Domestic Life

I was so happy when my son, Knox, began dating my best friend’s daughter. Our kids grew up together and we used to joke, as we sipped wine and watched them play, that they’d get married one day. But when Knox came home late after a party, zipping his hoodie up to hide the scratches I caught a glimpse of on his collarbone, a chill went down my spine. That night, our whole world shattered. Now, I hardly recognize my husband as he sweeps into action, calling in a hot-shot lawyer to defend our boy.

UrbanMyth: It was lauded as an alternative to the performative, show-your-best-self platforms—an anonymous discussion board grouped by zip code. The residents of Manhattan’s exclusive Upper East Side disclosed it all, things they would never share with their friends or their spouses: secret bank accounts, steamy affairs, tidbits of juicy gossip. So when a “hacktivist” group breaks into the forum and exposes the real identity of each poster, the repercussions echo down Park Avenue with a force that none could have anticipated.

Molly Chatwell has a beautiful house, a handsome husband, two children, and a job she likes. It all seems so perfect, but when her two children leave for university, she realizes her life has become dull and empty. When her husband refuses to go away on a trip with her, Molly decides to go alone. But what should have been a relaxing break turns into a nightmare. Back at home in London, Molly tries to put it all behind her, but when the police arrive at her door and tell her a body has been found with connections to her, she realizes her perfect life is under threat.

When Josh’s longtime partner, Grace, dies in a tragic accident, he is left with a mess of grief - and full custody of her seven-year-old son, Logan. Wanting to do right by Logan, Josh begins the process of becoming his legal guardian - something that seems suddenly urgent, though Grace always brushed it off as an unnecessary formality. But now, as Josh struggles to find the paperwork associated with Logan’s birth, he begins to wonder whether there were more troubling reasons for Grace’s reluctance to make their family official.

Everything is falling apart in psychologist Tig Monahan's life. Her mother's dementia is wearing her out, her boyfriend takes off for Hawaii without her, and her sister inexplicably disappears, leaving her newborn behind. When a therapy session goes horribly wrong, Tig finds herself unemployed and part of the sandwich generation trying to take care of everyone and failing miserably. Just when she thinks she can redefine herself on the radio as an arbiter of fairness, she discovers a family secret that nobody saw coming.

The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandal utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other. On the night of the annual summer block party, there has been a murder. But, who did it, and why, takes listeners back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold. The real danger lies within their own block and nothing—and no one—is ever as it seems.

In the affluent town of Weslyn, Connecticut, where most people worry about what to be seen in and who to be seen with, Emma Thomas would rather not be seen at all. She’s more concerned with feigning perfection - pulling down her sleeves to conceal the bruises, not wanting anyone to know how far from perfect her life truly is. Without expecting it, she finds love. It challenges her to recognize her own worth - at the risk of revealing the terrible secret she’s desperate to hide.

It's 1950 in rural Minnesota, USA. America is still largely an agrarian society, and most families are farm families. Men are HOH's who keep their farms and their families running smoothly with strong discipline. But farm girls, as well as their mothers, often crave something a little livelier than the day to day boredom of the farm and reach out, now and then, for some fun that runs against the social mores of the times, as well as the family's hard and fast rules.

Jean Gilkyson is floundering in a trailer house in Iowa with yet another brutal boyfriend when she realizes this kind of life has got to stop, especially for the sake of her daughter, Griff. But the only place they can run to is Ishawooa, Wyoming, where Jean's loved ones are dead and her father-in-law, the only person who could take them in, wishes that she was, too.

Nina Garrity learned the hard way that her missing husband, Glen, had been leading a double life with another woman. But with Glen gone - presumably drowned while fishing on his boat - she couldn't confront him about the affair or find closure to the life he blew apart. Now, a year and a half later, Nina has found love again and hopes she can put her shattered world back together. Simon, a widower still grieving the death of his first wife, thinks he has found his dream girl in Nina, and his charm and affections help break through to a heart hardened by betrayal.

