Lucrezia Borgia is one of the most vilified women in modern history. The daughter of a notorious pope, she was twice betrothed before the age of eleven and thrice married - one husband was forced to declare himself impotent and thereby unfit and another was murdered by Lucrezia's own brother, Cesar Borgia. She is cast in the role of murderess, temptress, incestuous lover, loose woman, femme fatale par excellence. But there are two sides to every story. Lucrezia Borgia is the only woman in history to have serve as the head of the Catholic Church. She successfully administered several of Renaissance Italy's most thriving cities, founded one of the world's first credit unions, and was a generous patron of the arts. She was mother to a prince and to a cardinal. She was a devoted wife to the Prince of Ferrara, and the lover of the poet Pietro Bembo. She was a child of the renaissance and, in many ways, the world's first modern woman. In this richly imagined novel, Nobel laureate Dario Fo reveals Lucrezia's humanity, her passion for life, her compassion for others, and her skill at navigating around her family's evildoings. The Borgias are unrivalled for the range and magnitude of their political machinations and opportunism. Fo's brilliance rests in his rendering their story as a shocking mirror image of the uses and abuses of power in our own time. Lucrezia herself becomes a model for how to survive and rise above those abuses. Part Wolf Hall, part House of Cards, The Pope's Daugther will appeal to readers of historical fiction and of contemporary fiction alike and will delight anyone fascinated by Renaissance Italy.
Europa Editions, 2015.
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9781609452742
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Paperback
Poisoned Pages
By Barrett, Lorna
Mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles learns that nothing kills a good party like a murder in the latest entry in the New York Times bestselling Booktown Mysteries.Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, throws a housewarming cocktail party in her new apartment and has cooked all the food by herself--quite a feat for someone who previously couldn't boil water. Then one of her guests is poisoned and dies. Tricia's left to wonder if her cooking is to blame or if there's something much more sinister at play. Either way, Tricia's once again in hot water with her ex-lover, Chief Baker.Meanwhile the charming town of Stoneham is being disrupted by a vandalism crime wave. It's the hot topic in the race for Chamber of Commerce president which sees Tricia pitted against two bitter rivals. With all that's going on can she find the killer before she's the next item on the menu?
Berkley
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9780451489838
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Hardcover
Ruby
By Bond, Cynthia
The newest Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selectionThe epic, unforgettable story of a man determined to protect the woman he loves from the town desperate to destroy her - this beautiful and devastating debut heralds the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby, "the kind of pretty it hurt to look at," has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city--the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village--all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother. When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby Bell finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town's dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy. Full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage. This wondrous page-turner rushes through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom's Juke, to Celia Jennings's kitchen where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin again with Ruby. Utterly transfixing, with unforgettable characters, riveting suspense, and breathtaking, luminous prose, Ruby offers an unflinching portrait of man's dark acts and the promise of the redemptive power of love.
Hogarth; First Edition edition
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9780804139090
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Print book
The Promise of Home
By Chan, Darcie
Writing in the tradition of Jan Karon and Maeve Binchy, New York Times bestselling author Darcie Chan returns readers to Mill River, the charming town whose residents experience surprises and sorrows, witness acts of goodwill and kindness, embrace family love and friendship - and uncover age-old secrets and heartaches.These days, Mill River, Vermont, is a hive of activity. Karen Cooper bids farewell to her husband, Nick, as he leaves for Saudi Arabia to work as a contractor. But when he goes missing, Karen turns to beloved nonagenarian Father O'Brien for counsel. Kyle Hansen and Claudia Simon blissfully prepare for their wedding - until a new acquaintance threatens their romance. Emily DiSanti, haunted by a tragedy that tore her world apart a decade ago, is renovating the old McAllister mansion, eager to restore its former beauty and to find peace in the intense workload.
