Adult

After a disastrous blind date, Darcy Lowell is desperate to stop her well-meaning brother from playing matchmaker ever again. So she fibs and says her latest set up was a success. Elle Jones, an astrologer, dreams of finding her soul mate but knows it is not Darcy, who is way too analytical, punctual and skeptical for someone as free-spirited as herself. When Darcy’s brother --- and Elle's new business partner --- expresses how happy he is that they hit it off, Elle is baffled. Darcy begs Elle to play along, and she agrees to pretend they’re dating. But Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family during the holidays, and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a faux relationship.

While on a trip to Dublin to visit her parents, solicitor Benedicta “Ben” O'Keeffe runs into Luke Kirby --- the man who killed her sister --- freshly released from jail. On the surface he appears remorseful, conciliatory even, but his comment as she walks away makes her realize he is as evil as ever. Back in Glendara, she finds chaos. The Oak pub has burned down, and Carole Kearney, the Oak's barmaid, has gone missing. And then, while walking the dog up Sliabh Sneacht, Ben and her partner, Sergeant Tom Molloy, make a gruesome discovery: a body lying face down in the snow. Who could be behind this vicious attack on Glendara and its residents? And why disturb such a charming town at Christmas?

From Ancient Rome through 21st-century America, Denise Kiernan brings us a biography of an idea: gratitude, as a compelling human instinct and a global concept, more than just a mere holiday. Spanning centuries, WE GATHER TOGETHER is anchored amid the strife of the Civil War, and driven by the fascinating story of Sarah Josepha Hale, a widowed mother with no formal schooling who became one of the 19th century’s most influential tastemakers and who campaigned for decades to make real an annual day of thanks.

With THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS, Danielle Evans zooms in on particular moments and relationships in her characters’ lives in a way that allows them to speak to larger issues of race, culture and history. She introduces us to Black and multiracial characters who are experiencing the universal confusions of lust and love, and getting walloped by grief --- all while exploring how history haunts us, personally and collectively. Ultimately, she provokes us to think about the truths of American history --- about who gets to tell them, and the cost of setting the record straight.

Two months a widow, Mallory Dent has made the impulsive decision to pack up and move on. In remote McNamara, nestled in the northern mountains, she can escape her grief, guilt and pain. But the day Mallory arrives, death follows her. A woman’s body is found floating in Loss Lake --- and it’s not the first death on these shores. Locals talk about a monster in the depths with an almost disturbing reverence. Sergeant Joel Benson understands Mallory’s unease. Years ago, his own brother was killed in the home Mallory now owns. But that was just a tragic accident. Wasn’t it? The more Mallory investigates, the more fearful she becomes. Maybe there are monsters in McNamara. Maybe some have followed her there.

In the middle of Brooklyn Heights sits the Starlite: boutique dress shop by day, underground women's club by night. Started by the shop's proprietor after her marriage crumbled, Madeline's social club soon becomes a safe haven for women from all walks of life looking for a respite from their troubled relationships and professional frustrations. These after-hour soirées soon bring two very different ladies into Madeline's life, irrevocably changing all three women's lives in ways no one could have predicted. But when Madeline's ne'er-do-well ex-husband shows up again, the luster of Starlite quickly dampens. And when an unspeakable tragedy befalls their sorority, one woman must decide whether to hide the truth from the group or jeopardize her own hopes and dreams.

On the morning after the 2016 presidential election, Thomas Ricks awoke with a few questions on his mind: What kind of nation did we now have? Is it what was designed or intended by the nation’s founders? Trying to get as close to the source as he could, Ricks decided to go back and read the philosophy and literature that shaped the founders’ thinking, and the letters they wrote to each other debating these crucial works --- among them the Iliad, Plutarch’s Lives, and the works of Xenophon, Epicurus, Aristotle, Cato and Cicero. Although much attention has been paid to the influence of English political philosophers like John Locke, the founders were far more immersed in the literature of the ancient world.

In DEARLY, her first collection of poetry in over a decade, Margaret Atwood addresses themes such as love, loss, the passage of time, the nature of nature, and --- zombies. Her new poetry is introspective and personal in tone, but wide-ranging in topic. In poem after poem, she casts her unique imagination and unyielding, observant eye over the landscape of a life carefully and intuitively lived.

Every year, Úna prepares for her father to leave her. He will wave goodbye early one morning, then disappear with seven other men to traverse the Irish countryside. Together, these men form the Butchers, a group that roams from farm to farm, enacting ancient methods of cattle slaughter. THE BUTCHERS' BLESSING moves between the events of 1996 and the present, offering a simmering glimpse into the modern tensions that surround these eight fabled men.

Five months ago, an accident left Diana Sparrow badly injured and missing a few months of her memory. As if that's not enough, she's started having recurring nightmares about the night of the accident. Dreams that feel so real, she's left questioning: Maybe she didn't just slide off the road into a ditch. Maybe, just maybe, she hit something. Or someone. She can't turn to her former best friend Val, who's been sleeping with Diana's husband Jonathan for months, but she might find some comfort in newcomer Cole Pelham. Yet the closer they become, the more Diana begins to wonder what really happened that night --- and how Cole might be connected. Worse, it seems everyone else could be involved, too.