In 1970, Mary Lynn found a box of neatly-bound love letters concealed within the attic of her grand 1910 estate in the heart of the Midwest. The letters, sent to Mrs. Sarah Grady from her lover, a successful and politically-connected Eastern businessman, were dated between 1915 and 1920. After decades of research, Mary Lynn has uncovered the mysterious fate of Sarah and blended real letters, court documents, and photographs to recreate the tragic existence of those that lived within her home at the onset of the century. This novel, delivered through the eyes of Sarah, is a rare glimpse into the experiences, challenges, and victories of those within the upper echelons of society during World War I. -- Publisher's description.
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography In this critically acclaimed true crime tale of "welfare queen" Linda Taylor, a Slate editor reveals a "wild, only-in-America story" of political manipulation and murder (Attica Locke, Edgar Award-winning author). On the South Side of Chicago in 1974, Linda Taylor reported a phony burglary, concocting a lie about stolen furs and jewelry. The detective who checked it out soon discovered she was a welfare cheat who drove a Cadillac to collect ill-gotten government checks. And that was just the beginning: Taylor, it turned out, was also a kidnapper, and possibly a murderer. A desperately ill teacher, a combat-traumatized Marine, an elderly woman hungry for companionship -- after Taylor came into their lives, all three ended up dead under suspicious circumstances. But nobody -- not the journalists who touted her story, not the police, and not presidential candidate Ronald Reagan -- seemed to care about anything but her welfare thievery. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Taylor was made an outcast because of the color of her skin. As she rose to infamy, the press and politicians manipulated her image to demonize poor black women. Part social history, part true-crime investigation, Josh Levin's mesmerizing book, the product of six years of reporting and research, is a fascinating account of American racism, and an exposé of the "welfare queen" myth, one that fueled political debates that reverberate to this day. The Queen tells, for the first time, the fascinating story of what was done to Linda Taylor, what she did to others, and what was done in her name. "In the finest tradition of investigative reporting, Josh Levin exposes how a story that once shaped the nation's conscience was clouded by racism and lies. As he stunningly reveals in this "invaluable work of nonfiction," the deeper truth, the messy truth, tells us something much larger about who we are (David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon).
Things couldn't be moving any faster. Grady is now on his own after the riot that ensued due to his rally and other members of the movement are closing in. What is becoming a revolution needs its leader more than ever or all could be lost. Rush fiercely maintains her position running the Mall, which has become the only safe haven in a world imprisoned by all that technology has brought into it. She will fight against anything to protect her people, including the latest and very powerful threat that that could shut it down forever. In the Mall, Grady's younger sister Bridget, once a follower, is improving her combat skills and herself, getting stronger every day. Sophie falls into the depths of self-discovery, coming to terms with who she really is while Louis struggles between truly living life and the one thing that pulls him through every day. Rush and Grady must do whatever it takes to keep the movement under control and the Mall safe. Threats loom around every corner as the world continues to self-destruct, and in trying to hold onto what is left of a dream for a new future they will be faced with trials much harder than any they have faced before.
“A gloriously over-the-top scare fest that has hidden depths. Readers will root for Kris all the way to the explosive, poignant finale.”—Publishers Weekly From the New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Only a girl with a guitar can save us all. Every morning, Kris Pulaski wakes up in hell. In the 1990s she was lead guitarist of Dürt Würk, a heavy-metal band on the brink of breakout success until lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom, leaving his bandmates to rot in obscurity. Now Kris works as night manager of a Best Western; she’s tired, broke, and unhappy. Then one day everything changes—a shocking act of violence turns her life upside down, and she begins to suspect that Terry sabotaged more than just the band. Kris hits the road, hoping to reunite Dürt Würk and confront the man who ruined her life. Her journey will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a celebrity rehab center to a satanic music festival. A spine-tingling horror novel, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, pill-popping, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul.
I wasn't supposed to love Nate Grady, let alone marryhim. But we found a love that triumphed over alladversity…just like Jane Eyre, my very favorite heroine. I was young, bookish, naive…on the verge ofentering the convent—and then I met him…. Theday I abandoned my old life, the day I agreed to marryhim, now seems an eternity ago. But despite everyone'sobjections, I fell for Nate. An older, previously marriedman. My first and only love. My husband. When I looked into Nate's eyes on our wedding day,the rest of the world vanished. If I was crazy for doingthis, I prayed the craziness would last forever….
