The internationally bestselling author of Follow Your Heart uncovers hope in the midst of tragedy in these three utterly transfixing novellas set in Susanna Tamaro’s native Italy. In “Answer Me,” an orphaned girl with a troubled past desperately searches for a sign that she is loved while cultivating an inner strength that allows her to persevere. In “Hell Does Not Exist,” an abused wife attempts to protect her son, who becomes the source of her greatest joy and her most profound devastation. And in “The Burning Forest,” a widower recounts the unraveling of his marriage and seeks the forgiveness of his estranged daughter. Hauntingly powerful and exquisitely written, Answer Me is a spiritually galvanizing book by a writer of international stature.

After having a close encounter with death, Iris loses the impetus for living until her first lover, her fiance from twenty years before, arrives dying of an incurable disease and holds her to an old promise to take him in

Step into the halcyon world of pre-war England through the eyes of George Sherston, the fictionalized alter ego of poet and war hero Siegfried Sassoon. In "Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man", Sassoon masterfully captures the innocence of youth, the thrill of the hunt, and the deep, abiding connection to a countryside untouched by the horrors of the Great War. Through Sherston’s adventures—on horseback and off—readers are immersed in the gentle rhythms of country life, the camaraderie of the hunting field, and the quiet introspections of a young man coming of age. Yet beneath the light-hearted tales and sporting escapades lies an undercurrent of change, as the encroaching reality of war looms over this idyllic existence. Sassoon’s prose is at once nostalgic and sharply observant, offering a portrait of an era and a generation on the cusp of irrevocable transformation. Whether you are a lover of classic literature, historical fiction, or poignant coming-of-age stories, this evocative narrative offers both a window into a vanished world and a powerful commentary on the innocence lost to war.

"The Old Blue Couch and Other Stories" by Seymour Mayne - A delightful blend of humor & wit, exploring identity & loss. A must-have for lovers of engaging storytelling.

Conner, "The Hammer," McVee has a score to settle and enough spare parts in her body to build a small car. Tarent Powers destroyed her life, but even her enhanced abilities and her job as a police agent couldn't get her close enough to the corporate mob boss to bring him down.Now the key to his unravelling has fallen into her lap. Can she do what's necessary to make him pay even if it means destroying the life of an innocent young woman?Come along for a ride in this future that corporate take-overs, plague and automation have made. A world where everything from crime, to central government, to the police are run by the corporations, and where a "mad" cult has sprung up whose members want to remake the world using hand tools and good, hard work."Conner McVee has a problem. She's a throwback in a sterile world almost totally reliant on machines, and she's a cop with ties to the underworld seeking revenge against the man who killed her lover. But when she sets a plot for revenge in motion, it turns into something far more than she ever bargained for. With the copsand criminals both after her, she's got to fight back to protect herself, her new lover, and her way of life. That's okay, she thinks fast, acts faster, and wields a modified nail gun. Maybe it's not a problem after all. Action, attitude, sex, politics, and more attitude... Rosen has another winner " - Rob Gates, free-lance writer & editor of "Spectrum""Selina Rosen writes an action adventure with a heroine who is as hard as nails and just as sharp. I guarantee, you won't want to put this one down." - Laura J. Underwood, author of Ard Magisterand The Black Hunter"Nobody creates tougher than nails heroines better than Selina Rosen. She's outdone even herself with Conner "The Hammer" McVee, a cyborg who is half-human, half-machine, and all woman.Hammer Town is high-octane science fiction overflowing with adventure, humor, romance and blue-collar sensibilities. Persons not enjoying this book must be diagnosed as entertainment impaired." - Garrett Peck, co-editor of Personal Demons and Tooth & Claw

A leading poet of the feminist movement speaks of woman's emerging power as daughter, wife, mother, lover, priestess, artist, and self-defined being

"In March 1953, four women meet in Room 408 of Moscow's deluxe Metropole Hotel. They have gathered, not altogether willingly, to reminisce about Vladimir Mayakovsky, the poet who in death had become a national idol of Soviet Russia. In life, however, he was a much more complicated figure. Each of these ladies loved Mayakovsky in the course of his life, and as they piece together their memories of him, a portrait of the artist emerges. From his early years as a leader of the Futurist movement to years as a propagandist for the Revolution, to the censorship battles that turned him against the State, Mayakovsky is revealed as a passionate, complex man who lived at the center of history and fought to hold onto his ideals even in the face of a world changing for the worse. The Mayakovsky Tapes is an ambitious, impressive novel that captures the tumultuous life of one of the most significant writers of the Soviet era"--