Ballantine Books
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9780345538246
|
Paperback
The Palace
By Reich, Christopher
In his greatest challenge yet, international spy Simon Riske must foil a plot with global implications whose masterminds will stop at nothing to ensure its success. Life is good for Rafael de Bourbon. The forty-year-old Spaniard recently married to a wealthy English beauty, and is days away from opening a luxury boutique hotel off the southern coast of Thailand. But when the Royal Thai Police storm the hotel and arrest him for blackmail and extortion, "Rafa" is thrown into Bangkok's most notorious jail. In desperation, he reaches out to the one man who can prove his innocence. Simon Riske, ex-con and now "private spy," owes Rafa his life. Once he and De Bourbon were the closest of friends, until a woman came between them. Riske rushes to Bangkok to secure his friend's release and overnight, finds himself caught up in a web of intrigue larger and more dangerous than he could imagine.
Mulholland Books
|
9780316456012
|
Hardcover
The Armageddon File
By Coonts, Stephen
The next exciting thriller from Flight of the Intruder author Stephen Coonts! After one of the most contentious and divisive elections in American history, the new president is finally settling into the West Wing. But when his chief of staff discovers evidence that voting machines in key counties in swing states were tampered with, the whole administration is in danger of unraveling. Did someone steal the election? Are America's enemies involved? Were the tampered-with machines actually rigged to swing the election the other way - and if so and the plot failed, what is the conspirators' backup plan? Jake Grafton and Tommy Carmellini race to solve the mystery of a potentially rigged election before Americans' full faith and credit in our democracy, sovereignty, and rule of law become completely undone.
Regnery Fiction
|
9781621576594
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Hardcover
Sherwood Nation
By Parzybok, Benjamin
It was morning and the power was not yet on. Zach and Renee lay in the heat of the bed listening to the city wake outside the building’s windows."Parzybok does this thing where you think, 'this is fun!' and then you are charmed, saddened, and finally changed by what you have read. It's like jujitsu storytelling."—Maureen F. McHugh, author of After the ApocalypseIn drought-stricken Portland, Oregon, a Robin Hood-esque water thief is caught on camera redistributing an illegal truckload of water to those in need. Nicknamed Maid Marian—real name: Renee, a twenty-something barista and eternal part-time college student—she is an instant folk hero. Renee rides her swelling popularity and the public's disgust at how the city has abandoned its people, raises an army .
Small Beer Press
|
9781618730862
|
Book
Over Easy
By Pond, Mimi
A fast-paced semi-memoir about diners, drugs, and California in the 1970sOver Easy is a brilliant portrayal of a familiar coming-of-age story. After being denied financial aid to cover her last year of art school, Margaret finds salvation from the straightlaced world of college and the earnestness of both hippies and punks in the wisecracking, fast-talking, drug-taking group she encounters at the Imperial Caf, where she makes the transformation from Margaret to Madge. At first she mimics these new and exotic grown-up friends, trying on the guise of adulthood with some awkward but funny stumbles. Gradually she realizes that the adults she looks up to are a mess of contradictions, misplaced artistic ambitions, sexual confusion, dependencies, and addictions.
Drawn and Quarterly; First Edition edition
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9781770461536
|
Hardcover
Nothing Stays Buried
By Tracy, P J
The Monkeewrench crew returns to face the city of Minneapolis's worst nightmare - a rampant serial killer on the loose - in the electrifying new thriller. When Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are called to a crime scene in a heavily wooded city park, everything about the setting is all too familiar. And when they discover a playing card on the victim's body, their worst fears are confirmed - there's a serial killer operating in the city for the first time in years.Across town, Grace MacBride and her unconventional partners at Monkeewrench Software find themselves at both personal and career crossroads. Weary of the darker side of their computer work for law enforcement, they agree to take on a private missing-persons case in a small farming community in southwestern Minnesota.As the violence accelerates in Minneapolis, Magozzi and Gino soon realize their killer is planning to complete the deck, and they enlist Monkeewrench to help stop the rampage. As a baffling tangle of evidence accumulates, the cops and Monkeewrench make the unlikely connections among a farmer's missing daughter, a serial killer, and a decades-old stabbing that brings them face-to-face with pure evil.
G.P. Putnam's Sons
|
9780735212459
|
Hardcover
Sex, Lies, and Serious Money
By Woods, Stuart
Stone Barrington takes on a client who gives him a run for his money in the newest heart-stopping thriller from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author. Fresh off the runway at Teterboro, Stone Barrington arrives home to find an unexpected new client on his doorstep, anxiously soliciting his help. But everything is not as it seems, when the client reveals the true nature - and value - of his recent turn of fortune.From luxury New York high-rises to the sprawling New Mexico desert, his client is pursued from all angles...and Stone quickly learns that easy money isn't always so easy.
