"In 1971, a property speculator named Harley Mann begins recording his life story onto a reel-to-reel machine. Reflecting on his childhood in the early 20th century, Harley recounts that after his father's sudden death, his family migrated down to Florida-mere miles away from what would become Disney World-to join a community of Shakers. Led by Elder John, a generous man with a mysterious past, the colony devoted itself to labor, faith, and charity,...

"In Paco Roca's intimate and international award-winning graphic novel, The House, three adult siblings return to their family's quaint vacation home a year after their father's death with the intention to clean up the residence and put it on the market. But as garbage is hauled off and dust is wiped away, decades-old resentments quickly fill the vacant home. Through flashbacks into each sibling's memories -- the fig trees they grew up climbing, the...

An old man lies dying. As time collapses into memory, he travels deep into his past where he is reunited with his father and relives the wonder and pain of his impoverished New England youth.

A celebrated columnist, nightclub emcee, and fine arts philanthropist draws inspiration from the Catholic Saints Day books to reflect on his encounters with black artists in Detroit's legendary Black Bottom neighborhood, from the Great Depression through the post-World War II years. In the black-owned-and-operated Kirkwood Hospital, Joseph "Ziggy" Johnson reflects on his life. From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Ziggy had...

Documenting his grandparents' experiences during the siege of Leningrad, a young writer learns his grandfather's story about how a military deserter and he tried to secure pardons by gathering hard-to-find ingredients for a powerful colonel's daughter's wedding cake.

Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they--and Grace--know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight...

"Lou Ann Hunter's mother, Patricia, has always had a passionate nature, which explains why she's been married and divorced five times and spooned enough male patients to be ousted from three elderly care facilities. She also has Alzheimer's, which is why she wants to spend her remaining months or years surrounded by memories at her family's decrepit old plantation in Louisiana with her only daughter. Lou Ann, a.k.a. Lulu the Love Guru, has built an...

"Larissa is a stubborn, brutally honest woman in her eighties, tired of her home in Kiev, Ukraine, tired of everything in life, really, except for her beloved granddaughter, Natasha. Natasha is tired as well, but that's because she has just had a baby, and she's struggling to balance her roles as a new mother, a wife, an actress (or she used to be, anyway), and a host to her husband's greasy-haired, useless best friend, Stas, who has been staying...

"BERLIN, 1939. The dreams that Amanda Sternberg and her husband, Julius, had for their daughters are shattered when the Nazis descend on Berlin, burning down their beloved family bookshop and sending Julius to a concentration camp. Desperate to save her children, Amanda flees toward the south of France, where the widow of an old friend of her husband's has agreed to take her in. Along the way, a refugee ship headed for Cuba offers another chance at...