"The Girl Who Fell from the Sky can actually fly." -The New York Times Book Review   Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on their Chicago rooftop. Forced to move to a new city, with her strict African American grandmother as her guardian, Rachel is thrust for the first time into a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and...

Answering an advert for a driver and companion to take an epic road trip across America, Martha meets 80-year-old Kathleen who craves adventure and together these women embark on the journey of a lifetime.

"An extraordinary friendship. A lifetime of stories that begins at the end . . . Seventeen-year-old Lenni Pettersson lives on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. Though the teenager has been told she's dying, she still has plenty of living to do. Joining the hospital's arts and crafts class, she meets the magnificent Margot, an 83-year-old, purple-pajama-wearing, fruitcake-eating rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never...

"May Seymour graduated from college with the world at her feet and no idea what to do with it. A mission trip to Rwanda brought her a sense of purpose in loving others. So when the genocide began she chose to remain in the village, which was subsequently slaughtered. Only May survived. May journeyed to heal on the farm of Claudius Borne, a sweet, innocent old man who understood plants and animals far better than people. Years later, having not stepped...

"'This is a note to yourself, Juliet. You must keep the memories alive, because once upon a time you told a man called Edward Nancarrow that you would, and it's important to keep that promise.' A daring WWII pilot who grew up among the clouds, Juliet Caron's life was one of courage, adventure - and a love torn apart by war. Every nook of her Cornish cottage is alive with memories just waiting to be discovered. Katherine Henderson has escaped to Cornwall...

On his deathbed, a dying Black man writes a letter to his estranged, gay son and shares with him the truth that lives in his heart and tries to create a place where the pair can find peace. As Jacob lies dying, he writes a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous...

"Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland's dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena's banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers' Project. There, she meets...

"In Sunken Cathedral, Kate Walbert tells the stories of four women living in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, more or less now. Two, Marie and Simone, friends for decades, are widows in their seventies, yet robust, engaged, appetiteful, even ready to find love again. They were immigrants, survivors of World War II in Europe, and now are living alone in the houses where they raised their children. Elizabeth is Marie's tenant, the mother of a 13 year...

From journalist and author Sue Halpern comes a wry, observant look at contemporary life and its refugees. Halpern's novel is an unforgettable tale of family ... the kind you come from and the kind you create. People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship. "People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course;...

Herb's charmed life with his dear wife, Susan, in their Key West house is coming undone. Susan, in her seventies, now needs constant care, and Herb is in denial about his own ailing health. The one bright spot is the arrival of an endlessly optimistic manicurist calling herself Renee. She sings to Susan during manicures, gets her to paint, and brings her a much-needed sense of contentment. But then Herb and Susan's adult children arrive to stage an...