Yet, when he is thrown together in a journey to the Lakes with Ashley, who is tough, good-looking and has an abundance of street cred, they form an unlikely alliance.A bizarre relationship is made even more difficult when a girl appears on the scene. Soon things begin to fall apart and their road trip makes national headlines for all the wrong reasons.

    Desperate and afraid of her feelings for an Irish priest with whom she has been working, she spends eight days on the run, encountering a variety of characters along the way: a cynical Englishman who helps her out; a suspicious Peruvian police officer who takes her in for questioning; and two American Peace Corps workers who befriend her. As Kate traverses this dangerous physical journey through Peru, she also embarks upon an interior journey of self-discovery―one that leads her somewhere she never could have expected.

    Hidden just beneath the surface are the STONES - green and still polished smooth - placed long ago by the Guardians. Still pulsating with power, they are about to bear witness to a great battle between light and darkness. Claire Drummond is in danger, her very life depends on the actions and help of her husband and family, as well as the man she thought had left her life for good, Tony Benning. Caught up once more in the heavy turmoil of good vs evil, Claire has much more to fight for than just a cluster of stones in the highlands of Scotland. This time it’s personal. This time Marcus Ryder has her daughter.

    Meandering through the narrow streets she finds herself at the door of one of the city's most renowned and reclusive mystics and discovers her father's top rabbinical student, Russian immigrant Moshe studying forbidden Kabbalistic texts. She has a disturbing vision of a tree of prayers growing up inside the house, and the prayers all seem to be talking to her. The prayers become a giant bird, and chase her from the house. Malka has unwittingly uncovered a great mystical gift. Kabbalists believe that since the world was spoken into existence, if they can hear and understand that original Divine language, they can use it themselves, to shape and manipulate reality. Once in a millennia, a kabbalist is born with this ability. It turns out that Malka is one of them. After a disastrous first date with Moshe, Malka flees Jerusalem for Safed where she is drawn into a cult called Mystical Encounters, run by charismatic cult leader Avner Marcus. Avner is unsettled by Malka's authenticity, and she is not allowed to attend classes. Her only friends are former night club singer Shira, and traumatised ex-soldier Evven. Malka sets up her own mystical retreat in the woods, at an abandoned construction site. When she reveals this to Avner, he forces her to take him there and tries to rape her. Malka manages to evade him, and then burns down the cult after manipulating the Modern Hebrew word for Electricity, Chashmal Malka heads for Tel Avi, and sleeps rough on the beaches of the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Jaffa. Here she is discovered by legendary Arab chef Rukh Baraka, who is seeking to rekindle his career by training Arab and Israeli street children to create extraordinary food for his new restaurant, the Leviathan. Malka bonds with fellow runaway Mahmoud, who is escaping the wrath of his Imam father at his "deviant" sexuality. Mahmoud reveals the city behind the city, the hidden Palestinian history of which Malka has been ignorant. Moshe has been trying to find Malka and is forced to confront some of his own demons, including the disappearance of his younger sister when she was in his care. Moshe swears that he will not lose another girl he loves.

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

    In this collection of his stories (each of which has a story behind it), you'll read about two retired spiritual leaders who experience a miracle in their nursing home, a gay relationship that must end between an American man and a Thai student, the astonishing adventures of an early mid-life failure, the thrilling chase one gay man undertakes for another intriguing, confusing, mysterious man, and a mind-blowing time-travel misadventure involving a man and a dog, as well as a few other surprises. This genre bending collection will captivate you. You might even enjoy the stories. Adam Carpenter Welles works in media in a major city in the Southeastern United States.

