Agneta Pleijel writes a painful yet humorous autobiographical novel about childhood in the aftermath of World War II.A prophecy is received by a beloved aunt, a prophecy that her young niece eagerly waits to see fulfilled.The story takes place in the 1950s in the suburbs of Stockholm, in the university town of Lund, and in the United States. Neta’s childhood is in disarray. She reads—words give form to the vagueness of existence—and is busy thinkin...

Karl Ove Knausgaard leaves his wife and everything he knows in Oslo for a fresh start in Stockholm. There he strikes up a deep and competitive friendship with Geir and pursues Linda, a beautiful poet who captivated him years ago.A Man in Love, the second book of six in the My Struggle cycle, sees Knausgaard write of tempestuous relationships, the trials of parenthood and an urge to create great art. His singular insight and exhilirating honesty must be read to be ...

With the fierce emotional and intellectual power of such classics as Jean Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight, Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, and Clarice Lispector's The Hour of the Star, Kate Zambreno's novel Green Girl is a provocative, sharply etched portrait of a young woman navigating the spectrum between anomie and epiphany.First published in 2011 in a small press edition, Green Girl was named one of the best books of the year by critics i...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the bestselling author of A Gate at the Stairs: A collection of twelve stories that’s “one of our funniest, most telling anatomies of human love and vulnerability" (The New York Times Book Review).A volume by one of the most exciting writers at work today, the acclaimed author of Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? and Self-Help. Stories remarkable in their range...

Through a series of journal entries, a woman records her thoughts and feelings over the course of a summer, shortly after giving birth to her child. Confined to her bedroom on the advice of her husband, a physician, “The Yellow Wallpaper” chronicles the woman’s increasing instability, as she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper covering the walls of her room.“The Yellow Wallpaper” is considered one of the earliest American feminist works of fiction and is unique for author Ch...

Alison Espach, acclaimed author of The Adults, brings her razor sharp insight and storytelling magic to bear in this entrancing tale.

Gabe is the best looking guy in school—that’s why his friends send him to get girls to their party. Helen is not much to look at—that’s why her friends want her to come along. But Helen gets under Gabe’s skin in a way no other girl has.It was one night. One night with lasting consequences. Now Helen has to decide if she wants to keep the baby—and if she should tell Gabe, who hasn’t spoken to her since their one night together.Filled with love, fear, and the tough choices bo...

The appearance of a young storyteller with a unique fictional voice is cause for celebration. Yann Martel's title story (described as "unforgettable...a truly stunning piece of fiction"), won the 1991 Journey Prize to universal acclaim. The intensely human tragedy that lies at its heart is told with a spare, careful elegance that resonates long after it has ended -- and is matched through all the stories by an immediacy an dazzling freshness.

Afflictions & Departures is a collection of first-person experiential essays by writer and academic Madeline Sonik. Although Sonik explores some of the salient personal experiences of her young life, the essays in Afflictions & Departures are not traditional memoir. In addition to incidents and feelings recaptured from memory, Sonik seeks out connections between the microcosm of of the daily events of her childhood and the social, historical, and scientific trends of the ...

Somewhere between single girl Bridget Jones and working mother Kate Reddy is Frannie MacKenzie -- baffled, beleaguered and undeniably pregnant.The one thought blazing through Frannie’s formerly trendy, savvy, sharp-tongued New York brain is that she wants to keep this baby -- despite her ultra-small apartment and not being completely sure how to spell the father’s name. Being pregnant is so out of character: how will she break it to her boss, her mother, let alone the father, Calvi...

When one door closes, another opens, or so they say. So why am I sitting behind a locked door in the laundry room, wondering how I got here? When is that other door going to open? And what will I find behind it?

(from the poem The Summer Fires)What will they remember when they wakeThose children who built this for a thrill?sprawled around it one warm night,spread dusty laughter on the sun hardened hillthen rolled away at the first hint of light,left the sun to blind and killall threat and fear of discovery,left the ashes for the wind to rake,and let the memory slip beyond recovery.