The Pope's Daughter
By Fo, Dario
Lucrezia Borgia is one of the most vilified women in modern history. The daughter of a notorious pope, she was twice betrothed before the age of eleven and thrice married - one husband was forced to declare himself impotent and thereby unfit and another was murdered by Lucrezia's own brother, Cesar Borgia. She is cast in the role of murderess, temptress, incestuous lover, loose woman, femme fatale par excellence. But there are two sides to every story. Lucrezia Borgia is the only woman in history to have serve as the head of the Catholic Church. She successfully administered several of Renaissance Italy's most thriving cities, founded one of the world's first credit unions, and was a generous patron of the arts. She was mother to a prince and to a cardinal. She was a devoted wife to the Prince of Ferrara, and the lover of the poet Pietro Bembo. She was a child of the renaissance and, in many ways, the world's first modern woman. In this richly imagined novel, Nobel laureate Dario Fo reveals Lucrezia's humanity, her passion for life, her compassion for others, and her skill at navigating around her family's evildoings. The Borgias are unrivalled for the range and magnitude of their political machinations and opportunism. Fo's brilliance rests in his rendering their story as a shocking mirror image of the uses and abuses of power in our own time. Lucrezia herself becomes a model for how to survive and rise above those abuses. Part Wolf Hall, part House of Cards, The Pope's Daugther will appeal to readers of historical fiction and of contemporary fiction alike and will delight anyone fascinated by Renaissance Italy.
Poisoned Pages
By Barrett, Lorna
Mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles learns that nothing kills a good party like a murder in the latest entry in the New York Times bestselling Booktown Mysteries.Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, throws a housewarming cocktail party in her new apartment and has cooked all the food by herself--quite a feat for someone who previously couldn't boil water. Then one of her guests is poisoned and dies. Tricia's left to wonder if her cooking is to blame or if there's something much more sinister at play. Either way, Tricia's once again in hot water with her ex-lover, Chief Baker.Meanwhile the charming town of Stoneham is being disrupted by a vandalism crime wave. It's the hot topic in the race for Chamber of Commerce president which sees Tricia pitted against two bitter rivals. With all that's going on can she find the killer before she's the next item on the menu?
Ruby
By Bond, Cynthia
The newest Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selectionThe epic, unforgettable story of a man determined to protect the woman he loves from the town desperate to destroy her - this beautiful and devastating debut heralds the arrival of a major new voice in fiction. Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby, "the kind of pretty it hurt to look at," has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city--the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village--all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother. When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby Bell finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town's dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy. Full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage. This wondrous page-turner rushes through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom's Juke, to Celia Jennings's kitchen where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin again with Ruby. Utterly transfixing, with unforgettable characters, riveting suspense, and breathtaking, luminous prose, Ruby offers an unflinching portrait of man's dark acts and the promise of the redemptive power of love.
The Promise of Home
By Chan, Darcie
Writing in the tradition of Jan Karon and Maeve Binchy, New York Times bestselling author Darcie Chan returns readers to Mill River, the charming town whose residents experience surprises and sorrows, witness acts of goodwill and kindness, embrace family love and friendship - and uncover age-old secrets and heartaches.These days, Mill River, Vermont, is a hive of activity. Karen Cooper bids farewell to her husband, Nick, as he leaves for Saudi Arabia to work as a contractor. But when he goes missing, Karen turns to beloved nonagenarian Father O'Brien for counsel. Kyle Hansen and Claudia Simon blissfully prepare for their wedding - until a new acquaintance threatens their romance. Emily DiSanti, haunted by a tragedy that tore her world apart a decade ago, is renovating the old McAllister mansion, eager to restore its former beauty and to find peace in the intense workload.
