The Pleasing Hour

The Pleasing Hour
Author :
Publisher : Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Total Pages : 256
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780802197863
ISBN-13 : 0802197868
Rating : 4/5 (63 Downloads)

Synopsis The Pleasing Hour by : Lily King

The award-winning novel of a young American girl in France—hailed as “an impressive debut” that is “written with quiet, lyric forcefulness” (Elle). A New York Times Notable Book Young, inexperienced, and fleeing a terrible personal loss, Rosie—the new au pair to the Tivot family estate in France—finds herself ill at ease when trying to connect with Nicole, the cool, distant, and beautifully polished mother of the three children she cares for. There is something about the woman that both fascinates and unnerves Rosie. The same is true of the rest of the Tivot clan. Nicole’s dissatisfied husband, Marc, and their children all seem to be caught in an unending struggle against each other for love and acceptance. Only when Rosie is sent to care for Nicole’s now-elderly guardian—the storyteller of the family’s secrets—does she finally discover the truth. There, Rosie will learn of a past darkened by war, duplicity, and a tragedy that still resonates in the Tivot’s lives . . . With this novel of family, betrayal, and the naïveté of youth, Lily King has spun a story that is “powerful . . . splendid . . . [and all] so assured that it’s hard to believe the book itself is her debut” (The New York Times Book Review). “Expertly constructed, full of surprises, superbly paced and sweetly sad, King’s book hardly reads like a first novel.” —Publishers Weekly

Father of the Rain

Father of the Rain
Author :
Publisher : Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
Total Pages : 319
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780802197085
ISBN-13 : 0802197086
Rating : 4/5 (85 Downloads)

Synopsis Father of the Rain by : Lily King

A New York Times Editors’ Choice—“a gripping epic about a father and daughter that plumbs the dark side of a family riven by addiction and mental illness” (Entertainment Weekly). Gardiner Amory’s life is reeling—Nixon is being impeached, his wife is leaving him, and his worldview is rapidly becoming outdated. His daughter, Daley, has spent the first eleven years of her life negotiating her parents’ conflicting worlds: the liberal, socially committed realm of her mother and the conservative, liquor-soaked life of her father. But when the pair divorces, Gardiner’s basest impulses are unleashed in a deluge, the chasm between all of them widens, and Daley is stretched thinly across it. As she reaches adulthood, Daley rejects the narrow world of her father’s prejudices and embarks on her own life—until Gardiner hits rock bottom. Returning home to help her father get sober, Daley risks everything she’s found beyond him, including a chance at love, in an attempt to repair a trust that was broken long ago . . . In this Winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction, Lily King pulls readers into “a brilliant exploration of the attraction of martyrdom, the intoxication of playing savior. . . . An absorbing, insightful story written in cool, polished prose right to the last conflicted line” (Washington Post).

Writers & Lovers

Writers & Lovers
Author :
Publisher : Grove Press
Total Pages : 324
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780802148551
ISBN-13 : 0802148557
Rating : 4/5 (51 Downloads)

Synopsis Writers & Lovers by : Lily King

#ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today Emma Roberts Belletrist Book Club Pick A New York Times Book Review’s Group Text Selection "I loved this book not just from the first chapter or the first page but from the first paragraph... The voice is just so honest and riveting and insightful about creativity and life." —Curtis Sittenfeld An extraordinary new novel of art, love, and ambition from Lily King, the New York Times bestselling author of Euphoria Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with another instant New York Times bestseller: an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman. Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey’s fight to fulfill her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink. Writers & Lovers follows Casey—a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist—in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis. Written with King’s trademark humor, heart, and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.

Euphoria

Euphoria
Author :
Publisher : Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Total Pages : 209
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780802192516
ISBN-13 : 0802192513
Rating : 4/5 (16 Downloads)

Synopsis Euphoria by : Lily King

New York Times Bestseller: An “enthralling,” prize-winning novel of a love triangle among three young archaeologists in 1930s New Guinea (Vogue). Winner of the Kirkus Prize Winner of the New England Book Award for Fiction Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award Named a Best Book of the Year by: The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Newsday, Vogue, New York Magazine, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Oprah.com, Salon From the author of Writers & Lovers and Five Tuesdays in Winter, Euphoria follows three young, gifted anthropologists caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens their bonds, their careers, and, ultimately, their lives. Inspired by events in the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is “dazzling . . . suspenseful . . . brilliant . . . an exhilarating novel” (The Boston Globe). “A thrilling read.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Atmospheric and sensual.” —NPR “A taut, witty, fiercely intelligent tale of competing egos and desires in a landscape of exotic menace. . . . Exquisite.” —The New York Times Book Review

The English Teacher

The English Teacher
Author :
Publisher : Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Total Pages : 228
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781555846640
ISBN-13 : 1555846645
Rating : 4/5 (40 Downloads)

