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Old Home Town by Rose Wilder Lane


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The Big Sky


A.B. Guthrie Jr. - 1947
    B. Guthrie Jr.'s epic adventure novels set in the American West. Here he introduces Boone Caudill, Jim Deakins, and Dick Summers: traveling the Missouri River from St. Louis to the Rockies, these frontiersmen live as trappers, traders, guides, and explorers. The story centers on Caudill, a young Kentuckian driven by a raging hunger for life and a longing for the blue sky and brown earth of big, wild places. Caught up in the freedom and savagery of the wilderness, Caudill becomes an untamed mountain man, whom only the beautiful daughter of a Blackfoot chief dares to love.

Let Love Come Last


Taylor Caldwell - 1949
    . . Even when, brutally overriding her refined sensibility, he imprisoned her in a mansion of overwhelming opulence, an accursed house that brought all who lived there grief. . . Even when, before her eyes, she saw him destroying their children with his misguided indulgence. . . For here was a man more powerful, more truly gigantic than any she had ever known, a man she knew she would love until death. . .

Evidence of the Affair


Taylor Jenkins Reid - 2018
    Even though I do not know you…The correspondence between Carrie Allsop and David Mayer reveals, piece by piece, the painful details of a devastating affair between their spouses. With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here.Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers, Evidence of the Affair explores the complex nature of the heart. And ultimately, for one woman, how liberating it can be when it’s broken.

The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81


Cindy Wilson - 2020
    It beautifully details the dramatic events of a harrowing winter with months of never-ending blizzards leading to railroad blockades that all but cut off fledgling communities. But what really happened during the Hard Winter of 1880–81? Lively and rewarding, The Beautiful Snow is a new look at the Hard Winter. Pulling from nearly three thousand regional newspaper articles, The Beautiful Snow weaves the historical record around and through Wilder’s fictionalized account of The Long Winter. From the tireless efforts to dig out the railroad blockades, to lavish oyster parties, to carefully spun boosterism, the Hard Winter comes to life with extraordinary tales of survival, resilience, and defiance that adds rich context to Wilder’s beloved novel.

Up in the Old Hotel


Joseph Mitchell - 1992
    These are among the people that Joseph Mitchell immortalized in his reportage for The New Yorker and in four books—McSorley's Wonderful Saloon, Old Mr. Flood, The Bottom of the Harbor, and Joe Gould's Secret—that are still renowned for their precise, respectful observation, their graveyard humor, and their offhand perfection of style.These masterpieces (along with several previously uncollected stories) are available in one volume, which presents an indelible collective portrait of an unsuspected New York and its odder citizens—as depicted by one of the great writers of this or any other time.

O Pioneers!


Willa Cather - 1913
    No other work of fiction so faithfully conveys both the sharp physical realities and the mythic sweep of the transformation of the American frontier—and the transformation of the people who settled it. Cather's heroine is Alexandra Bergson, who arrives on the wind-blasted prairie of Hanover, Nebraska, as a girl and grows up to make it a prosperous farm. But this archetypal success story is darkened by loss, and Alexandra's devotion to the land may come at the cost of love itself.At once a sophisticated pastoral and a prototype for later feminist novels, O Pioneers! is a work in which triumph is inextricably enmeshed with tragedy, a story of people who do not claim a land so much as they submit to it and, in the process, become greater than they were.

Levels of Life


Julian Barnes - 2013
    And the world is changed..." One of the judges who awarded him the 2011 Man Booker Prize described him as "an unparalleled magus of the heart." This book confirms that opinion.

Lonesome Dove


Larry McMurtry - 1985
    Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove is a book to make us laugh, weep, dream, and remember.

Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion


Jenna BlumAmanda Hodgkinson - 2014
    It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.   Now, ten bestselling authors inspired by this iconic landmark have created their own stories, set just after the end of World War II, in a time of hope, uncertainty, change, and renewal….Featuring stories from   Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us Amanda Hodgkinson, New York Times bestselling author of 22 Britannia Road Pam Jenoff, bestselling author of The Ambassador’s Daughter Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of Blackberry Winter Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of The Baker’s Daughter Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of The Pieces We Keep Alyson Richman, bestselling author of The Lost Wife Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Call Me Zelda Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of After the Rain  With an Introduction by Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Home Front

The Girl from Oto


Amy Maroney - 2016
    Linked by a 500-year-old mystery… The secrets of the past are irresistible—and dangerous. 1500: Born during a time wracked by war and plague, Renaissance-era artist Mira grows up in a Pyrenees convent believing she is an orphan. When tragedy strikes, Mira learns the devastating truth about her own origins. But does she have the strength to face those who would destroy her? 2015: Centuries later, art scholar Zari unearths traces of a mysterious young woman named Mira in two 16th-century portraits. Obsessed, Zari tracks Mira through the great cities of Europe to the pilgrim’s route of Camino de Santiago—and is stunned by what she finds. Will her discovery be enough to bring Mira’s story to life? A powerful story and an intriguing mystery, The Girl from Oto is an unforgettable novel of obsession, passion, and human resilience. Perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah and Anthony Doerr. Author Interview: Q: Why did you write The Girl from Oto? A: During travels with my family through Europe in 2010-11, I was thrilled by museum visits but my two young daughters were not. I wished more of the art they saw was relevant to them. We wandered through great halls of medieval and Renaissance-era paintings, and I mourned the lack of female artists. Meanwhile, my girls stared at portraits of frozen-in-time people in their gilt frames and were unmoved. I wished we knew more about the stories behind those portraits. Then I visited Oxford University and saw a 500-year-old painting of a mysterious woman, attributed to female portrait artist Caterina van Hemessen. I was floored. So there were women painters in those days! I began to dig into history, and the idea for The Girl from Oto was born. I would bring one of those mysterious old portraits to life, and I would create a place in history for its maker. Along the way I learned that women have always been artists. Their work was often attributed to men or kept anonymous, but it exists. And more and more of these women are being rescued from history’s shadows. Q: What is the significance of the Camino de Santiago in the story? A: The action in Mira’s story takes place in the Pyrenees mountains along the pilgrim’s route of Camino de Santiago (also known as the Way of St. James or St. Jacques). From the middle ages onward, this also happened to be a major trade route between what is now Spain and the rest of Europe. The mountain communities evolved with the constant presence of traveling pilgrims, itinerant merchants and artisans, smugglers, refugees, and nomadic shepherds. This created a dramatic brew of tensions, culture clashes, religious differences, unlikely alliances, the spread of disease, and a constant flow of news. Add into the mix the looming presence of the mountains themselves, and it’s a writer’s dream come true! Q: Is there a sequel? A: Yes. I am currently writing the sequel, Mira’s Way, and it will be published in 2018. A third book will follow to complete the trilogy. A prequel novella is also in the works. Q: What kind of reader likes your writing? A: Fans of Pillars of the Earth tend to like my story. People who love history, art, travel, romance, and mystery will enjoy The Girl from Oto.

