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Domestic fiction

  • Author:
    Albert, Susan Wittig
    Summary:

    When a man dies soon after Tullie bashes his head with her cane, China's estranged mother frantically calls for her daughter's help. Rushing to her family's Mississippi plantation, China must determine if her Great Aunt Tullie is guilty of homicide. She must also face the possibility of developing the same terrifying disease that tortures Tullie.

  • Author:
    Miall, Laurence
    Summary:

    When his parents' car is hit by a train, Luke, a failed actor, returns to his Edmonton hometown to attend their funeral, wrap up their affairs, and prepare their house to be sold off. But while all others around him grieve, Luke remains detached, striking up a relationship with a woman in a neighbouring house... and stumbling across evidence that his mother may have engaged in a longstanding extramarital affair herself.

  • Author:
    Berry, Michelle
    Summary:

    Welcome to Blind Crescent, where everyone is watching, but nobody sees a thing. In this fictitious slice of suburban life, Michelle Berry peels back the pretensions of manicured lawns and the rictus smiles of friendly neighbours. With a deft hand, she paints a picture of suburbia so absurdly real that every suburbanite reader can’t help but feel strangely at home.

  • Author:
    Goulet, Sylvain
    Summary:

    Sylvain Goulet est l’auteur de Susciter une réflexion qui t’appartienne, un livre de réflexion personnelle, et de huit romans, toujours sous le thème de l’inspiration. Le jeune Nathaniel, 16 ans, qui traverse une période d’anxiété, en proie à la recherche de sa véritable identité, est invité pour quelque temps par son grand-père Jean Lamarche. Ce qui lui avait d’abord semblé une simple balade l’entraînera de surprise en surprise, lui faisant redécouvrir en toute simplicité la merveilleuse histoire de son aïeul. La sagesse de l’homme le fera se servir de la nature, d’une visite dans un café, d’une autre chez sa soeur, et d’une autre encore, chez des amis où ils passeront du temps dans un chalet. Subtil et fin stratège, grand-père Lamarche, au gré de métaphores, de courtes histoires, d’exemples et de questions pourtant si simples, mais d’une précision certaine, ravivera les réponses qui feront choisir à son petit-fils de se relever afin d’être fier de l’homme qu’il devient. Dans ce monde qui ressemble trop souvent au chaos, retrouvez dans ce récit la grandeur de l’âme humaine que possède chacun de nous, mais dont si peu se servent. Comme le répète l’auteur, un roman qui donne de la vie à la vie…

  • Author:
    PEARS, Tim
    Summary:

    Ezra and Sheena Pepin are like everyone else : overworked, worried about their children and trying to steer their marriage on an even keel. Perceptive, funny and thought-provoking, Blenheim Orchard is both human drama at its most powerful and an acute portrait of the times we live in.

  • Author:
    Dickens, Charles
    Summary:

    Bleak House follows the fortunes and relationships of three characters whose fates are tied to the obscure inheritance case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, which is tied up in endless litigation. While many deserving and undeserving claim the inheritance, it is ironically being devoured in legal costs.

  • Author:
    Dickens, Charles
    Summary:

    Bleak House opens in the twilight of foggy London, where fog grips the city most densely in the Court of Chancery. The obscure case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, the sleuthing of Detective Inspector Bucket and the fate of Jo the crossing-sweeper, these are some of the lives Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done. The byzantine legal suit of Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce forms the backbone of this intricate, richly populated novel, which so effectively satirizes the Chancery court system that it helped spur English legal reforms. A dark secret, a cold-blooded murder and spontaneous human combustion are, frankly, not even the most exciting parts.

    Bleak House, in its atmosphere, symbolism and magnificent bleak comedy, is often regarded as the best of Dickens. A 'great Victorian novel', it is so inventive in its competing plots and styles that it eludes interpretation.

