National Network for Equitable Library Service

Until the moment he receives a frantic call from his father, Daniel believed his parents were headed into a peaceful retirement. They had sold their home in London and set off to begin life anew on a remote farm in rural Sweden. But with that phone call, everything changes.

The Reverend Curtis Black hasn't spoken to his son, Matthew, in over a year. Then there's Dillon Whitfield-Curtis's long-lost-son-who has settled in as a member of the Black family. As jealousy builds and secrets pile up, both of Curtis' sons will be pushed over the edge.

After leaving her two young sons with her mother, Betty Jean, Trinetta disappears. BJ already has her hands full dealing with her other adult children, two opinionated sisters, an ill husband, and her own postponed dreams-all while holding down a job as a hotel maid.

Jordan Gatewood made a huge mistake when he put his hands on Lonnie Adebayo, thinking he could get away with it, but he made an even bigger mistake by not making sure she was dead before he left that house. Now Lonnie's back for revenge.

Life is close to perfect for Charlotte and Curtis Black, except that their son Matthew's girlfriend, Racquel, is eight months pregnant, and Racquel's mother, Vanessa, and Charlotte can't stand each other.

Denise and Derrek Shaw are the perfect American couple. Happily married for 15 years, they have a wonderful daughter, successful careers, and a beautiful house. They also have a shocking secret: a dangerous addiction to drugs.

Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most importantly, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and reluctant to reveal its secrets; but Sherry remains determined. In just a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.

Anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job, Tambudzai finds herself living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. For reasons that include her grim financial prospects and her age, she moves to a widow's boarding house and eventually finds work as a biology teacher. But at every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point.

In the present, Sacha knows the world's in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and fatherare having trouble. Meanwhile, the world's in meltdown, and the real meltdown hasn't even started yet. In the past, a lovely summer. A different brother and sister know they're living on borrowed time.This is a story about people on the brink of change. They're family, but they think they're strangers. So: Where does family begin? And what do people who think they've got nothing in common have in common? Summer.

The author of In the Time of the Butterflies, with more than one million copies in print, is back with a tour de force. Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired from the college where she taught English when her beloved husband, Sam, suddenly dies. And then more jolts: her bighearted but unstable sister disappears, and Antonia returns home one evening to find a pregnant, undocumented teenager on her doorstep.