Editorial Content for Chain-Gang All-Stars
Book
Teaser
Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far removed from America’s own in this explosive debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of FRIDAY BLACK.
Promo
Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far removed from America’s own in this explosive debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of FRIDAY BLACK.
About the Book
Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America’s own in this explosive debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of FRIDAY BLACK.
She felt their eyes, all those executioners…
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE --- or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment --- a highly popular, highly controversial, profit-raising program in America’s increasingly dominant private prison industry. It’s the return of the gladiators, and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.
In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE’s corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo, and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar’s path have devastating consequences.
Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors to the CAPE employees and beyond, CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system’s unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means from a “new and necessary American voice” (Tommy Orange, The New York Times Book Review).
Editorial Content for The Covenant of Water
Teaser
From the New York Times bestselling author of CUTTING FOR STONE comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
Promo
From the New York Times bestselling author of CUTTING FOR STONE comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
About the Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of CUTTING FOR STONE comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.
THE COVENANT OF WATER is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of the major word-of-mouth bestseller CUTTING FOR STONE, which has sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.
Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, THE COVENANT OF WATER is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: In every generation, at least one person dies by drowning --- and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a 12-year-old girl from Kerala’s long-existing Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her 40-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl --- and future matriarch, known as Big Ammachi --- will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph, as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.
A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, THE COVENANT OF WATER is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the difficulties undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.
Editorial Content for Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?
Teaser
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT KITTY KARR? is a sprawling page-turner set against the backdrop of the Hollywood machine, an insightful and nuanced look at the inheritances of family, race and gender --- and the choices some women make to break free of them.
Promo
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT KITTY KARR? is a sprawling page-turner set against the backdrop of the Hollywood machine, an insightful and nuanced look at the inheritances of family, race and gender --- and the choices some women make to break free of them.
About the Book
A multigenerational saga that traverses the glamour of old Hollywood and the seductive draw of modern-day showbiz.
When Kitty Karr Tate, a white icon of the silver screen, dies and bequeaths her multimillion-dollar estate to the St. John sisters --- three young, wealthy Black women --- it prompts questions. Lots of questions.
A celebrity in her own right, Elise St. John would rather focus on sorting out Kitty’s affairs than deal with the press. But what she discovers in one of Kitty’s journals rocks her world harder than any other brewing scandal could --- and between a cheating fiancé and the fallout from a controversial social media post, there are plenty.
The truth behind Kitty's ascent to stardom from her beginnings in the segregated South threatens to expose a web of unexpected family ties, debts owed and debatable crimes that could, with one pull, unravel the all-American fabric of the St. John sisters and those closest to them.
As Elise digs deeper into Kitty's past, she also must turn the lens upon herself, confronting the gifts and burdens of her own choices and the power that the secrets of the dead hold over the living.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT KITTY KARR? is a sprawling page-turner set against the backdrop of the Hollywood machine, an insightful and nuanced look at the inheritances of family, race and gender --- and the choices some women make to break free of them.
Editorial Content for The Half Moon
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From the bestselling author of ASK AGAIN, YES comes a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who must navigate the complexities of marriage, family and longing.
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From the bestselling author of ASK AGAIN, YES comes a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who must navigate the complexities of marriage, family and longing.
About the Book
From the bestselling author of ASK AGAIN, YES, a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who must navigate the complexities of marriage, family and longing.
Malcolm Gephardt, the handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but struggles to stay afloat.
His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.
Award-winning author Mary Beth Keane’s new novel takes place over the course of one week when Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place. With a deft eye and generous spirit, Keane explores the disappointments and unexpected consolations of midlife, the many forms forgiveness can take, the complicated intimacy of small-town living, and what it means to be a family.
Editorial Content for The Nigerwife
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In this twisty and electrifying debut novel, a young woman goes missing in Lagos, Nigeria, and her estranged auntie will stop at nothing to find the truth behind her disappearance.
Promo
In this twisty and electrifying debut novel, a young woman goes missing in Lagos, Nigeria, and her estranged auntie will stop at nothing to find the truth behind her disappearance.
About the Book
In this twisty and electrifying debut novel, a young woman goes missing in Lagos, Nigeria, and her estranged auntie will stop at nothing to find the truth behind her disappearance. Perfect for fans of MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER and THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME.
Nicole Oruwari has the perfect life: a handsome husband; a palatial house in the heart of glittering Lagos, Nigeria; and a glamorous group of friends. She left gloomy London and a troubled family past behind for sunny, moneyed Lagos, becoming part of the Nigerwives --- a community of foreign women married to Nigerian men.
But when Nicole disappears without a trace after a boat trip, the cracks in her so-called perfect life start to show. As the investigation turns up nothing but dead ends, her auntie Claudine decides to take matters into her own hands. Armed with only a cell phone and a plane ticket to Nigeria, she digs into her niece’s life and uncovers a hidden side filled with dark secrets, isolation and even violence. But the more she discovers about Nicole, the more Claudine’s own buried history threatens to come to light.
An inventively told and keenly observant thriller where nothing is as it seems, THE NIGERWIFE offers a razor-sharp look at the bonds of family, the echoing consequences of secrets, and whether or not we can ever truly outrun our past.
Editorial Content for The Secret Book of Flora Lea
Teaser
When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.
Promo
When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.
About the Book
When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.
In the war-torn London of 1939, 14-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone --- a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.
But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.
Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?
As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love and the enduring magic of storytelling.
May 20, 2023
Raise your hand (or twirl your mouse) if you are slightly intimidated by the size of a thick book. Can you see my hand waving? So when I saw that Oprah had picked a 736-page book for her latest Book Club selection, I gulped. But I enjoyed Abraham Verghese’s THE TENNIS PARTNER (I still remember so much about that one) and decided I did not want to miss out on reading THE COVENANT OF WATER like I had with CUTTING FOR STONE (658 pages). So I am going to read along with Oprah in what feels like it will be 100-page segments. You can read more about that here. I also listened to this interview with Abraham on the “Poured Over” podcast. Who else is reading along?