    Captivated by Delia, Travis watches her attempt to find a place for herself in the socially stunted, gossip-driven town. Delia's secrets go beyond what Travis can understand, but he believes that he alone can save her--a belief that not only forces him to grow up fast, but one that builds to a dangerous and disturbing climax. In trying to free Delia from her past, Travis leads her into a shocking present and a most uncertain future.In a work at once honest, chilling and compulsively addictive, author Sterling Watson has created a time and place where rock 'n' roll hums from AM radios, steam rises from a secluded riverbed and violent summer storms threaten the peace of silent nights. Watson's characters are brought vividly to life through Travis's touching, powerful and intensely personal voice. A dark and evocative coming of age tale, Sweet Dream Baby begins steeped in innocence and ends in a dramatically different place."I can't remember a book that sneaked up and grabbed me the way Sweet Dream Baby did. It's a real shocker by a very good writer." --Elmore Leonard"Sterling Watson's Sweet Dream Baby is one of the finest novels I've read in years, an incandescent blend of gothic noir, Faulknerian dreamscape and bittersweet coming-of-age story. Months after reading it, it haunts me still." -Dennis Lehane"Sterling Watson's Sweet Dream Baby brings us the words and music, the tastes and smells of that special time-as well as its heartache and secret shame. I was utterly absorbed in these fierce pages." -Fred Chappell, author of Look Back All the Green Valley"Sweet Dream Baby is a beautiful book. Sterling Watson is surehanded and telling in a story that is as elegiac as it is gripping." -Michael Connelly, author of Chasing the Dime"Some delicious page-turning."-Kirkus ReviewsA Book Sense 76 Top 10 SelectionNamed to Top Ten Crime Books of 2002, Toronto Globe and Mail"Watson proves himself a first-rate storyteller."-Publishers Weekly"A comprehensive work of art that is as thought-provoking as it is disturbing."-Orlando Sentinel

    Since the death of her photographer husband, Stuart, the only people Kate allows near are her best friend, Orla, and her son, George. She loves them both more than anything in the world. Everyone else she keeps at a distance...including Paul Farrell. Paul was Stuart’s closest friend. An ex-war journalist, he and Kate have one thing in common. They both seem equally distant. Then Paul publishes an article, revealing an astonishing secret. On a trip to the Yorkshire moors with a group of teenage girls, Kate's scarred heart begins to open up But can she risk her son’s happiness, as well as her own? Praise for The Summer of Love and Secrets 'A beautiful, heart-wrenching story about love, loss and friendship. Fairfax creates characters that come to life and Kate is one of the best!' N.N. Light's Book Heaven 'A touching and engrossing love story...Several scenes will stay with me for a long time.' Marie Laval, bestselling author 'A romance that draws you in and won't let you go...Once I started this book, I really couldn't put it down' Helen Pollard, bestselling author 'I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end...A positive and life-affirming read from the start.' Amazon five star review 'A lovely, emotive and heart-warming contemporary romance story that draws in the audience and takes hold from the very beginning.' Caroline Barker, A Reader's Review book blog

    Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, is tormented by the thought that maybe his aunt is lying to him about how his mother died. To find the truth he has to overcome his fears: the local bully, the large dark shapes that he imagines in the middle of the dock at night, and the thought that maybe his brother is right, he's just a warped kid who thinks too much. Will he find the courage to stand and fight? Q&A with Lawton Paul Q: What sparked this novel? A: Two things. One: I wanted my kids to know where I came from. The very southern setting—North Florida on the St. Johns river, is where I grew up. And I wanted to give them a feel for that time and place. Watching the sunrise on a stinky crab boat in the St. Johns—what could be better? And the second thing: When I'm not writing, I'm teaching kids. I see a lot of young people who have such promise but for some reason or another, give up right before they're about to make headway. I see my own kids struggling at certain points in their lives. And one thought keeps coming back: don't give up. So I wanted Jesse (main character in Seagull) to really have some heavy issues to navigate through: the death of his mother, Johnny the bully, and of course, the girl, Hailey. You'll have to read the book (savvy marketing ploy alert!) to find out how it all turned out for Jesse. Q: Why should readers give this novel a try? A: If I've done my job well, you'll enjoy the ride and maybe even get that little happy-glow feeling at the end like you just watched Rocky again, or someone said your hair looks nice, or you got an “A” on a pre-calc test. (Another genius bit of marketing there.) Q: What kind of book is Seagull? A: It's a coming of age southern novel with a young main character that should appeal to fiction readers of all ages. Younger readers will sympathize with our teen heroes Jesse and Matty and adult readers will be taken back to earlier days. My style has a literary feel, but the story is plot-driven and suspenseful, especially at the end. And even has a hint of romance. Thanks for giving Seagull a try. Please let me know what you thought of it. —Lawton Paul

