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THE GILDED CHAMBER

For centuries her name has been a byword for feminine beauty, guile, and wisdom. This sweeping, meticulously researched novel restores Esther to her full, complex humanity while reanimating the glit­tering Persian Empire in which her story unfolded. Esther comes to that land as a terrified Jewish orphan betrothed to her cousin, a well-connected courtier. She finds a world racked by intrigue and unfathomable hatreds and realizes that the only way to survive is to win the heart of its king. Pas­sionate, suspenseful, and historically authentic, The Gilded Chamber illu­minates the dilemma of a woman torn between her heart and her sense of duty,

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IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW

In her third novel, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern introduces us to two sisters at odds with each other. Elizabeth’s life is an organized mess. The organized part is all due to her own efforts. The mess is entirely due to her sister, Saoirse, whose personal problems leave Elizabeth scrambling to pick up the pieces. One of these pieces is Saoirse’s six-year-old son, Luke. Luke is quiet and contemplative, until the arrival of a new friend, Ivan, turns him into an outgoing, lively kid. And Elizabeth’s life is about to change in wonderful ways she has only dreamed of.

With all the warmth and wit that fans have come to expect from Cecelia Ahern,

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THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB

 In California’s Central Valley, five women and one man meet to discuss Jane Austen’s novels. Over the six months they get together, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suit­able, and love happens. With her eye for the frailties of human behavior and her ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Karen Joy Fowler has never been wittier or her characters more appealing. The result is a deli­cious dissection of modern relationships.

Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that,

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LIPSTICK JUNGLE

Victory Ford is the darling of the fashion world. Single, attractive, and iconoclastic, she has worked for years to create her own signature line. As well as learning crucial lessons about what she really wants in a relationship.

Nico O’Neilly is the glamorous, brilliant editor of Bonfire Magazine— the pop-culture bible for fashion, show business, and politics. Considered one of the most powerful women in publishing, she seems to have it all. But in a mid-life crisis, she suddenly realizes this isn’t enough.

Wendy Healy’s chutzpah has propelled her to the very top of the cut­throat movie industry.

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MEAN GIRLS GROWN UP

Most women have experienced female aggression in one way or another, either as victim, aggressor, or bystander. In Mean Girls Grown Up, Cheryl Dellasega explores why women are often their own worst enemies, offering practical advice for dealing with aggressive behaviors in a variety of situations and for building healthy, positive relationships with other women.

Drawing upon extensive research and interviews, Dellasega shares stories from women around the world who have experienced relational aggression as well as the knowledge of experts have helped women over­come the bullying dynamic. From the PTA clique to the neighborhood carpool,

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SOMEONE NOT REALLY HER MOTHER

As dementia overtakes Hannah Pearl, she slips backward in memory to her escape from France in 1940; boarding the ferry with her heavy bags; the whistle of bombs raining down on London; the family she left behind. Her daughter Miranda, distraught by Hannah’s fading lucidity and sudden switch to her childhood French, tries desperately to hold her in the present. Fiona, a new mother and the older of Hannah’s two grand­daughters, ignores the ghosts of her grandmother’s past, while her sister, fiery Ida, seeks to delve into Hannah’s story, eventually returning to France to find the roots of her grandmother’s life—and her own.

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