Her characters are a strange ensemble—a feral child, a girl raised from the dead, a possible pedophile—who share in vulnerability and heartache, but maintain an unremitting will to survive. Meijer deals in desire and sex, femininity and masculinity, family and girlhood, crafting a landscape of appetites threatening to self-destruct. In beautifully restrained and exacting prose, she sets the marginalized free to roam her pages and burn our assumptions to the ground.

    In "The Immortal Story," a miserly old tea-trader living in Canton wishes for power and finds redemption as he turns an oft-told sailors' tale into reality for a young man and woman. And in the magnificent novella Ehrengard, Dinesen tells of the powerful yet restrained rapport between a noble Wagnerian beauty and a rakish artist. Hauntingly evoked and sensuously realized, the five stories and novella collected here have the hold of "fairy stories read in childhood . . . of dreams . . . and of our life as dreams" (The New York Times).

    Stevie's biting, hilarious take on her own and others' foibles will make you cheer and will have you loving Misconduct of the Heart (in the immortal words of Stevie's best line cook) "like never tomorrow."

    The strong but flawed women of Mothers, Tell Your Daughters must negotiate a sexually charged atmosphere as they love, honor, and betray one another against the backdrop of all the men in their world. Such richly fraught mother-daughter relationships can be lifelines, anchors, or they can sink a woman like a stone.In "My Dog Roscoe," a new bride becomes obsessed with the notion that her dead ex-boyfriend has returned to her in the form of a mongrel. In "Blood Work, 1999," a phlebotomist's desire to give away everything to the needy awakens her own sensuality. In "Home to Die," an abused woman takes revenge on her bedridden husband. In these fearless and darkly funny tales about women and those they love, Campbell’s spirited American voice is at its most powerful.

    That’s my guilty secret.”

    With a foreword by Robert Shapard and an afterword by Christopher Merrill, this book brings you fresh approaches to an exacting form that demands precision, a species of brevity that is surprisingly expansive. Writers say the pieces are hard to compose, but readers say they are easy to appreciate, a pleasure to envision, a wonder to watch life spun out and painted in small places. Real and surreal, lyrical and prosaic, here are 135 stories by 89 authors, certain to make you think.

    Great Short Short Stories: Quick Reads by Great Writers offers that opportunity. An outstanding collection of 30 brilliant short stories, each just six or fewer pages in length, it provides the chance to absorb an entire story (or two or three) in just one sitting.Well-known tales from masters of the short-story genre include: Mark Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"; Franz Kafka, "A Country Doctor"; Edgar Allan Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado"; Guy de Maupassant, "A Piece of String"; Stephen Crane, "The Veteran"; Kate Chopin, "A Pair of Silk Stockings"; plus works by Dickens, O. Henry, Chekhov, Wilde, and many others. Includes 2 selections from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "A White Heron" and "Cask of Amontillado."The egg / Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941, American)An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge / Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?, American)The enchanted bluff / Willa Cather (1873-1947, American)A malefactor / Anton Chekhov (1860-1904, Russian)A pair of silk stockings / Kate Chopin (1851-1904, American)The veteran / Stephen Crane (1871-1900, American)The apparition of Mrs. Veal / Daniel Defoe (1660-1731, English)Nobody's story / Charles Dickens (1812-1870, English)If I were a man / Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935, American)Squire Petrick's lady / Thomas Hardy (1840-1928, English)The luck of Roaring Camp / Bret Harte (1836-1902, American)Dr. Heidegger's experiment / Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864, American)A ghost story / Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927, English)A white heron / Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909, American)A country doctor / Franz Kafka (1883-1924, Czech)Wee Willie Winkie / Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936, English)Sanctuary / Nella Larsen (1891-1964, American)Second best / D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930, English)The white silence / Jack London (1876-1916, American)Germans at meat / Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923, English)A piece of string / Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893, French)The open window / H.H. Munro, or Saki (1870-1916, English)The furnished room / O. Henry (1962-1910, American)With other eyes / Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936, Italian)The cask of Amontillado / Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849, American)The coffin-maker / Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837, Russian)The three hermits / Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910, Russian)The notorious jumping frog of Calaveras County / Mark Twain (1835-1910, American)The remarkable case of Davidson's eyes / H.G. Wells (1866-1946, English)The sphinx without a secret / Oscar Wilde (1854-1900, Irish)

    In “This is Who You Are,” a young girl walks the line between Hebrew School and her regular school, realizing that both are filled with unexpected moments of insight and violence. In “Three Interviews,” an aging reporter must contend with her dwindling sense of self and resources, beleaguered by unemployment, which sets her on a path to three increasingly unhinged job interviews. In “Mrs. America,” a candidate for local office must confront a host of forces that threaten to undermine her campaign, forcing her to face her own role in the dissonance between what America is and what it should be.

    Sometimes they never get over it, destined to be alone for the rest of their lives. And no matter how hard they try, they can’t be happy, because the guilt is enough to kill them too.When my husband dies in a freak boating accident, I’m barely able to function, let alone pick up the pieces of my shattered life. Yes, we had our problems, but I never wanted him to die. My friends tell me it’s time for me to move on and when I finally try to put the past behind me, it comes back to me, shattering everything I thought I knew about my past, my husband and my future.Somebody is lying and will do anything to stop me from finding the truth. But I have to know. Did my husband really die in the waters of Broken Sound?

    By turns caustic, tender, and creepily hilarious, Sweet Affliction reveals the frailties, perversions, and resilience of Anna Leventhal’s cast of city-dwellers. Shiftless youths, a compulsive collector of cigarette butts, and a dying pet rat populate fifteen sharply-observed and darkly funny stories that suck at the marrow of modern life.

