"I read my daughter's diaries the other day. You may find that despicable, but let me share with you. You think truly dreadful things only happen in other countries, other cultures, far away: but they also happen in your own back yard, and to the nicest people." Sappho was so happy when she married Gavin. She was in love and it seemed that at last everything was falling into place. But she hadn't considered his daughter, Isobel. She is a delightful, charming girl who spends her school holidays caring for the elderly and is the apple of Gavin's eye. Now cast in the role of Wicked Stepmother, Sappho tries all she can to befriend Isobel and find her place in the new family. It's not easy, but no one had promised it would be. Sappho perseveres. But she has a history, and the history works against her. When it becomes clear that, contrary to popular belief, it is Isobel who steals Gavin's love and attention, and Sappho who must fight for his affection, Sappho is at a loss. How can she win her husband back? With warmth, wit and her unique insights into the workings of the female mind, Fay Weldon has written a brilliant, unsettling new novel about family life today.

Do you feel misunderstood by your surrounding? How are you living your Life Among Others? Author Lidwine Barham shares this inspirational book to help you uplift yourself. It is a simple illustration of the authors life experience and the many paths that she chose because she was under the infl uence of either people or material. It was not what she wanted; it was not peaceful; and she knew something was not dwelling in her the way it was supposed to. Several of her personal stories are described to let you know that you have the ability to make it everywhere without anyone elses consent but yours. With God you will accomplish anything. Right and wrong is not a matter of culture.

From Carol Dawson, "a master of the light, suspenseful touch" (Chicago Tribune), comes a bittersweet novel about the "other woman" in every marriage.... the Mother-in-Law Diaries Lulu Penfield has had more mothers-in-law than most people could have in three lifetimes. From the maven of household hints to the glacially polite New Zealander to a reputed witch who practices voodoo on an old Raggedy Ann doll, each one of her husbands' mothers has been a singularly memorable participant in Lulu's colorful marital misadventures. Now Lulu herself has become a mother-in-law...and as the torch is passed, Lulu cracks away at the ageless mystery of bonding with her own son's wife -- and makes some surprising discoveries as she goes. "Alternately hilarious and gut-wrenching" (The Austin Chronicle), the Mother-in-Law Diaries rings true for anyone who has ever said "I do" -- and who didn't realize that she was marrying not one person, but two.

Stories of the stepmother, the substitute mother, or the “other mother” have infused popular culture for centuries and continue to do so today. She plays a substantial role in our collective imagination, whether we are a part of a step family or not. Despite the fact that the stepmother remains a prevalent figure, both in popular culture and reality, scholars have largely avoided addressing this fraught figure. I Could Not Call Her Mother explores representations of the stepmother in American popular culture from the colonial period to 1960. The archetypal stepmother appears from nineteenth-century romance novels and advice literature to 1930s pulp fiction and film noir. Leslie J. Lindenauer argues that when considered in her historic context, the stepmother serves as a bellwether for changing constructions of motherhood and family. She examines popular culture's role in shaping and reflecting an increasingly normative middle class definition of the ideal mother and family, which by the 1920s became the dominant construct. Lindenauer adds to the rich and growing literature on the history of motherhood. It echoes and is informed by the scholarship that has defined ideal motherhood as a moving target, historically constructed. In so doing, it illuminates the relationship between ideal motherhood and ideal womanhood.

ALICE FEENEYS NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER “Boldly plotted, tightly knotted—a provocative true-or-false thriller that deepens and darkens to its ink-black finale. Marvelous.” —AJ Finn, author of The Woman in the Window My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me: 1. I’m in a coma. 2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore. 3. Sometimes I lie. Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

For use in schools and libraries only. Marty tries to cope after her father remarries as she documents her life in a diary, which is contrasted by letters written by her stepmother.

You've written a book, triumphantly typed 'The End', but now, it seems, no-one wants to publish it. What do you do next? Author of over thirty novels, stories and screenplays, and tutor on the prestigious creative writing course at Bath Spa, Fay Weldon has a lifetime of wisdom to impart on the art of writing. Why Will No-One Publish My Novel? will delight and amuse, but it isn't just another how-to-write handbook: it shows you how not to write if you want to get published. 'Weaves literary lore with Weldon's considerable experience as a successful writer' Evening Standard. 'Contains lots of interesting advice' Daily Mail. 'Tips and emotional support for the would-be novelist' Sunday Times. What readers are saying about the book: 'More fun than the other writing manuals. And much less bossy... I loved it' 'Reading this book is like having a private tutorial with Fay Weldon' 'Weldon's writing style is so easy to read and her advice is very doable' 'Hilariously funny, helpful and written by a veteran. Get it'