After her mother suffered a stroke, Ellen Heenan Reddy hastily packed her mother’s belongings and moved her from Michigan into Ellen’s Wisconsin home. Among those rapidly gathered items was a simple bag from Target found at the back of an over-stuffed closet. Years later, long after her mother’s Alzheimer’s had progressed to the point where she required professional care, Ellen opened the bag and discovered hundreds of letters from her father to her mother. The letters tell the story of her parents as they met, courted, and survived the years of sacrifice and anguish that the country endured during World War II. Within these letters, the author learned stories of her parents she had never fully known and discovered inroads to understanding her mother, a woman she had largely seen as a mother in nomenclature only. Her mother had been the sort of woman who played the role once a year for the holidays and was otherwise absent—absorbed in her beach time, wine, travel, and living the life of a gadabout. My Darling Patty is a fascinating hybrid text that shares the unedited, discovered letters of her father alongside Ellen’s imagined responses from her mother. What emerges from this intriguing mix of documents and imagined extensions is a fascinating family portrait spanning three generations during some of America’s most defining history. The text that emerges also offers a mechanism for healing relationships long misunderstood.

A dark, shocking, bestselling thriller debut about a mother and daughter—and the lengths to which a daughter will go to find independence. “Nobody wants to hear the truth from a liar.” For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair, and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with her. Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar. After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes. Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she’s forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score. Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling… And she’s waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

A teenager follows along as her mother moves from town to town—and man to man—in this coming-of-age novel: “Both hilarious and tragic . . . a radiant debut.” —The New York Times Book Review The inspiration for the cult-classic film starring Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci, and Cher, this novel is narrated by Charlotte Flax, a fourteen-year-old helplessly dragged by her mother from place to place, brief affair to brief affair. When they settle into a quiet New England town in 1963, the teenager yearns to stay put for once. With a convent just steps away from their home, this could be Charlotte’s chance to fulfill her dream of becoming a martyred Catholic saint—despite the fact that she’s Jewish. At the same time, the young caretaker at the convent is inspiring some unsaintly thoughts . . . “Patty Dann gives us a magnificent voice in the young Charlotte . . . Compelling and tender, touching and alive in her search to find some order in the chaos of her life.” —The New York Times Book Review “This is a really funny book about people trying to find something to hang onto in a world that keeps shifting under their feet. Patty Dann guides us through the guerilla war between mother and daughter, through the minefields that lie between being a child and being an adult, in a voice not like any we’ve heard before.” —John Sayles, director and novelist “Moments of pure gold . . . An energetic talent.” —Kirkus Reviews “Both of [the sisters’] characters are sharply etched and recognizable.” —Publishers Weekly “Poignant . . . a quirky charm.” —Booklist

When Patty Went to College is a humorous novel about life in an all-girls' college at the turn of the century. Patty is a happy, fun-loving prankster who defends the weak and uses her clever brain only when it suits her. The end of the novel sees her contemplating life outside of college, and wondering whether her misbehavior will stand her in good stead for it.

It's been five years since I clicked Send. Four years since I got out of juvie. Three months since I changed my name. Two minutes since I met Julie. A second to change my life. All Dan wants for his senior year is to be invisible. This is his last chance at a semi–normal life. Nobody here knows who he is. Or what he's done. But on his first day at school, instead of turning away like everyone else, Dan breaks up a fight. Because Dan knows what it's like to be terrorized by a bully—he used to be one. Now the whole school thinks he's some kind of hero—except Julie. She looks at him like she knows he has a secret. Like she knows his name isn't really Daniel...