The Palace
By Reich, Christopher
In his greatest challenge yet, international spy Simon Riske must foil a plot with global implications whose masterminds will stop at nothing to ensure its success. Life is good for Rafael de Bourbon. The forty-year-old Spaniard recently married to a wealthy English beauty, and is days away from opening a luxury boutique hotel off the southern coast of Thailand. But when the Royal Thai Police storm the hotel and arrest him for blackmail and extortion, "Rafa" is thrown into Bangkok's most notorious jail. In desperation, he reaches out to the one man who can prove his innocence. Simon Riske, ex-con and now "private spy," owes Rafa his life. Once he and De Bourbon were the closest of friends, until a woman came between them. Riske rushes to Bangkok to secure his friend's release and overnight, finds himself caught up in a web of intrigue larger and more dangerous than he could imagine.
The Armageddon File
By Coonts, Stephen
The next exciting thriller from Flight of the Intruder author Stephen Coonts! After one of the most contentious and divisive elections in American history, the new president is finally settling into the West Wing. But when his chief of staff discovers evidence that voting machines in key counties in swing states were tampered with, the whole administration is in danger of unraveling. Did someone steal the election? Are America's enemies involved? Were the tampered-with machines actually rigged to swing the election the other way - and if so and the plot failed, what is the conspirators' backup plan? Jake Grafton and Tommy Carmellini race to solve the mystery of a potentially rigged election before Americans' full faith and credit in our democracy, sovereignty, and rule of law become completely undone.
Sherwood Nation
By Parzybok, Benjamin
It was morning and the power was not yet on. Zach and Renee lay in the heat of the bed listening to the city wake outside the building’s windows."Parzybok does this thing where you think, 'this is fun!' and then you are charmed, saddened, and finally changed by what you have read. It's like jujitsu storytelling."—Maureen F. McHugh, author of After the ApocalypseIn drought-stricken Portland, Oregon, a Robin Hood-esque water thief is caught on camera redistributing an illegal truckload of water to those in need. Nicknamed Maid Marian—real name: Renee, a twenty-something barista and eternal part-time college student—she is an instant folk hero. Renee rides her swelling popularity and the public's disgust at how the city has abandoned its people, raises an army .
Over Easy
By Pond, Mimi
A fast-paced semi-memoir about diners, drugs, and California in the 1970sOver Easy is a brilliant portrayal of a familiar coming-of-age story. After being denied financial aid to cover her last year of art school, Margaret finds salvation from the straightlaced world of college and the earnestness of both hippies and punks in the wisecracking, fast-talking, drug-taking group she encounters at the Imperial Caf, where she makes the transformation from Margaret to Madge. At first she mimics these new and exotic grown-up friends, trying on the guise of adulthood with some awkward but funny stumbles. Gradually she realizes that the adults she looks up to are a mess of contradictions, misplaced artistic ambitions, sexual confusion, dependencies, and addictions.
Nothing Stays Buried
By Tracy, P J
The Monkeewrench crew returns to face the city of Minneapolis's worst nightmare - a rampant serial killer on the loose - in the electrifying new thriller. When Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth are called to a crime scene in a heavily wooded city park, everything about the setting is all too familiar. And when they discover a playing card on the victim's body, their worst fears are confirmed - there's a serial killer operating in the city for the first time in years.Across town, Grace MacBride and her unconventional partners at Monkeewrench Software find themselves at both personal and career crossroads. Weary of the darker side of their computer work for law enforcement, they agree to take on a private missing-persons case in a small farming community in southwestern Minnesota.As the violence accelerates in Minneapolis, Magozzi and Gino soon realize their killer is planning to complete the deck, and they enlist Monkeewrench to help stop the rampage. As a baffling tangle of evidence accumulates, the cops and Monkeewrench make the unlikely connections among a farmer's missing daughter, a serial killer, and a decades-old stabbing that brings them face-to-face with pure evil.
Sex, Lies, and Serious Money
By Woods, Stuart
Stone Barrington takes on a client who gives him a run for his money in the newest heart-stopping thriller from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author. Fresh off the runway at Teterboro, Stone Barrington arrives home to find an unexpected new client on his doorstep, anxiously soliciting his help. But everything is not as it seems, when the client reveals the true nature - and value - of his recent turn of fortune.From luxury New York high-rises to the sprawling New Mexico desert, his client is pursued from all angles...and Stone quickly learns that easy money isn't always so easy.