"Manhattan, 1964. Vivian Schuyler, newly graduated from Bryn Mawr College, has recently defied the privilege of her storied old Fifth Avenue family to do the unthinkable for a budding Kennedy-era socialite: break into the Mad Men world of razor-stylish Metropolitan magazine. But when she receives a bulky overseas parcel in the mail, the unexpected contents draw her inexorably back into her family's past, and the hushed-over crime passion of an aunt...

"In this contemporary novel, widowed orchestral violinist Isabel Delancey finally finds true serenity and love only when she loses what she thought she needed most"--

Clare Burke's life took a devastating turn when she tried to protect her sister, Anne, from an abusive and controlling husband and ended up serving prison time for assault. The verdict largely hinged on Anne's defense of her spouse - all lies - and the sisters have been estranged ever since. Nearly twenty years later, Clare is living a quiet life in Manhattan when her niece, Grit, turns up on her doorstep.. Together they face the wounds inflicted...

"Nicole Oruwari has the perfect life: a handsome husband; a palatial house in the heart of glittering Lagos, Nigeria; and a glamorous group of friends. She left gloomy London and a troubled family past behind for sunny, moneyed Lagos, becoming part of the Nigerwives--a community of foreign women married to Nigerian men. But when Nicole disappears without a trace after a boat trip, the cracks in her so-called perfect life start to show. As the investigation...

"In this long short story, or short novella, Dave Eggers gives us an unforgettable duo, Helen and Peter Mahoney, a homebody niece and her adventurous, almost-British uncle. Helen designs invitations to parties and galas to which she is not welcome, and is quite comfortable with that. One day, though, Peter wonders, "Why not print an extra invite and I'll be your plus one?" What starts out as an innocuous lark becomes much more -- a very funny and...

Old Mrs. Ellison doesn't have much longer to live, and her scheming son Cedric is counting the days until he inherits her fortune. But his plans are upset by the arrival of his niece Varvara, a beautiful and wild young woman from a remote Chinese region known as the 'Sea of Glass', a strange land where wars are fought with crossbows and 'highly damaging curses' and where death may come at any moment in the form of a venomous barking spider. With the...

"When disaster strikes and chef Bryce Weatherford is given guardianship of her three young nieces, her life goes from cooking with fire...to controlling a dumpster fire. Five year old Addison refuses to remove her fairy wings, eight year old Cecily won't bathe, and tween June is majoring in belligerence. With all this chaos, Bryce jettisons hope for a life outside of managing her family and her new job. It's been years since Ryker Matthews had his...

"When Bella learns of the murder of her beloved half brother by political extremists in Mogadiscio, she's in Rome. The two had different fathers but shared a Somali mother, from whom Bella's inherited her freewheeling ways. An internationally known fashion photographer, dazzling but aloof, she comes and goes as she pleases, juggling three lovers. But with her teenage niece and nephew effectively orphaned - their mother abandoned them years ago--she...

When an "unofficial" relative of Alan's arrives from the States, Dorothy and Alan are drawn into a tangled web of murder and lies. Dorothy Martin is more than capable of dozing during a raging storm in her snug house in Sherebury, but the loud ping of an unexpected text on her husband Alan's phone quickly wakes her up. Alan's unofficial great-niece, Lucy Bowman, is coming over from the States for a conference. When Lucy arrives, she gushes about her...