My hand trembles as I stare at the anonymous text. On this sunny Saturday morning, our twin ten-year-old boys were playing in the park just down our tree-lined street. But only one of them has come home… and it’s all my husband’s fault. I race to Leo’s study and demand answers. As his face turns white, I know: one of his affairs has turned deadly. I always smell the unfamiliar perfume on his shirt. I try to pretend we are a happy family, for the sake of the children… but now, my child is in terrible danger.

We’ve all been around those people who can leave us feeling drained after an encounter with them. Some people can leave us feeling agitated or annoyed or even just feeling really bad about ourselves. The most important thing you need to understand when dealing with someone like this is that their behavior toward you has nothing to do with you, and more often reflects their inner mental and emotional state. Identifying their harmful behavior is the first step to minimizing their impact. You might not be able to change what they do, but you can change what you do with it.

It's 1990. In Dalton, Maine, life goes on. Rose goes to work at the diner every day, her bruises hidden from both the customers and her two young boys. At a table she waits, Dr. Richard Haskell looks back on the one choice that's charted his entire life, before his thoughts wander back to his wife, Trudy, and her best friend. Trudy and Bev have been friends for longer than they can count, and something more than lovers to each other for some time now—a fact both accepted and ignored by their husbands.

It's been five years since Bridget Theroux's death shocked the small town of Dalton, Maine, leaving behind husband Nate and daughter Sophie, now a vibrant young child. Nate doesn't always know how to answer her questions, but he is intent on raising her with joy—and shielding her from her grandmother, Annette, who remains dangerously locked away in her grief.

Verbal abuse permeates our culture — from the privacy of our own homes to the public glare of our schools, workplaces, and other institutions. But you don’t have to live with it. With Patricia Evans’ assistance, you’ll achieve the clarity you need to build a new life — far from senseless accusations, wounding words, and confusing comments that have taken an untold toll on your psyche. You’ll find validation, and learn to believe in yourself — and a better future — once more.

Evie and her uncle Jim have just moved to an isolated cabin in a remote beach town - a far cry from their hometown of Melbourne. But Evie isn't her real name. And Jim isn't really her uncle. Jim tells Evie she did something terrible back home, that he's hiding her to protect her. But Evie can't remember anything about that night - for all she knows, he's lying. As fragments of her memory return, she starts to wonder if Jim is really her savior...or her captor.

After a night of fun back in 1992, Abby is responsible for a car crash that kills her beloved brother. It's a mistake she can never forgive, so she pushes away Liam, the man she loves most, knowing that he would eventually hate her for what she's done, the same way she hates herself. Twenty years later, Abby's husband, Nate, is also living with a deep sense of guilt. He was the driver who first came upon the scene of Abby's accident, the man who could not save her brother in time. It's this guilt, this regret, that binds them together. Then, Liam moves into the neighborhood....

Two years have done little to ease veterinarian Audra Hughes' grief over her husband's untimely death. Eager for a fresh start, Audra plans to leave Portland for a new job in Philadelphia. Her seven-year-old son, Jack, seems apprehensive about flying - but it's just the beginning of an anxiety that grows to consume him. As Jack's fears continue to surface in recurring and violent nightmares, Audra hardly recognizes the introverted boy he has become.

Ann and Wade have carved out a life for themselves from a rugged landscape in Northern Idaho, where they are bound together by more than love. With her husband's memory fading, Ann attempts to piece together the truth of what happened to Wade's first wife, Jenny, and to their daughters.

Five estranged cousins are lost in a maze of their family’s tangled secrets. Their grandparents, former potato farmers Gottfried and Marla Hemmings, managed to trade digging spuds for developing subdivisions, and now they sit atop a million-dollar bank account - wealth they’ve refused to pass on to their adult children or their five teenage grandchildren. "Because we want them to thrive," Marla always says. But for the Hemmings cousins, "thriving" feels a lot like slowly dying of a poison they started taking the moment they were born.