NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic of true crime, set in a most beguiling Southern city—now in a 30th anniversary edition with a new afterword by the author “Elegant and wicked . . . might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime.”—The New York Times Book Review Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. In this sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative, John Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case. It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman’s Card Club; the turbulent young gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the “soul of pampered self-absorption”; the uproariously funny drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young people dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience.

The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany. A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the 'New Germany,' she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance - and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler's true character and ruthless ambition.

For fans of Sarah Addison Allen, Aimee Bender, and Alice Hoffman, The Night Garden is a luminous novel of love, forgiveness, and the possibilities that arise when you open your heart. Nestled in the bucolic town of Green Valley in upstate New York, the Pennywort farm appears ordinary, yet at its center lies something remarkable: a wild maze of colorful gardens that reaches beyond the imagination. Local legend says that a visitor can gain answers to life’s most difficult problems simply by walking through its lush corridors. Yet the labyrinth has never helped Olivia Pennywort, the garden’s beautiful and enigmatic caretaker. She has spent her entire life on her family’s land, harboring a secret that forces her to keep everyone at arm’s length. But when her childhood best friend, Sam Van Winkle, returns to the valley, Olivia begins to question her safe, isolated world and wonders if she at last has the courage to let someone in. As she and Sam reconnect, Olivia faces a difficult question: Is the garden maze that she has nurtured all of her life a safe haven or a prison? Praise for Lisa Van Allen’s The Wishing Thread “Reader to reader, knitter to knitter: You’re going to love this book.”—Debbie Macomber “Whimsical . . . great for fans of Sarah Addison Allen and Alice Hoffman.”—Library Journal Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.

In 15 poems, Wong records some of the many dreams--from the familiar to the outlandish and everywhere in between--that she or her friends have had. With Paschkis's paintings, which reflect the glowing colors of dreams, these nighttime visions create a garden, tempting to explore and evocative of dreams of our very own. Full color.

Epic love poems often share common thematic elements -love in union, love in separation, and love in reunion. This book investigates common threads and shared symbolism between the literary masterpieces The Story of Layla Majnun (written by Nizami in the Islamic Sufi tradition) and Gita Govinda (written by Jayadeva in the Hindu Bhaktic tradition). Book jacket.

As an emerging leader in positive thinking, New York Times best selling author Dodinsky weaves the words of contentment and self-empowerment. In his second book, Dodinsky takes his readers on a journey to the garden of happiness. Within this garden, Dodinsky gives his readers the wisdom and support to find power within themselves to lead a happy life. Words from Dodinsky: You get angry. You get depressed. You worry. But never let these feelings consume your life. You owe it to yourself not to burden your soul with sorrows. You have to leave the past behind and STRIVE TOWARD HAPPINESS

This “elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory" (The Independent) award-winning novel from the acclaimed author of The Gift of Rain follows the only Malaysian survivor of a Japanese wartime camp as she begins working for an exiled former gardener of the Emporer. Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice "until the monsoon comes." Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to the gardener and his art, while all around them a communist guerilla war rages. But the Garden of Evening Mists remains a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

A detailed overview of the life and teachings of one of the great Ottoman Sufi masters, Mehmed Muhyiddin Uftade, is accompanied by an English translation of a collection of his religious poetry in this tribute to the Turkish and Persian spiritual traditions. Uftade's prominent role in the founding of the Jelvetiyye, one of the main dervish orders, his influence on Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, and his instruction of renowned disciple 'Aziz Mahmud Hudayi, are carefully described alongside the faithfully rendered tenets of his spiritual teachings, augmented by firsthand accounts of his views translated from the journal of a disciple. Uftade's poetry employs simple, direct, and wonderfully human language to express the human yearning for the divine and the ups and downs of the spiritual path.