Rural Life

In Chia-Chia Lin’s debut, The Unpassing, we meet a Taiwanese immigrant family of six struggling to make ends meet on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska. The father, hardworking but beaten down, is employed as a plumber and repairman while the mother, a loving, strong-willed, and unpredictably emotional matriarch, holds the house together. When 10-year-old Gavin contracts meningitis at school, he falls into a deep, nearly fatal coma. He wakes up a week later to learn that his little sister Ruby was infected, too. She did not survive.

While New Bern, Connecticut, lies under a blanket of snow, Cobbled Court Quilts remains a cozy haven for its owner, Evelyn Dixon, and her friends. Evelyn relishes winter’s slower pace—besides, Internet sales are hopping, thanks to her son Garrett’s efforts. In addition to helping out at the shop, Garrett has also been patiently waiting for his girlfriend, Liza, to finish art school in New York City.

Port Kingerton: the insular cray-fishing town at the butt-end of South Australia, where everyone knows everyone. And everyone knows too that when Abigail Fancy left town at seventeen, she hung out the window of her boyfriend's Corolla, middle fingers held high, swearing she'd never come back. And she hasn't, until now. At her parents' house Abigail finds a party (read: town meeting) in full swing over something iffy found on the beach—a thigh bone.

In the bestselling tradition of Fannie Flagg and Jenny Colgan comes Felicity Hayes-McCoy’s U.S. debut about a local librarian who must find a way to rebuild her community and her own life in this touching, enchanting novel set on Ireland’s stunning West Coast.

On a June afternoon in a small city, a wild-eyed girl named Francie dashes down a neighborhood street, clutching a gun. She doesn’t know exactly what she’s running from, and she doesn’t know what she’s heading towards. All she understands is the need to survive. To save herself, she has no choice but to run—and to save those she loves, she must hold tight to that gun. Swirling around Francie is a chorus of friends, family, and neighbors, each person with a different view of her.

Colleen and Rich Gundersen are raising their young son, Chub, on the rugged California coast. It’s 1977, and life in this Pacific Northwest logging town isn’t what it used to be. For generations, the community has lived and breathed timber; now that way of life is threatened. Colleen is an amateur midwife. Rich is a tree-topper. It’s a dangerous job that requires him to scale trees hundreds of feet tall - a job that both his father and grandfather died doing. Colleen and Rich want a better life for their son - and they take steps to assure their future.

The hilarious, charming, and candid story of writer Christopher Ingraham’s decision to uproot his life and move his family to Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, population 1,400 - the community he made famous as “the worst place to live in America” in a story he wrote for the Washington Post.

Four women, all from very different lives, all with reason to step into the water and wash away their past. But will the friendship they build be enough to keep them afloat when they each must face their fears?

The Lindsay family has come west hoping to help the father, John, recover from an illness. When they arrive, they are induced to purchase Spanish Peaks Ranch, an abandoned United States military post surrounded by mountains. It seems like a perfect place to settle into their new life as ranchers. As they soon find out, though, this deserted fort is equally suited for both protection and imprisonment.

The Trevino family hasn’t spent much quality time together lately. But as the summer months arrive, they find themselves all together on Block Island. Amy Trevino, a high school teacher and occasional theater director, has stayed close to her Rhode Island hometown while her famous brother, Timothy, pursued and achieved his Hollywood dreams. When Timothy returns to Block Island to direct a summer play, Amy agrees to be the production manager in an effort to mend rifting family relationships.

Pilar, Eva y Antonio Ángel son los últimos herederos de esta tierra, que ha sobrevivido a varias generaciones de la familia. En ella han pasado los momentos más felices de su vida, pero han tenido que enfrentarse también al asedio de la violencia y el terror, al desasosiego y la huida.

When Elodie applies for the job of librarian in peaceful Willow Grove, she’s looking forward to a new start. As the daughter of a media empire, her every move has been watched for years, and she longs to work with the thing she loves most: books. It’s a chance to make a real difference, too, because she soon realises that there are other people in Willow Grove who might need a fresh start—like the homeless man everyone walks past without seeing, or the divorcée who can’t seem to escape her former husband’s misdeeds.

