Delightfully quirky and willing to go where few other novels dare, The Swift Seasons takes readers deep into the lives of octogenarians in a retirement community as they learn to live with themselves and each other. At the heart of the story is Willa Warsaw, a childless and recent widow in her eighties who spends her days poring over the writing of Oliver Wendell Holmes and daydreaming. Naturally shy and a bit reclusive, Willa finds herself unaccountably drawn to the newest member of the community-former opera singer Eric Ravelle. Eric and Willa connect over their shared voice disorders, finding comfort in each other. But as their relationship deepens over the passing days, so do their health issues, bringing up very real concerns about their future together. Full of memorable characters, sharp insights into aging, and the wisdom of Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Swift Seasons is a treasured gift, a celebration of living long enough to grow old, and a meditation on things that endure or change as we age.

Edward Phillips Oppenheim (22 October 1866 - 3 February 1946) was an English novelist, in his lifetime a major and successful writer of genre fiction including thrillers.Oppenheim produced over 100 novels from 1887 to 1943

"Eva is unlike anyone Adele and her two sons have ever met. Her rare beauty, the dazzling tales she tells them - of her travels, of wondrous places and creatures, even of the dangers she faced during the war - change their lives, as do the exquisite illuminations contained within the pages of the Miscellany. The two boys, Joseph and Asa, fall in love with Eva, and as Joseph recounts the story and his love for her, and the past begins to intrude upon the present, he finally reveals the novel's secrets, the darkness to which we are all subject."--BOOK JACKET.

Review An expert weaver, Stollman brings together themes of religion, science, and love into an emotional whole. -- Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2003 Stollman's weightier fictions - elegantly written and wise - returns literature to its rightful role. -- Miami Herald, March 2, 2003 Product Description A collection of short stories by the author of The Far Euphrates and The Illuminated Soul represents his earlier works as published in such literary magazines as American Short Fiction, the Yale Review, and Tikkun and explores such themes as the impact of the past on the present and of one person on another. 12,500 first pirnting. From Library Journal A story collection from the author of two celebrated novels: The Far Euphrates and The Illuminated Soul. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the Author Aryehlev Stollman is a neuroradiologist and the author of two books, The Illuminated Soul and The Far Euphrates, which is an American Library Association Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Book Review Recommended Book of the Year, and the winner of a Wilbur Award and Lambda Award.

The Return of the Caravels unfolds in Lisbon as Portugal’s African colonies gain their independence in the mid-1970s. In a contemporary response to Cam”es’s conquest epic The Lusiads, Antunes imagines Vasco da Gama and other heroes of Portuguese explorations beached amid the detritus of the empire’s collapse. Or is it the modern colonials–with their mixed-race heritage and uneasy place in the “fatherland” –who have somehow ended up in sixteenth-century Lisbon? As da Gama begins winning back ownership of Lisbon piece by piece in crooked card games, four hundred years of Portuguese history mingle–the caravels dock next to Iraqi oil tankers, and the slave trade rubs shoulders with the duty-free shops. The Return of the Caravels is a startling and uncompromising look at one of Europe’s great colonial powers, and how the era of conquest reshaped not just Portugal but the world. --

"Published in Germany in 1920, Sammy Gronemann's satirical novel set in 1903 at the time of the Sixth Zionist Congress follows the life of a baptized Jew, Heinz Lehnsen, as he negotiates legal entanglements, German culture, religious differences, and Zionist aspirations. A chance encounter with a long-lost cousin from a shtetl in Russia further complicates the plot and challenges the characters' notions of Jewish identity and their belief in the claims of the Zionist movement. Gronemann's humor and compassion slyly expose the foibles and contraditions of human behavior. With deep insight into German society, German-Jewish culture, and antisemitism, Utter Chaos paints a highly entertaining portrait of German Jews at the beginning of the twentieth century" --

A novel of young women and men, struggling to find love and fulfilling work, who find their lives disrupted when their network of cooperatives, formed in a Southwestern city with the collapse of the economy, is drawn into the movement to protect a mountain sacred to the Navajos from a military takeover.

- 'An ingenious country house mystery... keeps the reader on tenterhooks from the very first page' NEW YORK TIMES - 'J. Jefferson Farjeon is quite unsurpassed for creepy skill in mysterious adventures' DOROTHY L. SAYERS - The much-revered crime writer J. Jefferson Farjeon's second crime novel back in print for the first time in almost a century. To Brambles, a dilapidated yet comfortable English country house, come the uninvited guests: a motley crew, who appear at the most unexpected hours and on the most impossible errands. Singly and in procession they arrive to trouble the calm of Ambrose Blythe, sexagenarian owner of Brambles, and of Peter Haslam, his house guest. Add to these an imperturbable butler, a tragic-eyed damsel and the super-logician Detective Grant to complete the ingredients of the perfect Golden Age of Crime story. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Jefferson Farjeon was born into a literary family in Hampstead, north west London in 1883. He was a prolific crime writer, writing over sixty novels over the course of thirty years, many published by William Collins & Sons and featuring in their hugely popular Collins Crime Club. Dorothy L. Sayers said of his work, 'every word is entertaining.' His best-known novel (and play) NUMBER 17, was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. He died in 1955. PRAISE FOR J. JEFFERSON FARJEON: 'Jefferson Farjeon writes thrills enhanced by good writing, good humour, and good character sketches' THE SUNDAY TIMES; 'A Sherlock Holmes novel of the first degree' NEW YORK POST; 'This delightful writer delivers the goods once again' THE DAILY HERALD; '"Mystery in White" is the perfect book for a winter's evening, a cosy chair and an open fire' THE DAILY MAIL; 'An undiluted joy... Ben is the plum of the book; his personality impresses itself upon the imagination' LIVERPOOL POST; 'A top-hole thriller by a writer who knows his job' THE DAILY EXPRESS.

