. . Rachel's Contrition, with St. Therese of Lisieux and our Catholic faith woven gently in, lovely silk threads in a grand and tragic tapestry.

    In 1958, a mute Jewish boy locked away in a mental institution outside of Dublin forms an unlikely friendship with a man consumed by the story of the love he lost nearly two decades earlier. And in present-day London, an Irish journalist is forced to confront her conflicting notions of identity and family when her Jewish boyfriend asks her to make a true leap of faith. These three arcs, which span generations and intertwine in revelatory ways, come together to tell the haunting story of Ireland’s all-but-forgotten Jewish community. Ruth Gilligan’s beautiful and heartbreaking Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan explores the question of just how far we will go to understand who we really are, and to feel at home in the world.

    In Turkish forests or rain-drenched Cumbrian villages, characters walk, drive, dream and fly, trying to reconcile themselves with their journey through life and death. A woman fitted with life-changing technology returns to the site of her strongest memories; a man repatriated in the near east hears the name of an old love called and must unpack history's suitcase; and from the new world-waves of female anger and resistance, a mythical creature evolves.Radical, charged with a transformative creative power, each of these stories opens channels in the human mind and spirit, as Sarah Hall once more invites the reader to stand at the very edge of our possible selves.

    So begins this deeply moving and profoundly affecting story of the ties that bind mothers and children. This debut novel by Jane Rusbridge is a story of family secrets and betrayal, involving knots, Harry Houdini and the shifting landscape of memory.

    Since her father's stroke, Jean has been trying to run her parents' small farm almost single-handedly and is in desperate need of help. Karl, a German prisoner of war captured when the Allies invade France in 1944, turns out to be just what she needs. He is polite, hardworking and homesick, but is he more than that? Fraternisation between the prisoners and the local population is forbidden, but as the weeks and months pass, Jean and Karl become closer - much to the dismay of Jean's family and Karl's compatriots. Can their love have a future when it seems every hand is against them?

    Her choice could open the door to answers she's long wondered about, or it could forever chill a heart too long without love.

    Somewhere between dating and eternal bliss lies a secret world of glamour, opulence, decadence and the real amorous adventures of the haut monde. Paris is a sexy, sinful romantic playground--and what could be more thrilling than to be an American girl let loose in the City of Lights? Alexandra Ward is a Sorbonne student with a fabulous French boyfriend who's just gone AWOL and a growing love affair with all things Parisian.  She realizes her new life a la Francais feels entirely like play-acting--in a good way.  But what happens when a playful flirtation with the CEO of an international luxury conglomerate turns into not just a "dejeuner"--lunch-- at the Ritz, but diving for canary diamonds in the famous swimming pool of the Hotel Ritz? And when that same Master of the Monde (who just happens to be married, bien sur) asks Alexandra to be something more than a date but something, well, different than a girlfriend? French Trysts is about slipping into a new life like it's a couture suit, about the thrill of seeing what really goes on behind the gated Hotel Particuliers of the rich and famous Bon Ton de Paris, about the power of sex and the redemption of true romance. Praise for Kirsten Lobe's Paris Hangover: "A witty mousse."--Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean "Wickedly entertaining."--Chicago Tribune "Decadent, sexy."--Frederic Beigbeder, author of 99 Francs and L'égoïste romantique

    Caroline Preston, author of the New York Times Notable Book Jackie by Josie, uses a kaleidoscopic array of vintage memorabilia—postcards, letters, magazine ads, ticket stubs, catalog pages, fabric swatches, candy wrappers, fashion spreads, menus and more—to tell the tale of spirited and ambitious Frankie’s remarkable odyssey from Vassar to Greenwich Village to Paris, in a manner that will delight crafters, historical fiction fans, and anyone who loves a good coming-of-age story ingeniously told.

    

    His wife has left him. He thinks his father won't notice if he doesn't arrive. Waiting for the last train, alone on the platform, a chance encounter with a stranger changes his life forever. Intended for those seeking a traditional short ghost story to read, or to be read to, by the fire on those dark winter nights.

    When sixteen-year-old Quincy Bruce goes to live with her Aunt Addy, she has no idea that what happened thirteen years earlier in wartime London can destroy her future. Her parents have gone to Africa as missionaries, leaving Quincy with her free-spirited and lively aunt, a war widow, and the only person who supports Quincy’s ambition to become a musician. When another aunt accuses Addy of having been the inspiration for the adulterous woman in Nathan Waterstone’s infamous wartime novel, The Lady, Quincy vows to prove her wrong. As Quincy settles into her new life with Addy, she sets about unraveling the secrets of Addy’s life, and of Nathan’s, in an effort to discover the true identity of the Lady. When she makes a discovery of a different type, Quincy’s dreams of becoming a pianist come crashing down.

    A figure approaches and, dodging aside to avoid him, she falls into the river. Constable Brendan O'Hara, just coming off duty, sees the girl's plight and dives in to rescue her. He is dazzled by her beauty but Sylvie's husband is in prison and the closeness that Brendan soon longs for is impossible. Sylvie has to escape from Liverpool, so Brendan arranges for her to stay with his cousin Caitlin in Dublin until it is safe to return. There she meets Maeve, a crippled girl from the slums, who will change all their lives when a little girl is lost ...