Showing results by narrator "Carrington MacDuffie" in All Categories

Emery Blackwood's life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily. She'd once dreamt of running away with August, eager to escape the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and chase new dreams together. Now, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence among this tight-knit community steeped in folklore and tradition, ruled by the seasons and ancient superstitions.

International human rights activist Lisa Shannon spent many afternoons at the kitchen table having tea with her friend Francisca Thelin, who often spoke of her childhood in Congo. Thelin would conjure vivid images of lush flower gardens, fish the size of small children, and of children running barefoot through her family's coffee plantation, gorging themselves on fruit from the robust and plentiful mango trees.

Twelve short stories, 12 points of view, 12 neighborhoods of the same town, and finally, 12 pieces of the same puzzle. Paris Noir takes you on a ride through the old medieval center of town with its intertwined streets, its ghosts, and its secrets buried in history. You'll cruise Paris with its nightclubs full of mysterious beauties who seem to have a lot to hide.

For Gwen Merchant, love has always been doled out in little packets - from her father, who buried himself in work after her mother's death, and from her husband, Peter, who's always been respectable and safe. But then an old college boyfriend, the irrepressible Elliot Hull, invites himself back into Gwen's life with a surprising proposition. Elliot, it turns out, is in need of a pretend wife, just for the weekend, in order to fulfill his dying mother's last wish.

This is the ideal collection for all lovers of first-rate erotic literature. Edited by Susie Bright, whom the Utne Reader calls "one of the leading thinkers and visionaries of our time", this third annual edition of a best-selling series brings together the most outstanding erotic writing of the year.

Penning a profile of Rio's hottest star-studded plastic-surgery spa, writer Sydney McBride is going under the knife herself, all to revive a sagging career. But there's a bigger, more scintillating story afoot for the daring journalist. When Lucas, a mysterious and incredibly hot fugitive, seeks refuge in her bungalow, Sydney agrees to let him pose as her boyfriend in hopes of gaining his confidence.

On a cold January morning, Susan leaves her husband alone for a few minutes and returns to find him gone. He has Alzheimer’s disease, and he has wandered alone into a frigid landscape with no sense of home or direction. The massive search for her husband brings Susan together with Jeff, a search-and-rescue expert and social worker preoccupied with his young wife’s betrayal. In Jeff’s care is Corey, a young boy rendered mute and abandoned by his family after setting a fire in which his older brother was killed.

Spend time in the funny, oddball village of Arnold Falls, where larger-than-life characters deal with the smallest of problems. Somehow, it all comes out right in the end. Given the choice of go big or go home, nine times out of 10 the townspeople of Arnold Falls will go home, get back into their house slippers, and forget about the whole thing, whatever the whole thing was this time. Tempests great and small (mostly small) are always brewing in this tiny, upstate hamlet where half of the residents are fighting to preserve Arnold Falls as it was in its red-light-district heyday.

Linda Hirshman, acclaimed historian of social movements, delivers the sweeping story of the struggle leading up to #MeToo and beyond: from the first tales of workplace harassment percolating to the surface in the 1970s, to the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal - when liberal women largely forgave Clinton, giving men a free pass for two decades. Many liberals even resisted the movement to end rape on campus. And yet, legal, political, and cultural efforts, often spearheaded by women of color, were quietly paving the way for the takedown of abusers and harassers.

Decades ago in Brooklyn, three girls demonstrated against the Vietnam War, and each followed a distinct path into adulthood. Helen became a violent revolutionary. Val wrote a controversial book, Bright Morning of Pain, which was essentially a novelization of Helen’s all-too-short but vibrant life. And Olive became an editor and writer, now comfortably settled with her husband, Griff, in modern-day New Haven. In Conscience, Alice Mattison paints the nuanced relationships between the palpable personalities of Olive, Griff, and Jean with her signature wit and precision.

Martin Luther King Jr. may be America's most revered political figure, commemorated in statues, celebrations, and street names around the world. But despite his stature, the significance of King's writings and political thought remains underappreciated. In To Shape a New World, Tommie Shelby and Brandon Terry state that the marginalization of King's ideas reflects a romantic consensus history that renders the civil rights movement inherently conservative - an effort not at radical reform but at "living up to" enduring ideals laid down by the nation's founders.

Alison Larkin Presents is delighted to publish these selected New York short stories by Edith Wharton, whose inside knowledge of New York's upper class is put to sparkling use here.

This is the first tale of the Nedao people, told from the perspective of Nisana, and AEldra of the cat kin. The story is left to her, as one of the few witnesses of the trials of the brave young queen Ylia, the Lady of Nedao. As she trains Ylia in the arts of her powers, Nisana is the only mind to have full access to all of Ylia feelings and emotions as she is thrown into exile from the city of the King and subjected to dark magics and a dangerous journey through unfriendly lands.

What would cause a cheese-loving, meat-eating lawyer to become a vegan? Her dog. Teresa Rhyme and Seamus the beagle both survived cancer once, so when Seamus develops yet another cancer, Teresa vows to fight again. Unsure of the best way to battle the unseen enemy, she embarks on some experiments to create a healthier life for her family. She finds better food for Seamus, and a plant-based diet becomes her own guide, but she realizes that's not enough for her-and it's not enough for the animals.

As manic teens in the ’90s punk scene, Gogo Germaine and her girl gang of delinquents engage in a vivid spectrum of misbehavior—from truancy to tattoos to trespassing. Here, in the underbelly of adolescence, music is God and the rest is a rush of nihilism. Gogo and her friends stumble through sound and fury into questionable firsts at varying degrees of sobriety. Many of us blunder through that black hole. It is a point of universal convergence, manifested by divergent experiences. Gogo’s rebellion may look different from yours, but the visceral highs and lows will be familiar.

Wild horses, wildhearts - and a diapered lamb under the Christmas tree…

Could life get any more hectic at the Lazy Windmill? With the holidays reminding Casie of every mistake she's ever made, and her assistant Emily struggling to be a single mom, it's anyone's guess what the New Year will bring. Then bad boy Colt Dickenson shows up with a ring. No one has ever gotten under her skin like he has, but Casie can't believe a rough stock cowboy will stick around for the long haul.

Venice: Ethan Gage has escaped after surviving the naval battle of Trafalgar. His plan: To circumvent the French Empire and rescue his wife, Astiza, and son, Harry, from imprisonment by a ruthless mystic who seeks revenge for disfigurement, and from an evil dwarf alchemist who experiments with the occult on Prague's Golden Lane. Using death as his ruse, Gage seeks an unlikely ally in the Jewish Napoleonic soldier Gideon Mandel, who saves Ethan's life at Austerlitz, and Gideon's father, Aaron.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a shy 28-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness when she meets Ernest Hemingway and is captivated by his energy, intensity and burning ambition to write. After a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for France. But glamorous Jazz Age Paris, full of artists and writers, fuelled by alcohol and gossip, is no place for family life and fidelity.

Fifteen years ago, a young girl by the name of Moonlight Smith went to the house of her best friend, Nicky Nowak, for a sleepover. Moonlight joined the family for breakfast the following morning and was then picked up by her mother. Shortly after, Mr. Nowak went for a walk.

This is an up-close look at the lives and work of the brave men, women, and dogs who serve and protect citizens in America and around the world. An acclaimed poet, Rachel Rose never expected to spend her nights careening along the roads in high-speed chases or searching the woods for armed suspects. Yet once she decided to meet the people who devoted their lives to police K9 units, she found herself signing up for the ride-alongs, training runs, and other challenges faced by these courageous people - and canines - on a daily basis.