LITMIR.BIZ

This is a novel about the persistence of longing in which the twin lives of the title character blur and overlap. Bird puts her child on the bus for school and passes the day with her baby. Interwoven into the passage of the day are phone calls from a promiscuous, unmarried friend, and Bird’s recollection of the feral, reckless love she knew as a young woman. It’s a day infused with fear and longing, an exploration of the ways the past shapes and dislodges the present.In the present moment, Bird dutifully cares for her husband, infant, older child. But at the same time Bird inhabits this rehabilitated domestic life, she re-lives an unshakeable passion: Mickey, the lover she returns to with what feels like a migratory impulse, Mickey, whose movements and current lovers she still tracks. With Mickey, she slummed and wandered—part-time junkie, tourist of the low-life—a life of tantalizing peril. This can’t last, Bird thought, and it was true.Noy Holland’s writing is lyrical, fired by a heightened eroticism in which every sight and auditory sensation is charged with arousal. The writing in this book – Noy Holland’s first novel – is fearless in its depiction of sexual appetite and obsessive love. It sheds light on the terror of abandonment and the terrible knowledge that we are helpless to protect not only ourselves but the people we most love.

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• FIrst Winner of Red Hen’s Quill Prose Award • Title is a family drama about identity, family, and love. Important issues/themes include multiculturalism, LGBTQ life, feminism, and sexuality. • Will appeal to fans of history, multiculturalism, feminist literature • Comparable to <i>Sacred Country</i> by Rose Tremain and <i>Bastard Out of Carolina</i> by Dorothy Allison • Title is author's debut novel

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First published in 1924, “The Man in the Brown Suit” is a thrilling adventure and murder mystery by Agatha Christie. The protagonist is Anne Beddingfield, the orphaned daughter of a famous archaeologist, who goes to live with her father’s solicitor and his wife in London. Anne is searching for an adventure and something exciting to occupy her time when she is witness to the sudden death of a man at Hyde Park Corner tube station when the man falls onto the electrified train track and is killed instantly. Anne’s suspicions are aroused when a man claiming to be a doctor quickly examines the body, pronounces him dead, and then leaves suddenly. Anne sees that he has dropped a piece of paper on the ground and Anne takes the paper, insistent on investigating the matter further. Anne’s detective work takes her on board a ship sailing to South Africa and soon she is caught up in a deadly mystery of stolen diamonds, bloody murders, kidnapping, government secrets, and violence at every turn. Christie’s engrossing tale is full of intrigue, a complex mystery, and a surprising romance, in one of the famed author’s most entertaining novels. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published in 1924, “A Passage to India” is E. M. Forster’s classic tale of prejudice and misunderstanding in colonial India. Widely considered to be one of the best novels of 20th century English literature, “A Passage to India” was based on Forster’s own experiences in India while it was under the rule of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement was gaining in popularity. The novel centers around the tensions between the native people of India and the prejudices of the British ruling class. The central character is Dr. Aziz, a young Indian Muslim physician, who befriends several English visitors, against the advice of his Indian friends. Dr. Aziz is kind and helpful to the young Adela Quested and her elderly friend, Mrs. Moore, who are visiting India from England. He offers to take them sightseeing at a famous cave and a terrible misunderstanding ensues, which results in the innocent and trusting Dr. Aziz being accused of a terrible crime against Adela. Forster’s depiction of Dr. Aziz’s fight for his freedom and his reputation, against the prejudices and misconceptions fostered by the British rule of India, has made this novel a timeless masterpiece of racial tension and oppression. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published in 1924, “The Boxcar Children” is the beloved children’s classic by American grade school teacher and author, Gertrude Chandler Warner. It is the story of four orphaned siblings, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, and their adventures living in an abandoned boxcar in the forest. The children are having fun while living in the boxcar at first, though several adults in the community are aware of their situation and are keeping an eye on them. Life is going well for these enterprising children until one of them gets sick and the local doctor knows that they need better care. He contacts their estranged grandfather, a wealthy steel baron, to come and claim them. The children fear their grandfather, who they were always told was cruel and frightening by their parents. The grandfather is actually kind and, as soon as the children get to know him, they realize their fears are unfounded. Their grandfather brings the children to live with him and brings their boxcar along so they may continue to play in it. “The Boxcar Children” was the first in a series of books by Warner about the charming siblings which continue to entertain children to this day.