"Coming of age in 1960s Paris, Bernard Appelbaum exists in the hazy shadow of the Holocaust and on the electric cusp of the French New Wave. We find the narrator of Wide awake as he wanders the city streets in search of signs of his father, who was deported by the Nazis in 1942. Bernard's chance encounter with a former acquaintance who has become filmmaker François Truffaut's assistant leads to a spot as an extra on the set of Jules and Jim--setting into motion a series of discoveries and lost memories that crack open a hidden past. On seeing Jules and Jim, Bernard's mother is moved to divulge the secrets of her own past as a Jewish-Polish immigrant to France, which curiously mirrors that of the film's heroine. When revelations about his mother's two loves lead Bernard on a fateful journey through Paris, to Germany, and then to Auschwitz itself, he must plumb haunting depths in order to recover his own identity."--Publisher's description.

This retrospective on the career of Academy Award-winning production designer Richard Sylbert takes readers behind the scenes of some of the most influential films of the past fifty years. The Manchurian Candidate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Dick Tracy . The common factor behind these diverse, visually ground-breaking cinematic masterpieces is the work of legendary production designer Richard Sylbert. Basing the book in part on the late designer's Hollywood memoirs, writer Sylvia Townsend, with the participation of Sylbert's widow, screenwriter Sharmagne Sylbert, has enhanced the production designer's original manuscript with candid interviews from some of his most famous collaborators, including Warren Beatty, Roman Polanski, and Francis Ford Coppola. The result is a book that takes readers behind the scenes of some of the most influential and highly acclaimed films of the past fifty years. This is a portrait of a highly driven, sometimes tempestuous visionary who wasn't afraid to fight for the artistic integrity of the worlds he created on screen. Movie lovers will find in-depth discussions of the making of such modern classics as Reds, Carnal Knowledge, Shampoo , and The Cotton Club . More than thirty illustrations capture Sylbert's creative process from early sketches to completed sets and locations.

Nomusa, Daughter Of A Zulu Chief, Loves To Help Care For Her Little Brothers And Sisters. However, Her Dearest Wish Is To Accompany The Men And Boys Of The Tribe On The Annual Animal Hunt.

Nothing is as it seems at Wood Norton. A Zeppelin on a midnight flight over the English coast nearly crashes, leaving behind its observation car-and a Homberg hat. A mysterious stranger who appears from nowhere bearing news of Lady Cranston's brother, who languishes as a German prisoner of war. And Sir Henry Cranston, who refuses to come out of retirement at a time when his country is in need, but prefers instead to spend his time fishing. The fate of nations and of two lovers separated by war depends on discovering the secret of... The Zeppelin's Passenger!

Nathan Stein -- once an attractive, cultured lawyer -- has stipped into the dark world of his powerful father's corrupt practice. After one too many shady deals, he finds himself alone, sick in body and spirit. His career and life are careening out of control, and he's about to become the prime suspect in the murder of a young woman. As we follow him over a long day and night, Nathan encounters the friends, lovers, and family members he has betrayed. Lurching toward redemption, he must answer for his actions. Is he a murderer or the victim of an elaborate frame-up? Or do his sins go even deeper? A tale of chilling suspense that belies the elegance of its prose, Blood Acre is a compelling story of one man's harrowing search through the dark streets of the soul.

"Rich and intriguing."— Kirkus Reviews on The Last of All Possible Worlds "Convincing and haunting."— Publishers Weekly on The Temptation to Do Good Best-selling author Peter F. Drucker wrote just two novels. Here for the first time in paperback are both. In The Last of All Possible Worlds , royalty, bankers, lovers, and wives intertwine to create a vivid portrait of Europe in the early 1900s. We meet wise and worldly Prince Sobieski, Vienna’s ambassador in London, his enchanting wife, her English lover, and her enigmatic lifelong companion, Josefa. When Sobieski’s illegitimate daughter makes a demand of her influential father, the unspoken rules of the family are challenged. Sobieski’s world is further upset when two powerful merchant bankers, the tragic McGregor Hinton and the ambitious Julius von Mosenthal, arrive in London—both with their own requirements of the prince. The Temptation to Do Good tells the story of Father Heinz Zimmerman, the well-regarded president of an American Catholic university. When he attempts to help a chemistry teacher who has been denied tenure he accidentally opens the door to the underlying tensions in the university.

