"Dept. of Speculation is a portrait of a marriage. It is also a beguiling rumination on the mysteries of intimacy, trust, faith, knowledge, and the condition of universal shipwreck that unites us all. Jenny Offill's heroine, referred to in these pages as simply "the wife," once exchanged love letters with her husband, postmarked Dept. of Speculation, their code name for all the uncertainty that inheres in life and in the strangely fluid confines of...

It seems like any other day: You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out. But today when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live. From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean?...

"William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it's a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three...

A young Negro boy learns the pain of humiliation and anger when his father is given an unjust jail sentence for stealing a ham from a white man. Learning to read and to discover that things do not die but become part of other things brings the youngster new hope.

With schooling behind him, Josh wonders what else life holds. Should he continue his studies and become a pastor? Is he to help his aging grandpa and uncle on the farm? With his friends moving on, Josh feels like his life has drifted to a standstill.

"Bill Blair finds the land by accident, three wooded acres in a rustic community south of San Francisco. The year is 1954, long before anyone will call this area Silicon Valley. Struck by a vision of the family he has yet to create, Bill buys the property on a whim. In Penny Greenway he finds a suitable wife, a woman whose yearning attitude toward life seems compelling and answerable, and they marry and have four children. Yet Penny is a mercurial...

“Brilliant. . . . A structural tour de force. . . . A classic Southern tale of dysfunctional and marginal madness. The author’s gift for giving life to so many voices leaves the reader profoundly moved.”— Seattle Weekly

The companion novel to Rebecca Wells’s celebrated #1 New York Times bestseller Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Who can resist the rich cadences

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Pressures of the celebrity lifestyle weigh heavily on Dayne and Katy Matthews as they take on separate movie projects. Tabloid rumors talk of trouble and unfaithfulness between the two, but finally something drastic catches Daynes attention and makes him realize the destruction theyre playing with. But will it be too late? The Flanigan family recognizes the deep loss of the Christian Kids Theater program, and they lead a final effort to keep the theater...

"A stunning and emotional conclusion to the story of a family that readers have come to care for and love" from the #1 bestselling author of Texas Fury (Los Angeles Daily News).

From the seductive waters of Hawaii to the rustic splendor of Vermont, from the sprawling family ranch, Sunbridge, to the high-tech glamour of Japan, the Colemans have been driven apart by the passions and betrayals of a new generation. But...

Few understand Elliot's anguish at losing Nadine. He came back from the war a shattered and lonely man. But his return to the Eliot family refuge on England's Hampshire coast is gradually pushing back the dark waters of soul and spirit. Nadine and her husband have settled with their children in a wonderful old inn not far away. Surrounded by a wild and mysterious wood, the guesthouse seems to be able to mend minds and bodies. Pilgrims from the past...