Moral Disorder


Book Description

In these ten dazzling interrelated stories Atwood traces the course of a life and also the lives intertwined with it, while evoking the drama and the humour that colour common experiences—the birth of a baby, divorce and remarriage, old age and death. With settings ranging from Toronto, northern Quebec, and rural Ontario, the stories begin in the present, as a couple no longer young situate themselves in a larger world no longer safe. Then the narrative goes back in time to the forties and moves chronologically forward toward the present. In “The Art of Cooking and Serving,” the twelve-year-old narrator does her best to accommodate the arrival of a baby sister. After she boldly declares her independence, we follow the narrator into young adulthood and then through a complex relationship. In “The Entities,” the story of two women haunted by the past unfolds. The magnificent last two stories reveal the heartbreaking old age of parents but circle back again to childhood, to complete the cycle. By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, tragic, earthy, shocking, and deeply personal, Moral Disorder displays Atwood’s celebrated storytelling gifts and unmistakable style to their best advantage. This is vintage Atwood, writing at the height of her powers.




The Autobiography of Henry VIII


Book Description

The Autobiography of Henry VIII is the magnificent historical novel that established Margaret George's career. Evocatively written in the first person as Henry VIII's private journals, the novel was the product of fifteen years of meticulous research and five handwritten drafts. Much has been written about the mighty, egotistical Henry VIII: the man who dismantled the Church because it would not grant him the divorce he wanted; who married six women and beheaded two of them; who executed his friend Thomas More; who sacked the monasteries; who longed for a son and neglected his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth; who finally grew fat, disease-ridden, dissolute. Now, in her magnificent work of storytelling and imagination Margaret George bring us Henry VIII's story as he himself might have told it, in memoirs interspersed with irreverent comments from his jester and confident, Will Somers. Brilliantly combining history, wit, dramatic narrative, and an extraordinary grasp of the pleasures and perils of power, this monumental novel shows us Henry the man more vividly than he has ever been seen before.




The Millstone


Book Description

"Rosamund Stacey finds herself pregnant after her only sexual encounter. Despite her fierce independence and academic brilliance, Rosamund is naive and unworldly, and the choices before her are terrifying."--Back cover




The Other Windsor Girl


Book Description

Named One of the Best Books of the Week by the New York Post! In a historical debut evoking the style of The Crown, the daughter of an impoverished noble is swept into the fame and notoriety of the royal family and Princess Margaret's fast-living friends when she is appointed as Margaret's second Lady-in-Waiting. Diana, Catherine, Meghan…glamorous Princess Margaret outdid them all. Springing into post-World War II society, and quite naughty and haughty, she lived in a whirlwind of fame and notoriety. Georgie Blalock captures the fascinating, fast-living princess and her “set” as seen through the eyes of one of her ladies-in-waiting. In dreary, post-war Britain, Princess Margaret captivates everyone with her cutting edge fashion sense and biting quips. The royal socialite, cigarette holder in one hand, cocktail in the other, sparkles in the company of her glittering entourage of wealthy young aristocrats known as the Margaret Set, but her outrageous lifestyle conflicts with her place as Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister. Can she be a dutiful princess while still dazzling the world on her own terms? Post-war Britain isn’t glamorous for The Honorable Vera Strathmore. While writing scandalous novels, she dreams of living and working in New York, and regaining the happiness she enjoyed before her fiancé was killed in the war. A chance meeting with the Princess changes her life forever. Vera amuses the princess, and what—or who—Margaret wants, Margaret gets. Soon, Vera gains Margaret’s confidence and the privileged position of second lady-in-waiting to the Princess. Thrust into the center of Margaret’s social and royal life, Vera watches the princess’s love affair with dashing Captain Peter Townsend unfurl. But while Margaret, as a member of the Royal Family, is not free to act on her desires, Vera soon wants the freedom to pursue her own dreams. As time and Princess Margaret’s scandalous behavior progress, both women will be forced to choose between status, duty, and love…