Synopsis The English Teacher by : Lily King

From the author of The Pleasing Hour: A “moving and deeply absorbing” novel of painful truths and the refuge of fiction set in a New England prep school (Newsday). A Chicago Tribune and Publishers Weekly Best Novel Fifteen years ago, English teacher Vida Avery arrived alone and pregnant at the elite Fayer Academy. Living on the campus off the coast of New England, she worked to become a beloved fixture of the school—and to shelter herself and her son, Peter, from a painful secret she left behind. Then she accepts the impulsive marriage proposal of ardent widower Tom Belou, and the prescribed life Vida has constructed begins to come apart. As Peter bonds with Tom and his new stepsiblings, Vida retreats further into the books she teaches. To embrace life and a chance at happiness, she will have to face the nightmares of her former self—and shed the pain she has held onto for far too long. Following her multiple award-winning debut, The Pleasing Hour, Lily King has written a “domestic drama with the adrenalin-fueled beating heart of a thriller” (Elle). “King is a wonderfully engaging writer who creates characters and situations we can’t resist.” —The Washington Post

Five Tuesdays in Winter

Five Tuesdays in Winter
Author :
Publisher : Pan Macmillan
Total Pages : 187
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781529086508
ISBN-13 : 1529086507
Rating : 4/5 (08 Downloads)

Synopsis Five Tuesdays in Winter by : Lily King

‘Moved me, inspired me, thrilled me. It filled up every chamber of my heart’ – Ann Patchett ‘Masterful, surprising, and satisfying’ – Madeline Miller The stunning short story collection from the bestselling author of Writers & Lovers and Euphoria A reclusive bookseller begins to feel the discomfort of love again. A widow whisks her daughter away for a holiday she can barely afford, desperate to help the two of them grieve. A neglected teenage boy finds much-needed nurturing from an unlikely pair of college students. A proud man rages helplessly at his granddaughter’s hospital bedside. A writer receives a visit from all of the men who have tried to suppress her voice. The romantic but brutally raw stories in Five Tuesdays in Winter explore desire, heartache, moments of shocking cruelty and the inexorable tug toward love at all costs. This profoundly tender collection confirms Lily King as one of our most beloved chroniclers of the human heart. ‘Vivid, moving, immersive’ – Marian Keyes ‘Intimate and revealing, unflinchingly honest and insightful’ – The Observer ‘Exquisite’ – Financial Times

The Evening of the Holiday

The Evening of the Holiday
Author :
Publisher : Macmillan
Total Pages : 148
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0312423268
ISBN-13 : 9780312423261
Rating : 4/5 (68 Downloads)

Synopsis The Evening of the Holiday by : Shirley Hazzard

Passionate undercurrents sweep in and out of this eloquent novel about a love affair in a summer countryside in Italy and its inevitable end.

Pleasing the Ghost

Pleasing the Ghost
Author :
Publisher : Harper Collins
Total Pages : 100
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780061972485
ISBN-13 : 0061972487
Rating : 4/5 (85 Downloads)

Synopsis Pleasing the Ghost by : Sharon Creech

Newbery Medal winner and master storyteller Sharon Creech spins a wonderfully funny and tender tale. As nine-year-old Dennis confronts the ghost of his uncle Arvie, Arvie's eccentric antics and wonderful wordplay keep the reader laughing. But at its tender heart, the story reveals the holes left in our lives when we lose the ones we love. Ever since nine-year-old Dennis's dad died, a veritable parade of ghosts has been passing through his bedroom. When the ghost of his uncle Arvie blows into his room on a warm breeze, Dennis isn't surprised, but Uncle Arvie is the first ghost who wants something from Dennis. Dennis would love to help Uncle Arvie, but he can't quite understand what Uncle Arvie is asking for. What, for example, is "Fraggle pin Heartfoot a wig pasta"? Dennis has to find out, because this is one ghost who isn't going to leave until he gets what he came for. Uncle Arvie's antics and Dennis's attempts to please his ghost form the heart of this touching story.

We All Looked Up

We All Looked Up
Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Total Pages : 384
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781481418775
ISBN-13 : 1481418777
Rating : 4/5 (75 Downloads)

Synopsis We All Looked Up by : Tommy Wallach

The lives of four high school seniors intersect weeks before a meteor is set to pass through Earth's orbit, with a 66.6% chance of striking and destroying all life on the planet.

The Story Of An Hour

The Story Of An Hour
Author :
Publisher : Harper Collins
Total Pages : 11
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781443435192
ISBN-13 : 1443435198
Rating : 4/5 (92 Downloads)

Synopsis The Story Of An Hour by : Kate Chopin

Mrs. Louise Mallard, afflicted with a heart condition, reflects on the death of her husband from the safety of her locked room. Originally published in Vogue magazine, “The Story of an Hour” was retitled as “The Dream of an Hour,” when it was published amid much controversy under its new title a year later in St. Louis Life. “The Story of an Hour” was adapted to film in The Joy That Kills by director Tina Rathbone, which was part of a PBS anthology called American Playhouse. HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.