by Nicholas Sparks (2009)
#1 bestselling author Nicholas Sparks's new novel is at once a compelling family drama and a heartrending tale of young love.Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels--first love, love between parents and children -- that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them.
Claire Messud
The Emperor's Children is a richly drawn, brilliantly observed novel of fate and fortune--about the intersections in the lives of three friends, now on the cusp of their thirties, making their way--and not-- in New York City. In this tour de force, the celebrated author Claire Messud brings to life a city, a generation, and the way we live in this moment.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Danielle Steel
Danielle Steel takes us beyond the dazzle of Hollywood in her compelling new novel--the story of one woman's journey from suburban mom to award-winning screenwriter...and all the joy, heartbreak, and challenges along the way. Bungalow 2The phone call came on a hot July day--a day like any other for Marin County mom and freelance writer Tanya Harris. But this call--from Tanya's agent--was anything but ordinary, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the chance to write a major Hollywood screenplay, a dream she had put aside long ago to devote her energies to her family. This time, Tanya knows she cannot refuse, even though she's torn about leaving her husband and their daughters. From the moment she steps into her lush bungalow at the fabled Beverly Hills Hotel, Tanya is thrust into an intoxicating new world where she feels reborn--energized by the creativity swirling around her--yet the pull of her family at home is strong. Suddenly she's working alongside A-list actors and a Hollywood legend: Oscar-winning producer Douglas Wayne, a man who always gets what he wants--and who seems to have his sights set on her. Flying home between shoots, struggling to reconnect with a family that seems to need her less and less, Tanya watches helplessly as her old life is pulled out from under her in the most crushing of ways.As her two lives collide, as one award-winning film leads to another, Tanya begins to wonder if she can be a wife, a mother, and a writer at the same time. And just as she confronts the toughest choice she has faced, she is offered another dazzling opportunity--one that could recast her story in an amazing new direction, complete with an ending she never could have written herself.In Bungalow 2, Danielle Steel takes us into a world few ever see--a world of fame and fortune, celebrity and genius--daring to show us the real lives, real dreams, and real struggles hidden beneath the flash and glitter of Hollywood.From the Hardcover edition.
Nathaniel Rich
From a precociously talented young writer alreadywidely admired in the literary world, TheMayor's Tongue is a bold, vertiginous debut novelthat unfolds in two complementary narratives,one following a young man and the other an oldman. The young man is Eugene Brentani, aflamewith a passion for literature and language, and adevotee of the reclusive author and adventurerConstance Eakins, now living in Italy. The oldman is Mr. Schmitz, whose wife is dying, and,confused and terrified, he longs to confide inhis dear friend Rutherford. But Rutherford hasdisappeared, and his letters, postmarked fromItaly, become more and more ominous as theweeks pass.In separate but resonating story lines, bothmen's adventures take them from New York Cityto the mountainous borderlands of northernItaly, where the line between reality and imaginationbegins to blur and stories take on a life oftheir own. Here, we are immersed in Rich's vivid,enchanting world full of captivating characters—the despairing Enzo, who wanders looking for anameless love; the tiny, doll-like guide, Lang; andthe grotesque Eakins. Over this strange, spectrallandscape looms the Mayor, a mythic and monstrousfigure considered a "beautiful creator" byhis townspeople, whose pull ultimately becomesirresistible.From a young writer of exceptional promise, thisrefreshingly original novel is a meditation onthe frustrations of love, the madness of mayors,the failings of language, and the transformativepowers of storytelling.
Nora Roberts
COULD HE HEAL HER BROKEN HEART? What was she doing here? Hyattown had changed very little in the years Vanessa Sexton had been away. In some ways her high school sweetheart, Brady Tucker, hadn't changed much either - he was still lean, athletic, rugged... But the once reckless boy had become a solid, dependable man. He'd stood her up on the most important night of her life; could she ever trust him again? So Vanessa had finally come home, Brady thought. She could still turn him inside out with one of her sultry looks. He couldn't believe she hadn't forgiven him for that night twelve years ago--but he'd had his reasons for not showing up. He'd let her leave town then--but he wasn't going to let her get away this time....