- The much-revered crime writer J. Jefferson Farjeon's first-ever crime novel back in print for the first time in almost a century. - 'A terse, telling style... Farjeon displays a great deal of knowledge about story-telling' NEW YORK TIMES. - A dark, brooding murderous tale from the Golden Age of Crime.A criminal gang responsible for half the organised crime in England is hunting for a stolen ruby of phenomenal value. But the kingpin behind the criminal syndicate is in fact an imposter. Can Scotland Yard's Inspector Mordaunt recover the stolen gem? ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Jefferson Farjeon was born into a literary family in Hampstead, north west London in 1883. He was a prolific crime writer, writing over sixty novels over the course of thirty years, many published by William Collins, Sons and featuring in their hugely popular Collins Crime Club. Dorothy L. Sayers said of his work, 'every word is entertaining.' His best-known novel (and play) NUMBER 17, was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock. He died in 1955. PRAISE FOR 'THE MASTER CRIMINAL: 'A terse, telling style... Farjeon displays a great deal of knowledge about story-telling' NEW YORK TIMES; 'A Sherlock Holmes novel of the first degree' NEW YORK TIMES; 'An exciting, unusual detective story' WISCONSIN LIBRARY BULLETIN.

Miss Brown of X.Y.O. is a 1927 mystery thriller novel by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. It was notable amongst thrillers of the time for its use of an everyday female character as heroine. Miss Edith Brown, a comely typist, stumbles upon the doorstep of the dying Colonel Dessiter who has just returned from a mission throughout Europe fighting against the forces of the Communist Internationale. After she transcribes his report, she is thrust into the massive intrigue and deadly conflict between forces trying to bring about a revolution in England, and the small organization known as X.Y.O. which is defending the realm.

E. Phillips Oppenheim's "A Millionaire of Yesterday" was first released in 1900. The book follows the story of a young man's struggle for fortune in colonial Africa and his quest for happiness there. Young Scarlett Trent, who is eager to become wealthy in the gold mines of Africa, must struggle with his own sense of good and evil while juggling the difficulties he faces and his desire to succeed. His buddy Monty, a dubious alcoholic with a murky past, accompanies him on his mission. The suspense is maintained throughout the novel, whether they will be successful in achieving their goals or whether Monty's past returns to haunt them both. Despite his best efforts, Trent is obstructed by several opponents who only bring him immense tragedy. The readers will find themselves immersed in the experience of the novel as it leads them towards a happy ending. The Long Arm of Mannister, The Great Impersonation, and The Moving Finger are some of Oppenheim's best known works.

In "A Daughter of Astrea," E. Phillips Oppenheim crafts a riveting thriller that intertwines political intrigue, romance, and moral dilemmas within a richly constructed narrative. Set against a tumultuous backdrop of early 20th-century societal shifts, the novel explores themes of loyalty and identity through the life of its fiercely independent protagonist. Oppenheim's engaging prose and adept character development invite readers into a world where personal ambition collides with the expectations of family and tradition, all while building suspense through masterfully executed plot twists and layers of deception. E. Phillips Oppenheim, often celebrated as one of the pioneers of the modern thriller, drew upon his extensive experiences in the glamorous yet perilous arena of early British politics and society. His background in journalism and firsthand encounters with influential figures provided a fertile ground for his storytelling. Oppenheim's writing often reflects the uncertainties of his time, as he sought to entertain readers while simultaneously providing insightful commentary on the nature of power and morality. For readers enthralled by intricate plots and dynamic characters, "A Daughter of Astrea" is an essential addition to any thriller aficionado's library. Oppenheim's exceptional ability to weave suspense with social commentary will leave readers captivated, provoking both thought and excitement long after the final page is turned.

When Flora Elhayani is twelve years old, God appears to her through the television and suddenly, after being mute for two months, she can speak again. Flora changes her name to Ori, and acquires a new, fantastical vantage point of her life in the desert town of Netivot. Trying to decipher what the revelation holds for her, Ori comes across a rare series of young adult novels about a strange wonderland whose heroine plays special part in Ori's own coming of age. Twenty years later, we meet Ori again. She now lives in Tel Aviv, where she is married to a successful man and the mother of a little girl. She has become a writer for young adults, focusing her work on various Wonderland themes. Life is good until a second revelation, very different from the first, rattles the very foundations of her life and puts all in doubt. Sunburnt Faces examines the nature of revelation in a world in which the fantastical takes place only in situations of error and misunderstanding. But will the social and political nature of this world allow Ori to find the certainty without which she cannot live?

