"Suddenly, I woke up in the middle of the night to find my mother lying on the floor in the living room, surrounded by a puddle of blood. She had been shot? Dad had disappeared and the world seemed a blank except for me calling, "Mom! Mom!" Her body, not moving at all. I called her name over and over until the tears blocked my vision. That image, seared into my brain after all this time, still has the same effect on me today as it did back then. Even after years of drug abuse and homelessness, that image?would never be erased from my mind. Things were different after that?I was different."Anthony Brown's dramatic life story has led him to many dark and often dangerous places. Addicted to drugs and alcohol since he was very young, From Park Bench to Park Avenue, details his incredible journey from disfunction and homelessness to recovery and triumph-pursuing his ultimate passion of giving hope and help to those still imprisoned by destructive behaviors and substance abuse. All of the proceeds from From Park Bench to Park Avenue will be used to transform a historic home into Brown Manor - a place of recovery, where individuals can begin a new journey, alcohol and drug free; a place that offers a hand up, not a hand out.
In this captivating memoir, novelist Anne Roiphe shows us what it was really like to grow up rich and Jewish in New York in the 1940s and 1950s. Revisiting the world of her childhood, Roiphe brings alive a cast of characters who are both difficult to love and impossible to forget. Through the eyes of this precocious, loving daughter, we witness the brutalities that lurked behind the mah-jongg tables, cocktail parties, and summer houses of her family. By turns heartbreaking, funny, and mercilessly honest, Roiphe's story exposes the fault lines of misery that exploded in domestic battles on the home front, far overshadowing the war overseas. The locus of the story is 1185 Park Avenue. It is one of the buildings on the northern end of the avenue -- just before the train tracks mark the beginning of Harlem -- that wealthy Jewish families claimed as their own in the first half of the 20th century. Amidst the maids and the governesses and the doormen and the psychiatrists live the members of the Roth family, in Apartment 8C. They include an unfaithful father who uses his wife's fortune to entertain other women and play cards at his club; a misfit son who won't eat his food because he believes his parents are trying to poison him; a disappointed mother who waits all day for her five o'clock scotch and her crossword puzzle; and an eager daughter who tries to negotiate peace at the dinner table. Bound by custom and greed, as well as love, they stay together until their world at 1185 Park has done its damage. Only the daughter escapes whole -- to become the writer we now know as Anne Roiphe. 1185 Park Avenue is both a history of an era and a portrait of the artist as a young woman. Roiphe makes it impossible for us to view the 1940s and 1950s with unabashed nostalgia or to think the same way about the people who were crushed by its lies and deceptions. Her redemption, though bittersweet, stands as a haunting triumph long after we have turned the last page of her compelling story.
721 PARK AVENUE: Penthouse A TENANTS: Reed and Elizabeth Wellington SCANDAL: Married for life? A sexy billionaire husband, a Park Avenue penthouse, money to burn. Elizabeth Wellington had it all, right? But Reed was married to his corporation and she spent evenings alone—with her ovulation charts. Her husband still set her body on fire, but Reed was keeping secrets, ones serious enough to rock their life together. Then fate brought them an unexpected bundle of joy. They finally had the baby they'd always wanted… but had it arrived soon enough?
Modernism in the Green traces a trans-Atlantic modernist fascination with the creation, use, and representation of the modern green. From the verdant public commons in the heart of cities to the lookout points on mountains in national parks, planned green spaces serve as felicitous stages for the performance of modernism. In its focus on designed and public green zones,Modernism in the Green offers a new perspective on modernism’s overlapping investments in the arts, politics, urbanism, race, class, gender, and the nature-culture divide. This collection of essays is the first to explore the prominent and diverse ways greens materialize in modern literature and culture, along with the manner in which modernists represented them. This volume presents the idea of "the green" as a point of exploration, as our contributors analyze social-organic spaces ranging from public parks to roadways and refuse piles. Like the term "green," one that evokes both more-than-human natural zones and crafted public meeting places, these chapters uncover the social and spatial intersection of nature and culture in the very architecture of parks, gardens, buildings, highways, and dumps. This book argues that such greens facilitate modernists’ exploration of how nature can manifest in an era of increasing urbanization and mechanization and what identities and communities the green now enables or prevents.
An Oprah.com Best Romance Novel of 2019! “Perfect for readers who love the dishy women's fiction of Candace Bushnell.” —Booklist From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps. For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite—the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants—but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider. The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham—the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them. “Strong characters and relatable situations elevate Layne’s bighearted contemporary...[which] digs into class differences, emotional baggage, and the reality of dealing with aging parents” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). With the sexy combination of charm, heart, and snark, Lauren Layne’s new series is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne.
