The critically acclaimed author of The Madonnas of Leningrad ("Elegant and poetic, the rare kind of book that you want to keep but you have to share" —Isabel Allende), Debra Dean returns with The Mirrored World, a breathtaking novel of love and madness set in 18th century Russia. Transporting readers to St. Petersburg during the reign of Catherine the Great, Dean brilliantly reconstructs and reimagines the life of St. Xenia, one of Russia's most revered and mysterious hol...

" An unforgettable story of love, survival and the power of imagination in the most tragic circumstances. Elegant and poetic." —Isabel Allende, New York Times bestselling author of ZorroThe ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children's lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—yet her distant past is miraculous...

Desire. Conviction. Character. Story. Practice. Institution.The Shape of Our Lives digs into how these six factors—often operating beneath our consciousness—profoundly affect our spiritual formation, both as individuals and congregations. As Christians across America grapple with the value and purpose of church, this accessible volume provides a roadmap for exploring what motivates and forms us. The Shape of Our Lives equips readers to look beneat...

What if you were given a second chance at the life you lost—but didn’t understand why. . . .Mesmerized by a scent that comes drifting over the backyard fence one morning, a small terrier follows it for days until she arrives at an unfamiliar house, where a man stands, bent over and retying his shoe. When he turns around, she recognizes her husband from her previous life. The memories come flooding back, along with the love—but all he sees is a dog he doesn...

What are human beings created for? How can we experience the well-being made possible in Christ? What does it mean to love God and our neighbor wholly? These questions go to the heart of what it means to live the Christian life. Happiness, Health, and Beauty explores these questions by putting Wesleyan doctrine in conversation with voices from the wider Christian tradition: theologians, philosophers, social critics, scientists, and poets. The guiding themes for this inquiry into the nature...

Ten masterworks of short fiction—by turns tender, comic, powerful, and devastating—from the highly praised author of The Madonnas of LeningradA surprised Southern matriarch is confronted by her family at an intervention. . . . A life-altering break-in triggers insomniac introspection in a desperate actor. . . . Streetwise New York City neighbors let down their guard for a naïve puppeteer and must suffer the consequences. . . .In this stunning collection of short stories—fiv...

What if you were given a second chance at the life you lost—but didn’t understand why. . . .Mesmerized by a scent that comes drifting over the backyard fence one morning, a small terrier follows it for days until she arrives at an unfamiliar house, where a man stands, bent over and retying his shoe. When he turns around, she recognizes her husband from her previous life. The memories come flooding back, along with the love—but all he sees is a dog he doesn...

The critically acclaimed author of The Madonnas of Leningrad (“Elegant and poetic, the rare kind of book that you want to keep but you have to share” —Isabel Allende), Debra Dean returns with The Mirrored World, a breathtaking novel of love and madness set in 18th century Russia. Transporting readers to St. Petersburg during the reign of Catherine the Great, Dean brilliantly reconstructs and reimagines the life of St. Xenia, one of Russia’s most revered and mysterious hol...

Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children's lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—yet her distant past is miraculously preserved in her mind's eye.Vivid images of her youth in war-torn Leningrad arise unbidden, carrying her back to the terrible fall of 1941, when she was a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum and the German ...

From a writer praised by Junot Díaz as “the fire, in my opinion, and the light,” comes a mesmerizing novel that follows one woman’s rise from circus rider to courtesan to world-renowned diva.Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role, every singer’s chance at immortality. When one is finally offered to her, she realizes with alarm that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past. Only four could have betr...

Dr. Gabriella Mondini, a strong-willed, young Venetian woman, has followed her father in the path of medicine. She possesses a singleminded passion for the art of physick, even though, in 1590, the male-dominated establishment is reluctant to accept a woman doctor. So when her father disappears on a mysterious journey, Gabriella's own status in the Venetian medical society is threatened. Her father has left clues -- beautiful, thoughtful, sometimes torrid, and often enigmatic letters from ...

This is destined to be remembered as one of the most-recognized first sentences in literature -- along with "Call me Ishmael." And Una Spenser, the transcendent hero at the center of Ahab's Wife may well become every bit as memorable as Ahab.Inspired by a brief passage, in Moby, Dick, Sena Jeter Naslund has created an entirely new universe -- an epic-scale, enthralling and compelling saga, spanning a full, rich, eventful, and dramatic life. In the "soprano voice" ...