Margaret the First


Book Description

A Lit Hub Best Book of 2016 • One of Electric Literature's Best Novels of 2016 • An Entropy Best Book of 2016 “The duchess herself would be delighted at her resurrection in Margaret the First...Dutton expertly captures the pathos of a woman whose happiness is furrowed with the anxiety of underacknowledgment.” —Katharine Grant, The New York Times Book Review Margaret the First dramatizes the life of Margaret Cavendish, the shy, gifted, and wildly unconventional 17th–century Duchess. The eccentric Margaret wrote and published volumes of poems, philosophy, feminist plays, and utopian science fiction at a time when "being a writer" was not an option open to women. As one of the Queen's attendants and the daughter of prominent Royalists, she was exiled to France when King Charles I was overthrown. As the English Civil War raged on, Margaret met and married William Cavendish, who encouraged her writing and her desire for a career. After the War, her work earned her both fame and infamy in England: at the dawn of daily newspapers, she was "Mad Madge," an original tabloid celebrity. Yet Margaret was also the first woman to be invited to the Royal Society of London—a mainstay of the Scientific Revolution—and the last for another two hundred years. Margaret the First is very much a contemporary novel set in the past. Written with lucid precision and sharp cuts through narrative time, it is a gorgeous and wholly new approach to imagining the life of a historical woman. "In Margaret the First, there is plenty of room for play. Dutton’s work serves to emphasize the ambiguities of archival proof, restoring historical narratives to what they have perhapsalways already been: provoking and serious fantasies,convincing reconstructions, true fictions.”—Lucy Ives, The New Yorker “Danielle Dutton engagingly embellishes the life of Margaret the First, the infamousDuchess of Newcastle–upon–Tyne.” —Vanity Fair




Running Out of Time


Book Description

When a diphtheria epidemic hits her 1840 village, thirteen-year-old Jessie discovers it is actually a 1996 tourist site under unseen observation by heartless scientists, and it's up to Jessie to escape the village and save the lives of the dying children.




Mary, Called Magdalene


Book Description

Famously described as the 'Apostle to the Apostles', after her discovery of Jesus' resurrection, Mary has sparked curiosity, controversy and veneration since her name first appeared in the Gospel of Mark. But who was Mary Magdalene? Was she a prostitute, a goddess, a feminist icon, a church leader or all of these things? Using testaments, letters and narrative Margaret George brings to life one of the most mysterious and controversial characters in the bible, creating an epic that is both immediate and moving. 'Margaret George proves herself to be the very best when it comes to historical fiction. Her new novel is a gripping and moving story' Barbara Taylor Bradford




Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey


Book Description

In the journal she is keeping for English class, sixteen-year-old Tish chronicles the changes in her life when her abusive father returns home after a two-year absence.




A Matter Of Time


Book Description

A Regency time-travel romance in which a modern-day Austenite's ultimate dream comes true when she lands in the arms of a Regency duke, only to learn some fantasies aren't all they're cracked up to be when he proves less than a Prince Charming... "Literary magic takes widowed Jane Austen fan Eliza James to Regency England for a chance to win the heart of the likewise-bereaved Deveric Mattersley, Duke of Claremont, in this charming time-travel romance. Despite the unlikely premise, the unforced unfolding of this magically-created romance is refreshing...the author has effectively captured the emotional essence of a historical romance and created an engaging love story that will leave readers eager for more of the series." - Publishers Weekly BookLife "A Matter of Time should be on every fantasy, paranormal, contemporary and Regency romance reader's "to read" list...I would definitely recommend this novel - you will be charmed, captivated, have a few good laughs and shed a few tears as you cheer Eliza and Dev on to find their happy every after ending." - Marsha, KeeperBookshelf.com "I fell in love with this book, just as I did with the Jane Austen classics. There's a new Mr. Darcy in town." - Annie, ARC reader, reviewer for The Write Review and ChickLitPlus.com _________________________________________________________________________ Can a man with a past and a woman from the future forge a love for all time? Nobody would blame widowed doctoral student Eliza James for giving up on Happily Ever After; at twenty-nine, she's suffered more loss than most people do in a lifetime. But Eliza's convinced her own hero is still out there, waiting for her, just like in the beloved romance novels she devours. Every Jane Austen-loving girl deserves a Darcy, right? Only Eliza doesn't dream of a modern-day affair: she wants the whole Regency experience. When a magical manuscript thrusts her back two hundred years into the arms and life of one Deveric Mattersley, Duke of Claremont, however, Eliza realizes some fantasies aren't all they're cracked up to be, especially when her duke proves himself less than a Prince Charming. Convinced he's at fault for the death of his wife, Deveric Mattersley has no interest in women, much less marriage. Determined to atone for his sins, he decrees himself content to focus on running his family's estates, and on raising his son-until the mysterious Mrs. James appears. Who is she? What does she want? And why does she make Dev's blood run hot in a way no woman ever has? A charming time-travel Regency romance full of wit and humor, A Matter of Time reminds us that, like books, you can't judge people by their covers, and that love often comes when least expected. _________________________________________________________________________ 2016 HOLT Medallion Certificate of Merit winner for Best Paranormal and Best Book by a Virginia Author 2016 RONE Finalist for Best Paranormal Genre: Regency time travel Magic of Love Book 2: 365 pages




Margarettown


Book Description

A man called N. travels to Margarettown with a woman he loves named Margaret Towne, inhabited solely by four women: Old Margaret, who is 77; 50-something Marge; 17-year-old Mia; and 7-year-old tomboy May. The novel is cast as a letter written by a dying N. to his and Margaret's daughter relaying their courtship and marriage.