Million copy NYT bestseller! Romantic Times Award winner! New Revised Author’s Edition! A lonely wife. A handsome lover. A jealous husband. A gun in a Tiffany bag. The Married Woman—When Carlys Webber’s marriage to millionaire Kirk Arnold falters, will she risk everything for the excitement of a brief affair? The Single Woman—Wildly stylish fashion executive, Jade Mullen survives deception and divorce, but when she falls in love again, is she doomed to another betrayal? The Husband—Millionaire business tycoon, Kirk Arnold, achieves one dazzling success after another, but can his marriage survive a deadly legacy? The Lover—Architect George Kouras rises from humble beginnings to the top of his profession. When he and Jade fall deeply in love, they think they have invented a new way to live happily ever after, but have they? Set in high-powered executive suites and elegant Park Avenue apartments, in modest, ethnic neighborhoods and sedate suburbs, Husbands and Lovers is about four unforgettable characters losing—and finding— themselves in the gritty 1970s and glitzy 1980s. "Sharply and stylishly written. Harris writes with intellect, insight and humor." —The Chicago Sun-Times “Harris’s empathy for her women, especially the ugly duckling who makes herself into a swan, adds a satisfying tie to reality. Fast-paced and irresistible, you will be spellbound.” —Cosmopolitan All five books in the Park Avenue Series are available on GooglePlay. Decades (Book # 1)--This bestselling classic is the compelling story of a marriage at risk, a family in crisis and a woman on the brink set against the tumultuous decades of the mid-twentieth century. "Absolutely perfect!" --Publisher's Weekly "Terrific!" —Cosmopolitan "Powerful! A gripping novel." —Women Today Book Club https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ruth_Harris_DECADES_Park_Avenue_Series_Book_1?id=iMfHBAAAQBAJ Love And Money (Book #3)—Rich girl, poor girl. Sisters and strangers until murder—and the handsome, brilliant man they both love—bring them face to face. “Richly plotted. First-class entertainment.” —NY Times "Fast-paced, superior fiction. A terrifically satisfying 'good read.'" —Fort Lauderdale News Sun-Sentinel https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=6TD3AgAAQBAJ Modern Women (Book # 4)—Million-copy NYT bestseller! Three fabulous, dynamic women—and the men in their lives. The right men. The wrong men. The maybe men. "Funny, sad, vivid, and raunchy. Harris seeks to enliven and entertain, and she does it in spades." —The Cleveland Plain-Dealer " Ruth Harris's rapier wit spices up a superb 'rags to riches' novel. You'll love Modern Women." —West Coast Review of Books "Sharp and stylishly written." —Chicago Sun-Times https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=oHH4AgAAQBAJ The Last Romantics (Book # 5)—A sweeping love story set in Paris and New York during the champagne-fizzed Jazz Age of the 1920's. He is dashing, handsome and celebrated but dangerously flawed. She is a gifted fashion designer who has the world at her feet. She is beautiful, charming, lonely, haunted. "I love it, I love it! Fantastic, immensely readable." —Cosmopolitan "Gloriously romantic" —Kirkus https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ruth_Harris_The_Last_Romantics_Park_Avenue_Series?id=lav4AgAAQBAJ Keywords: Historical Women's Fiction NYC, Historical fiction mystery and suspense, Historical fiction 20th Century, romance, marriage, suspense, divorce, abortion, wife, divorced woman, single woman, single mom, millionaire, architect, jealous husband, cheating boyfriend, New York, Florida, mid-west, women's fiction
A USA TODAY bestseller! One of O, The Oprah Magazine’s “22 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020” and one of Goodreads’s “28 of the Hottest Romances of 2020” From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne, the “queen of witty dialogue” (Rachel Van Dyken, New York Times bestselling author), comes the final installment of the Central Park Pact series, a heartfelt and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Sally Thorne and Christina Lauren. Can guys and girls ever be just friends? According to Audrey Tate and Clarke West, absolutely. After all, they’ve been best friends since childhood without a single romantic entanglement. Clarke is the charming playboy Audrey can always count on, and he knows that the ever-loyal Audrey will never not play along with his strategy for dodging his matchmaking mother—announcing he’s already engaged…to Audrey. But what starts out as a playful game between two best friends turns into something infinitely more complicated, as just-for-show kisses begin to stir up forbidden feelings. As the faux wedding date looms closer, Audrey and Clarke realize that they can never go back to the way things were, but deep down, do they really want to?
Neve Halloran and her daughter have shared a fierce love for the austere beauty of Rhode Island’s South County ever since Neve guided Mickey’s first baby steps along the sandy shore. Now, with Mickey a teenager and Neve’s last hope for happiness with her daughter’s loving but unstable father gone, both will struggle to make a new life together amid the windswept landscape that sustains them. Captivated by a fragile wildlife sanctuary, Mickey will move toward womanhood in the company of a lonely boy who shares her instinctive way with the creatures of the coast. And Neve will find herself drawn to a man who has devoted his life to the sanctuary, but who is unable to share the pain of a recent loss—or reconnect with the father who still bears the scars of World War II. As winter gives way to spring, and spring to summer, a secret will emerge that has lain buried in the depths just offshore for decades, a secret that will galvanize the small seaside community. For the waters bear their own vestige of the past—and their ceaseless rhythms may point the way to hope and new beginnings. Lyrical, luminous, and utterly captivating, The Edge of Winter is Luanne Rice at her most penetrating and insightful, in a moving exploration of the bonds that shape us and set us free. From the Hardcover edition.
The Sponsor tells the story of Rich Watson, a star athlete with a brilliant mind and unlimited potential—until alcoholism cut him off at the knees. With the help of a good sponsor and the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, he overcomes his disease and begins to live a life beyond his wildest dreams. The more that Rich receives in fame, fortune, and respect, the less feels the need to practice the steps of AA. Moreover, he doesn’t have time. His business is booming, his life is incredibly busy, and he has a batch of unruly sponsees who he is always chasing around. Then Rich gets hit with a series of disasters in his personal and professional life. His health is threatened; his business is under attack; his family is fraying; and his sponsees are driving him crazy. As a man of towering intellect and many talents, he takes it all on, spinning plates expertly until they start to fall and crash. Disillusioned, Rich hits bottom after bottom in sobriety—until life brings him to a new jumping off point.
