Can love exist in a city destined for decades of misery?" Adnan leads a weary existence as a bookshop owner in modern-day, war-torn Baghdad, where bombings, corruption and assault are everyday occurrences and the struggle to survive has suffocated the joy out of life for most. But when he begins to clean out his bookshop of forty years to leave his city in search of somewhere safer, he comes across the story of Ali, the Gardener of Baghdad, Adnan rediscovers through a memoir handwritten by the gardener decades ago that beauty, love and hope can still exist, even in the darkest corners of the world.

    Unfolding the story over seven years on three separate milestones—a graduation, a funeral, and a wedding— Katia Lief weaves between perspectives to reveal a tapestry rich in motive and emotion. The Beautiful Years is a dazzling rendering of hubris, consequence and the complexity of love.

    She was smart, attractive and well educated. After losing the love of her life she decided she had to get away from it all. Ravenna did what everyone would love to do…, she left and never looked back. She made a comfortable life on a small Greek island paradise nestled in the southern blue Aegean sea. It was filled with friendly people, beautiful beaches and warm sunny days. The strong willed woman thought she had left her life behind her… but she was wrong. Now, torn between memories and guilt, she must decide- but will she get…a second chance?

    Costello's spellbinding novel, The Rag Tree, breathes dark, vivid life into Ireland's passionate legends. Crisp and sharp-witted, Costello's tale probes a modern Ireland torn between letting go of time-honored dreams and embracing the promises of a prosperous New Ireland. Even as they struggle against one another, the Irish Special Branch, the British Army, Scotland Yard, and the I.R.A. find themselves forced to ally against a common foe: The Rag Man. Mattie Joe Treacy is the Rag Man. Engrossed in a desperate quest to find his missing father, Mattie Joe is cursed-by the playboy's life of drink and carousing, by his family's staunch adherence to Ireland's old folk ways, and by a family curse hurled at his clan generations ago. The Curse of the O'Neills, invoked by an angry cleric against Mattie Joe's great-grandfather, declares that, "the eldest son will not survive the father." No Treacy son has since outlived his father, and Mattie Joe is next in line to die. Or is he?

    Across the ocean, in the leafy suburbs of London, a man caring for his dying wife discovers, among her papers, a lock of hair that unravels a terrible secret. In Jerusalem, an antiques dealer slowly reassembles his father's study, plundered by the Nazis in Budapest in 1944.Connecting these stories is a desk of many drawers that exerts a power over those who possess it or have given it away. As the narrators of Great House make their confessions, the desk takes on more and more meaning, and comes finally to stand for all that has been taken from them, and all that binds them to what has disappeared.Great House is a story haunted by questions: What do we pass on to our children and how do they absorb our dreams and losses? How do we respond to disappearance, destruction, and change?Nicole Krauss has written a soaring, powerful novel about memory struggling to creat a meaningful permanence in the face of inevitable loss.(front flap)

    He strikes in broad daylight, yet no one ever sees him.His target?Garden gnomes ...

     Chandigarh based Khushwant Singh, itinerant writer, columnist and TV show host, pays tribute to the City Beautiful by setting his latest book–a work of fiction–amidst its broad, tree-lined boulevards. And its trappings: snazzy SUVs, glitzy homes and fast-paced lifestyles. Maharaja In Denims, a tale of love, intrigue and passion rallies around a teenaged protagonist, Hari Singh Sandhu, present-day resident of one of Chandigarh’s tony sectors, and Suzanne his girlfriend.Very early into their relationship Hari begins to get flashes of a past life that includes Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire. Clearly suggesting to a much-surprised teenager the very real possibility of him being Ranjit Singh’s incarnate! Alarmed at these happenings in his hitherto unencumbered and happily aimless existence, he needs little persuasion when Suzanne requests him to undergo a past life regression. Coughing up an incredible number of surprises, not least that of other, more horrific past lives.The author deftly interweaves the youthful love story with vignettes of Ranjit Singh’s life, loves, valour and conquests. With past life after past life unravelling before them, Hari and Suzanne, stumble upon people and incidents that link the present-day to the turbulent and disturbing history of Punjab. The story continues to England and then on to Mumbai before ending in an astonishing twist set in the future. Maharaja In Denims is indeed a modern tale told in a bold, moving and racy narrative.The author’s earlier works include Sikhs Unlimited, a well-received chronicle of the Sikh Diaspora in both the UK and USA, and Turbaned Tornado–an inspiring biography of the iconic 100 year-old Fauja Singh, marathon runner.

    Unfolding over four tumultuous weeks in present-day Washington, D.C., Here I Am is the story of a fracturing family in a moment of crisis. As Jacob and Julia Bloch and their three sons are forced to confront the distances between the lives they think they want and the lives they are living, a catastrophic earthquake sets in motion a quickly escalating conflict in the Middle East. At stake is the meaning of home - and the fundamental question of how much aliveness one can bear. Showcasing the same high-energy inventiveness, hilarious irreverence, and emotional urgency that readers loved in his earlier work, Here I Am is Foer's most searching, hard-hitting, and grandly entertaining novel yet. It not only confirms Foer's stature as a dazzling literary talent but reveals a novelist who has fully come into his own as one of our most important writers.

