The first of Angela Thirkell’s brilliantly satirical English comedies set in the fictional county of Barsetshire, High Rising is now available as a Virago Modern Classic. Utterly charming and highly entertaining, High Rising is irresistible comic entertainment for fans of Stella Gibbons, P. G. Wodehouse or E. F Benson.
Successful lady novelist Laura Morland and her boisterous young son Tony set off to spend Christmas at her country home in the sleepy surrounds of High Rising. But Laura’s wealthy friend and neighbour George Knox has taken on a scheming secretary whose designs on marriage to her employer threaten the delicate social fabric of the village.
read more
When Elaine Lui was growing up, her mother told her, “Why do you need to prepare for the good things that happen? They’re good. They won’t hurt you. My job is to prepare you for the hard times, and teach you how to avoid them, whenever possible.” Neither traditionally Eastern nor conventionally Western, the Squawking Chicken raised her daughter drawing on Chinese fortune-telling, feng shui blackmail, good old-fashioned ghost stories, and shame and embarrassment in equal measure. And despite years of chafing against her mother’s parenting style, Elaine came to recognize the hidden wisdom—and immeasurable value—in her rather unorthodox upbringing.
read more
In this powerful and riveting novel, literary phenomenon Christos Tsiolkas unflinchingly exposes the inner workings of domestic life, friendship, and parenthood in the twenty-first century, and reminds us of the passions and malice that family loyalty can provoke. When a man slaps another couple’s child at a neighborhood barbecue, the event send unforeseeable shock waves through the lives of all who are witness to it. Told from the points of view of eight people who were present, The Slap shows how a single action can change the way people think about how they live, what they want, and what they believe forever.
read more
First They Were Family. Then They Were Strangers. Now They Are Lost
Whiskey and Charlie may be identical twins, but they are also polar opposites who are incapable of getting along. Their relationship has deteriorated so much that Charlie can’t even bear to talk to his brother anymore. But when a freak accident puts Whiskey in a coma and leaves their family in limbo, Charlie is forced to face the fact he may never speak to his brother again.
Whiskey and Charlie is a wise, clever exploration of making mistakes and facing up to them,
read more
The New York Times bestselling author of A Long Time Gone now explores a Southern family’s buried history, which will change the life of the woman who unearths it, secret by shattering secret.
It has been two years since the death of Merritt Heyward’s husband, Cal, when she receives unexpected news—Cal’s family home in Beaufort, South Carolina, bequeathed by Cal’s reclusive grandmother, now belongs to Merritt.
Charting the course of an uncertain life—and feeling guilt from her husband’s tragic death—Merritt travels from her home in Maine to Beaufort,
read more
In a small town in Indiana, Alice Becotte wants desperately what should be simple: a baby. What Alice’s husband, Rolly, wants is time for his art. He’s a talented sculptor with ambitions that draw him away from his steady teaching gig at a “backwater” college. Alice, the lone full-time reporter for their local, struggling newspaper, isn’t as invested in her career. The crack in their marriage widens when, finally pregnant, the pair face devastating news.
It’s 1999, a time when the world is afraid of falling apart once the new millennium arrives. Told from both character’s points of view,
read more
