A collection of seven critical essays discussing Tolstoy's novel, arranged in chronological order of their original publication.

    He can identify every car in town from the sound of its engine, but his world is changing faster then he can fathom. His wife has become an artist, selling sea-glass sculptures to tourists. His daughter is bound for college, while his son has turned angry and lawless. Lucky's own heart is failing him, too. An operation has kept it ticking, but he can't run the boat alone any more. As the spring lobster season opens, the only deckhand Lucky can find to help load his traps is Ronette, the not-quite-divorced wife of the local lobster wholesaler. When the two make it out to the fishing grounds, someone else's buoys are bobbing in his ancestral waters. Before he knows it, Lucky is in a lobster war and has abandoned all the rules: family, health, finance, even the rules of the sea that have guided him throughout his life. As waves of trouble turn into a flood tide, Lucky's pride propels him into an epic confrontation with his enemies and a rogue whale -- a battle his unreliable heart may not survive. The Wooden Nickel is a classic story of a man raging against a changing world, full of pathos and comedy. It is a remarkable novel by a writer with a powerful, distinct, and original voice.

    The Tafoyas include a physician philosopher, a radical daughter with a degree from Bryn Mawr, a clumsy, stupid son, and a governor of New Mexico. From these elements Bradford creates a story as funny and tender as RED SKY AT MORNING, also set in New Mexico, also well worth reading.

    It it impossible is to resist quoting passages from this novel, given the author’s brilliant insights into character, wonderful literary flourishes and stunning demonstration of what is meant by inspired writing." - Humber School for Writers. A savage, brilliant, hilarious attack on modern hypocrisy, "The God of Atheists" follows the downfall of three men who wake up one morning and decide to take what they have not earned. Al, a down-and-out music producer, bullies his handsome son into forming a boy-band. Alder, an obscure academic, steals a brilliant idea from a grad student. As they exploit the talents of the naïve youths around them, their fame and wealth increase – but they become more and more terrified of exposure and destruction...

    . . may the devil tek him! Her knows his temper, felt his fist many a time. And there be others as knows, women he's paid to keep silent about the blows they've suffered, for it tek more'n a roll in bed to satisfy Fenton Gilmore. Emma Lawrence has reason to fear the base cruelty of the man she must call uncle. She and her sister Rachel had been taken into the Gilmore household on the death of their parents and have known nothing but unkindness at the hands of Fenton and his wife. And now Rachel is dead, brutally raped and strangled, and Emma must dry her tears and flee if she is to escape the same fate. Emma falls in with two other orphans, and Timothy and Lily become as dear to her as her own departed sister. But Fenton Gilmore does not give up so easily. His evil ambition is to own a brothel and Emma is vital to his perverted plan.

    In these tales, morality and decency mean nothing in a place where respect is gauged by the size of your expense account…and everyone follows the golden rule: sex sells.The Harold Robbins Thriller Collection includes: Never Leave Me, Dreams Die First, Goodbye, Janette and The Adventurers.

    In this superb anthology can be found the best of the English-speaking world’s inspirational and reassuring verse, including such classics as Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’ and W.H. Davies’ ‘Leisure’. This beautifully illustrated collection of over 120 poems is sure to offer solace, hearten the soul and motivate the human spirit.

    Her handsome husband, a radio personality, is beloved of the women of Ireland. Her two gorgeous sons are making a name for themselves in films. She has a lavish house in Dublin. What does she have to complain about? Finn eagerly anticipates her 40th birthday but spends the day alone and crying, forced to realise that she is literally a housewife. She has married a house! For over twenty years she has supported her husband in his career. She has raised two sons to manhood. She practically rebuilt the family home with her own sweat and labour. Her one escape is the garden workshop where she beats metal into fantasy figures. The day after her birthday she resigns her position as wife and mother. Her husband and sons fight the change in their lives but she holds firm. She locks herself in her workshop. Her fantasy figures don’t care if she looks a mess and can’t stop crying. Dare Lawrence, a wealthy Irishman living in America, discovers her secret world and wants some of it. He insists she puts a price on her figures, something Finn finds impossible to do. He shows her work to his friends in Hollywood. After years of her husband demanding that she hide her ‘little hobby’ suddenly the world comes calling. They want what she has created.

    Who are 'the Others'? Why are an increasing number of people throughout the world developing the ability to see and speak with the dead? Why have a farmers' guild from Iowa secretly enlisted the help of Scottish reporter Peter Nicolson? If they are correct, is the world stumbling blindly into a disaster that could threaten the survival of the human race? And what is contained within the missing 'GM File' that threatens to destroy some of the world's most powerful companies? To what lengths will these companies go to prevent Peter Nicolson uncovering the truth and publishing it to the world? Who has kidnapped the Scottish teenager Debbie McCrae? Will she manage to escape, or will she be killed by her mysterious abductor? What is the secret that Susie's dad tried to tell her as he died? And who is the mysterious Timothy? Can Peter Nicolson help stop the biggest terrorist attack the world has ever seen and prevent the destruction of the city of London? Will Peter Nicolson meet Maciek, his nemesis and erstwhile saviour? And if he does, who will survive?

    Her father, determined to improve the family’s lot, relocates to Georgia.Ezekiel Salter scrimps to buy a ticket in Georgia’s 1807 Land Lottery, wins, and he and his impoverished family head west to newly-created Murcheson County.Prominent since colonial times, the Underwoods foresee the growing demand for cotton and acquire extensive acreage in newly-opened lands in central Georgia. Dispatched by his father, Jacob Underwood begins construction of Poplar Grove plantation.And, the slave known as Gant, his wife and daughter, Lucey, have no say as to their destination…the highest bidder will decide for them…and if the family remains intact.Spanning over fifty years, Murcheson County chronicles the four families’ fortunes against the backdrop of the most turbulent time in American history.An epic saga of slavery, emancipation, war and hardship, Murcheson County will remain in your heart long after the winds of war have stopped blowing.

    Carol Shields' first novels, "Small Ceremonies" and "The Box Garden," each told from the viewpoint of a sister, published as one.

    Not for him the stereotype of the greedy lawyer. He'd be the defender of the abused, the voice of the poor, the champion of the oppressed. And he was for a time...until Rottman Maughan and Nash dangled the office with the harbour view in front of him.Now he's turning blind eye to suspect time sheets, championing the powerful against the powerless, and not being entirely honest with his girlfriend.Is there a way back?

    

    A force of nature. To know her is to love her, to love her is to hate her. Shes a woman who changes her name according to the ethnic flavor of the month, dabbles in Mormonism, and steals cleaning supplies from restaurant bathrooms. She is beautiful, excitable, contradiction as art form. Shes the kind of mom who reads her daughters diary, serves ketchup soup for dinner, and drags her girls from Utah to California to Wyoming in pursuit of one loser boyfriend after another. Her love for her daughters is fierce, smothering, neglectful. There is no other way than her. Does that sound extravagant? Or should I say there is no other place than her, observes Lucy, the endearing narrator of Nicole Stansburys very special debut novel, Places to Look for a Mother. In the tradition of Mona Simpsons Anywhere But Here and Larry McMurtrys Terms of Endearment, Places to Look for a Mother tells a tale of mostly maddening mother-daughter bonds. Forgiveness is always there, but its hard to find. And the Taylor family usually loses it. With lithe prose, pitch-perfect dialogue, and gloriously real characters, author Nicole Stansbury conjures a family that proves Tolstoy right once again: All happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. The Taylors are no exception, but Places to Look for a Mother is an exceptionally good novel.

    They resorted to dacoity and theft in nearby localities for their living. They hardly ever dreamt of stable life.