Showing results for "Break" in Literary Fiction

An intense exploration of love and uncertainty when a long-married couple, Gerry and Stella, take a midwinter break in Amsterdam to refresh the senses, do some sightseeing and generally take stock of their lives. Their relationship seems easy, familiar - but over its course we discover the deep uncertainties between them. Gerry, once an architect, is forgetful and set in his ways. Stella is tired of his lifestyle and angry at his constant undermining of her religious faith.

My husband is planning to leave me soon, and he thinks that I don't know. Can you believe that after fourteen years of marriage and three kids, he simply wants to discard me like I am trash? Not going to happen. Throughout our entire marriage, he lied and I ignored it, he cheated and I still stood by his side. But now, he has double-crossed me, and dragging him through a messy divorce simply won't cut deep enough. No. I want my pound of flesh. Not literally, of course, because I'm no killer, but then again, thanks to my husband, I've developed a knack for lying.

Stella, a young Metis mother, lives with her family by the Break, an isolated strip of land on the edge of their small Canadian town. Glancing out of her window one winter's evening, Stella spots someone in trouble; horrified, she calls the police. But when they arrive, no one is there, scuff marks in the compacted snow the only sign anything may have happened. What follows is a heartbreaking and powerful tale of a community in crisis as the people connected to the victim, a young girl on the edge of a precipice, begin to lay bare their stories leading up to that fateful night.

Brought to you by Penguin. She could be anyone. She could be you. Nobody ever found out what happened to Laika Martenwood, the girl who vanished without a trace on her way to school one morning. But for her sister Willa, life shattered into tiny pieces that day, and she has never been able to...

Brought to you by Penguin. LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021 Clara's sister is missing. Angry, rebellious Rose, had a row with their mother, stormed out of the house and simply disappeared. Eight-year-old Clara, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, is...

The irrepressible Russell "Buffy" Buffery has upped sticks from London and moved to Knockton, Powys, to a B&B inherited from an old flame. With his future spread before him, and a string of failed marriages behind him, Buffy decides it's time for a new challenge. Meanwhile: Harold's wife has run off with a younger woman leaving him alone with his as-yet-unwritten novel narrated by Mary Pickford's cat; Amy's weedy boyfriend has turned out to be not so needy after all; and Andy's partner's corset-and-suspender-clad attempts at seduction are having anything but the desired effect.

Dominic Voss isn’t just the new attorney at Claire Quade’s office—he’s the perfect distraction. Smooth. Alluring. A man who seems to know exactly what she needs before she does. When she learns he’s also moved in next door, it feels like destiny. But destiny quickly turns into something far more twisted. The flirtation she thought was harmless becomes a show she didn’t consent to. The intimacy she craved turns into possession. Every glance. Every step. Every breath—Dominic is there. Watching. Waiting.

Five thousand years out of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur finds himself in the American South, living in a trailer park and working as a line cook at a steakhouse. No longer a devourer of human flesh, the Minotaur is a socially inept, lonely creature with very human needs. But over a two-week period, as his life dissolves into chaos, this broken and alienated immortal awakens to the possibility for happiness and to the capacity for love.

As I saw my newborn baby’s face for the first time, I tried desperately to capture her face in my mind - to stamp it onto my eyelids. As she was taken from me, I knew I might never see my daughter again. Thirty-seven years later... 'You were adopted'. Three short words and Sabina’s life fractures. There would forever be a before those words and an after. Pregnant with her own child, Sabina can’t understand how a mother could abandon her daughter or why her parents have kept the past a secret.

Brought to you by Penguin. The suspenseful new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of Thursdays in the Park, The Anniversary, The Lie and The Affair He was meant to be the perfect man, until she discovered the hidden truth ... A gripping story of love, heartbreak and one devastating...

'Mutonji writes sharply about the subtle ruptures endemic to formative friendships' RAVEN LEILANI 'Nuanced and fearless . . . Told with subtlety and verve' NUSSAIBAH YOUNIS 'Sexy, infuriating, and unbelievably fun . . . This is a writer who can read someone to filth in just one line' KATIE YEE...

Brought to you by Penguin. May 1998: Mimi Traung and her baby daughter Ngan wait restlessly at the gates of Philadelphia airport. There is still a day’s travelling left before they would land back home on Vietnamese soil. While they prepare to board, the unimaginable happens. Seventeen years...

Patrick Gale's LITTLE BITS OF BABY is a charming, witty novel of love, possibility and life in crisis - 'Richly comic, affectionate and perceptive' Mail on Sunday Eight years ago, Robin fled from his family, friends, and entire life, to suffer a complete breakdown in an island monastery. Now...

As the mate of the Beast Lord, Curran, former mercenary Kate Daniels has more responsibilities than it seems possible to juggle. Not only is she still struggling to keep her investigative business afloat, but she must now deal with the affairs of the Pack, including preparing her people for attack from Roland, a cruel, ancient being with godlike powers.

Kenneth Trachtenberg, an eccentric and witty native of Paris, travels to the Midwest to spend time with his famous American uncle, a world-renowned botanist and self-described "plant visionary". After numerous affairs and failed relationships, the restless Uncle Benn seeks a settled existence in the form of marriage - but tying the knot again opens the door to a host of new torments.

In 1960's Brooklyn, NY, troubled teen Billy Delaney's life takes a drastic turn. After Billy and his high school friends get arrested during an attempted armed robbery, their lives are torn asunder. Billy struggles with unresolved issues of guilt over his friends' misfortunes. Obsessed to help them get back on track, he continues to seek "the break" that can redeem their lives. But the easy money along the criminal path is enticing, and soon Billy finds himself consumed by the moral struggle between good and evil.

‘Extremely funny – a satirical masterpiece that is tender and existentially-minded as well. I loved it!’ Elizabeth McKenzie, author of THE PORTABLE VEBLEN ‘Very smart and juicy and weird and entertaining … it reads like a chick lit plot written by Franzen’ Curtis Sittenfeld Jen has...

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner comes “a zippy rom-com with genuine heart and soul” (People) about love, family, friendship, secrets, and one woman’s life-changing journey. Thirty-three-year-old Abby Stern has made it to a happy place. True, she still has gig jobs...

“A funny and moving commentary on that point in a woman's life when everything seems to come into question." —Camille Perri, The New York Times "It's the superb insights and penetrating writing that make this book remarkable... An extraordinary debut." —The Guardian "Enthralling, sharply...

A consummate storyteller in the Southern tradition, Lee Smith tugs at her listeners' heartstrings with this haunting narrative that reads like a country ballad. Touching, funny, and sad, its down-to-earth characters are somehow familiar and endearing as they do their best to meet the demands of daily life.