A touching story about Japanese American children who corresponded with their beloved librarian while they were imprisoned in WW II internment camps. Booklist writes, ''A beautiful picture book for sharing and discussing with older children as well as the primary audience.'' Starred Review
Sarah's entire world crumbled when her father died. Nothing was the same. She didn't mean to keep making bad choices. When she got shocking news that she couldn't undo, she'd never felt more alone. Grady wasn't looking for love, and he certainly wasn't looking for a life sentence. About to turn eighteen and leave for college, his entire universe shifted. There was just one problem...he wasn't the only piece of the puzzle. Too young to be pregnant, confused and afraid, can Grady and Sarah find acceptance and love? Or will Grady turn away when he hears the news, leaving Sarah to go it alone? (Order to read: Hannah, Allie, Maggie, and Sarah) (complete series, completed series, small town romance, wholesome, family-friendly, Western, western romance, western romance books, romance, romantic, romance books, love stories, contemporary romance, sweet romance, clean romance, contemporary western)
For readers of Colson Whitehead, James McBride, Yaa Gyasi and Lawrence Hill, Up From Freedom is a powerful and emotional novel about the dangers that arise when we stay silent in the face of prejudice or are complicit in its development. As a young man, Virgil Moody vowed he would never be like his father, he would never own slaves. When he moves from his father's plantation in Savannah to New Orleans, he takes with him Annie, a tiny woman with sharp eyes and a sharper tongue, who he is sure would not survive life on the plantation. She'll be much safer with him, away from his father's cruelty. And when he discovers Annie's pregnancy, already a few months along, he is all the more certain that he made the right decision. As the years pass, the divide between Moody's assumptions and Annie's reality widens ever further. Moody even comes to think of Annie as his wife and Lucas as their son. Of course, they are not. As Annie reminds him, in moments of anger, she and Moody will never be equal. She and her son are enslaved. When their "family" breaks apart in the most brutal and tragic way, and Lucas flees the only life he's ever known, Moody must ask himself whether he has become the man he never wanted to be--but is he willing to hear the answer? Stretching from the war-torn banks of the Rio Brazos in Texas to the muddy waters of Freedom, Indiana, Moody travels through a country on the brink of civil war, relentlessly searching for Lucas and slowly reconciling his past sins with his hopes for the future. When he meets Tamsey, a former slave, and her family trying to escape the reach of the Fugitive Slave Act, Moody sees an opportunity for redemption. But the world is on the cusp of momentous change, and though some things may be forgotten, nothing is ever really forgiven.
Your past and your family can haunt you like nothing else... A hilarious and terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Final Girl Support Group. When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn't want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn't want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father's academic career and her mother's lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn't want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Mostly, she doesn't want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. But she'll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it'll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market. Some houses don't want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them... Like his novels The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Final Girl Support Group, How to Sell a Haunted House is classic Hendrix: equal parts heartfelt and terrifying—a gripping new read from "the horror master" (USA Today).
For anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong, Sigh, Gone shares an irreverent, funny, and moving tale of displacement and assimilation woven together with poignant themes from beloved works of classic literature. In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where the Trans struggle to assimilate into their new life. In this coming-of-age memoir told through the themes of great books such as The Metamorphosis, The Scarlet Letter, The Iliad, and more, Tran navigates the push and pull of finding and accepting himself despite the challenges of immigration, feelings of isolation, and teenage rebellion, all while attempting to meet the rigid expectations set by his immigrant parents. Appealing to fans of coming-of-age memoirs such as Fresh Off the Boat, Running with Scissors, or tales of assimilation like Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Displaced and The Refugees, Sigh, Gone explores one man’s bewildering experiences of abuse, racism, and tragedy and reveals redemption and connection in books and punk rock. Against the hairspray-and-synthesizer backdrop of the ‘80s, he finds solace and kinship in the wisdom of classic literature, and in the subculture of punk rock, he finds affirmation and echoes of his disaffection. In his journey for self-discovery Tran ultimately finds refuge and inspiration in the art that shapes—and ultimately saves—him.