    Nobody has ever told Eleanor Oliphant that life should not only be fine but better than fine.  Eleanor Oliphant is an ordinary woman who struggles with the appropriate social skills she needs to have on occasion. She has the tendency to say the exact words that she is thinking. Truth is, nothing is really missing in her carefully timetabled life that can be described as avoidance of social interactions. Her weekends are punctuated by frozen vodka, pizza, and phone chats with her Mummy. But everything will change for Eleanor when she meets Raymond in her office. He is the bumbling IT guy who is deeply unhygienic. When Eleanor and Raymond saw an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, together they saved Sammy. This became the start of the three’s friendship. They would rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they have each been living. And it is none other than the big heart of Raymond that would ultimately help quiet Eleanor to find the best way to repair her own profoundly damaged heart. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will soon be a major motion picture that will be produced by actress Reese Witherspoon. This novel is a warm, smart and uplifting story of an unlikely heroine whose weirdness and unconscious wit would make an irresistible journey.In this comprehensive look into Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman, you'll gain insight with this essential resource as a guide to aid your discussions. Be prepared to lead with the following: Discussion aid which includes a wealth of prompts and information Overall plot synopsis and author biography Thought-provoking discussion questions for a deeper examination Creative exercises to foster alternate “if this was you” discussions And more!  Disclaimer: This is a companion guide based on the work Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman and is not affiliated to the original work or author in any way. It does not contain any text of the original work. If you haven’t purchased the original work, we encourage you to do so first.

    Fate brings together a Kurdish prostitute, an art-loving Kurdish doctor, a repenting Arab General and an Anfal survivor. Each of the characters is obsessed with something. The prostitute, Dalia Sirajadeen, is obsessed with rescuing her lover from the underground world of torture dungeons. The doctor, Musa Babak, is obsessed with helping art and beauty go underground during the dictatorship. The General, Samir Al-Babilee, is obsessed with absolving himself from a past full of committing atrocities. The Anfal survivor, Jeladet the Dove is obsessed with truth and justice. Through the characters' dreams, nightmares and searches we discover a captivating world of oppression, genocide, regret, survival and perseverance.

    Some remembered her as the innocent daughter of a local minister, while others whispered rumors about a recent lascivious turn. Was she really the 'other woman' who came between her friends' engagement? Is it true she convinced someone to give up a life of crime? Did she really spend time in jail for a DUI? After failing to maintain a blogging career, Jessica Carter must return to her home town of Hampton, New Hampshire. The place is nice enough: a beautiful summer destination with sandy beaches, a touristy boardwalk and a cozy, small-town atmosphere. But Jessica knows coming home means owning up to her mistakes and mending relationships with everyone she left behind. Corinne's death brings Jessica closer to her former friends, but as she digs into Corinne's life, she exposes dark secrets her friends wish would remain hidden. Caught between her investigation and her friends, Jessica seeks to answer the one question everyone else seems content to leave unresolved: who knew the real Corinne, and why would someone want her dead?

    Thomas More, legal advisor to and close friend of Henry VIII. As Jill and her colleagues work to authenticate this rare find, letters arrive to convey the manuscript's history and the donor's unimaginable story of survival. At the same time, representatives from the Archdiocese of New York arrive to stake their claim to this controversial document, hoping to send it to a Vatican archive before its explosive content becomes public. As the process of authentication hovers between find and fraud, and as the battle for provenance plays out between religious institutions, Jill struggles with her own family history, and her involvement in a relationship she fears will disrupt and disappoint her family.

    The doors are locked, the curtains are closed, mattresses are nailed over the windows.They are out there. She might let them in.The children sleep in the bedroom across the hall.Soon she will have to wake them. Soon she will have to blindfold them.Today they must leave the house. Today they will risk everything.

    A sociopathic attorney hiding in plain sight behind billboards and a successful career. With the highest connections, he terrorizes the city and buries the evidence, and there’s no way to stop him. Until one discharged Green Beret decides to try...

    One secret. Will they be able to keep it under wraps?It was a stormy evening in 1920s London. When newly qualified almoner, Alice, stepped into the home of Charlotte, a terrified teenager who had just given birth out of wedlock, she did not expect to make a pact that would change her life forever. Thrown into secrecy after an unexpected turn, Alice was determined to keep bewildered Charlotte and her newborn baby safe. But when a threatening note appeared, she realised that Charlotte may need more protection than she first thought. But from who?Based on extensive research into the archive material held at the London Metropolitan Archives, and enriched with lively social history and excerpts from newspaper articles, LETTERS FROM ALICE is a gripping and deeply moving tale, which brings the colourful world of 1920s London to life. Full of grit, mystery and hope, it will have readers enthralled from the very first page.