When I was a child, I loved old men, and I could tell that they also loved me. And so we meet our deliciously incisive narrator: a popular English professor whose husband, a charismatic professor at the same small liberal arts college, is under investigation for his inappropriate relationships with his former students. The couple have long had a mutual understanding when it comes to their extramarital pursuits, but with these new allegations, life has become far less comfortable for them both.

Josie and Finn are happily married, with promising careers, and a gorgeous young son, George. But despite their apparently enviable lives, George's hyperactivity disorder means the days aren't always easy. Josie's best friend Justin has always been there for her, and when she finds out she's pregnant again she turns to him for support. She loves George, but it's just such hard work, especially as Josie takes much of the strain. Finn is suspicious. What does Justin want in return for his help? And just how close are they really?

Gigi is a woman on the edge who has tried desperately all of her life not to be. But when she can no longer outrun her grief and isolation, she finds herself alone in a hotel room, her children left behind, unsure of how, or where, her day will end.

'Any story that starts will also end.' As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth as she explores family, friendship, marriage, failure, success and what it all means. Ranging from the personal to the sublime, each essay transforms the particular into the universal, letting us all see our own worlds anew.

The Fair is the only good thing that happens every year. And Fiona Larson is the only person in town who's never been. She's pretended to go - but she's never been allowed. Because, before Fiona was even born, her sister died there. This year, everything will be different. Fiona is about to turn 12 - older than her sister was. This summer, Fiona will save some money, make new friends and finally have some fun at the Fair.

From the author of the beloved Hum If You Don't Know the Words comes a rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries.

One tanked career, one badly timed glamour shoot and one dead boyfriend later, 30-year-old Lottie Bentz is finally going home. In the orchard town where she grew up, Lottie tries to purify and declutter her life, Kondo-style. She gets rid of her phone, clears out her old stuff and swears off make-up, mirrors and lying. But home has its own problems, and Lottie's staunchly feminist mother is furious about Lottie's risqué photos appearing in a magazine. 

Bells is always writing to her sister, Katie, but Katie never replies. Preoccupied with her glamorous career in fashion, her busy life and her boyfriend, Sam, she just doesn't have the time. Then Bells announces that she's coming to stay. She's not a secret exactly, but...Sam doesn't know she exists. For Bells doesn't fit into Katie's perfect world. But when Bells does arrive, everything changes for Katie. Perhaps her perfect life isn't so perfect after all?

Millicent Glenn is self-sufficient and contentedly alone in the Cincinnati suburbs. As she nears her ninety-first birthday, her daughter Jane, with whom she’s weathered a shaky relationship, suddenly moves back home. Then Millie’s granddaughter shares the thrilling surprise that she’s pregnant. But for Millie, the news stirs heartbreaking memories of a past she’s kept hidden for too long. Maybe it’s time she shared something, too. Millie’s last wish? For Jane to forgive her.

Moving between London and Kenya, spanning almost two decades, Homecoming is a profound and moving story of love, family and friendship. It's about coming to terms with your past, opening yourself up to the exquisite pain and pleasure of love and of what happens when three lost souls, all bound by one person, come together and finally share their truths.

You tell him everything. The husband you adore, the father of your child, your best friend. He knows, just by looking at your sage green eyes, when something is wrong. The two of you can communicate with a glance or a touch of the hand. Except what if you can’t? What if your happy marriage has plastered over one huge lie? A lie you have even started to believe yourself in order to survive? 

The only thing Abi ever wanted was a proper family. So when she falls pregnant by an Australian exchange student in London, she cannot pack up her old life in Croydon fast enough, to start all over in Sydney and make her own family. It is not until she arrives, with three-week-old Jude in tow, that Abi realises Stu is not quite ready to be a father after all. And he is the only person she knows in this hot, dazzling, confusing city, where the job of making friends is turning out to be harder than she thought.

In an alternate version of 1893 America, The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist's damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him - and solve the mystery of her husband's disappearances.

Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious criminal for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way – not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary drug dealer. But Eli's life is about to get a whole lot more serious. He's about to fall in love. And he has to break into prison on Christmas Day, to save his mum.

A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: It’s close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing, and, ideally, very little thinking. Her first gig - watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods - turns out to be inconvenient. Her next gives way to the supernatural: announcing advertisements for shops that mysteriously disappear. As she moves from job to job, it becomes increasingly apparent that she's not searching for the easiest job at all but something altogether more meaningful.