The acclaimed author of Gone Primitive interweaves autobiographical moments with engrossing interpretations of American cultural icons, from Dr. Doolittle to Lionel Trilling, from The Godfather to Camille Paglia, to create this unflinching account of crossing cultural boundaries--of what it means to be an Italian American.

Wartime intrigue spans the lives of three women—past and present—in this emotional novel from the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War. February, 1946. World War Two is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors has only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina desperate to escape her past, and Simone Deveraux, the wronged daughter of a French Résistance spy. Now the two women are joining hundreds of other European war brides aboard the renowned RMS Queen Mary to cross the Atlantic and be reunited with their American husbands. Their new lives in the United States brightly beckon until their tightly-held secrets are laid bare in their shared stateroom. When the voyage ends at New York Harbor, only one of them will disembark... Present day. Facing a crossroads in her own life, Brette Caslake visits the famously haunted Queen Mary at the request of an old friend. What she finds will set her on a course to solve a seventy-year-old tragedy that will draw her into the heartaches and triumphs of the courageous war brides—and will ultimately lead her to reconsider what she has to sacrifice to achieve her own deepest longings. CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED

"I know you'll want to read more after you finish Sailing a Serious Ocean. And be warned, you'll very likely want to sail with John, perhaps across an ocean." -- DALLAS MURPHY, AUTHOR OF ROUNDING THE HORN After sailing 300,000 miles and weathering dozens of storms in all the world's oceans, John Kretschmer has plenty of stories and advice to share. John's offshore training passages sell out a year in advance and his entertaining presentations are popular at boat shows and yacht clubs all over the English speaking world. John's talent for storytelling enchants his audience as it soaks up the lessons he learned during his oftenchallengingvoyages. Now you can take a seat next to John--at a lesser cost--and get the knowledge you need to fulfill your own dream of blue-water adventure. In Sailing a Serious Ocean, John tells you what to expect when sailing the oceans and shows how to sail safely across them. His tales of storm encounters and other examples of extreme seamanship will help you prepare for your journey and give you confidence to handle any situation—even heavy weather. Through his personal stories, John will guide you through the whole process of choosing the right boat, outfitting with the right gear,planning your route, navigating the ocean, and understanding the nuances of life at sea. Our oceans are beautiful yet unpredictable—water that is at one moment a natural mirror for the glowing sun can turn into a foamy, raging wall of fury. John knows our oceans, and he is one of the best teachers of taming and enjoying them. Before you set off across the big blue, turn to John for his inspirational stories and hard-learned advice and discover the serious sailor in you.

Though separated by language, age, and an ocean, a child and grandparent find common ground in this warm, witty picture book Grandpa lives on the other side of the ocean. He takes naps all the time. He eats different foods. He speaks an unfamiliar language. His house is the most boring place on Earth! Or is it? A little time together just might reveal that Grandpa is also a great singer, an energetic sandcastle builder, and a troublemaker . . . just like his grandson! With her signature warmth and humor, award-winning author-illustrator Hyewon Yum shares the challenges and joys of having a relative who lives far away—proving that even from across the ocean, the grandparent-grandchild relationship is a very special one.

In 1896, two Norwegian immigrants from the New Jersey coast set out to attain their piece of the American Dream by risking their lives to achieve the seemingly impossible. Convinced that they had no bright future as clam diggers supplying the Fulton Fish Market in New York City, they conceived a plan to set a world record by becoming the first men to row across the Atlantic Ocean. To family, friends, and those intimate with the sea, the plan appeared suicidal; but to the two men, George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen, the crossing represented a way out of lives offering little promise. Their hope was to attract worldwide attention and lucrative lecture and exhibition fees if they succeeded.

Choosing a mate is like picking house paint from one of those tiny color squares: You never know how it will look across a large expanse, or how it will change in different light. Meet Janna and Graeme. After a decade-long tango (together, apart, together, apart), they're back in love -- but the stress of nine-to-five is seriously hampering their happiness. So they quit their jobs, tie the knot, and untie the lines on a beat-up old sailboat for a most unusual honeymoon: a two-year voyage across the Pacific. But passage from first date to first mate is anything but smooth sailing. From the rugged Pacific Northwest coast to the blue lagoons of Polynesia to bustling Asian ports, Janna and Graeme find themselves at the mercy of poachers, under the spell of crossdressers, and under the gun of a less-than-sober tattooist. And they encounter do-or-die moments that threaten their safety, their sanity, and their marriage. Join Janna and Graeme's 17,000-mile journey and their quest to resolve the uncertainties so many couples face: How do you know if you've really found the One? How do you balance duty to others while preserving space for yourself? And, when the waters get rough, do you jump ship, or do you learn to navigate the world...together?

STUCK IN A corporate job rut and faced with an unraveling marriage at the age of thirty-six, Roz Savage sat down one night and wrote two versions of her own obituary -- the one that she wanted and the one she was heading for. They were very different. She realized that if she carried on as she was, she wasn't going to end up with the life she wanted. So she turned her back on an eleven-year career as a management consultant to reinvent herself as a woman of adventure. She invested her life's savings in an ocean rowboat and became the first solo woman ever to enter the Atlantic Rowing Race. Her 3,000-mile trial by sea became the challenge of a lifetime. Of the twenty-six crews that set out from La Gomera, six capsized or sank and didn't make it to the finish line in Antigua. There were times when she thought she had hit her absolute limit, but alone in the middle of the ocean, she had no choice but to find the strength to carry on. In Rowing the Atlantic we are brought on board when Savage's dreams of feasts are nourished by yet another freeze-dried meal. When her gloves wear through to her blistered hands. When her headlamp is the only light on a pitch-black night ocean that extends indefinitely in all directions. When, one by one, all four of her oars break. When her satellite communication fails. Stroke by stroke, Savage discovers there is so much more to life than a fancy sports car and a power-suit job. Flashing back to key moments from her life before rowing, she describes the bolt from the blue that first inspired her to row across oceans and how this crazy idea evolved from a dream into a tendinitis-inducing reality. And finally, Savage discovers in the rough waters of the Atlantic the kind of happiness we all hope to find.

Describes the successful laying of a cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1866, exploring the physical, financial, and technological challenges of the project and assessing the impact of the cable on the course of twentieth-century history.

An activists and athlete recounts her inspiring, record-breaking row across the Atlantic to raise awareness in the fight against modern slavery. The Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge is known as The World’s Toughest Row. Very few have completed the three-thousand-mile race from the Canary Islands to Barbados—fewer than those who have climbed Mount Everest or gone into space. But thirty-two-year-old Julia Immonen and four or the women were determined to not only complete the challenge, but to become the fastest all-female team to ever do so. Row for Freedom chronicles that dramatic journey, detailing the grueling, peril-filled crossing that broke two world records. It weaves together Julia’s search for hope and purpose against a background of relationships scarred by violence. As Julia’s physical and emotional treks unfold, you also learn about the plight of the thirty million victims of the modern-day slave trade that serves as the motivation for her row.