust via her elite supper club. But she’s also a zombie—or a zonbi, as they’re known in Creole. Brielle’s immigrant mother suffers chronic pain from an injury sustained while working for the white Banks family, the same …