This beautiful collection is the product of years of full-time research by a team of British and American scholars and represents the most thorough examination ever undertaken of the nature and authority of Shakespeare's work. The editors reconsidered every detail of the text in the light of modern scholarship and they thoroughly re-examined the earliest printed versions of the plays, firmly establishing the canon and chronological order of composition. All stage directions have been reconsidered in light of original staging, and many new directions for essential action have been added. This superb volume also features a brief introduction to each work as well as an illuminating General Introduction. Finally, the editors have added a wealth of secondary material, including an essay on language, a list of contemporary allusions to Shakespeare, an index of Shakespearean characters, a glossary, a consolidated bibliography, and an index of first lines of the Sonnets.Compiled by the world's leading authorities, packed with information, and attractively designed, The Oxford Shakespeare is the gold standard of Shakespearean anthologies.

    With a father who thought the world of them, life was good. Until one day everything changed. While Grayce got love and attention, Merci got all the hell, forcing her to leave home. She never looks back, putting the past behind her until … her sister shows up over a decade later begging for help, bringing all of the forgotten past with her. Merci wasn't the least bit prepared for what was about to happen next. Merci realizes, she’s been a part of something much bigger than she'd ever imagined. Yea, every family has their secrets, hidden truths and ties but Merci had no idea she’d been born into the family that lies.

    Mastering life’s principal and hellacious course of Hard Knock Life 101 was nothing to eXavier and eZekiel Yarbrough at an early age. Their wisdom and fearless innocence allocated them guardian angels over baby cousin, iYanna. Drug addictions, immorality, abuse, and evil are all cycles that these three have a vivid familiarity with, yet out of the wicked mentalities that assaulted them grew love, loyalty, hope, tenacity and nobility. Despite the licks they gave, as well as took, they found a safe haven in an old head called Diego. A man that knew the streets and the streets respected him. This family has an abundance of dysfunction, but their devotion to each other is unrestricted and immovable! Friends for life. Life has not been particularly kind to Najia Kennedy. She's had to sacrifice more than she's wanted and taken more L's than wins. But somehow, she's managed to stay on her feet with her head held high, all the while searching for where broken hearts go. Love remains elusive as her son's father pops in and out of their lives with empty promises and leftover lies. Najia's friendship with iYanna has withstood the test of time and her shenanigans, as she factors into the equation that is XYZ. Love forever. The streets don't owe him anything. He's taken everything he's wanted by omission or commission. Kreed is a new breed of boss, college educated and street smart. He's the boogeyman in a suit, encompassed in a mystical aura of strength and power that leaves many starstruck. He's so immune to the world around him that he's stunned at the foreign emotions caused by the feather-like thundering of a miniature storm called iYanna. He envisions her as his future, but her family views him as a catastrophic danger to all that they've invested in her. Love and hurt, joy and pain, good times and bad, take all as prisoners. When you have everything you want, is there room for more? When you have nothing, will you accept anything? XYZ is a spicy urban romance with charismatic characters, life altering situations and breathtaking moments that will fascinate you from beginning to end.

    And when her soon-to-be husband, Trevan "TC" Clayton, is shot to death right in front of her on the night he proposes to her, her life takes a dramatic turn for the worse. TC's mother gives all her son's worldly possessions away—including he and Nisey's Florissant suburban home—to a two-bit con-artist/ex-pimp turned reverend. Nisey is left with no other choice but to move back to the drug-infested Section 8 apartments of St. Louis' JVL.Stripped of the ghetto fabulous lifestyle, Nisey and her girlfriends pick up the scale and baggies to turn their misfortunes into a fortune. Quickly, she and her clique of "Trap-A-Rellas" become the talk of the Lou, and just as fast as she reaches the top, schemes are set in place to knock her back down.

    An unexpected temptation. And stakes so high no one will walk away unscathed…   Gorgeous Nicole is about to get everything she's hustled for. She's having her rich, married lover Rashad's baby. And a lucky break has made her a media heroine—and the perfect new wife material. With one more deception here, a couple more little seductions there, she'll finally push Rashad's wife, Kiara, completely out of his life. With her formidable competition gone, Nicole will lock down Rashad's ever-wandering interest, and be the next Mrs. Eason for sure… But there are some temptations even this sexy schemer finds tough to pass up. Especially her first love, ex-con Ajalon, who's just walked back into her life. His intense hunger, chiseled body, and mind-blowing endurance are throwing Nicole off her game and reigniting emotions way too hot to control—or resist. But he’s also handed Kiara, and another interested ex, the perfect ammo to expose Nicole and blow her world apart once and for all. Now the only guarantee for all involved is shattering scandal—and mutually assured destruction…Praise for the novels of Cydney Rax   “The book we can’t put down.”--Essence® on My Husband’s Girlfriend   “Fascinating, witty, and thought-provoking.” –Zane on My Daughter’s Boyfriend   “Filled with family drama.”--APOOO Book Club on My Sister’s Ex

