The author of Becoming George Sand has crafted a “standout novel of a tested friendship . . . highlighted by fine prose and finely drawn characters” (Publishers Weekly). When her old friend Hannah doesn’t show up at her house in the south of France, everyone assumes that Claudia, who has known Hannah since their shared years at boarding school, will know where she is and what has happened. But as Claudia travels from the United States to France to help her friend’s husband and children conduct their search, she is forced to deal with her old jealousy of Hannah, as well as her own relationship in the present with her French lover, Alexandre. As events unfold, Claudia begins to wonder if Hannah and Alexandre may have had an affair and if that has something to do with Hannah’s mysterious disappearance. In this exquisitely written, Ferrante-esque novel the question of whether or not Hannah will come back becomes urgent and bewildering. And if she doesn’t return, what will the lives of her friends and family be without her?

Two detectives investigate when a coma patient gives birth in this mysterious thriller by the bestselling author of The First Husband. When a coma patient starts to have contractions and gives birth to a baby boy, the child’s arrival triggers an investigation into serious sexual assault. Detectives McQuillan and Blalock are handed the case, while the internal hospital team collects information to help with the investigation. When Dr. Angela Crawford, who helped deliver the baby, learns that the child will be put in foster care, she and her husband agree to take the little boy in. Meanwhile, a young nurse, Jenny O’Hearn, helps compile data on the rapist and discovers several strange things. And when she is attacked, the detectives are forced to examine the case from a different perspective . . . Could a staff doctor, male nurse, or the chaplain be the rapist? Sometimes the truth isn’t always obvious. A great read for fans of authors like K.L. Slater, Lisa Jewell, and Sue Watson.

In this moving, tender memoir of losing a beloved spouse, the longtime editor of Texas Monthly, newly widowed, returns alone to a city whose enchantment he's only ever shared with his wife, in search of solace, memories, and the courage to find a way forward. At the age of sixty-six, after thirty-five years of marriage, Gregory Curtis finds himself a widower. Tracy--with whom he fell in love the first time he saw her--has succumbed to a long battle with cancer. Paralyzed by grief, agonized by social interaction, Curtis turns to watching magic lessons on DVD--"a pathetic, almost comical substitute" for his evenings with Tracy. To break the spell, he returns to the place he had the "best and happiest times" of his life. As he navigates the storied city and contemplates his new future, Curtis relives his days in Paris with Tracy, piecing together the portrait of a woman, a marriage, parenthood, and his life's great love through the memories of six unforgettable trips to the City of Lights. Alone in Paris, Curtis becomes a tireless wanderer, exploring the city's grand boulevards and forgotten corners as he confronts the bewildering emotional state that ensues after losing a life partner. Paris Without Her is a work of tremendous courage and insight--an ode to the lovely woman who was his wife, to a magnificent city, and to the self we might invent, and reinvent, there.

“What is comfort but a filament between past and present with some sort of future implied? In other words, safety. In other words, care. I know it is possible to find these things without her—I know they are there. But it can be so hard to ask. So much is unknown.” Rebecca Spiegel is working as a teacher in New Orleans when she learns of her sister’s suicide. Only after the funeral does shock give way to grief—and to many questions. How could Emily do this to herself? How could she have abandoned all those who loved her? And what could have been done differently to prevent this devastating loss? In the days and weeks that follow, Spiegel embarks on a search for answers. She unpacks family history, documents the last traces of her sister’s life, and questions what more she could have done to prevent her death. Unsparingly honest and resistant to simple solutions, “This clear-eyed reckoning offers a path toward understanding what always exists on the other side of grief: the joyful fact of a deep and abiding love” (Camille T. Dungy).

Why do men abduct women? Are their motives sexual, economic, or social? How crucial is the use of violence? How important is the participation of others? What are the societal consequences of abduction? Answers to these questions can usefully be found in a historical case study of abductions as they occurred in Ireland between 1700 and 1850. Forcibly Without Her Consent describes in detail how abduction was a largely communally-sanctioned exercise in male violence against women, how it depended for success on a well established ritual, how it eluded suppression by the forces of law and order, and how it impacted class structure, marriage, and patterns of rural unrest. In fascinating detail, Thomas Power uncovers the causes and implications of abduction. Reading this book will give you a deep insight into the social origins of abduction.

Leaving family, friends, and all her belongings behind, single mother Mandy, flees from the Netherlands with her two young children. Secretly emigrating to Australia, she escapes her vicious perpetrator to start a new life in a country she had never set foot in before. Mandy’s story spans the globe. In her childhood, she grew up in Africa and her ex-husband, Janus, originally from India, married Mandy to start a new life in Europe. After ten years of marriage, when Mandy finally announced the divorce, she faced Janus’ faked suicide, attempted kidnapping of their children to India and domestic violence. Mandy shielded her children from the ‘ice aged’ child protection system in the Netherlands, which blindly stood up for Janus’ rights with no regard for the suffering this created. To fight for a new life in Australia with her children, Mandy digs deep inside herself. She faces abuse of international law, fighting every step of the way—for her children. They are her everything. A disaster is inevitable, yet, there is hope...

Collection of sad and Romanic poems of love or in the days after lover with million feelings of pain and darkness which will make anyone cry