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First published in 1930, “Not Without Laughter” is the debut novel by Langston Hughes and a deeply personal, semi-autobiographical tale of an African-American family in rural Kansas. Langston Hughes, born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, spent much of his youth in Lawrence, Kansas and it is here that he set his first novel. “Not Without Laughter” tells the story of young Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a young man and focuses on his “awakening to the sad and beautiful realities of black life in a small Kansas town”. Sandy clashes with his irresponsible father, Jimboy, and relies on the hard work of his mother Annjelica and his tough grandmother, Aunt Hager, to survive the challenges of poverty and race in early-twentieth century rural America. Sandy’s struggles mirror that of Hughes, who also had a strained and difficult relationship with his often absent father and was mainly raised by his maternal grandmother, a proud and strong woman who installed in Hughes a deep pride in his African-American heritage. “Not Without Laughter” is a powerful and moving portrait of race and poverty in America, as well as an important and inspiring story of hope and perseverance.

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Originally written in Russian in 1920 and first published in English in 1924, “We” is the dystopian novel by Russian science-fiction writer Yevgeny Zamyatin. “We” takes place hundreds of years into a bleak future, where the citizens live under the total control and surveillance of a police state, called One State. The country is made almost entirely out of glass, which makes it easier for the government to watch every move of its citizens. One State manages all aspects of the society with a rigid, scientific discipline where art and passion are outlawed. Citizens are expected to march in step, wear the prescribed uniforms, and are only able to refer to each other by their assigned numbers, rather than names. The main character is D-503, a mathematician who lives willingly under One State’s strict rules until he meets and falls in love with I-330, a rebel who lives her life with the creativity and lust prohibited and feared by One State. “We” is widely viewed as the forerunner to such dystopian classics as “Brave New World” and “1984” and continues to be a fascinating and vivid work of science fiction and social commentary.

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Kate Douglas Wiggin was an important reformer of children’s education at the turn of the century. During a period when children’s use in society was often little more than for cheap labor, Kate Douglas Wiggin was dedicated to the betterment of youth. She was the first person to found a free kindergarten school in San Francisco in 1878. Her passion for children’s rights carried over to her successful career as an author of children’s books. In her 1887 tale “The Birds’ Christmas Carol”, Kate Douglas Wiggin tells the story of the angelic Carol Bird, a young girl who spreads mirth to everyone around her. Born on Christmas, Carol tragically falls ill when she is five years old. The novel follows her heartwarming plan to hold a majestic Christmas celebration for the neighboring Ruggles family. A true Christmas classic, this tale is sure to inspire all with Christmas joy. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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“The Blacker the Berry” is the provocative and illuminating 1929 novel by Harlem Renaissance author Wallace Thurman. The novel follows the life of Emma Lou Morgan, a young black woman with dark skin. She is born and raised by her single mother in the predominantly white community of Boise, Idaho. She often feels like an outsider, even among her family, as they are lighter skinned than she, and believes that her dark skin will keep her from marrying and having an easy life. Emma wants a better life for herself and goes to college at the University of Southern California, hopeful she will find people who will accept her. While she finds a larger black community at college, she continues to feel like an outsider and is often made to feel inferior and unwanted due to her darker skin. Emma Lou’s search for love and acceptance takes her to New York and the vibrant black community of Harlem after college, but she continues to face prejudice and rejection in a world she thought would be more accepting of her. Critically acclaimed, “The Blacker the Berry” remains an unflinching and thought-provoking examination of race, prejudice, and self-acceptance.

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First published in 1923, “Emily of New Moon” is the first of three novels in a series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of famous “Anne of Green Gables” books. The story centers around the life of Emily Starr, a young orphan who is raised by relatives after her father dies of tuberculosis. Montgomery based the character of Emily on her own true-life story and often remarked that her personality and that of the Canadian orphan were very similar. Emily is sent to live with her aunts and cousin at New Moon Farm on Prince Edward Island. There many challenges await her, but also wonderful friends and adventures. Emily struggles to fit into this unexpected and unique place, but discovers she has a lot in common with her new friends. Readers, both young and old alike, will find much to relate to as Emily and her friends face opposition from their families in their wish to follow their dreams and utilize their talents. “Emily of New Moon” was a critical and commercial success when it was first published and endures as a beloved and engaging story of self-discovery and friendship. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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