Neither Anne nor Emily remembered choosing the book at the library, but when as they read it, the boundary between their world and the one described in the book disappears. Suddenly they are in Sherwood Forest, where they join Robin Hood's band. The further adventures that await Anne, Emily, and their brother, Will, are the kind they had always dreamed about. They had yearned for magic as strong as the spell cast by the stories they loved best. But then an uninvited guest turns up at their parents' garden party. The sinister man snatches the book with the intention of using its powers for evil, and the siblings find themselves engaged in a battle to regain possession of the book. Richly detailed black-and-white drawings enliven this intriguing literary fantasy, which pays homage to some of the heroes of the author's childhood, among them E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, and Leo Tolstoy.

"A compelling read, sad and wistful and breathtakingly forthright." —Chicago Magazine Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg loved his job, his wife, and his two young sons. But he also loved to drink. Drunkard is an unflinchingly honest account of one man's descent into alcoholism and his ambivalent struggle to embrace sobriety. Sentenced to an outpatient rehab program, Steinberg discovers that twenty-eight days of therapy cannot reverse the toll taken by decades of hard drinking. As Steinberg claws his way through recovery, grieves the loss of the drink, and tries to shore up his faltering marriage, he is confronted by the greatest test he has ever faced, and finds himself in the process. Steinberg's gripping memoir is a frank and often painfully funny account of the stark-yet-common realities of a disease that affects millions.

This elegiac memory play delightfully recalls the last time the Hines family gathered at their retreat in the Poconos. The summer of 1953 brings romantic entanglements that coalesce one idyllic afternoon; Burt Hines, mid-50's and convalescing from a second heart attack, eagerly anticipates the arrival of the ex-wife he still loves. Daughter Josie has just broken her engagement to a Harvard law student and pines for his buddy Ray, an aspiring writer with whom she once had a brief fling. Clemma, the black housekeeper at the center of the action casts a astute eye on the complications while facing with her own unresolved past.

From the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech, and civil rights to jazz, blues and country music, Nat Hentoff has written about American life for decades, in the Atlantic Monthly , the New Yorker , the Village Voice , the Wall Street Journal , and JazzTimes, among countless other publications. The New York Times has hailed Hentoff's work as "an invigorating and entertaining reminder of why freedom of expression matters." The Washington Post Book World has called Hentoff "an old-fashioned music lover who likes, as Charlie Parker once put it, 'to listen to the stories' that good music tells." Nat Hentoff is a legend.And now, for the first time, here are his most important writings of the past twenty years—the quintessential Hentoff on everything from Cardinal John O'Connor to Merle Haggard, racism and political correctness in the classroom to Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie to the censorship of Huckleberry Finn. Controversial? You bet. Whatever the topic, The Nat Hentoff Reader shows a man of passion and insight, of streetwise wit and polished eloquence-a true American original.

Here is Nat Hentoff's deeply felt exploration of jazz, blues, country, and gospel -- and the musicians who bring the music to life. Hentoff has not only loved music all his life -- he has lived it by being friends with many of the musicians he writes about in this collection. Hentoff poignantly describes the early days of Roy Eldridge and the last years of Billie Holiday and Bird. He tells amazing stories of the Count, Duke, and Dizzy. "Full of insightful behind-the-scenes encounters" (San Francisco Chronicle), Listen to the Stories covers new recordings and old legends, remarkable lives and unforgettable music. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Ever since they built the road through her family's farm, separating the big yellow house from the pastures of Sybil's youth, nothing has been the same. At least the house remains, full of her memories, which wander through the rooms like ghosts. When Jess moves to America to marry Laurie in a whirlwind romance, she soon learns that his Grandmother and her creaky old house come with him. Stubborn, ailing and no longer able to look after herself, Sybil must rely on this British girl who has come to steal her beloved grandson from her. The echoing spectres of dead loved ones follow Sybil as she travels farther along the road to senility, but will those same echoes drive Jess towards madness? In Sybil, Monica Dickens has produced a character rich in determination, dark humour, and resilience. First published in 1966, The Room Upstairs is a portrait of a woman's fight with time, who refuses to be forgotten, and who refuses to forget.

Max Waldman's camera froze into timeless moments the moves and expressions of such celebrated dancers as Gelsey Kirkland, Natalia Makarova, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. His photographs--characterized by their eloquent simplicity and classical composition, anf flowing light--provide a stunning treat for lovers of both dance and photography. 72 black-and-white photographs.