The Stolen Marriage


Diane Chamberlain - 2017
    It showcases Diane Chamberlain at the top of her talent.One mistake, one fateful night, and Tess DeMello’s life is changed forever. It is 1944. Pregnant, alone, and riddled with guilt, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly gives up her budding career as a nurse and ends her engagement to the love of her life, unable to live a lie. Instead, she turns to the baby’s father for help and agrees to marry him, moving to the small, rural town of Hickory, North Carolina. Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows her no affection. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.The people of Hickory love and respect Henry but see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain. When one of the town’s golden girls dies in a terrible accident, everyone holds Tess responsible. But Henry keeps his secrets even closer now, though it seems that everyone knows something about him that Tess does not. When a sudden polio epidemic strikes Hickory, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess knows she is needed and defies Henry’s wishes to begin working at there. Through this work, she begins to find purpose and meaning. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle the truth behind her husband’s mysterious behavior and find the love—and the life—she was meant to have?

The Storyteller


Jodi Picoult - 2013
    . .Sage Singer is a baker. She works through the night, preparing the day’s breads and pastries, trying to escape a reality of loneliness, bad memories, and the shadow of her mother’s death. When Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, begins stopping by the bakery, they strike up an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they see in each other the hidden scars that others can’t, and they become companions.Everything changes on the day that Josef confesses a long-buried and shameful secret—one that nobody else in town would ever suspect—and asks Sage for an extraordinary favor. If she says yes, she faces not only moral repercussions, but potentially legal ones as well. With her own identity suddenly challenged, and the integrity of the closest friend she’s ever had clouded, Sage begins to question the assumptions and expectations she’s made about her life and her family. When does a moral choice become a moral imperative? And where does one draw the line between punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy?In this searingly honest novel, Jodi Picoult gracefully explores the lengths we will go in order to protect our families and to keep the past from dictating the future

The Third Angel


Alice Hoffman - 2008
    Frieda Lewis, a doctor’s daughter and a runaway, becomes the muse of an ill-fated rock star. And beautiful Bryn Evans is set to marry an Englishman while secretly obsessed with her ex-husband. At the heart of the novel is Lucy Green, who blames herself for a tragic accident she witnessed at the age of twelve, and who spends four decades searching for the Third Angel–the angel on earth who will renew her faith.Brilliantly evoking London’s King’s Road, Knightsbridge, and Kensington while moving effortlessly back in time, The Third Angel is a work of startling beauty about the unique, alchemical nature of love.

The Awakening and Selected Stories


Kate Chopin - 1899
    11 stories: The AwakeningBeyond the BayouMa'ame PelagieDesiree's BabyA Respectable WomanThe KissA Pair of Silk StockingsThe LocketA ReflectionAt the 'Cadian BallThe Storm

Fanny Herself


Edna Ferber - 1917
    Packed with the warmth and the wry, sidelong wit that made Ferber one of the best-loved writers of her time, the novel charts Fanny's emotional growth through her relationship with her mother, the shrewd, sympathetic Molly Brandeis. You could not have lived a week in Winnebago without being aware of Mrs. Brandeis, Ferber begins, and likewise the story of Fanny Brandeis is inextricable from that of her vigorous, enterprising mother. Molly Brandeis is the owner and operator of Brandeis' Bazaar, a modest general store left to her by her idealistic, commercially inept late husband. As Fanny strives to carve out her own sense of herself, Molly becomes the standard by which she measures her intellectual and spiritual progress. toward her gift for sketching and drawing, and her inspired success as a businesswoman all contribute to the flesh-and-blood complexity of Ferber's youthful, eminently believable protagonist. She is accompanied on her journey by impeccably drawn characters such as Father Fitzpatrick, the Catholic priest in Winnebago; Ella Monahan, buyer for the glove department of the Haynes-Cooper mail order house; Fanny's brother, Theodore, a gifted violinist for whose musical education Molly sacrifices Fanny's future; and Clarence Heyl, the scrappy columnist who never forgot how Fanny rescued him from the school bullies. Ferber's only work of fiction with a strong autobiographical element, Fanny Herself showcases the author's enduring interest in the capacity of strong women to transcend the limitations of their environment and control their own circumstances. Through Fanny's honest struggle with conflicting values-financial security and corporate success versus altruism and artistic integrity-Ferber grapples with some of the most deeply embedded contradictions of the American spirit.