by Wayne Grady (2013)
How far would a son go to belong? And how far would a father go to protect him? With his curly black hair and his wicked grin, everyone swoons and thinks of Frank Sinatra when Navy musician Jackson Lewis takes the stage. It's World War II, and while stationed in St. John's, Newfoundland, Jack meets the well-heeled, romantic Vivian Clift, a local girl who has never stepped off the Rock and is desperate to see the world. They marry against Vivian's family's wishes--hard to say what it is, but there's something about Jack that they just don't like--and as the war draws to a close, the new couple travels to Windsor to meet Jack's family. But when Vivian meets Jack's mother and brother, everything she thought she knew about her new husband gets called into question. They don't live in the dream home that Jack depicted, they all look different from one another--and different from anyone Vivian has ever seen--and after weeks of waiting to meet Jack's father, William Henry, he never materializes.
David Gilmour
"A heart-rending novel about end-of-life, family and children. EXTRAORDINARY is a gentle consideration of assisted suicide, but it is also a story about siblings - about how brothers and sisters turn out so differently; about how little, in fact, turns out the way we expect. In the end, this is a novel about the extraordinary business of being alive, and it may well be David Gilmour's very best work of fiction to date."--Publisher.
Claire Messud
Relegated to the status of schoolteacher and friendly neighbor after abandoning her dreams of becoming an artist, Nora advocates on behalf of a charismatic Lebanese student and is drawn into the child's family until his artist mother's careless ambition leads to a shattering betrayal.
Ian McEwan
Conversations with Ian McEwan is a celebrated work by Ian McEwan (Booker Prize Winner), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.
Yasunari Kawabata
The Scarlet Gang of Asakusa is a celebrated work by Yasunari Kawabata (Nobel Laureate), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.