From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids and M Train, a profound, beautifully realized memoir in which dreams and reality are vividly woven into a tapestry of one transformative year. Following a run of New Year's concerts at San Francisco's legendary Fillmore, Patti Smith finds herself tramping the coast of Santa Cruz, about to embark on a year of solitary wandering. Unfettered by logic or time, she draws us into her private wonderland with no design, yet heeding signs--including a talking sign that looms above her, prodding and sparring like the Cheshire Cat. In February, a surreal lunar year begins, bringing with it unexpected turns, heightened mischief, and inescapable sorrow. In a stranger's words, "Anything is possible: after all, it's the Year of the Monkey." For Smith--inveterately curious, always exploring, tracking thoughts, writing--the year evolves as one of reckoning with the changes in life's gyre: with loss, aging, and a dramatic shift in the political landscape of America. Smith melds the western landscape with her own dreamscape. Taking us from California to the Arizona desert; to a Kentucky farm as the amanuensis of a friend in crisis; to the hospital room of a valued mentor; and by turns to remembered and imagined places, this haunting memoir blends fact and fiction with poetic mastery. The unexpected happens; grief and disillusionment set in. But as Smith heads toward a new decade in her own life, she offers this balm to the reader: her wisdom, wit, gimlet eye, and above all, a rugged hope for a better world. Riveting, elegant, often humorous, illustrated by Smith's signature Polaroids, Year of the Monkey is a moving and original work, a touchstone for our turbulent times.

When dashing wealthy Vincent Gayland marries Christina over the objections of his mother Christina is beside herself with joy until a terrible accident cuts short their happiness - and perhaps their love. Though Chris' injuries aren't permanent they are debilitating enough to turn Vince towards Gail Bishop a fascinating and unscrupulous woman. And it is a liaison that Vince's mother is in favour of....

“A delightful mix of grammar and growth, words and wonder.” – The Washington Post An entertaining exploration of the richness and relevance of the Latin language and literature, and an inspiring account of finding renewed purpose through learning something new and challenging After thirty-five years as a book editor in New York City, Ann Patty stopped working and moved to the country. Bored, aimless, and lost in the woods, she hoped to challenge her restless, word-loving brain by beginning a serious study of Latin at local colleges. As she begins to make sense of Latin grammar and syntax, her studies open unexpected windows into her own life. The louche poetry of Catullus calls up her early days in 1970s New York, Lucretius elucidates her intractable drivenness and her attraction to Buddhism, while Ovid’s verse conjures a delightful dimension to the flora and fauna that surround her. Women in Roman history, and an ancient tomb inscription give her new understanding and empathy for her tragic, long deceased mother. Finally, Virgil reconciles her to her new life—no longer an urban exile, but a rustic scholar, writer and teacher. Along the way, she meets an impassioned cast of characters: professors, students and classicists outside of academia who keep Latin very much alive. Written with humor, heart, and an infectious enthusiasm for words, Patty’s book is an object lesson in how learning and literature can transform the past and lead to an unexpected future.

Patty Fairfield is a pretty, well-mannered, graceful, thoughtful, and smart 14 year old girl. Through the series of novels we follow her from her childhood adventures to her adult years and marriage. Table of Contents: Patty Fairfield Patty at Home Patty's Summer Days Patty in Paris Patty's Friends Patty's Success Patty's Motor Car Patty's Butterfly Days Patty's Social Season Patty's Suitors Patty's Fortune Patty Blossom Patty-Bride Patty and Azalea Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) was an American writer and poet. She is known for her Patty Fairfield series of novels for young girls.

Some girls say no. Some boys don't listen. When Grace meets Ian, she's afraid. Afraid he'll reject her like the rest of the school, like her own family. After she accuses Zac, the town golden boy, of rape, everyone turns against her. Ian wouldn't be the first to call her a slut and a liar. Except Ian doesn't reject her. He's the one person who looks past the taunts and the names and the tough-girl act to see the real Grace. He's the one who gives her the courage to fight back. He's also Zac's best friend. "A bold and necessary look at an important, and very real, topic. Everyone should read this book." - Jennifer Brown, author of Thousand Words and Hate List A gut-wrenching, powerful love story told from alternating points of view by the acclaimed author of Send.