KARIMI HOTEL & OTHER AFRICAN EQUATIONS [1972]: four short stories and a riff of African impressions shape a life-size puzzle. Propelled by the fervor of their black & white love story, buoyed up by the black-is-beautiful enthusiasm that was the rage in those days, they crash land in Addis Ababa, lose their way in Dar es Salam, do their thing at Bahari Beach, navigate the banabanas on avenue William Ponty in Dakar. Black in the land of his birth, he turns up American in Dakar. Dazzled, she wants with all her heart to connect the exhilarating African beat of their intimacy to the landscapes and street scenes that enchant her from Ethiopia to Tanzania to Senegal. Wary, he navigates by a compass pieced together in his urban ghetto. She cajoles him into a search for authenticity that collides with big disappointments, small hustles, rare moments of grace, and stunning truths-for him, in the house of the slaves on île de Gorée, for her, an unexpected reminder of her understated identity in the market square of a Tanzanian village. SICAP LIBERTÉ 5 [1982]: novella in five facets of interlocking triangles, written in French and translated to English by the author. Change of voice, language, angle, and style in transit from the baffled travelers of Karimi Hotel to full immersion in Sicap Liberté 5, a Dakar housing project. Constance of love as illumination /blindness. Following the old triangular trade route that links the African continent to the islands via the métropole, love crosses paths and intersects cultures, begetting joy and distress. Emancipation and alienation bounce between the city of harsh lights and a third world that entices and stings. The thirst for authenticity reaches its source; the beloved is a native son, lithe, velvet-dark, endowed with intoxicating grace. She follows his contours, dances his beat, adopts the accent and the gait, swallows the irrational, revels in a sensuality no sooner satisfied than disappointed. Her open-hearted acceptance of the Other is rebuffed by age-old rivalries, troubling religious undercurrents, burgeoning ethnic conflicts, unsettled scores between the motherland and its scattered brood. Was it an idyll? Or an illusion?

Oppenheim featured on the cover of Time magazine on September 12, 1927, he was the self-styled "prince of storytellers." He composed some one hundred and fifty novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue nature, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life. He was the earliest writer of spy fiction as understood today, and invented the "Rogue Male" school of adventure thrillers that was later exploited by John Buchan and Geoffrey Household. Much of Oppenheim's work possesses a unique escapist charm, featuring protagonists who delight in Epicurean meals, surroundings of intense luxury, and the relaxed pursuit of criminal practice, on either side of the law.

Simon Gregory Williams, known as "the beast" in Sesqua Valley, has been so corrupted by his reading and memorizing every existing edition of the Necronomicon that his tainted psyche cannot enter into Randolph Carter's Dreamland. However, there is another dreamland, "the dreamland of witches," into which Simon can slink because of his brilliance as an alchemist; and it is into that dreamland that Simon accompanies an innocent young woman in her quest for rare magick. Yet even Simon, who is so experienced in eldritch lore, has never been so confronted by such outlandish Lovecraftian lunacy as he finds in this dreamland of witchery. In this fascinating excursion into the Lovecraftian fantasy/horror realm of Dreamland, two veteran authors of weird fiction have written a novel that is by turns horrific and poignant, with vibrant characters and a compelling narrative that carries the reader on from scene to scene to the novel's cataclysmic conclusion. David Barker is a widely published author and poet whose work has appeared in Fungi, Cyäegha, and Shoggoth.net. W. H. Pugmire is a longtime Lovecraftian author whose work has been gathered in many volumes, notably The Tangled Muse and An Ecstasy of Fear. The two authors have collaborated on The Revenant of Rebecca Pascal and In the Gulfs of Dream and Other Lovecraftian Tales.

The upsetting of natural order is our largest tragedy, none more than the death of a child. Thus the bones of this shattering novel. Where Himmelman, his own history of break and mend as perhaps his only aid to understanding, must move from impotence to rage and whatever beyond. But a writer too. With a writer's exclusive powers. To record, to relive, to honour with fullest art and ability the beloved existence of his daughter's however stopped nevertheless complete life.

"Granny Yaga follows the switchback adventures of a boy called Danny, growing up in North London where the local she-dragons are notorious fighters, and any alert passer-by can spot Granny herself flying low over the British Museum. Danny becomes Granny's aide-de-camp in a life-or-death duel with the demon Koschei, fought out in the London underground, in disused stations, boarded-up houses and the enchanted skies over Crouch End, with back-up from the relatively orthodox magic of Yesterdayland (huts on chicken legs, talking cats, self-catering tablecloths) and the realpolitik of its neighbouring Soviet satellite, a land of cruel edicts and capricious tsars where the workers and permanently drunk, and the loo seats belonging to each family in a communal flat hang side by side on the wall 'like luckless horseshoes'. A gripping read for all ages, from Danny's to Granny's." Hilary Spurling"Delightfully inventive. Wickedly funny." Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian