Domestic Psychological

Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home. Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns. But she writes. Once a year, Lily mails a picture of her son, Josh, to Olivia until his thirteenth year. Then it’s Josh himself who arrives at Olivia’s house, alone, terrified, and in possession of a notarized declaration from Lily. It begins, “In the event I go missing...”

Struggling artist Skyler Moore is flabbergasted when she receives a suspicious phone call from a lawyer she’s never met regarding a “private matter.” As soon as she arrives at the law firm’s office, she learns she’s the recipient of a large inheritance, a life-changing sum that will allow her to realize her long-held dream of becoming a mother. But who was her benefactor, Christopher Whaley? The late man’s name means nothing to Skyler, and she has no idea why he would leave her such an enormous bequest.

Jenny Offill’s heroine, referred to in these pages as simply “the wife”, once exchanged love letters with her husband postmarked Dept. of Speculation, their code name for all the uncertainty that inheres in life and in the strangely fluid confines of a long relationship. As they confront an array of common catastrophes - a colicky baby, a faltering marriage, stalled ambitions - the wife analyzes her predicament, invoking everything from Keats and Kafka to the thought experiments of the Stoics to the lessons of doomed Russian cosmonauts.

At an elite private school nestled in the Colorado mountains, a tangled web of lies draws together three vastly different women. Natalie, a young office assistant, dreams of having a life like those of the school moms she deals with every day. Women like Brooke, a gorgeous heiress, ferociously loving mother and serial cheater; and Asha, an overachieving and overprotective mom who suspects her husband of having an affair. Their fates are bound by their relationships with Nicholas, the handsome, charming assistant athletic director, who Natalie loves, Brooke wants and Asha needs.

I close the binder I’ve been writing in, and walk into the living room. As I stare out of the window at your house next door, I think about all the things I stand to lose if someone comes for me. My handsome, loving husband, who has no idea what I’ve done. My family, who have supported me no matter what. This beautiful home near the ocean, where I thought I would be safe.

When Beth was 10, her beautiful, wild mother, Alice, disappeared. Beth’s life since hasn’t always been easy, but now she's settled, with a successful career, a loving family and a beautiful home. Then one day, there’s a knock at the door. Alice has returned. Desperate to rebuild their relationship, Beth invites her mother to move in. At first, everything is wonderful. But then Beth’s friends start to drift away, strange things happen at home and rumours about Beth begin to circle. Someone is out to destroy Beth’s newfound happiness. But who? And how far will they go?

Victim. murderer. Serial killer. What next? The third darkly comic thriller in the highly addictive Sweetpea series featuring serial killer Rhiannon Lewis. Can a serial killer ever lose their taste for murder? Since confessing to her bloody murder spree, Rhiannon Lewis, the now-notorious Sweetpea killer, has been feeling out-of-sorts.Having fled the UK on a cruise ship to start her new life, Rhiannon should be feeling happy. But it’s hard to turn over a new leaf when she’s stuck in an oversized floating tin can with the Gammonati and screaming kids.

Gloria Janes appears to be a doting suburban mother and loving wife. But beyond her canary-yellow door, Gloria controls her husband, Telly, as well as seven-year-old Maisy and her older brother Rowan, through a disorienting cycle of adoration and banishment.

Charlotte Coburn has a tragically dark past. But she’s safe now. She lives in a gated community, protected from danger. When teenager Elle knocks at her door looking for shelter during a particularly severe storm, the woman can’t help but think how lucky Elle’s been to have found someone as friendly as her. Except Elle chose her door on purpose...

Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom in her daughter Melly's school in order to keep an eye on Amanda, a mean girl who's been bullying her daughter. Her fears come true when the bullying begins, sending Melly to the bathroom in tears. Just as Rose is about to follow after her daughter, a massive explosion goes off in the kitchen, sending the room into chaos. Rose finds herself faced with the horrifying decision of whether or not to run to the bathroom to rescue her daughter or usher Amanda to safety.

From the moment I met Nathan, a widower with two small children, I knew I would do anything for him. Sam and Sienna were both desperate for a mother and I knew I was perfect for them. I would raise them as my own, love them like my own. I would die for them. So when a missing teenager is found lying on the side of the road, my first through is for my precious kids. Are they home? Are they safe?

Laura has returned to work at Morris and Wood after her maternity leave, only to discover that the woman she brought in to cover for her isn’t going anywhere. Despite her close relationship with the agency’s powerful CEO, she feels sidelined - and outmaneuvered - as she struggles to balance the demands of work and motherhood.

At Bristol High they were an elite clique known as the Five Firsts: Amanda, Bailey, Carmen, Delta and Zora...ABCD & Z. They could have accepted their classmate, Emmy, as "E", but with her bookish disposition and her embarrassing status of scholarship student to boot, they rejected her and chose wealthy Zora instead. At a pre-graduation party just before the end of senior year, Lance Ventura, the hottest guy in school, falls down an embankment toward the river and is barely rescued in time to save his life. One of the Five Firsts, Carman, rushes to save him, but isn't so lucky.

After Del Walker fled her small hometown and its cult-like church, she vowed to never return. The man she loved, Lars, left her to marry the local golden girl Eve, and their romance is now the focus of Eve’s viral blog espousing the pastor’s conservative philosophy about women and marriage. But six years later, Lars is suddenly killed, and she’s convinced it couldn’t have been an accident.

The wealthy community of Esperance is picture-perfect. Big houses, stunning views, beautiful people. A brand new running track for the local club to jog around in the evenings. From the outside, it looks like paradise. But the women of the town know the truth: you can hide anything—from wrinkles to secrets from your past—if you have enough money. You could even hide a murder.

I’ve always longed to be a mother. So when my sister Sophia suddenly offers to be a surrogate for my husband Mark and I, it feels like our dream could finally come true. Sophia and I may have drifted apart, but tears of joy prick my eyes when I think about the precious, perfect gift she is giving us. And even though Mark is acting distant, I’m sure this will make us stronger than ever. When Sophia starts talking to us less and less I can’t help but worry… is it just like twenty years ago, when she disappeared from my life? Or will it be different now she’s carrying our miracle baby?

Martha Hale is an affable wife and mother who lives in an affluent neighborhood of well-tended lawns and high expectations. If only her clumsiness at penetrating the social circles of her neighbors weren’t making Martha so lonely. That’s why she’s thrilled when the glamorous Minnie Foster, a former high school classmate, moves in next door. Despite Martha’s determination, picking up where they left off is trickier than anticipated—especially when their memories of the past don’t always align. But Martha is undeterred.

Whitney had some misgivings when she dropped her increasingly moody teenage daughter, Amelia, off at Lauren’s house. She’d never met the parents, and usually she’d go in, but Amelia clearly wasn’t going to let something so humiliating happen, so instead Whitney waved to her daughter before pulling away from the little house with the roses in front. But when she goes back the next day, an elderly couple answers the door - Amelia and Lauren aren’t there, and this couple swears they never were, that she’s at the wrong house.

Vicki works as an aromatherapist, healing her clients out of her home studio with her special blends of essential oils. She's just finishing a session when the police arrive on her doorstep - her ex-husband, David, has gone missing. Vicki insists she last saw him years ago when they divorced, but the police clearly don't believe her. And her memory's hardly reliable - what if she did have something to do with it?

After twenty years apart, Matthew and Helena have rekindled their college romance and are away in Iceland on their first holiday together. Swept up in the romance on a mountain hike, one moment they are taking the perfect photo, the next Helena is hanging from the cliff edge…