This edition features an introduction by Gary Scharnhorst.

    It is an exploration of intimacy, identity, and the courage it takes to be who you really are.

    Ave Maria Mulligan is the town's self-proclaimed spinster, a thirty-five year old pharmacist with a "mountain girl's body and a flat behind." She lives an amiable life with good friends and lots of hobbies until the fateful day in 1978 when she suddenly discovers that she's not who she always thought she was. Before she can blink, Ave's fielding marriage proposals, fighting off greedy family members, organizing a celebration for visiting celebrities, and planning the trip of a lifetime-a trip that could change her view of the world and her own place in it forever. Brimming with humor and wise notions of small-town life, Big Stone Gap is a gem of a book with a giant heart. . . .

     Running a group home for at-risk kids is challenging enough, but everything changes when he witnesses a murder. And not just any murder. A serial killer has stalked the city for weeks and Paul is the only witness. The press haunts his every move, broadcasting his identity to the world, ensuring the killer not only knows who he is, but where to find him. The media spotlight could destroy the life he's so carefully constructed, because the killer isn't the only one hiding a secret. Not even the woman he loves knows the truth about his past. His secret is between him and God, and Paul's determined to keep it that way. US Marshal Milana Tanner is as tough as she is stubborn. The threat to Paul is real and experience has demonstrated the dire consequences of the wrong decision. In spite of her best efforts, Paul refuses all offers of protection. Between professional threats and the dangers facing Paul, she's spread thin, but she won't give up - or back down - until she knows Paul is safe... even if it requires putting herself in harm's way. As the killer escalates and circles closer, Paul and Milana fight to shield the people around them from a man with nothing to lose. Together, they'll do anything, and risk everything, to keep the children in Paul's care safe. When the killer strikes again, Paul goes after him personally. Stopping the killer will shake his faith in God and force him to confront his dark past. Will he be forced to sacrifice everything he holds dear to protect the people he loves most? Deadly Devotion, book two in the Deadly Alliances series, is a gripping story of danger, faith, and the power of truth to bring freedom in the lives of God's people.

    Peter, who has never been away from home, quickly falls into a series of startling entanglements. Providentially, he befriends a nomadic parson with a seafaring past whose humble intelligence and steady head prove useful, especially when the two find themselves in the middle of a bitter land battle between hardscrabble homesteaders and the "Great Proprietors," who claim the land through royal grants and contradictory Indian deeds. Van Reid's inimitable storytelling, irresistible characters, and gentle humor will captivate readers in this tale of high adventure and great humanity.

    Struggling to contain his men and the ambitions of his superiors, the commanding officer attempts to negotiate the unspoken rules of this alien country. He seeks to restore peace to a country ravaged by war. This is Scotland in the eleventh century at the height of the fight for succession of the Scottish throne.David Greig's Dunsinane premiered in February 2010 at Hampstead Theatre, London, in a production by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

    Will Anderson, a flinty old rancher, has a huge herd of cattle ripe for market when his regular hands, inflamed by gold fever, desert him. In desperation, he hires the only "men" available for the perilous 400 mile drive - a pack of scraggly schoolboys. Through skill and harsh discipline, Wil Anderson whips them from greenhorns into seasoned cowhands. But before the long drive is over, the boys discover that the price they must pay for manhood is a terrible one- murder and revenge! the stunning, heartbreaking climax of this extraordinary story will surprise you - and perhaps even sock you.

    Capturing the beauty and pain of two extraordinary love affairs separated by a gulf of 2000 years, this book explores true emotion, loss, and the healing power of forgiveness.

    Now available in the Arcade definitive edition, the Lehrstucke (or learning plays) lie at the heart of Brechtian theater.

    Little does she know what kind of world she is about to step into.Miss Prim dutifully accepts the job and begins organizing her employer's vast library. A knowledgeable, mysterious gentleman with very specific opinions about life, he challenges Miss Prim's seemingly unshakeable disposition. And as she becomes familiar with the other townspeople, she begins to realize that the surprising lifestyle of the town awakens amazement, perplexity, and even disdain in her. For in this tiny corner of the world, a flourishing colony of exiles have settled into a simple, rural existence, living around great literature, intellectual discussions, family, and sweet indulgences. Their peculiar and unconventional ways slowly test Miss Prim's most intimate ideas and fears as well as her most profound convictions. She quickly comes to realize that her advanced degrees did little to prepare her for the lessons she's being taught the least of which is a lesson in love.Set against a backdrop of steaming cups of tea, freshly baked cakes, warm fires, and lovely company, The Awakening of Miss Prim is a delightful, thought-provoking, and sensitive novel that gives rise to theories about love and companionship, education, and the beauty of every passing moment.