  • Author:
    Bush, Catherine
    Summary:

    "For those who loved Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior comes a new climate-themed, Shakespeare-inspired novel from bestselling author Catherine Bush. The time is now or an alternate near now, the world close to our own. A mammoth Category Five hurricane sweeps up the eastern seaboard of North America, leaving devastation in its wake, its outer wings brushing over tiny Blaze Island in the North Atlantic. Just as the storm disrupts the present, it stirs up the past: Miranda's memories of growing up in an isolated, wind-swept cove and the events of long ago that her father will not allow her to speak of. In the aftermath of the storm, she finds herself in a world altered so quickly and so radically that she hardly knows what has happened. As Miranda says, change is clear after it happens."--

  • Author:
    Story, Kate
    Summary:

    Blasted is a story of Ruby Jones, an irreverent, exuberant, and troubled woman who lurches between love affairs and cities. The narrative shifts between generations and geographies, between contemporary life and stories as old as the hill that looms over Ruby's birthplace. All the while, she is haunted by mysteries that surround her father and the generations before him. When Ruby unravels at last, she must face the demons that pursue her. Steeped in Newfoundland folklore, Blasted mines a rich vein of experience, layering the mundane and the magical, and evoking the forces that inhabit the land.

  • Author:
    Bauer, Belinda
    Summary:

    Twelve-year-old Steven is determined to put an end to his family's misery and find the remains of his uncle, who was believed to be murdered as a child by a local pedophile. Steven spends his days digging for clues around his grandmother's home, but when his search fails to unearth anything new, he reaches out to the only person with answers--the accused murderer now serving life in prison.

  • Author:
    Hoffman, Alice
    Summary:

    Gripping and poignant, this novel is the gripping story of a house, its inhabitants and the ghosts that haunt a spit of land from 1778 to the present day.

  • Author:
    Abraham, Tola Rotimi
    Summary:

    Twin sisters Bibike and Ariyike are enjoying a relatively comfortable life in Lagos in 1996. Then their mother loses her job due to political strife, and the family, facing poverty, is drawn into the New Church, an institution led by a charismatic pastor who is not shy about worshipping earthly wealth. Soon Bibike and Ariyike's father wagers the family home on a "sure bet" that evaporates like smoke. As their parents' marriage collapses in the aftermath of this gamble, the twin sisters and their two younger siblings Andrew and Peter are thrust into the reluctant care of their traditional Yoruba grandmother. Inseparable while they had their parents to care for them, the twins' paths diverge once the household shatters. Each girl is left to locate, guard, and hone her own fragile source of power. Written with astonishing intimacy and wry attention to the fickleness of fate, Tola Rotimi Abraham's Black Sunday takes us into the chaotic heart of family life, tracing a line from the euphoria of kinship to the devastation of estrangement. In the process, it joyfully tells a tale of grace and connection in the midst of daily oppression and the constant incursions of unremitting patriarchy. This is a novel about two young women slowly finding, over twenty years, in a place rife with hypocrisy but also endless life and love, their own distinct methods of resistance and paths to independence.

  • Author:
    Allen, Jayne
    Summary:

    "It's a good thing that this is only the first book of a trilogy, because after getting to know Tabitha, you won't want to leave her at the end. . . . Written intimately as if you're peering into the mind of a close friend, this book is a true testament to the stresses on women today and how great girlfriends (and grandmothers) are often the key to our sanity." - Good Morning America. The first novel in a captivating three-book series about modern womanhood, in which a young Black woman must rely on courage, laughter, and love-and the support of her two longtime friends-to overcome an unexpected setback that threatens the most precious thing she's ever wanted. Tabitha Walker is a black woman with a plan to "have it all." At 33 years old, the checklist for the life of her dreams is well underway. Education? Check. Good job? Check. Down payment for a nice house? Check. Dating marriage material? Check, check, and check. With a coveted position as a local news reporter, a "paper-perfect" boyfriend, and even a standing Saturday morning appointment with a reliable hairstylist, everything seems to be falling into place. Then Tabby receives an unexpected diagnosis that brings her picture-perfect life crashing down, jeopardizing the keystone she took for granted: having children. With her dreams at risk of falling through the cracks of her checklist, suddenly she is faced with an impossible choice between her career, her dream home, and a family of her own. With the help of her best friends, the irreverent and headstrong Laila and Alexis, the mom jeans-wearing former "Sexy Lexi," and the generational wisdom of her grandmother and the nonagenarian firebrand Ms. Gretchen, Tabby explores the reaches of modern medicine and tests the limits of her relationships, hoping to salvage the future she always dreamed of. But the fight is all consuming, demanding a steep price that forces an honest reckoning for nearly everyone in her life. As Tabby soon learns, her grandmother's age-old adage just might still be true: Black girls must die exhausted.