    . . Essence and Blackboard bestselling author Karen E. Quinones Miller returns with the follow-up to Satin Doll, her debut novel about four sassy women from Harlem. Puddin': Yeah, y'all know I'm gangsta wit' it. And that's why I don't give a hot damn about swindling these stupid wimps for whatever-be it a drink or their precious platinum credit cards. I may not have a college education like Gina and Tamika or a bougie job like Yvonne, but my sexy ass gets the job done.Yvonne: Let's face it: I'm too fine to be alone. I'm intelligent, gainfully employed-and did I mention how fine I am? Well, it's a lot harder to find a good man than you'd think. So why does everybody have a problem with me getting back with my ex? Please! He'd almost be perfect if he didn't still have a wife.Tamika: I guess I'm the most quiet out of all my girls. Marriage, motherhood, and med school will do that to a sista. And, hell, having a full-out drug war land in your home will certainly do the trick. It'll also keep you stressed, angry, and maybe even a little judgmental of your friends when they're sleeping with the enemy.Regina: Yeah, Little Joe ran the game twenty years ago. But it was that same game that helped me jump off my writing career. And after seeing him for the first time in years, I've got to at least talk to the man. Never mind that he looks better than ever and still has that same sexy swagger that I found irresistible. Or that he might not be the best example for my daughter...or that I'm still feeling my politician ex-hubby (just a little bit). Never mind all of that. Because talking never hurt anybody, right? Blending themes of friendship and street angst with tough, sexy, independent female characters, Satin Nights captures the edginess of urban grit and celebrates the strength of sista-hood.

    She is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that this time they make it without fault.Tamar on the other hand is knee deep in the game, further than ever before. With a set of new demands; he is forced to recruit a new team that pushes him to prove why he is and will always be the boss.Taron and Journey are deeply in love and looking forward to becoming one. They thought they had everything a couple could ever want until another woman-Latoya, shows the both of them exactly what they’re missing.New couple Jamir and Erica will show you just how Justice is served.Will these couples overcome what’s being thrown their way or will they let it destroy everything they’ve built?Find out in this drama-filled 4th installment of Rozalyn.

    Unafraid to tackle difficult subjects, Johnson-Hodge tells her tales with great sensitivity, insight and wit, pulling readers in with her very human characters and lively narrative. "Some Sunday" is about loss and heartache, love and friendship, and ultimately, about hope, renewal and triumph.Some Sunday, I'm going to wake up and the world will be all right again...Thus begins "Some Sunday." Sandy Hutchinson is a thirty-six-year-old African-American woman whose life has just come to a painful halt. After meeting the man of her dreams and marrying him, she finds herself widowed, alone and carrying the scars of having had a husband die of AIDS. Although Adrian's death was not unexpected, the loss has thrust Sandy into a deep depression. As the book opens, she is still in mourning and trying to make inroads back.With all the drama of Butterscotch Blues, "Some Sunday" takes the reader into the lives of Sandy and her friends, Janice Duprey, Brittney Weller and Martha Alston -- their new challenges, new lessons and new loves on that never-ending journey called life.

    Includes a new preface by Jewell Gresham Nemiroff and a revised introduction by Margaret B. Wilkerson.

    With households to maintain, families to take care of, and men to seduce it’s a wonder how these ladies find time to piece together a scheme of all schemes to put them in a position of power. But when the real mastermind flips the script on the ladies, it will risk their lives and test their friendship…THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF SECTION 8

    She is in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend Raymone. Tired of being forced to deal with his baby mama drama and sidechicks, Mia finally decides that enough is enough! She decides to move on and turns to Harlem, who has always been there for her. However, Raymone won’t make it easy. His obsession and jealousy gets out of hand and leads to all sorts of conflict. Will Harlem and Mia be able to weather the storm and find true love, or will Raymone ruin their relationship? Love, Lies, and Obsessions is a tale filled with deceit, murder, and drama with an unbelievable ending!

    What Rebecca Gilman makes of this familiar scenario is something startlingly real and compelling, delving deeply into the small space that can divide a feeling of hope from one of hopelessness, as Curt and Sandy both try to get a foothold in the American dream of a house, a job, a life, a relationship with another human being.Gilman's previous play, Boy Gets Girl, was acclaimed by Time magazine as the best play of 2000, saying that "with Spinning into Butter, her play about race relations on campus, Rebecca Gilman gave notice that she was a playwright to watch. And with this intense drama of a woman's encounter with a stalker, she became one to hail . . . It's not just a gripping play but also an important one." Marked by Gilman's characteristically sharp delineation of character, pitch-perfect dialogue, and effortless use of humor that is both biting and silly, Blue Surge is a worthy successor to these plays--an intimate look at the class struggle in America today as well as a brilliant example of the dramatic craft from one of today's most accomplished practitioners. It will have its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in the spring of 2001.

    When we last left Quita, the last person on earth Flex would suspect, Kim Carmichael, had kidnapped Cordon.Kimi, Cordon's biological mother, had her unreliable cousin Pooh hold Cordon, and his friend Miranda in a motel room until further instructions. But the kids have another agenda, and decide to slip away to face the dangerous streets, and save themselves.To top it all off, Quita must still run her illegal daycare center although most of her friends are being held captive by Flex, and his goons until Cordon is found. Time is of the essence and if Flex does not get Cordon back soon, bodies will continue to drop.Quita's Dayscare Center 2 is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. Will this be the end of Quita's Dayscare Center or just the beginning?

    Her existence consists of being mentally and physically abused by her unfit mother and unknowingly spending most days with a no good, trifling best friend.Her life seems to be on a repeated cycle of crazy misfortunes and sad uncertainties when it comes down to finding genuine love. However, good deeds from an older lady gives Scarlett a new lease on life and finally romance is on the rise, until her scarred past comes back to haunt her. Now, with skeletons creeping out of the closet left and right, can a new improved Scarlett stand the storm or will she be on the verge of losing it?

    From four-time "Essence"-bestselling author Lee comes the compelling tale of a marriage that is tested when infidelity--and tragedy--come into play.