The men and women in these spare, Kafkaesque stories are engaged in struggles that are no less brutal because they are fought by proxy. In Graham Swift's taut prose, these quiet combative relationships—between a mismatched couple; an aging doctor and his hypochondriacal patient; a teenage refugee swept up in the conflict between an oppressively sentimental father and his rebellious son—become a microcosm for all human cruelty and need.
"Swift...

"Unlike most men of his acquaintance, Gregory Bridgerton believes in true love. And he is convinced that when he finds the woman of his dreams, he will know in an instant that she is the one. And that is exactly what happened. Except... She wasn't the one. In fact, the ravishing Miss Hermione Watson is in love with another. But her best friend, the ever-practical Lady Lucinda Abernathy, wants to save Hermione from a disastrous alliance, so she offers...

"Our narrator is stuck at home alone under lockdown, where she remembers her 1990s childhood in rural Yorkshire. The ecological phenomena that start in her own backyard interconnect and spread out from China to Nicaragua as pesticides circulate, money flows around the planet, and bodies feel the force of distant power"--

Since she was a little girl, Celeste has had one burning desire:to marry Ellery Throckmorton. But what chance does a gardener's daughter have of capturing the heart of one of England's wealthiest gentlemen? However, the education she receives at the Distinguished Academy of Governesses enables Celeste to return to Blythe Hall with a refinement that complements her ravishing beauty—and makes her bold romantic dream more attainable. But, alas,

...

Penny Vincenzi, internationally bestselling author of No Angel, has dazzled readers with her intricately crafted novels for nearly twenty years. She unleashes her signature narrative prowess once more in her latest novel, A Question of Trust. In 1950s London, Tom Knelston is charismatic, charming, with a passion for politics and reform. He is a man with ambition-and someone to watch. His wife Alice, a former nurse, shares his ideals. It seems...

An incredible (and risque) story by Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders tells the story of the title character who was born in a prison, employed as a servant and grows up to have horrible luck with men until deciding she doesn't need a husband at all.

"It's back to Corduroy Mansions--the slightly dilapidated but well-lived-in mansion block in London's hip Pimlico neighborhood--for the third installment in Alexander McCall Smith's newest popular series. There's never a dull moment for the residents of Corduroy Mansions: Berthea Snark is still at work on her scathing biography of the only loathsome Liberal Democrat member of Parliament--her own son, Oedipus; literary agents Rupert Porter and Barbara...

"Girl, Woman, Other is a celebration of the diversity of Black British experience. Moving, hopeful, and inventive, this extraordinary novel is a vivid portrait of the state of contemporary Britain and the legacy of Britain's colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean. The twelve central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: Amma is a newly acclaimed playwright whose work often explores her black lesbian identity; her...

Bourgeois housewife Ruth Whiting is "paralysed by triviality," measuring out her days in coffee mornings, glasses of sherry, and bridge parties--routines that barely disturb the solitude of her existence. Her husband spends his weeknights in town; their daughter, eighteen-year-old Angela, is at Oxford; and their sons are at boarding school. Then Angela accidentally falls pregnant, and Ruth must keep her own past from repeating itself.--