    But as the years flit by Usman feels a growing distance between them. He realises that he hasn't noticed the buds of the gulmohar tree unfurl, and that he has lost sight of his love for his wife.A beautiful account of a marriage that is in turns wry and unashamedly romantic.Another Gulmohar Tree was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Europe and South Asia in 2010.Aamer Hussein was born in Karachi in 1955 and moved to London in the early 1970s. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and reviews regularly for The Independent and the TLS. He is the author of Turquoise, This Other Salt, and the editor of Kahani: Short Stories by Pakistani Women. He has held visiting posts at the University of Southampton and the University of London, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

    He's tired of being made fun of by all the other flying birds, so he sets off on a journey to find out who he really is. Along the way, he meets Maudry, a smart and sassy female bird, and Wainwright, a grumpy worm with a short temper. Together, the unusual trio goes through thick and thin to discover what it really means to be yourself.

    Life has given her every reason to mistrust people, but circumstances force her to trust her neighbor Mitch with watching Leonard while she goes off to work. Then one day Pearl drops her son off…and never returns. They are an unlikely pair: Mitch is a young, unattached business owner, and Leonard is a precocious, five-year-old boy. But together they must find a way to move forward in the wake of Pearl’s unexplained disappearance. Their bond as parent and child shifts and endures, even as Mitch must eventually surrender Leonard to a two-parent home.Is it possible to love the people who can’t always be there for us? The answers will surprise and move you. As their lives unfold, profound questions emerge about the nature of love and family. Ultimately, this novel’s richest reward is watching Mitch and Leonard grow up together, through the power and the magic of the human heart.

    The murder of a beautiful woman shatters the rural village peace of Alfredville, and her husband, the police station commander, is jailed as chief suspect. Her cousin Peter, a freelance writer in London, returns to South Africa for the first time in decades – unsettled, curious, but also in search of a career-defining story. On checking into the Queen’s Hotel he finds that things are not as straightforward as he imagined, and South Africa is not as he left it. His carefully ordered world is thrown into turmoil as his trip dredges up a long-abandoned past, forcing him to question the assumptions so easily held from the comfort of his London flat. He meets a mixture of locals, visitors, vagrants and migrants, but most momentously, Peter discovers that his bosom friend from school, Bennie Nienaber, is still in Alfredville – and is in fact now, acting station commander at the local police station. Peter re-establishes an awkward friendship with his erstwhile friend and the two warily circle each other, sharing reminiscences that hint at a bond much deeper than nostalgia. As Peter abandons the neatly patterned story he had planned and is forced to participate in a community that he once despised, he begins to reconsider his place in the world. In search of Desirée’s story, he now starts to rewrite his own – till events take an even more shocking turn….Lost Ground explores questions of xenophobia and prejudice, of national, sexual and personal identity, and what it means to be a foreigner wherever you go.Michiel Heyns is the author of four previous novels: The Children’s Day, The Reluctant Passenger, The Typewriter’s Tale and Bodies Politic. He is a translator and was professor of English at the University of Stellenbosch.

    Failing out of school, picking up shifts at Margo’s diner, she’s left fending for herself in a town where she’s never quite felt at home. When she “borrows” her neighbor’s car to perform at an open mic night, she realizes her life could be much bigger than where she came from. After a fight with her dad, April packs her stuff and leaves for good, setting off on a journey to find a life that’s all hers.As April moves through the world, meeting people who feel like home, she chronicles her life in the songs she writes and discovers that where she came from doesn’t dictate who she has to be. This lyrical, unflinching tale is for anyone who has ever yearned for the fierce power of found family or to grasp the profound beauty of choosing to belong.

    It's a far cry from his native Ireland, but he believes this is the place he and his wife can make a new life and forget the troubles of the past. And for a time, they do just that. There's a good life, a new house, regular work and, in time, they welcome their new son Marti into the world. But as the years pass, this new life thousands of miles from the Old Country comes under threat. Joey's wife has been struggling with demons of her own, their marriage is on the rocks and suddenly, Joey's wife disappears and takes Marti with her. Joey is beside himself, with no clues about where they are, with both his childhood sweetheart and his son - his pride and joy - now missing. Then, when Joey gets word that his wife and son have returned to Ireland, he knows that he'll now have to do the same if he ever wants to see his son again. And he also knows that he'll finally have to confront the ghosts of his past that he's been running from for years. His Father's Son is a touching and beautiful story of a family struggling to come to terms with their past, their present and an uncertain future.