A woman grapples with survivor’s guilt after a body is found in her garden bed; an ageing beauty queen contemplates her past; a world champion free-diver disappears during routine training...In moments disquieting or quietly inspiring, this collection considers the complexity of the connections we make—with our family, friends and neighbours, and with those met briefly or never at all.In her timely debut, Emily Paull voices a chorus of characters that reveal and re-evaluate the expectations of women in Australia today—after all, well-behaved women rarely make history.

    In an unprecedented (for him) run of promiscuity, Ty has managed to impregnate three women in the span of one week: His ex-girlfriend, his 40-something married next-door neighbor, and his 18 year-old student. In this edgy comedy by playwright Rajiv Joseph, Ty's problems illuminate every triumph and failure of his life, and as the women

    Lewis.When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she's shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can't resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.Everly's research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah's society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.

    JEFFRIES A DETECTIVE IN THE HOUSE Everyone’s awed by Inspector Witherspoon’s Scotland Yard successes, but they don’t know about his secret weapon. Her name is Mrs. Jeffries, and she keeps house for the Inspector—and keeps him on his toes. No matter how messy the murder or how dirty the deed, her polished detection skills are up to the task. Because as she knows all too well, a crimesolver’s work is never done…Mrs. Jeffries Plays the CookWhen a dead body turns up, Mrs. Jeffries winds up doing double-duty: cooking for the household—and trying to cook a killer’s goose…Mrs. Jeffries and the Missing Alibi It’s one of the most brazen murders anyone can remember—and Inspector Witherspoon has become the main suspect. Now it’s up to Mrs. Jeffries to clear her boss’s good name…Mrs. Jeffries Stands CorrectedWhen a local publican is murdered, Inspector Witherspoon finally takes Mrs. Jeffries’s advice to trust his own instincts. But as he narrows down the suspects, Mrs. Jeffries and her staff must solve the case before he ruins his career—and theirs…

    He didn't expect Darlene Johnson to walk into his office with her chocolate box. And certainly didn't expect what followed. . Book One of the Detectives That Don't Fit Series.

    Their idyllic, brief childhood together is short lived ending in hardship and heartbreak. Finding themselves alone in the world, both boys struggle to self-educate. Against the odds, Matthew Gray builds a global business empire and Luke Mbeki travels to England, in self-imposed exile, entangling himself in the anti-apartheid movement. With their paths crossing intermittently, it is only when Nelson Mandela is released from prison that Luke returns home continuing his fight for freedom alongside his comrades. Matt’s all-consuming business life continues but betrayal strikes. Leaving everything behind, he escapes to another world – an artist colony.This incredibly powerful and moving story tells how each man struggles to survive in a country deep in the throes of violent change, with friendship and families being torn apart. Matt and Luke's friendship is unimaginably tested so how does it survive in such terrifying and perilous times?

    From the moment they laid eyes on one another, it was love at first sight. One problem is wrong with that; they’re both in a committed relationship. Being with her abusive fiancé for 8 years, Teyana saw no way out of her situation. Gambino on the other hand was ready to call it quits with his longtime girlfriend. Only problem behind it is, she refuses to let go without a fight. Take a ride with Teyana and Gambino as they show us how being in love can make you be disrespectful without thinking twice.

    As a single mother and inspiring artist she always managed to get by. It wasn't until she "accidentally " fell in love with a charming and romantic Atlien by the name of Ace, did she feel that her luck was changing. Things take a fast forward in their relationship and seemed to never be coming to an end, until one night Ace's past meets them in a dark alley in the mean Atlanta streets. Sage knows there is no going back from here, as she finds that you never really know a person until its too late. As her mind and heart battle it out, she's determined to keep her fairytale love story from turning into a nightmare. But what happens when Ace leaves her, and she is forced to face the truth alone? She doesn't have it all put together yet, but even after he is gone his past comes back to haunt her; demanding that she pay off his debts. Ace's mother Lillian seems to be keeping his secrets airtight as well, but reassures Sage she has nothing to fret about. Entangled in a web of love, lies, and deceit; Sage can only put her trust into her best friend Shelly. Will love conquer all for Sage or will she drown in the lies of her King?

    Nurture is the nuts or frosting, but if you’re a spice cake, you’re a spice cake, and nothing is going to change you into an angel food.Tall, slender Violet Mathers is growing up in the Great Depression, which could just as well define her state of mind. Abandoned by her mother as a child, mistreated by her father, and teased by her schoolmates (“Hey, Olive Oyl, where’s Popeye?”), the lonely girl finds solace in artistic pursuits. Only when she’s hired by the town’s sole feminist to work the night shift in the local thread factory does Violet come into her name, and bloom. Accepted by her co-workers, the teenager enters the happiest phase of her life, until a terrible accident causes her to retreat once again into her lonely shell.Realizing that she has only one clear choice, Violet boards a bus heading west to California. But when the bus crashes in North Dakota, it seems that fate is having another cruel laugh at Violet’s expense. This time though, Violet laughs back. She and her fellow passengers are rescued by two men: Austin Sykes, whom Violet is certain is the blackest man to ever set foot on the North Dakota prairie, and Kjel Hedstrom, who inspires feelings Violet never before has felt. Kjel and Austin are musicians whose sound is like no other, and with pluck, verve, and wit, Violet becomes part of their quest to make a new kind of music together. Oh My Stars is Lorna Landvik’s most ambitious novel yet, with a cast of characters whose travails and triumphs you’ll long remember. It is a tale of love and hope, bigotry and betrayal, loss and discovery–as Violet, who’s always considered herself a minor character in her own life story, emerges as a heroine you’ll laugh with, cry with, and, most important, cheer for all the way.

    In Where the Money Went, he surprises us with stories about love and the desertion of love, all written from a man’s point of view. Rarely is a man so revealing.A narrator struggles with his abiding loyalty to his ex-wife, even when he finds love with another woman. A newly divorced man learns more than he wants to know about his friends’ long-term marriages. In these nine stories, which incisively touch on the complex nature of love, we find men as fathers, as husbands, and as lovers, trying their best in a world that stubbornly refuses to make sense. Canty, whose writing has been praised as “smart, gritty, unsentimental” (New York Times), “lovely and unforgiving” (Boston Globe), and “enchanting and painful” (USA Today), powerfully conveys both the bitterness that can afflict romantic relationships, and the moments of humor and tenderness that cut through it.

    POST is a story about a group of friends, two of whom experience a collision two years apart.

    An amicable deal is struck between the two young opposing bidders, but it will take time to pay off a loan. And as the months go by, the two discover they have secrets in common—secrets that just might change everythingOriginally published as "Going Once, Going Twice..." in A Kiss is Still a Kiss

    Her 25-year-old marriage to Phil has lost its sparkle.Carla is widowed. She understands life is short so she lives it to the full. But is her new romance all that it seems?When the two women meet in the beauty salon, they soon find they have more in common than the colour of their nails. The discovery that they are sharing the same man is shocking. How will Phil be taught a lesson or two he won't forget?

    But Commonwealth operative Simon Kovalic knows nothing ever goes to plan. So, when a duplicitous bounty hunter lives up to his reputation, Kovalic’s ready—just maybe not ready enough.Now he and his team must get offworld, before their enemies catch up with them…

    With these characters William will make us laugh and cry. And never again will we think that someone is just a regular bloke - everyone can be a king or a queen in their own suburb.