    I’d say I’m a fairly normal student, save for the fact that everyone avoids me like the plague because I apparently look like I’m out for blood. Ike Haruma is the only one that doesn’t steer clear of me. He’s your typical ‘perfect guy’ in every sense; the protagonist with no real flaws that you see in any given story.Life at school was going on as usual… until one day Haruma’s super popular little sister confesses to me out of the blue?! Though she later clarifies that her feelings toward me are anything but romantic and that she has an ulterior motive, I end up accepting my new role as ‘fake boyfriend’ as a favor to Haruma.Believe it or not, the moment I start going out with her, Haruma’s idol-tier childhood friend and my super hot teacher get involved with me too!Wait a minute, this can’t be a dream rom-com scenario setting itself up for me, can it?! I mean, there’s no way a side character like me could be popular, right?

    He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster." Thus begins Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark; this, the author tells us, is the whole story except that he starts from here, with his characteristic dazzling skill and irony, and brilliantly turns a fable into a chilling, original novel of folly and destruction. Amidst a Weimar-era milieu of silent film stars, artists, and aspirants, Nabokov creates a merciless masterwork as Albinus, an aging critic, falls prey to his own desires, to his teenage mistress, and to Axel Rex, the scheming rival for her affections who finds his greatest joy in the downfall of others. Published first in Russian as Kamera Obskura in 1932, this book appeared in Nabokov's own English translation six years later. This New Directions edition, based on the text as Nabokov revised it in 1960, features a new introduction by Booker Prize-winner John Banville.

    She wants to film a documentary about Quentins that will capture the spirit of Dublin from the 1970s to the present day. And Quentins has a thousand stories to tell: tales of love, of betrayal, of revenge; of times when it looked ready for success and times when it seemed as if it must close in failure. But as Ella uncovers more of what has gone on at Quentins, she begins to wonder whether some secrets should be kept that way... With Quentins, Maeve Binchy follows her bestselling Scarlet Feather with a new book that delivers the hallmark storytelling that has kept millions of her readers happy for more than twenty years.

    The Light in the Piazza has ravishing power. It’s as if Guettel were determined to capture the golden light of Tuscany in a bottle. His lyrics are remarkable, and the book, written by Craig Lucas, is written with characteristic empathy and humor. Brilliant.” –Frank Rich“The Light in the Piazza beautifully captures the eternal allure of Italy. . . . The story wraps itself around your heart.”—Chicago Sun-Times“Sumptuous and romantic. Guettel’s music and lyrics represent a genuine expense of spirit. The Light in the Piazza offers a complex contemplation of the well-defended emptiness of every man and woman. It doesn’t want theatergoers to feel good; it wants to make them feel deeply. And it does.” –New YorkerComposer Adam Guettel, best known for his Floyd Collins, has teamed with Prelude to a Kiss playwright Craig Lucas to create a passionate and soaring new musical. Based on Elizabeth Spencer’s 1960 novella, The Light in the Piazza is the story of a young American woman whose chance encounter with a charming young Italian man in a Florentine piazza sets off a whirlwind romance, with an unsettling revelation.Craig Lucas is a playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays include Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless, Blue Window, God’s Heart, The Singing Forest and Small Tragedy. His screenplays include Longtime Companion, The Secret Lives of Dentists and The Dying Gaul, which he also directed. Mr. Lucas’ awards include the L.A. Drama Critics Award, an OBIE Award for Best Play and Best Director, and the Excellence in Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.Adam Guettel is a composer/lyricist living in Seattle, where he is Artist in Residence at the Intiman Theatre. His other work includes Floyd Collins and Saturn Returns (recorded by Nonesuch Records as Myths and Hymns). Mr. Guettel’s awards include the Stephen Sondheim Award, the ASCAP New Horizons Award, and the American Composers Orchestra Award.

    She’s an independent woman who does not need anything or anyone except an occasional friend with excellent benefits to keep her bed warm on a cold winter night. After falling off the Pretty Boy tree repeatedly Zatoya had given up on finding a man of her own. Unfortunately she would soon discover that friends with benefits are not always there when you need something other than sex. Stranded over two hundred miles from home, on a snowy winters night, she does the unimaginable. Zatoya accepts a ride from a handsome stranger. A Stranger who redefines everything she thought she knew about men. A stranger who sets her heart, body and soul on an emotional roller coaster ride that liberates her to let down her guards and give love and commitment just one more try. Captivating, funny, and oh so sexy the saga of Zatoya Waters and the rich, handsome stranger that challenged her to take another look at love is a sassy, funny but sweet erotic treat. An intriguing look at love, sex, and crazy grown folks’ drama awaits anyone who dares to curl up with this Urban Fairy Tale.