A writer's suicide sends ripples through the world she left behind: "A wonderful book…moving and tender and tough and unsentimental, all at the same time."— Chicago TribuneAn accomplished author with a string of devoted lovers, Anna Hand savors life in all of its bittersweet, fleeting moments. So when she gets a letter and discovers her brother has a daughter he never knew about, she sees a major part of life that has passed her by: a child to love. Despera...

From National Book Award Winner Ellen Gilchrist, a pillar of Southern literature hailed by the Washington Post as "a national treasure," comes a poignant novel about contemporary living and the sacrifices we make through the various stages of our life."Gilchrist keeps you in the palm of her hand when she tells a story." – Kirkus ReviewSarah Conley is a successful journalist and writer, having pursued her career path with tenacious passion. When her best f...

The winner of the National Book Award returns with a moving story of a family of women drawn together by the trials of the times.The women in the Hand family are no strangers to either controversy or sadness. Those traits seem, in fact, to be a part of their family's heritage, one that stretches back through several generations and many wars. A Dangerous Age is a celebration of the strength of these women and of the bonds of blood and shared loss that hold ...

"Gilchrist's youthful enthusiasm for her heroine is evident throughout this appealing short novel, which should interest both adult and young adult readers." —Starr E. Smith, Library JournalBorn into slavery, but taken on as an apprentice to the gentle genius Philokrates as a child, Auria has only known a life of wonder and kindness. A fount of knowledge and philosophy, Philokrates has spent the last few years teaching Auria all that he can about healing, nature, politics, ...

"A winning collection, filled with humor, love, and just enough human meanness to make things interesting. Gilchrist knows how to tell a story." — KirkusAn indomitable cast of characters comes alive in this collection of shorts and a novella from acclaimed author Ellen Gilchrist.The unsinkable Nora Jane Whittington returns in "Nora Jane and Company," now married and the mother of twins. But when a chance encounter between her husband and an old boyfr...

"The world Ellen Gilchrist unfolds in her vivid new story collection is rich with intimate exchanges between finely etched characters." — The New York Times Book ReviewEllen Gilchrist proves herself once again to be a master of the intertwining tale in this collection of stories following the lives of different members of a Mississippi social elite, humorously nicknamed "The Cabal."In the novella that inspired the collection's title, the most powerful person in a roo...

Celebrated author Ellen Gilchrist has played many roles-writer and speaker, wife and lover, mother and grandmother. But she never tackled the role of teacher.Offered the opportunity to teach creative writing at the University of Arkansas, she took up the challenge and ventured into unknown territory. In the process of teaching more than two hundred students since her first class in 2000, she has found inspiration in their lives and ambitions and in the challenge of conveying to the...

"There is not a single dud in this brilliant collection…crisp stories about marriage, blood, booze and death and the wayward passions fomented by them. "— Time OutFrom joyous moments to near insurmountable grief, National Book Award-winning author Ellen Gilchrist gives readers vignettes revealing the lives of some of her most memorable characters. In "Traceleen at Dawn," we see the wealthy Miss Crystal finally give up drinking after a fire ...

With the publication of 1983's The Annunciation, Ellen Gilchrist established herself as a teller of charming, bittersweet tales of the modern South. Since then, her works of fiction - sixteen in all - have built up a solid base of dedicated fans.With her uncanny insights into human character and the bittersweet complications of love, Ellen Gilchrist occupies a unique place in American fiction.

Three couples struggle through tricky relationships in a novel "shot through with an offhand lyricism, snippets of wisdom, and a ready humor" ( Seattle Post-Intelligencer).After her first year in college, Olivia de Havilland Hand returns home to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, amid tornadoes and the chance for rekindled love. Meanwhile, in New Orleans, her half-sister Jessie tries to keep her new marriage to immature King afloat as she plans for the arrival of their f...

Fiction from a National Book Award-winning author and "short-story writer of substantial gifts and reputation" ( The New York Times).From National Book Award Winner Ellen Gilchrist, a pillar of Southern literature hailed by the Washington Post as "a national treasure," comes a colorful collection of short stories integrating favorite characters with captivating newcomers. Rhoda's reveling in her childhood and inf...

Three intertwining novellas about love, death, and the bonds of blood: "To say that Ellen Gilchrist can write is to say that Placido Domingo can sing ."—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington PostJourneying through the lives of different members of the Hand family, Ellen Gilchrist weaves together tumultuous relationships that are bound by blood. A harrowing custody battle leads Anna Hand to Istanbul and back to ensure once and f...