New Literary Fiction

Lula, a 26 -year-old Albanian woman living surreptitiously in New York City on an expiring tourist visa, hopes to make a better life for herself in America. When she lands a job as caretaker to Zeke, a rebellious high school senior in suburban New Jersey, it seems that the security, comfort, and happiness of the American dream may finally be within reach. Her new boss, Mister Stanley, an idealistic college professor turned Wall Street executive, assumes that Lula is a destitute refugee of the Balkan wars.

New Orleans, 1900: Mary Deubler makes a meager living as an "alley whore". That all changes when bible-thumping Alderman Sidney Story forces the creation of a red-light district that’s mockingly dubbed "Storyville". Mary believes there’s no place for a lowly girl like her in the high-class bordellos of Storyville’s Basin Street, where Champagne flows and beautiful girls turn tricks in luxurious bedrooms. But with gumption, twists of fate, even a touch of Voodoo, Mary rises above her hopeless lot to become the notorious Madame Josie Arlington.

To Chinese American teenager Chuntao, New Lake is a beautiful haven where she can hunt for treasures once swallowed up by a big flood. But when she’s caught scavenging by her biology teacher, a woman whose own past has been swept away, Chuntao is faced with an imponderable question: Which world was better - the ideal one she never knew or the destroyed one that now belongs to her?

The fates of three tormented men, born as many eras apart, come together in a rock cave on the Coromandel peninsula of New Zealand - Tama of the Ngatei Hei, Billy Green in the days of gold, and Dr. Sababa from across the ocean - seeking revenge, discovering treasure, and searching for redemption. Here their thrilling life and death stories of obsession begin by hurtling down the shoreline of the same beach and end in the fierce battles that left the coastal sands white with bones.

Think of the greatest tech company in the world. Imagine getting a job there. Picture the perks: free gourmet food, free booze, a gym, a swimming pool, and a holiday bonus...every month. Brilliant coworkers. No dress code. Great parties. More money. Everyone's admiration. Vic is just like any other Harvard grad out there except that he just scored a job at tech empire SHOW. But in the hunt for success and happiness, he falls into a shady world of sex, drugs, and swindle.

The antidote to Eat, Pray, Love! Based on Greenberg's own travels to Bali, Occupy the Rice Fields ventures into very different territory, documenting encounters with fake spiritualists, hustlers, and hawkers. Occupy the Rice Fields, the solo performance, premiered at Space 4 Art in San Diego in May 2013 and was produced by North Coast Repertory, Solana Beach, in May 2015.

James Dixon and Janice Atterly are making a go of their long-distance relationship. He visited her in San Diego, California, and now he’s invited her to come to his home in Summer County, South Carolina. James’ twin brother, Donald, is also interested in Janice’s best friend and condo mate, Dr. Cecile Jordon, but she’s not nearly as amenable as Janice. Of the women Donald has encountered, none were as difficult to get close to or half as intriguing as Cecile. 

Jack had two dying wishes: that his wife scatter his ashes somewhere "exotic", and that she not give up on life once he was gone. He intended to spur her on to new adventures, but despite clinging to her red suitcase, Geraldine Verne hasn’t left the house for three months. It takes an accident for Geri to accept help from her friends, but when Meals on Wheels arrive she is mortified. Yet heartbroken volunteer Lottie brings with her more than cottage pie and custard. Like Geri, she too is struggling to cut loose.

"Life in Questions and Exclamations" is a short story by the Russian writer and playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904). Written and first published in 1882 in the journal Alarm Clock under the pseudonym Antosha Chekhonte, the short story "Life in Questions and Exclamations" is written in an unusual form of a collection of key phrases—memoirs for each stage of a man's life—childhood, adolescence, youth, the period "between 20 and 30 years", "between 30-50 years", and old age.

The dragon is alone. More miserable than anyone has ever ever been. Covered in boils and bumps and sins and self-hate and horrible scales. No one loves him, he’s too ugly. Deserved. Alone and ugly. And his lovely universe has gone - he had destroyed it. Can anything save him? A little girl? Should he eat her (that’s what dragons do)? Or - wonder - will she help him use a tiny spark to - oh! - to re-create the universe? And, and - love him. Yes! look again! He is shining and - beautiful!

There is more to a princess than stunning looks, soprano pipes, and an inherent tenderness toward all creation. There is more to freeing a king’s daughter from a curse than riding up singing, lips puckered. Fairy stories leave out too much, true love is a complicated business, and for this there is not always an evil stepmother to blame. Princess stories are simply better when they are expanded, embellished, and arbitrarily annotated.

"Euphemia's New Entertainment" by H. G. Wells is a short essay. H. G. Wells once different, humorous social satire and ironic. Euphemia has great ideas of putting people at their ease, a thousand little devices for thawing the very stiffest among them with a home-like glow. Far be it from me to sing her praises, but I must admit that at times she is extremely successful in this-at times almost too successful.

"The Emperor's New Clothes" (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) is a short tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that they say is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, no one dares to say that they don't see any suit of clothes on him for fear that they will be seen as "unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent".

In middle England, Juliette, Sophie, Ann, Evelyn and Will are in the final year of studying for an English degree. Will it all go to plan, with the expectation of success weighing heavily on their shoulders? And will they be fulfilled both academically and personally?

This is a reproduction of a classic text. We have endeavored to create this version as close to the original artifact as possible. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we believe they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

You fell in love with Jack Remington and Savannah Braden in Bursting with Love (The Bradens). Now fall in love with them all over again and experience the birth of their first baby while catching up with your favorite characters from the Love in Bloom series in Our New Love. As always, the Braden stories are filled with family, fun, and the truest, deepest love of all.