Gussie, Ina Mae, and Blanche have been best friends for more than sixty years. From their humble beginnings of founding the Sunshine Club when they were girls to becoming the matchmaking queens of Newton, Texas, these three were inseparable. When Blanche passes away, Gussie and Ina Mae feel the best way to honor their dearly departed is with a shot of whiskey, some good music, and making a match for Blanche’s niece, Sissy.

Michelle Turner thought she lost everything at 17. Her father, a Hollywood legend, had finally summoned her to his Montana ranch. But when he learned of her affair with Sam McPhee, a hired hand, he had Sam fired and destroyed his family. Michelle, pregnant and alone, fled to Seattle. Now a successful advertising exec, Michelle is safe-safe from love, safe from hurt. But her son is lost to her, a troubled teen on the verge of self-destruction, a boy who blames her for the absence of his father and grandfather.

Beekeeper Holly McNee Kensen quietly lives in a world of her own on Sullivan’s Island, tending her hives and working at the local island library. Holly calls her mother "The Queen Bee" because she’s a demanding hulk of a woman. Her mother, a devoted hypochondriac, might be unaware she’s quite ill, but that doesn’t stop her from tormenting Holly. To escape the drama, Holly’s sister, Leslie, married and moved away, wanting little to do with island life. Holly’s escape is to submerge herself in the lives of the two young boys next door and their widowed father, Archie.

Em 1996, aos 16 anos, Maggie Dawes vai morar com uma tia que mal conhece em um vilarejo remoto na Carolina do Norte. Solitária e infeliz, ela só recupera o apetite pela vida quando conhece Bryce Trickett, um dos poucos adolescentes do lugar. Autêntico, bonito e inteligente, Bryce apresenta a Maggie as belezas do vilarejo e a fotografia, uma paixão que, assim como o jovem, vai definir o resto da vida dela. Em 2019, Maggie é uma renomada fotógrafa que mora em Nova York e se divide entre sua galeria de sucesso e as viagens a trabalho por todo o mundo.

Audrey gives birth at the end of February. Although she’s young, healthy, one of the most vibrant people on the Vineyard, the birth is a troubling one—and the baby’s health is cast into doubt. This adds even more stress to an already stressful situation. After all: Christine planned to help Audrey raise her baby, to allow her to return to school and get the degree she so desperately wants. As Christine, Audrey, Lola, and Zach wade the waters of this delicate new family plan, and grapple with the fears surrounding a very sick baby, they find new strength together.

Andrew Montgomery is the black sheep of the Montgomery family. Seventeen years ago, Andy and his best friend, Kurt, took off for the army and planned to never look back. Once overseas, they realized the depths of their mistake. But once Kurt died in combat, Andy decided to turn his back on his past for good. Years later, Andrew is bound to the US again with an injury. A phone call a few weeks before Christmas changes everything and beckons him home. His father has been involved in a horrible car accident. When Andrew returns to the island, he finds himself in the center of so many ghosts.

Laura Wilson is back in Blueberry Beach, dealing with a mysterious illness that has depleted her energy and left her listless and unable to enjoy life. She's working part time in her grandfather's shop when a mysterious stranger rents the small apartment above theirs. He's strong, athletic, handsome, and full of life and energy. They couldn't be farther apart physically, but they bond as they each take on more responsibility as her grandfather's health declines. Will they decide providing precious memories to the hundreds of customers in the old shop is enough to build a future on?

Gage has been happy in Blueberry Beach, living above the store on the Main Street, working from home, and raising his two girls. Alone. The tightknit community supports each other and his daughters enjoy working in the ice cream shop and playing in the beach band. When Zariah and her teenage niece, Macie, move in across the street, opening a clothing boutique, Gage's attraction to her is immediate. Their relationship seems too good to be true. Or maybe it’s Macie that’s too good to be true.