Defending Jacob by William Landay
Andy Barber has been an
assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for
more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in
the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob.
But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is
blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged
with the murder of a fellow student.
Every parental instinct Andy
has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and
Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and
shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the
trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows
about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and
justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury
and a future he cannot conceive.
Award-winning author William
Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in
crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a
spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which
our lives can spin out of control.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Jeannette Walls grew up
with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their
curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In
the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert
towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man
who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them
physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose
Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of
providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking
a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she
could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the
money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls
retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town—and the family—Rex
Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the
grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family
escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for
themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’
betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
What
is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the
guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes
her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of
triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of
unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her
the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.
For
two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own
story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and
Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy
In the last months of
the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and
stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names
will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel."
They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric
and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is
determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village
with his own plans for the children.
Combining classic
themes of fairy tales and war literature, Louise Murphy’s haunting novel
of journey and survival, of redemption and memory, powerfully depicts
how war is experienced by families and especially by children. The True Story of Hansel and Gretal tells a resonant, riveting story.
Where We Belong by Emily Griffin
The author of five
blockbuster novels, Emily Giffin, delivers an unforgettable story of two
women, the families that make them who they are, and the longing,
loyalty and love that binds them together.
Marian Caldwell is a
thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York
City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has
convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she
wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . .
only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past
that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby
appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her
very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and
memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that
has come to define her.
For the precocious and determined
Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her
across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family
and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a
journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to
recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find
ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that
the heart remembers forever.