  • Author:
    Allen, Jayne
    Summary:

    In this highly anticipated second installment in the Black Girls Must Die Exhausted series, Tabitha Walker copes with more of life's challenges and a happy surprise-a baby-with a little help and lots of love from friends old and new. For Tabitha Walker, her grandmother's old adage, Black girls must die exhausted, is becoming all too true. Discovering she's pregnant-after she was told she may not be able to have biological children-Tabitha throws herself headfirst into the world of single mothers by choice. Between her job, doctor's appointments, and preparing for the baby, she's worn out. And that's before her boss at the local news station starts getting complaints from viewers about Tabitha's natural hair. When an unexpected turn of events draws Marc-her on and off-again ex-boyfriend-back into her world with surprising demands, and the situation at work begins to threaten her livelihood and her identity, Tabitha must make some tough decisions about her and her baby's future. It takes a village to raise a child, and Tabitha turns to the women who have always been there for her. Bolstered by the fierce support of Ms. Gretchen, her grandmother's best friend, the counsel of her closest friends Laila and Alexis, and the calming presence of her doula Andouele, Tabitha must find a way to navigate motherhood on her own terms. Will she harness the bravery, strength, and self-love she'll need to keep the village together, find her voice at work, and settle things with Marc before the baby arrives?

  • Author:
    Wilkerson, Charmaine
    Summary:

    In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past-a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake. We can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to share the black cake when the time is right? Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever? Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

  • Author:
    Quindlen, Anna
    Summary:

    After she runs away from her abusive husband, Fran Benedetto lives in fear of discovery, yet also with increasing confidence, freedom, and hope, as she struggles to create a new life for herself and her son.

  • Author:
    Weiner, Jennifer
    Summary:

    AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Sexy and satisfying, Big Summer is the perfect quarantine read." — USA TODAY "The beach read to end all beach reads." — Entertainment Weekly "Big fun, and then some. It's empowering and surprising—a reminder to put down the phone and enjoy each moment for what it is." — The Washington Post A deliciously funny, remarkably poignant, and simply unputdownable novel about the power of friendship, the lure of frenemies, and the importance of making peace with yourself through all life's ups and down. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good in Bed and Best Friends Forever , Big Summer is the perfect escape with one of the most lovable heroines to come to the page in years. Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn't spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn't even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless. Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne's no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She's built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend's siren song. A sparkling novel about the complexities of female relationships, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most.

  • Author:
    Moriarty, Liane
    Summary:

    Sometimes it's the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal... A murder... a tragic accident... or just parents behaving badly' What's indisputable is that someone is dead. But who did what? Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads: Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She's funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. She's just turned forty'forty'! Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline's youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline's teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline's ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?). Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn't be, with those rambunctious twin boys' Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why' While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all. Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

  • Author:
    Shriver, Lionel
    Summary:

    In the four years since Pandora has seen her brother, he has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? After he has overstayed his welcome, Pandora's husband delivers an ultimatum: It's him or me. Putting her marriage and family on the line, Pandora chooses her brother, who, without her support, will surely eat himself into an early grave.

  • Author:
    Powers, Richard
    Summary:

    OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE - A heartrending new novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Overstory. Named one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021 by New York, Chicago Tribune, BookPage, Literary Hub, The Millions, New Statesmen and Times of London. The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while singlehandedly raising his unusual nine-year-old son, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is funny, loving, and filled with plans. He thinks and feels deeply, and can spend hours painting elaborate pictures of the endangered animals he loves. He is also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. What can a father do, when the only solution offered to his troubled son is to put him on psychoactive drugs? What can he say when his boy comes to him wanting an explanation for a world that is clearly in love with its own destruction? With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing visions of life beyond and its account of a father and son's ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers's most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperilled planet? 

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