Thomas Hardy's deterministic art achieves fanatic intensity and raw perfection in the characterization of Jude Fawley, an impoverished stone mason who aspires to the ministry. Throughout his agonized existence, the cloistered halls and facades of Christminister--where Jude wishes to study--tempt and mock him to rid himself of ignorance. His failure to fulfill the expectations of either of the two women he loves, and the violent deaths of his children...

National Book Award Finalist: A lonely Southerner forges a surprising bond with a New York family in this “brilliant” novel by the author of The Moviegoer (Time). Will Barrett has never felt at peace. After moving from his native South to New York City, Will’s most meaningful human connections come through the lens of a telescope in Central Park, from which he views the comings and goings of the eccentric...

Lynne Sharon Schwartz's critically beloved novel about family, tragedy, and philosophy The field is all around us. It's our needs and our wants. This is what George tells Lydia. A disturbance, however, is something that keeps us from grasping and attaining the things we need. Usually, we can adapt to these disturbances and move forward. But, what happens if a disturbance becomes too great to move past? In this entrancing tale of loss and understanding,...

During the summer of 1958 in the English village of Cameldip, two children drown while playing in a leaky boat on the river. Their parents, Isabel and Robert, are bound together in guilt and anger. Thirty years later, a young woman secretly pregnant and determined to make a new start for herself arrives in Cameldip. Taken in by Isabel, she slowly uncovers the secrets of the village's past and is inexorably drawn into the conflict.

A story of

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Martha "Marty" Nickerson, a Cape Cod district attorney turned defense lawyer, must defend a man who shot his son's presumed killer—on live television. The only possible defense is insanity, but the grieving father refuses to say he was crazy when he pulled the trigger.

Marty and her partner in love and law, Harry Madigan, are already stretched thin when, on the eve of Buck's trial, a bleeding woman staggers into their office. Her attacker

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"Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates both travel and anything out of the ordinary. He is grounded by loneliness and an unwillingness to compromise his creature comforts. Then he meets Muriel, a deliciously peculiar dog-obedience trainer who upends Macon's insular world--and thrusts him headlong into a remarkable engagement with life."--Publisher.