When the Tay Bridge collapsed in 1879 it killed everyone on the train that was crossing, leaving the son of the driver, young Brodie Smith, traumatized and reduced to poverty as a result of his father’s death. Leaving home determined to make his way in the world, Brodie finds safe haven with his kindly uncle in Edinburgh and studies engineering, intent on demonstrating that the bridge disaster was not his father’s fault. In search of adventure and further opportunities, Brodie then travels...

The stories in this collection are unifed by a sense of dislocation. In each of the pieces, there is an underlying element of disturbance and disharmony. Resolution threads its way through the narratives while the characters struggle to navigate conscious choices and come to terms with new realities. A perspective that views the complexity of life journeys as a manifestation of intentional decisions, circumstances beyond one’s control, and the need to reflect upon the combination of both i...

Exploring the intergenerational consequences of trauma, including those of a Holocaust survivor and a woman imprisoned during the Iranian Revolution, Stella’s Carpet weaves together the overlapping lives of those stepping outside the shadows of their own harrowing histories to make conscious decisions about how they will choose to live while forging new understandings of family, forgiveness and reconciliation. As the story unfolds, readers are invited to ponder questions about how we can e...

Filled with the pleasure of recognizable yet distinctively original characters and a deftly drawn sense of time and place, A Quilting of Scars brings to life a story of forbidden love, abuse and murder. Pulsing with repressed sexuality and guilt, Larkin Beattie reveals the many secrets he has kept hidden throughout his lonely life. The character-driven narrative is a meditation on aging and remorse, offering a rich account of the strictures and rhythms of farming in the not-so-distant past...

Where the fairy tales ends and the reflection begins....From the twisted pens of:J.M. Ames, Kerry E.B. Black, J.K. Allen, C.L. Bledsoe, Lucy Palmer, Stacy Overby, T.S. Dickerson, Edward Ahern, Melanie Noell Bernard, S.L. Scott, Sarah Chamma, Paul Stansbury, Cassidy Taylor, and J. Lee Strickland.

Home of the first settlement in the United States and known as Old Dominion and The Mother of Presidents, the state of Virginia’s artistic output proves among the most fecund in the nation, evidenced in this ninth volume of The Southern Poetry Anthology. This collection includes well-known, established, and celebrated poets such as Charles Wright, Claudia Emerson, Gregory Orr, Ellen Bryant Voigt, R. T. Smith, Forrest Gander, and Rita Dove, and the editors have dedicated equal focu...

Welcome to the book series 7 best short stories specials, a selection dedicated to a special subject, featuring works by noteworthy authors. The texts were chosen based on their relevance, renown and interest. This edition is dedicated to Black Authors. Black literature is a literary production in which the subject of the writing is the black people themselves. This cultural phenomena is very significant in countries dominated by white culture and that received forced immigrations from the...

What if the world needed saving, but only those past their prime could answer the call?In Never Too Old to Save the World, discover a collection of nineteen stories where the fate of humanity rests on the shoulders of unlikely heroes navigating midlife. Forget the Chosen One trope—these are the soccer moms, cat ladies, retirees, and social workers who've already weathered life's storms and are ready for a new kind of battle.This anthology explores:...

Salon Style is a collection of writers, poets, and artists with unique voices and incredible vision in diverse genres such as Gothic/Horror, Sci-Fi, Women’s Lit, and Americana. Salon Style features stories by emerging writers M.P. Diederich, Dan Ress, Casey Ellis (Startling Sci-Fi: New Tales of the Beyond), Jack Bates, Lucy Black, and established writers John Rodzvilla, John Vicary, Stefanie Freele, and P.J. Schaefer (Behind the Yellow Wallpaper: New Tales of Madness

This New York Times bestseller is perfect for fans of Tana French and Dennis Lehane.Midwinter. A child is found wandering through the snowy woods, her hands covered in someone else's blood. And she cannot—or will not—speak, not even to share her name.Who is this little girl lost? The only adult she seems to trust is the young officer who found her, Detective Lucy Black. Before long, Lucy manages to connect her case to that of a missing teenager, the kidnapped daughter of a ...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Little Girl Lost comes a brand-new thriller featuring Lucy Black—a twisting, gripping story of secrets and lies, perfect for fans of Louise Penny and Tana French.The body of an elderly man is hauled out of the rushing water of the River Foyle, cold dead. Detective Lucy Black is called in to investigate when it becomes evident that this was not a suicide: the man's body was embalmed before it ever entered the water.Confounded and...

Brian McGilloway blends timeless values with ripped-from-the-headlines issues to produce some of the very best crime fiction being written today. -Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling authorA young man is found in a riverside park, his head bashed in with a rock. One clue is left behind to uncover his identity-an admission stamp for the local gay club.DS Lucy Black is called in to investigate. As Lucy delves into the community, tensions begin to rise as the m...