    Right? Shonte’ had all of that, but it still wasn’t good enough for her. Being rejected by Darrell after previously doing him dirty, Shonte’s scandalous, ratchet side rears its ugly head and she uses the one thing he loves for than life as a bargaining chip; his daughter Blessing, leaving a whole in his heart. Filling that hole with frustration and hate pushes Darrell to the brink of insanity, leaving him no choice but to take drastic measures to ensure he and his Blessing can be together.

    Now it's 1999 and, working as a journalist, she hears about a film festival in Sarajevo, where she knows Kosmos will be with his theatre company. She takes the assignment to investigate the fallout of the Bosnian war--and to reconnect with the love of her life.But when they are reunited, she finds a man, and a country, altered beyond recognition. Kosmos introduces Gota to Edina, the woman he has always loved. While Gota treads the precarious terrain of her evolving connection to Kosmos, she and Edina forge an unexpected bond. A lawyer and a force to be reckoned with, Edina exposes the sexual violence that she and thousands of others survived in the war. Before long, Gota finds her life entwined with the community of women and travels with them to The Hague to confront their abusers. The events she covers--and the stories she hears--will change herlife forever.Written in Kim Echlin's masterfully luminescent prose, Speak, Silence weaves together the experiences of a resilient sisterhood and tells the story of the real-life trial that would come to shape history. In a heart-wrenching tale of suffering and loss and a beautiful illustration of power and love, Echlin explores what it means to speak out against the very people who would do anything to silence you.

     Finding Elizabeth Abducted from her home just before her third birthday, Elizabeth is taken in by the Bennets. It is only with the arrival of a new tenant at Netherfield that her true identity is discovered. According to Mr Bennet, Elizabeth was found wandering in the gardens of Longbourn but will the truth of the matter ever be known? Her Grandmother’s Wisdom Elizabeth and Mary Bennet on holiday with their Aunt and Uncle Gardiner in Derbyshire. It is there that they first meet Fitzwilliam Darcy a year after his father’s passing. Four years later, Darcy is pleased to discover the young lady he had thought of often resides on the neighbouring estate to the one his friend Bingley has recently leased. Miss Bennet’s Adventure Following the marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy, Mary is invited to join her sister and new brother at Pemberley. There she meets again a certain colonel in His Majesty’s Army. Sequel to Her Grandmother’s Wisdom. Hurst Knows All What if Hurst was more aware of what was going on around him at Netherfield and shared his wife’s and sister’s liking for gossip. Storms over Hunsford The morning after the ill-fated proposal at Hunsford, Elizabeth is walking aimlessly in the grounds of Rosings Park as she reads Darcy’s letter. So caught up in reading and re-reading the missive, while chastising herself, she does not notice the approaching storm until it is too late.

    She would even accompany one of them hundreds of years into the future for a week of Christmas celebrations with the old witch, Morna, just to make him smile. But unexpected guests at the inn upend all of their holiday plans. As she learns more about her new acquaintance, she starts to wonder if her week away might take a romantic turn…When a trip to Conall Castle with his granddaughter results in Malcolm Warren bumping into old friends, their quick trip out of Edinburgh quickly turns into days away from the city. While there, Malcolm meets the first woman in years to stir something long neglected inside his heart. When it comes time to return to the city, his granddaughter wants to remain behind with her new friends. He invites Kenna to come with him, promising her a tour of all of the best Christmas sights in the city. Time together ignites their passion for one another, but the undeniable truth that they live worlds apart threatens their bond.Kenna also holds a secret—can she trust Malcolm with the truth of Morna’s magic? If she does, will their new love for one another be enough to convince him to leave the life he’s always known? Read all the books in Morna’s Legacy Series. They should be read in the following order: Love Beyond Time (Book 1) Love Beyond Reason (Book 2) A Conall Christmas – A Novella (Book 2.5) Love Beyond Hope (Book 3) Love Beyond Measure (Book 4) In Due Time - A Novella (Book 4.5) Love Beyond Compare (Book 5) Love Beyond Dreams (Book 6) Love Beyond Belief (Book 7) A McMillan Christmas – A Novella (Book 7.5) Love Beyond Reach (Book 8) Morna's Magic & Mistletoe (Book 8.5) Love Beyond Words (Book 9) Also Available: Morna’s Legacy Box Set #1 (Contains Love Beyond Time, Love Beyond Reason, A Conall Christmas, and Love Beyond Hope) Morna’s Legacy Box Set #2 (Contains Love Beyond Measure, In Due Time - A Novella, Love Beyond Compare, and Love Beyond Dreams) If you know someone who prefers Sweet/Clean romances, check out the newly-edited versions in The Magical Matchmaker's Legacy. These books are the sweet/clean versions of the books in the Morna's Legacy Series. These editions are for readers who prefer clean language in their stories and love scenes that stay behind closed doors. The titles in this series are: Morna's Spell (Book 1) Morna's Secret (Book 2) The Conall's Magical Yuletide (Book 2.5) Morna's Magic (Book 3) Morna's Accomplice (Book 4) Jeffrey's Only Wish (Book 4.5) Morna's Rogue (Book 5) Morna's Ghost (Book 6) Morna's Vow (Book 7) The McMillans' Magical Yuletide (Book 7.5) Morna's Turn (Book 8)

    From the first page of each of the edgy and unrelentingly intense stories in this debut collection, the teenaged characters are headed for big trouble. The adult world has mostly failed them, and they find themselves entering into highly charged situations where they make their own rules, with misguided understanding of the consequences. The stories burn hot and fast, providing searing insights into their world of sex, drugs, drinking, violence, and accidental grace, played out in small, tough towns. Written with raw directness and understanding that makes these nine stories impossible to forget, The History of Vegas announces an exciting, fresh talent with the impact of Mary Gaitskill, Mary Karr, and Jayne Anne Phillips.