With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely
resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug
money ten years ago. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and
sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional
facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna
is now inmate #11187-424—one of the millions of women who disappear
“down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first
strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this
strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary
rules,
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John and Martha Beck had two Harvard degrees apiece when they conceived their second child. Further graduate studies, budding careers, and a growing family meant major stress—not that they’d have admitted it to anyone (or themselves). As the pregnancy progressed, Martha battled constant nausea and dehydration. And when she learned her unborn son had Down syndrome, she battled nearly everyone over her decision to continue the pregnancy. She still cannot explain many of the things that happened to her while she was expecting Adam, but by the time he was born, Martha, as she puts it, “had to unlearn virtually everything Harvard taught [her] about what is precious and what is garbage.”
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One of England’s finest and most loved writers explores the uncomfortable
and tragicomic gap between people’s public appearance and their private
desires in two tender and surprising stories.
In The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson, a
recently bereaved widow finds interesting ways to supplement her income
by performing as a patient for medical students, and renting out her
spare room. Quiet, middle-class, and middle-aged, Mrs. Donaldson will
soon discover that she rather enjoys role-play at the hospital, and the
irregular and startling entertainment provided by her tenants.
In The Shielding of Mrs.
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A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year
Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs. In 1953, the good doctor gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent, and Marylou has been plotting her revenge ever since. When she discovers his whereabouts in Florida, she hightails it to Tallahassee, moves in down the block from where he resides with his daughter, Caroline, and begins the tricky work of insinuating herself into his life. But she has no idea what a nest of yellow jackets she’s stumbled into. Spriggs is senile, his daughter’s on the verge of collapse,
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Forever a girl obsessed with all things French, sweet freak Amy Thomas landed a gig as rich as the purest dark chocolate: leave Manhattan for Paris to write ad copy for Louis Vuitton. Working on the Champs-Élysées, strolling the charming streets, and exploring the best patisseries and boulangeries, Amy marveled at the magnificence of the City of Light.
But does falling in love with one city mean turning your back on another? As much as Amy adored Paris, there was part of her that felt like a humble chocolate chip cookie in a sea of pristine macarons. Paris,
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New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline’s Save Me will touch the heart of every woman, as its heroine, the unforgettable Rose McKenna, makes a split-second decision that alters the course of her life—and makes you wonder what you would do in her shoes.
Nobody could have foreseen what would happen the day that Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom in the cafeteria of her daughter’s elementary school. Rose does it to keep a discreet eye on her third-grader, Melly, a sweet, if shy, child who was born with a facial birthmark that has become her own personal bull’s-eye.
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