The Egyptian Years


Elizabeth Harris - 1992
    Only her parasol was ever found — the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, and assumed death, were never explained. A century later, Willa Jamieson comes into the possession of a trunk of Genevieve’s possessions. Hidden in a secret compartment she finds Genevieve’s diary…which holds the key to her secret life and her sadistic husband, her strength and her ability to survive everything life threw at her. As she’s drawn further and further into the diary, Willa realises that it might just hold the answers to what really happened to Genevieve Montsorrel…

What Luck, This Life


Kathryn Schwille - 2018
    A shop owner defends herself against a sexual predator who is pushed to new boldness after he is disinvited to his family reunion. A closeted father facing a divorce that will leave his gifted boy adrift retrieves an astronaut’s remains. An engineer who dreams of orbiting earth joins a search for debris and instead uncovers an old neighbor’s buried longing. In a chorus of voices spanning places and years, What Luck, This Life explores the Columbia disaster’s surprising fallout for a town beset by the tensions of class, race, and missed opportunity. Evoking Sherwood Anderson’s classic Winesburg, Ohio and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, the novel’s unforgettable characters struggle with family upheaval and mortality’s grip and a luminous book emerges—filled with heartache, beauty and warmth.

Beyond the Darkness: My Near-Death Journey to the Edge of Hell


Angie Fenimore - 1995
    Instead she entered a realm of terrifying darkness. Beyond the Darkness is unique in the near-death literature because it is the only full-length account of a descent into Hell.

Rain


Kate le Vann - 2008
    While going through her childhood bedroom, Rain discovers an old diary that reveals her mother was pregnant with her when she was her age - 16 - and tells of how scared, confused and happy she was. Rain retraces the places that her mother went with a boy with whom she falls in love.

The Wizard's Tide


Frederick Buechner - 1990
    Through the poignant beauty of a child's voice, Buechner describes the joys and sorrows of the Schroeder family as they contend with personal calamity and the disastrous events of the Great Depression.

Hyppolytus/The Bacchae


Euripides
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

A Purple Summer: Notes on the Lyrics of Spring Awakening


Steven Sater - 2012
    That night, Sater came home and began writing the first lyric of Spring Awakening: "Mama Who Bore Me" - a lyric which still stands, verbatim, just as he first wrote it. Ten years later, in the wake of the enormous international success of this groundbreaking, multiaward-winning show, its original director, Michael Mayer, urged Sater to write notes explicating its famously evocative, poetic lyrics. In rich detail, Sater's notes address the literary sources and allusions of each lyric. He also writes feelingly of what prompted the songs over the course of the show's eight years of development. In so doing, Sater expands on his partnership with Sheik and his experiences with original cast members, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, now also known from Glee. These notes will prove invaluable for fans of the show, for all those interested in theater, and most especially for all the young performers who will play the roles and sing these songs.

Skyline


Patricia Schonstein Pinnock - 2000
    Drug dealers from Nigeria, Zimbabwean wire-workers, immigrants from Rwanda and Sudan, a Mozambican refugee - all escaping the ruins of war in the peace of the new South Africa - bear down on her fragile world, then scoop her into theirs. "Skyline" is an unflinching look at one girl's coming of age in the colourful and violent streets of a city waking up to the rest of Africa.

The Two-Character Play


Tennessee Williams - 1979
    "I think it is my most beautiful play since Streetcar," Tennessee Williams said, "and I've never stopped working on it....It is a cri de coeur, but then all creative work,all life, in a sense is a cri de coeur."In the course of its evolution, several earlier versions of The Two-Character Play have been produced. The first of them was presented in 1967 in London and Chicago and brought out in 1969 by New Directions in a signed limited edition. The next, staged in 1973 in New York under the title Out Cry, was published by New Directions in 1973 The third version (New York, 1975), again titled The Two-Character Play, is the one Tennessee Williams wished to include in New Directions' The Theatre of Tennessee Williams series. It is this version which is presented in this ND paperback.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's the Great Gatsby


Harold Bloom - 1986
    - Presents the most important 20th century criticism on major works from The Odyssey through modern literature- The critical essays reflect a variety of schools of criticism- Contains critical biographies, notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and an index- Introductory essay by Harold Bloom

how the poor die


George Orwell
    Orwell gives an anecdotal account of his experiences in a french public hospital which triggers a contemplation of hospital literature in the context of 19th-century medicine.

The Native Commissioner


Shaun Johnson - 2004
    He prided himself on furthering relations between communities, speaking several tribal languages fluently and developing a reputation as a man to be trusted and sought after for help and advice. With a thriving young family, a devoted wife and a quick succession of promotions, George is proud of everything he has achieved so far, in particular the understanding he is fostering between whites and blacks. Then, in the wake of the 1948 elections, George feels a shift in the Native Affairs Department's agenda. As he is shunted from one outpost to another, his role becoming ever more hopeless, his place in South Africa's future increasingly hazy, he feels the weight of his powerlessness and finds himself fighting off a crippling depression. "The Native Commissioner" is a heart-wrenching portrayal of a kind and conscientious man who felt himself cast adrift under the weight of South African apartheid.

A Dog's Purpose Boxed Set


W. Bruce Cameron - 2014
    More than just another charming dog story, W. Bruce Cameron's A Dog's Purpose touches on the universal quest for an answer to life's most basic question: Why are we here?Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog's Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.When Buddy is reborn in A Dog's Journey, he realizes that he has a new destiny. He's overjoyed when he is adopted by a vibrant but troubled teenager. When they are suddenly separated, Buddy despairs—who will take care of his girl?A charming and heartwarming story of hope, love, and unending devotion, A Dog's Journey asks the question: Do we really take care of our pets, or do they take care of us?

Learning to Breathe


Joanne McClean - 2012
    Even when she meets carefree Danny Fletcher, Darcie insists that she wants nothing to do with him.But, when Darcie needs a favour and Danny is the only one who can help, the two must spend time together. As they grow closer, Danny is determined to discover why Darcie is so private about her life but little does he know that he's not just breaking down her barriers ... he's helping her learn to breathe again.

Everybody's All-american


Frank Deford - 1981
    A star running back at the University of North Carolina in the late 1950s, he graces the covers of Time and LIFE magazines and appears on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Everyone wants a piece of him or to be around him to bask in his glory, including his nephew Donny, who narrates the story and is Gavin's only real confidant.After college, Gavin goes on to the NFL where he has a solid career. As his playing days wind down and the cheering stops, however, he finds the adjustment to life as an ex-athlete difficult to accept. His wife "Babs" goes off to work, becomes the primary breadwinner for the family while Gavin continues to trade on his memories of old times, when he was everybody's All-American.