Spanning from World War II to the present, A CLOUD IN THE SHAPE OF A GIRL is about three generations of the Wise family --- Evelyn, Laura and Grace --- as they hunt for contentment amid chaos of their own making. We see these women and their trials, small and large: social slights and heartbreaks; marital disappointments and infidelities; familial dysfunction; mortality. One of the burning questions Jean Thompson asks is: By serving her family, is a woman destined to repeat the mistakes of previous generations, or can she transcend the expectations of a place, and a time? Can she truly be free?

When 64-year-old Jackie Kennedy Onassis died in her Fifth Avenue apartment, her younger sister Lee wept inconsolably. Then Jackie’s 38-page will was read. Lee discovered that substantial cash bequests were left to family members, friends and employees --- but nothing to her. "I have made no provision in this my Will for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime," read Jackie’s final testament. Drawing on the authors’ candid interviews with Lee Radziwill, THE FABULOUS BOUVIER SISTERS explores their complicated relationship, placing them at the center of 20th-century fashion, design and style.

Rogers Stout has the gambler’s gifts --- a titanic brain, an uncanny ability to read people, and a risk-taker’s daring. As an apathetic high school student who loves baseball but lacks a 90-mph fastball, he knows that the game does not begin until the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. But his life needs direction. Everything changes the summer he is invited into the boisterous environment of an investment bank’s trading room, and to a gambling hall dive where he immediately wins big at poker, capturing the attention of his co-workers with his card-playing skills.

In the summer of 1951, Miranda Schuyler arrives on elite, secretive Winthrop Island, still reeling from the loss of her father in the Second World War. When her beautiful mother marries Hugh Fisher, Miranda is catapulted into a heady new world of pedigrees and cocktails, status and swimming pools. Isobel Fisher, Miranda’s new stepsister, is eager to draw Miranda into the arcane customs of Winthrop society. Uneasy among Isobel’s privileged friends, she finds herself drawn to Joseph Vargas, who has enjoyed an intense, complex friendship with Isobel. As the summer winds to its end, Miranda is caught in a catastrophe that will shatter Winthrop’s hard-won tranquility and banish her from the island for nearly two decades.

Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s 12th birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear about him again until 16 years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy, and one final scavenger hunt. Miranda soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy’s past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda’s mother has kept hidden --- and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.

Lauren Groff brings readers into a physical world that is at once domestic and wild --- a place where the hazards of the natural world lie waiting to pounce, yet the greatest threats and mysteries are still of an emotional, psychological nature. Among those navigating this place are a resourceful pair of abandoned sisters; a lonely boy, grown up; a restless, childless couple; a searching, homeless woman; and an unforgettable, recurring character --- a steely and conflicted wife and mother. The stories in this collection span characters, towns, decades, even centuries, but Florida becomes its gravitational center: an energy, a mood, as much as a place of residence.

When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, David Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And life at the Sea Section, as he names the vacation home, is exactly as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it's impossible to take a vacation from yourself. With CALYPSO, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation toward middle age and mortality.

One of five lively children born to two Texas natives --- Beverly, a proper Dallas lady, and Thad, a young naval officer --- Marcia Gay Harden always had a knack for storytelling, role-playing and adventure. As a military family, the Hardens moved often, and their travels eventually took them to Yokohama, off the coast of Japan, during the Vietnam War era. It was here that Beverly found her own self-expression in ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging. Using the philosophy of ikebana as her starting point, Marcia intertwines the seasons of her mother’s life with her own journey from precocious young girl to budding artist in New York City to Academy Award-winning actress.

Rob Coates is a survivor. He’d thought he’d won the lottery of life --- a beautiful home, an incredible wife Anna, and their precious son Jack, who makes every day an extraordinary adventure. But when tragedy befalls his family, Rob becomes his own worst enemy, pushing away all he holds dear. With his world now suddenly just outside of his grasp, Rob turns to photography, capturing the beautiful skyscrapers and clifftops he used to visit --- memories of the time when his family was happy. And just when it feels as though there’s nowhere left to turn, Rob embarks on the most unforgettable of journeys to reclaim the joy and love he thought he’d lost.

A voice mail from her estranged sister, Melanie, sends Robin’s heart racing and her mind spiraling in a full-blown panic attack. Melanie’s message is dire: Their father, his second wife and his 12-year-old stepdaughter have been shot --- likely in a home invasion --- and lie in the hospital in critical condition. It’s been more than five years since Robin turned her back on her father when he married her best friend. Now she must return to the family she left behind. As she attempts to mend fences while her father clings to life, Robin begins to wonder if there is more to the tragedy than a botched burglary attempt.