Adult

At 53, Maggie Harris has a good marriage and two mostly happy children. Perpetually anxious, she’s also accumulated a list of semi-reasonable fears. But never once did she worry that her husband of nearly 30 years would leave her. On the day Adam walks out the door, everything that makes Maggie secure goes with him. Only then does she realize that while she’s been busy caring for everyone else, she’s become invisible to the world --- and to herself. Maggie cautiously begins to rebuild her life with a trip to Rome, a new career and even a rebound romance. But when a fresh crisis strikes and an uncertain future looms, she must decide: How much will she risk to remain the woman she’s just become?

New York, 1879: An epic blizzard descends on Albany, devastating the city. When the snow finally settles, two newly orphaned girls are missing. Determined not to give up hope, Dr. Mary Sutter, a former Civil War surgeon, searches for the two sisters. When what happened to them is finally revealed, Dr. Sutter must fight the most powerful of Albany's citizens, risking personal and public danger as she seeks to protect the fragile, putting at risk loves and lives in her quest to right unimaginable wrongs.

With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a 15-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his mother’s years of substance abuse, Sequoyah keeps mostly to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface. At least until he meets 17-year-old Rosemary, another youth staying with the Troutts. Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American background and tumultuous paths through the foster care system. But as Sequoyah’s feelings toward Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both.

The 10 stories in Stephanie Powell Watts’ collection deal with both the ties that bind and the gulf that separates generations --- from children confronting the fallibility of their own parents for the first time to adults finding themselves forced to start over again and again. In “Highway 18,” a young Jehovah’s Witness going door to door with an expert field-service partner from up north is at a crossroads. Will she go to college or continue to serve the church? “If You Hit Randall County, You’ve Gone Too Far” tells of a family trying to make it through a tense celebratory dinner for a son just out on bail. And in the title story, a young girl experiences loss for the first time in the fallout from her father’s relationship with her babysitter.

Before she became known as the woman who enticed a king from his throne and birthright, Bessie Wallis Warfield was a prudish and particular girl from Baltimore. From a young age, she was in want of nothing but stability, status and social acceptance as she fought to climb the social ladder and take her place in London society. As irony would have it, she would gain the love and devotion of a king, but only at the cost of his throne and her reputation. In WALLIS IN LOVE, acclaimed biographer Andrew Morton offers a fresh portrait of Wallis Simpson in all her vibrancy and brazenness as she transformed from a hard-nosed gold-digger to charming chatelaine.

Andrew Falcon Jr. is the youngest hedge-fund manager to make partner at a powerful investment bank on Wall Street. But just as Falcon thought life couldn’t get better, his niece Claire is kidnapped --- yet her abductors have no interest in money. They want information. In exchange for Claire’s safe return, Falcon must dig deep into his firm’s affairs, uncovering secrets worse than he could ever imagine. He discovers a conspiracy tied to the US government --- a rogue faction is manipulating the American people to establish a new order. Now facing impossible odds and a plot that goes all the way up to the nation’s leaders, Falcon must find a way to save not only his family but also his country.

In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal. Nearly 30 years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation. As a result, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history --- and maybe come to understand herself as well.

When Pat accepts her narcissistic ex-boyfriend Bruce's invitation for coffee, she has no idea of the complications in her romantic and professional life that will follow. Meanwhile, Matthew, her boss at the art gallery, attracts the attention of the police after a misunderstanding at the local bookstore. Whether caused by small things such as a cup of coffee and a book, or major events such as Stuart's application for promotion and his wife Irene's decision to pursue a PhD in Aberdeen, change is coming to Scotland Street. But for three seven-year-old boys --- Bertie Pollock, Ranald, and Big Lou's foster son, Finlay --- it also means getting a glimpse of perfect happiness.

When 95 percent of the earth's population disappears for no apparent reason, Mira does what she can to create some semblance of a life: She cobbles together a haphazard community named Zion, scavenges the Piles for supplies they might need, and avoids loving anyone she can't afford to lose. Four years after the Rending, Mira's best friend, Lana, announces her pregnancy. But when Lana gives birth to an inanimate object --- and other women of Zion follow suit --- the thin veil of normalcy Mira has thrown over her new life begins to fray. Then a confident outsider named Michael lures Lana away, and Mira must decide how much she's willing to let go in order to save her friend, her home, and her own fraught pregnancy.

Hannah has felt as bitter as November in Minnesota since Ross vanished without a trace and left their marriage in limbo. Still, she throws herself into a baking frenzy for the sake of pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving-themed treats while endless holiday orders pour into The Cookie Jar. Hannah even introduces a raspberry Danish pastry to the menu, and P.K., her husband’s assistant at KCOW-TV, will be one of the first to sample it. But instead of taking a bite, P.K., who is driving Ross’ car and using his desk at work, is murdered. Was someone plotting against P.K. all along, or did Ross dodge a deadly dose of sweet revenge?