Showing results by narrator "Jane Oppenheimer" in All Categories

Maura Fielder looks like she has the perfect life: every expectation fulfilled. But under the illusory surface of perfection, Maura finds herself blindsided by what she discovers on her husband's computer. She has no emotional cubbyhole into which she can shove this ghost from her husband's past, so instead, Maura upends her life - thrashing her marriage, alienating her daughter, and eroding her own moral center. On the verge of sacrificing everything she holds dear to her own obsession, how does Maura manage to regain her equilibrium and reclaim her life?

US families have been pushed to the wall. At the bottom of the economic ladder, poor and working-class adults aren't forming stable relationships and can't give their kids the start they need because of low wages and uncertain job prospects. Toward the top, professional parents' lives have become a grinding slog of long hours of paid work. Meanwhile their kids are overstressed by pressure to succeed and get into good colleges.

For Polly, the town of Livingston, Montana, is a land charmed by natural beauty and a close network of family extending back generations. But a recent head injury has scattered her perception of the present, surfacing events from 30 years ago and half a country away. As Polly’s relatives arrive for a family reunion during the Fourth of July holiday, a beloved friend goes missing on the Yellowstone River, dredging up difficult memories for a family well acquainted with tragedy.

Liberal democracy is in crisis around the world, besieged by authoritarianism, nationalism, and other illiberal forces. Far-right parties are gaining traction in Europe, Vladimir Putin tightens his grip on Russia and undermines democracy abroad, and America struggles with poisonous threats from the right and left. But the defenders of democracy are strong, too.

A dead girl's cry for justice. A serial killer on the loose. Not your typical first date. "Crazy Amy" Benson has an unusual talent for hearing epitaphs as the dead pass on. The men she dates who aren't unnerved by her ability are usually scared off by Amy's brothers. When reporter Kevin McCormick shows up to do a story at the cemetery, Amy tells him his dead sister is calling for justice, except Kevin's sister died in an accident.

Adults and Other Children follows four women as they navigate life from the confusion and innocence of childhood to the bizarre and darkly humorous complexities of adulthood. Along the way, we meet a vindictive, and imaginary, nanny, who casts doubts about the true identity of a little girl’s new baby sister; a group of friends who spend their time obsessing over the gory details of a spate of recent crimes; a college professor who has her boss fired over an imagined sexual assault.

This World War II story of teenager Sonja Schulz Verploegh Chassé, describes how she suddenly finds herself imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp in the Dutch East Indies.

A woman in black stares at the sea, her body transparent, eyes brimming with tears. Hoping to get a better look at the woman, psychic medium Addison Lockhart leans out over the manor's windowsill, gasping when she feels an intense pressure pressing down on her back - someone thrusting her forward. She grabs the side of the window to brace herself, but it's too late. She's already falling.

Wonderfully wide-ranging, original, and enjoyable, The Emotional Embodiment of Stars contains 27 award-winning short stories like "Mortimer", in which an unwanted guest secretly follows a family through their heartbreaking sorrows, and "Crossroads", in which a budding writer is finally preparing to meet the man she happens to exchange greetings with every morning on the way to her office. 

Implosion: Memoir of an Architect’s Daughter delves into the life of visionary architect Woodie Garber and the collision of forces in the turbulent 1970s that caused his family to collapse. Soon after the family’s move into Woodie’s glass house, his need to control begins to strain normal bonds; and Elizabeth’s first love, a young Black man, triggers his until-then hidden racism.

Nicole Graves, still reeling from her kidnapping in London, is struggling to balance work at L.A.’s most prestigious law firm and a long-distance romance with her English lover. Things go sideways when she tracks down a missing colleague. The murder of the firm’s in-house investigator, his mysterious wealth, and his inexplicable bequest make Nicole a target for the police, the paparazzi, and the killer.

Nicole Graves finds herself in the crosshairs when she reluctantly agrees to babysit a witness in a high-profile rape trial. Mary Ellen Barnes is suing her university's star quarterback for rape when the authorities won't act. In the court of public opinion, Mary Ellen appears to be the quintessential, pious, good girl. But her lies and mysterious comings and goings lead Nicole to suspect that she’s not what she seems.

On the 10th anniversary of her mother's death, 14-year-old Madge Darling's grandmother suffers a heart attack. With the overbearing Grandma Wendy in the hospital, Madge runs away to Chicago, intent on tracking down a woman she believes is actually her mother. On her way to the Windy City, a boy named Peter Pan lures Madge to Neverland, a magical place where children can remain young forever.

In this beautifully crafted novel from the author of the critically-acclaimed Two Sisters, comes the story of a woman who retreats into a fantasy world on New York City’s Upper West Side as she slowly loses her once whip-smart husband to dementia - perfect for fans of Still Alice. When life falls apart, a little fantasy goes a long way… It started as a dream vacation in Spain, with Fay and Paul Agarra enjoying all the delights of a European holiday. A respected New York City judge, Paul has always been the man Fay can rely on, no matter what.

Tate Marsdon, MD, a successful Scottsdale plastic surgeon, shows up for dinner at the home of close friends Henry and Imogen Vine to find his host stabbed to death and his hostess in a state of psychosis. Arrested and jailed, Imogen undergoes treatment for traumatic memory loss, but her attorney, Erin Fitzgerald, Tate’s current romantic interest, starts to question her client’s guilt. Erin and Imogen’s closest friends work to uncover the truth behind the cold-blooded killing. But hiding deep within the shadows is someone determined to stop them—even if it means another death—this one closer to home than anyone imagines. When Tate finds himself targeted as a prime suspect, he, too, is drawn into the investigation.

Ugarit, Syria, 1450 BCE. Eighteen-year-old Leah, the eldest daughter of a wealthy winemaker, is past the traditional age of betrothal. Vowed to wed the wealthy but cruel shipbuilder Jotham, Leah declines his offer of marriage after discovering that he and his family suffer from "the falling sickness." Enraged by her refusal and his ruined reputation, he blackmails Leah's father, a punishment forgiven only by offering Leah's hand in marriage. With no more options for another suitor and no male heir for her family, Leah must seek out the cure for Jotham's sickness.

The End of Miracles is a twisting, haunting story about the drastic consequences of a frustrated obsession. A woman with a complex past wants nothing more than to become a mother, but struggles with infertility and miscarriage. She is temporarily comforted by a wish-fulfilling false pregnancy, but when reality inevitably dashes that fantasy, she falls into a depression so deep she must be hospitalized.

Jack Waithwrite is livid when he learns that his fiancée, Rachel, has been stolen by a giant and taken up to a kingdom in the sky. Without the means to save her, he travels with his sister to Larkein, the place where dark magic abides, to discover a way to help Rachel. While there, a cunning witch knows who he is and offers to help him. However, when he finds out the kidnapping was orchestrated by the witch to use him as her pawn for her own schemes, his true quest begins.

Hansel's father finds a child lost and alone during a violent thunderstorm. After bringing her in from the tempest, he and his son are startled to discover that she is Gretel, a princess of Larkein - the enemy kingdom their own king has just destroyed. Fearful for her life, Hansel pleads with his father to save her. He believes they can make Gretel good by teaching her their ways. His kindhearted father agrees, but with great trepidation.

In a whirlwind romance, a lovely New York socialite marries a fêted, debonair author. But beneath the charm is a cheating husband addicted to hashish. Her dream marriage turns sour and the simplicity of her life runs amok when a handsome stranger, her husband's business partner, threatens her staunch loyalty to her wayward husband. When she faces the ugly truth about her marriage, her need to finalize her divorce sends her on a mad chase across the wilds of 19th century America.