Sheila is either hanging over the back fence or hanging out with her neighbors. They're interesting, but they're weird. Why do they hang their laundry outside instead of using the dryer? Why are they riding their bikes to the library instead of just using the car? Why do they mow their lawn with a push mower when a gas mower is much faster? But Sheila discovers that their homemade soup sure tastes good, that she likes picking cherry tomatoes and strawberries in their garden, and it's pretty cozy to sit around the woodstove in the winter. Are Sheila's neighbors really weird, or do they have some good ideas going on?
From the author of How Should a Person Be? (“one of the most talked-about books of the year”—Time Magazine) and the New York Times Bestseller Women in Clothes comes a daring novel about whether to have children. In Motherhood, Sheila Heti asks what is gained and what is lost when a woman becomes a mother, treating the most consequential decision of early adulthood with the candor, originality, and humor that have won Heti international acclaim and made How Should A Person Be? required reading for a generation. In her late thirties, when her friends are asking when they will become mothers, the narrator of Heti’s intimate and urgent novel considers whether she will do so at all. In a narrative spanning several years, casting among the influence of her peers, partner, and her duties to her forbearers, she struggles to make a wise and moral choice. After seeking guidance from philosophy, her body, mysticism, and chance, she discovers her answer much closer to home. Motherhood is a courageous, keenly felt, and starkly original novel that will surely spark lively conversations about womanhood, parenthood, and about how—and for whom—to live.
Wildly acclaimed in Canada, this book marks the debut of a remarkable young writer first published by McSweeney's when she was twenty-three and living at home with her dad and brother. The Middle Stories is a strikingly original collection of stories, fables, and short brutalities that are alternately heartwarming, cruel, and hilarious. This edition, marking the 10th anniversary of The Middle Stories, will be designed in the newly iconic McSweeney's paperback style, and will be published shortly before Heti's newest novel, How Should A Person Be?, emigrates from Canada via Henry Holt & Co.
Sheila O'Flanagan's unputdownable bestseller THINGS WE NEVER SAY is a must-read for fans of Marian Keyes and Veronica Henry. Abbey Anderson is stunned when she comes home to find her boyfriend has left her. She has never needed her mother more, but that door is firmly closed. Abbey is feeling very alone - then a charismatic Irishman appears on her California doorstep, with an astonishing revelation about her family. Soon Abbey is on a flight to Dublin, looking for answers to questions she never knew she should be asking. Across the Atlantic, Fred Fitzpatrick's adult children are oblivious to the shock heading their way. They're focused on their father, who is increasingly cantankerous in his old age. Sometimes it's only thoughts of his fortune that make it bearable to be with him. But Fred's story is not the open book they all thought it was. Nor is his will. As a shadowy crime emerges from history, Abbey and the strangers about to become part of her life will say, and do, things they never thought they would. It could end in disaster - or a surprising new beginning . . . Praise for Sheila O'Flanagan 'Glamorous, blockbusting, empowering . . . Sheila knows just what it is to be a woman' Veronica Henry 'Reading a Sheila O'Flanagan novel always feels like sitting down for a cup of tea with a friend' Beth O'Leary What readers are saying about Things We Never Say: 'The pace was lively - I just flew through the book. Lots of drama, family skeletons to be dug up, relationship dynamics to be explored and all in a fun, breezy writing style' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'A truly feel-good story with lots of twists and turns' Amazon reviewer, 5 stars 'What I enjoyed about this book was I never quite knew what was going to happen next. Families, greed, deception, secrets and a touch of romance - all I would ask for in a story' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Another brilliant book from Sheila O'Flanagan. I was drawn into the story right from the first chapter. Great characters and a great storyline' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
A brilliant portrayal of finding a beautiful life by one of Canada's most exciting literary talents, now available as an Anansi Book Club edition featuring discussion questions. How Should a Person Be? is an unabashedly honest and hilarious tour through the unknowable pieces of one woman’s heart and mind, an irresistible torn-from-life book about friendship, art, sex, and love. Part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part racy confessional, it is a fearless exploration into the way we live now by one of the most highly inventive and thoughtful young writers working today.
This charming story presents a new way for young children to understand how to creatively embrace who they are, no matter what others think. Carla's lunch box is filled with odd delights like the Olive, Pickle and Green Bean Sandwich, the Banana-Cottage-Cheese Delight, and the unforgettable Chopped Liver, Potato Chips, and Cucumber Combo. To Carla, they are delicious and creative lunches, but her teasing classmates are unconvinced and abandon her at the lunch table to eat her bizarre sandwiches alone. One day, however, tables turn when Buster—the worst tease of all—forgets his lunch on the day of the picnic and Carla thoughtfully offers him her extra sandwich. Her own spirited nature helps Carla teach her classmates that "unusual" can actually be good. Lively illustrations help showcase the book's messages of acceptance, tolerance, individuality, and creativity, and the funny plot and authentic dialogue are sure to make this tale a favorite among elementary school children. Carla's creative sandwich solutions provide young chefs-to-be with the inspiration to create sandwich masterpieces of their own.
Through their restoration of an abandoned playhouse full of antique dolls, two young girls show several other members of the community how to gain a new lease on life.
