Adult

Inspired by antique photographs, these five short stories capture the surprising intersections of love and friendship that alter life's journeys. In “Angels in Italy,” childhood friends learn the enduring power of a first love. “Sister Flora's First Day of Freedom” introduces us to a young nun who makes a difficult decision to leave the sisterhood and finds delightful new riches in the big city of Edinburgh. "Dear Ventriloquist” tells of a mishap at a Canadian circus that sparks unexpected magic between a gifted puppeteer and a dapper lion tamer. Changing a tire changes the life of a young Irish teacher in “The Woman with the Beautiful Car.” And a young New Zealander learns what matters in life from his grandfather, a WWII veteran, in “He Wanted to Believe in Tenderness."

Natalie is a Bloomingdale’s salesgirl mooning over her ex-boyfriend; Felicia has been quietly in love with her boss for 17 years; and Andie is a cynical private detective who specializes in cheating husbands. For these three women, as well as many others --- a young model fresh from Alabama, a Hollywood star making her Broadway debut, an unemployed Brown grad who’s been faking a fabulous life on social media --- everything is about to change...and all thanks to the power of one perfect little black dress.

In 1917, in that sliver of border land between Georgia and Alabama, Pearl Jewett ekes out an existence as a dispossessed farmer along with his three criminally-minded sons: Cane, Cob and Chimney. Hundreds of miles away, another farming family, the good-natured Fiddlers, have been swindled out of their family fortune while reeling from the disappearance of their son Eddie, who left to fight the Germans. When a crime spree sets the Jewetts on a collision course for the Fiddlers, an unlikely --- and turbulent --- relationship begins between the families.

Daniel Sullivan leads a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn, and his wife, Claudette, is a reclusive ex–film star given to pulling a gun on anyone who ventures up their driveway. Together, they have made an idyllic life in the country, but a secret from Daniel’s past threatens to destroy their meticulously constructed and fiercely protected home.

Lucia Stanton’s father is dead, her mother is in a mental hospital, and she’s recently been kicked out of school --- again. Living with her aunt in a garage-turned-bedroom, and armed with only a book, a Zippo lighter and a pocketful of stolen licorice, she spends her days riding the bus to visit her mom and following the only rule that makes any sense: Don’t do things you aren’t proud of. When Lucia discovers that her school has a secret Arson Club, her life is suddenly lit up; she’ll do anything to join.

“Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. He awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined --- one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

After a decade living in England, Jeremy O'Keefe returns to New York, where he has been hired as a professor of German history at New York University. Though comfortable in his new life and happy to be near his daughter once again, Jeremy continues to feel the quiet pangs of loneliness. But his life soon begins taking strange turns: boxes containing records of his online activity are delivered to his apartment, a young man seems to be following him, and his elderly mother receives anonymous phone calls slandering her son. Why would anyone want to watch him so closely, and why would they alert him to the fact that he was being watched?

Criminal psychologist Audrey Harte is returning home after seven years. She'll have to face the whispers and the rumors that have haunted her family since she left. Because when Audrey was 13, she and her best friend, Maggie, killed Maggie's abusive father. Her first night back in town ends in a fight with a drunken Maggie, with her old crush Jake to witness it all. Audrey can't believe it can get worse. Then Maggie turns up dead.

Three women --- Prinny, a shop owner who is in love with a married lawyer; Chelsea, whose dream of becoming a successful actress starts to seem more remote; and Diana, who needs to figure out whether she’d rather be lonely alone than lonely in love --- suddenly find themselves together at their own very different crossroads. It will take hope, love, strength and a little bit of magic for them to find their way together.

Faith Salie has done it all in the name of validation. Whether it’s trying to impress her parents with a perfect GPA, undergoing an exorcism in the hopes of saving her toxic marriage, or maintaining the BMI of “a flapper with a touch of dysentery,” Salie is the ultimate approval seeker --- an “approval junkie,” if you will. With thoughtful irreverence, Salie reflects on why she tries so hard to please others, and herself, highlighting a phenomenon that many people --- especially women --- experience at home and in the workplace.