A fictionalized biography of Jane Austen focusing on her early life growing up with her sister Cassandra in a large country parsonage family in southern England, and the experiences and people which may have inspired the plots and characters of her famous novels.

"Retells the story of the fall of Troy ... from the point of view of the woman whose visionary powers earned her contempt and scorn. Written as a result of the author's Greek travels and studies, Cassandra speaks to us in a pressing monologue whose inner focal points are patriarchy and war. In the four accompanying pieces, which take the form of travel reports, journal entries, and a letter, Wolf describes the novel's genesis."--Cover p. [4].

Cassandra Brydges, née Willoughby (1670-1735), was a remarkable woman; through her marriage at the age of 43 to the immensely wealthy and influential James Brydges (later the first duke of Chandos), she was connected to many of the most important members of society at the time. Unusually for the period, much of her writing survives, including an extensive collection of correspondence, and it is therefore possible to gain a richer picture of her life. This book presents all the known extant letters of the duchess. They reveal a woman engaged in a very wide range of activities - from managing family and the family fortunes, investing on the stock market, socialising with a wide range of important and influential people, to matchmaking, expressing views on social conduct, painting, and researching family history. They are accompanied by an introduction, providing an overview of her life, and full notes. Professor ROSEMARY O'DAY teaches in the Department of History at the Open University.

Bestselling author of The Same Sweet Girls and The Sunday Wife returns with the story of a controversial divorce therapist whose innovative methods have helped heal many shattered lives . . . but not her own.

The new novel by the celebrated author of The Sunday Wife chronicles the lives of a tight-knit group of lifelong friends. None of the Same Sweet Girls are really girls anymore, and none of them have actually ever been that sweet. But this spirited group of Southern women, who have been holding biannual reunions ever since they were together in college, are nothing short of compelling. There's Julia Stovall, the First Lady of Alabama, who, despite her public veneer, is a down-to-earth gal who only wants to know who her husband is sneaking out with late at night. There's Lanier Sanders, whose husband won custody of their children after he found out about her fling with a colleague. Then there's Astor Deveaux, a former Broadway showgirl who simply can't keep her flirtations in check. And Corinne Cooper, whose incredible story comes to light as the novel unfolds.

I'm not, at heart, a jumper; it's not my sort of thing . . . I think I knew all the time I was sizing up the bridge that the strong possibility was I'd go home, attend my sister's wedding as invited, help hook-and-zip her into whatever she wore, take the bouquet while she received the ring, through the nose or on the finger, wherever she chose to receive it, and hold my peace when it became a question of speaking now of forever holding it.' It is the hottest June on record and the longest day of the year. Cassandra Edwards -tormented, intelligent, mordantly witty - leaves her graduate studies and her Berkeley flat to drive through the scorching heat to her family's ranch. There they are all assembled: her philosopher father, smelling sweetly of five-star Hennessy; her kind, fussy grandmother; her beloved, identical twin sister Judith, who is about to be married - unless Cassandra can help it.

Our relationship is taboo. Catherine: My sister’s always had it all. Angela is blonde, beautiful, and a total bitch too. Even worse, she’s dating handsome quarterback Hunter Brody. It’s embarrassing, but sometimes I pretend that I’m my sister when I hear them through the walls. I pretend it’s Hunter’s hands caressing my curves, and Hunter whispering sweet nothings in my ear. But what happens when he catches me in the act? Hunter: I never really noticed Catherine because she’s always been my girlfriend’s invisible little sister. But when I walk in and see the curvy girl writhing, moaning, and screaming my name, suddenly, nothing matters anymore. I’m giving Catherine a baby … even though our love is taboo. Hey Readers – It’s another scorching tale where a curvy girl gets her revenge by bagging the big man on campus! But Hunter Brody is more than just an athlete. He’s a man who adores lush women, and he shows Catherine just how much he loves and appreciates her by giving her a child. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and always an HEA. You’ll love the story, I promise! Xoxo, Cassie