A down-and-out writer recalls his childhood, schooling, and the years leading up to World War II.

"Sonya used to perform on stage. She used to attend glamorous parties, date handsome men, ride in fast cars. But somewhere along the way, the stage lights Sonya lived for dimmed for good. And then, in their absence, came darkness--blackouts, empty cupboards, hazy nights she can't remember. Haunted by her failed career and unresolved childhood trauma, Sonya has fallen deep into an alcoholic abyss. What keeps Sonya from losing herself completely is...

Damaris escapes her father's drunken abuse, but she can't seem to escape her profound loneliness. Does the Bible hold the answer to both that and the question of why she is A Woman Named Damaris?

When a childhood friend is shot down while attempting to atone for past sins according to the dictates of Alcoholics Anonymous, Matthew Scudder is drawn into a murder investigation that threatens to derail his own sobriety.

Colin McGinty's grandfather, a famous artist, is best known for his haunting portrait Woman in Red, which happens to be of Alice Kessler's grandmother. In a tale that weaves the past with the present, we come to know the story behind the portrait, of a forbidden wartime romance between William McGinty and Eleanor Styles, and a deadly secret--one that is about to be unburied, as the ghost of an enemy from long ago surfaces in the form of Colin's grandson....

"Tim Sandlin's stuff is as tight and funny as anyone doing this comedy novel thing." -Christopher Moore

Maurey has hit rock bottom, with a bottle of whiskey and an infamous reputation, she'll do anything to get out of town. Even drive two ex-drunks cross-country hauling a trailer full of illegal beer.

Everyone in GroVont, Wyoming, knows everybody else's business, but Maurey Pierce Talbot is practically famous

...

"It's the summer of 1996 and school's out forever for Andy, her boyfriend Marcus, her best friend Peter, and Em. When Andy's alcoholic mother predicts the apocalypse, the four teenagers decide to see out the end of the world at a deserted manor house, the site of a historic unsolved mystery. There they meet David - charming and unreliable, he seems to have appeared out of nowhere. David presents an irresistible lure for both Andy and Peter and complicates...

"Billy Lynch's family and friends have gathered to comfort his widow, and to pay their respects to one of the last great romantics. As they trade tales of his famous humor, immense charm, and consuming sorrow, a complex portrait emerges of an enigmatic man, a loyal friend, a beloved husband, an incurable alcoholic. Alice McDermott's striking novel, Charming Billy, is a study of the lies that bind and the weight of familial love, of the way good intentions...

Professor David Ullman is a leading authority on demonic literature, specializing in Milton's Paradise Lost. David sees what he teaches as a branch of the imagination and nothing more. So when the mysterious Thin Woman invites him to Venice to witness a "phenomenon, " he turns her down. She leaves behind plane tickets and an address, advising David that her employer is not often disappointed. And what happens in Venice will change everything.

An electrifying novel about disputed territory, sibling love, and devastating revenge. In a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Aramon, the owner, is so haunted by his violent past that he's become incapable of all meaningful action, letting his hunting dogs starve and his land go to ruin. Meanwhile, his sister Audrun, alone in her modern bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution...