Contemporary Family Life

In Family Life, Russell Banks' first novel, he transforms the dramas of domesticity into the story of a royal family in a mythical contemporary kingdom. Life inside this kingdom includes the king (dubbed "the Hearty" or "the Bluff"), who squeals angrily as is his wont; the queen, who, while pondering the mirror in her chambers, decides to write a book; three adolescent princes who are, respectively, a superb wrestler, a fanatical sports car driver, and a sullen drunk.

There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he'd never do: he'd never leave New York City; never give his heart away again after barely surviving one failed marriage; and, most of all, never become a parent. Now, Jeremy is living in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie Darnell, the love of his life, and anticipating the birth of their daughter. Just as his life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, an unsettling, mysterious message re-opens old wounds and sets off a chain of events that will forever change the course of this young couple's marriage.

Fanny Thornton, the proud matriarch of the Thornton dynasty, will do anything for her family. Her four children, now grown, mean everything to her, as does Babylon, the most dazzling casino in Las Vegas and the Thorntons' crowning achievement. But her children have dispersed across the globe, and so she chooses Jeff, the illegitimate son of her deceased husband, to run the casino.

Teresa "Toots" Amelia Loudenberry has crammed a great deal of living - not to mention eight much-loved husbands - into her varied and rewarding life. Newly single, Toots is ready to taste life again, and fate has just handed her the perfect opportunity.

For years, Dora has played the role of the perfect wife and mother in a loveless marriage. Now her husband has filed for divorce, her child is diagnosed with autism, and her house is on the market. Dora's façade collapses under the weight of her grief, and she suffers "broken heart syndrome." Mamaw and the girls rally around Dora - but it's up to Dora to heal herself as she spends the summer prowling the beach, discovering the secrets of the island and her heart.

The born rancher who stole her heart, her ex-husband, the tough, tender father of her child. Tori Tyler can't let Will Tyler go to prison for a crime that was a simple accident. But she can't deny that her feelings for the man run much deeper than loyalty, and her desire for his strong, sure embrace has never died. Protecting him is second nature until an unexpected terror threatens to shatter them both - and Tori needs Will's fierce love more than ever before.

Ein großer Familien- und Generationenroman über die DDR und wie sie unterging. Regina Scheer spannt in ihrem beeindruckenden Roman den Bogen von den 30er Jahren über den Zweiten Weltkrieg bis zum Fall der Mauer und in die Gegenwart. Sie erzählt von den Anfängen der DDR, als die von Faschismus und Stalinismus geschwächten linken Kräfte hier das bessere Deutschland schaffen wollten, von Erstarrung und Enttäuschung, von dem hoffnungsvollen Aufbruch Ende der 80er Jahre und von zerplatzten Lebensträumen.

Who you want people to be makes you blind to who they really are. It’s been a year since Billie Flanagan — a Berkeley mom with an enviable life — went on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanished from the trail. Her body was never found, just a shattered cellphone and a solitary hiking boot. Her husband and teenage daughter have been coping with Billie’s death the best they can: Jonathan drinks as he works on a loving memoir about his marriage; Olive grows remote, from both her father and her friends at the all-girls school she attends.

Maëva s'envole pour Los Angeles où elle a décroché un job de nounou le temps d'un été. Mais ce n'est pas l'attrait du voyage ou un hypothétique amour pour les enfants qui la motive. Non, Maëva tente un coup de poker qui risque bien de la détruire... ou de la sauver. Abandonnée par son père à l'âge de 11 ans au lendemain des obsèques de sa mère, elle n'a jamais renoncé à retrouver sa trace. Et cette photo accompagnant l'annonce lui révèle la cruelle vérité : son père a reconstruit une famille loin d'elle, mais surtout sans elle.

It’s been years since Abby O’Brien Winters set foot in Chesapeake Shores. The Maryland town her father built has too many sad memories, and Abby has too few spare moments - thanks to her demanding Wall Street career, the crumbling of her marriage, and her energetic daughters. Then one panicked phone call from her youngest sister brings her racing back home to protect Jess’ dream of renovating the charming Inn at Eagle Point. But saving the inn from foreclosure means dealing not only with her own fractured family but also with Trace Riley, the man Abby left 10 years ago.

From the best-selling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history - and their families - judge them? Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them.

To Leila Abid’s traditional Indian parents, finding a husband is as easy as match, meet, marry. Yes, she wants to marry, but after 26 years of singledom, even Leila is starting to get nervous. And to make matters worse, her parents are panicking, the neighbors are talking, and she’s wondering, are her expectations just too high? But for Leila, a marriage of arrangement clashes with her lifelong dreams of a Bollywood romance, where real love happens before marriage, not the other way around. So she decides it’s time to stop dreaming and start dating.

After five years of marriage, Cass Coyne has lost some of her boundless confidence. Her husband sees their ups and downs as normal challenges in a healthy relationship, but Cass lies awake at night wondering what you do when you need a break from your marriage. It comes as a shock to Jonathan when Cass persuades him to try a marital "intermission": a six-month separation during which they'll decide if the comfortable life they've built together is still the one they both want.

Daisy meets Adam on their first day of university. Immediately, they become friends. But when tongues wag and their relationship is questioned, Adam shares his secret with Daisy, who promises to stand by him. When their grandmother dies, Adam’s older brother Ryan returns from abroad, and Daisy quickly falls for him. After a troubled upbringing at the hands of a drunken mother and jailbird father, Adam and Ryan have only each other. In adulthood, their bond holds firm, glued together by Daisy with whom they are now both in love.

When Susannah Nelson turned 18, her parents sent her to school abroad. She said goodbye to her boyfriend, Jake - and never saw him again. She never saw her brother again, either; Doug died in a car accident while she was away. Now, at 50, she finds herself regretting the paths not taken. Returning to her home town, she finds that some paths are dead ends. But some gardens remain beautiful.

Charlie and Vivian parted ways after just four years of marriage. Too many problems, too many struggles, even though the love didn't quite die. When Charlie returns to Wisconsin forty years later, he's not sure what he'll find. He is sure of one thing—he must try to reconnect with Vivian to pick up the broken pieces of their past. But forty years is a long time. It's forty years of other relationships, forty years of building new lives, and forty years of long-held regrets, mistakes, and painful secrets.

As Darby Dixon sits in a tiny Texas church bathroom on her wedding day holding a positive pregnancy test, she realizes marrying her fiancé would be the worst decision of her life. She's never been very good at standing up for herself, but she'll sure as hell stand up for her baby. With very little cash and a ton of courage, she flees town to take a new name and start a new life.

"Ma famille incarne ce que la joie a de plus bruyant, de plus spectaculaire, l'écho inlassable des morts, et le retentissement du désastre. Aujourd'hui, je sais aussi qu'elle illustre, comme tant d'autres familles, le pouvoir de destruction du verbe, et celui du silence."

How did the hottest hockey player in the NHL wind up braiding hair and hosting tea parties? Because someone was foolish enough to name him co-guardian of their children. That's how. Cole Montgomery's living his best life—until he gets a call from an attorney letting him know he's been entrusted with the care of two little girls. He can't imagine why anyone would think he was a good role model. He can't even keep a plant alive.

Adele is a caretaker. Always has been, always will be. So when his lifelong best friend comes home after losing his job to a nervous breakdown and chronic illness, Adele steps in. And it's easy enough, except for the fact that Adele has been in love with Kash for most of his life. He'd moved on once, with a wife and kid, but all that fell apart, and now Kash is back in his life and needs him more than ever. Adele isn't quite sure how to protect his heart while also giving his best friend what he needs, but the one thing he does know is that he won't let Kash down. Not now. Not ever.