This anthology contains long extracts from fifty early modern texts, including witchcraft pamphlets, letters and other manuscript material, prophetic texts, practical books and petitions, as well as the more widely recognized genres of prose fiction and autobiography. The women writers themselves represent a range of different social, religious and political positions. Texts by male writers are also included to promote "a gendered poetics that rereads men's texts in the weave of women's." The result is a comprehensive introduction to women's writing in the Renaissance that encourages the exploration of the differences between women.

A picture of the loving maternal community that appears in the works of six notable women writers.

An incarnate evil, youthful innocence, and burgeoning adolescent sexuality meet in a gripping Southern Gothic tale set in a 1963 West Virginia summer camp as two young girls go to a swimming hole at midnight and encounter two ex-cons. BOMC. Tour.

Malcolm and Nora, Philadelphia baby boomers, strive for the material and financial gratification that Yuppiedom promises amid impending personal and professional ruin

The first English edition of the masterful, moving story of one woman's life-by the acclaimed Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska's best and most accessible work, Here's to You, Jesúsa! is a rich, sensitive retelling of the life of Jesúsa Palancares de Aguilar. Born in Oaxaca in the early 1900s, she loses her mother at a young age and lives with her father until one of his girlfriends beats and stabs her. Moved to her godmother's house, Jesúsa serves as a maid until she reunites with her father during the Mexican Revolution and joins the army of General Jesús Carranza. In the army, Jesúsa is forced to marry another soldier who beats and abandons her. On one such occasion she is beaten so severely that it draws the attention of the general himself, who punishes her husband. After the revolution, Jesúsa finds work in Mexico City, first as a domestic, then in a series of factories, and begins her long history of run-ins with the police. Poniatowska documents a colorful life while also providing a compelling, firsthand account of the most important events in Mexico during the twentieth century. Reprinted twenty-eight times since its original publication in 1969, Here's to You, Jesúsa! now stands as a classic of Mexican literature.

Presents eleven tales about characters who take on a risky personal search for the unique place where faith can thrive for each one of them, whether it is a run-down hotel, an animal shelter, or the embrace of an ex-convict.

When American forensic photographer Claire Fleetwood inherits a large house and garden in London, she imagines her own English dream, until her best friend is brutally murdered and she learns that her inheritance involves more than she wanted or bargained

"You're given life, and certain people walk into it. Some make a small but deep impression, like a kid from your second grade class who shows up in your dream every three years. Others walk in and break your heart. You remember them every day. Very few people, maybe one, maybe none, stay with you for the long run. It's a kind of miracle if someone's with you for the long run. A kind of miracle..." From the award-winning author of the acclaimed short story collection Director of the World comes this stunning debut novel--a charmingly poignant, razor sharp tale of two sisters and the depths and consequences of love that is reminiscent of the works of Anne Tyler, Louise Erdrich, and Barbara Kingsolver. Gladys and Ivy are sisters, reluctant best friends who have depended upon each other through a shared lifetime marked by grief and loss, including the untimely deaths of Gladys's two children and the end of her passionate yet troubled marriage. While bonded by love and loneliness, the sisters remain divided by a wall of silence and pain that prevents Gladys from accepting the solace Ivy desperately needs to give. Then one late April day, the pattern of their quiet lives is suddenly ruptured when a dark-eyes young woman with a mysterious past arrives on their doorstep. Quickly befriending Gladys, the intriguing Raelene convinces her to escape on a cross-country jaunt that will become a journey of discovery. Left to contend with the loss of her sister--and a surprise visit from Gladys's estranged husband--Ivy too will contemplate the frayed tapestry of her life and confront emotions long denied. For Ivy and Gladys, however, personal transformation has just begun. Eventually reunited, the two must face searing truths about themselves, their past, and their relationship--soulful revelations that will ultimately bring them closer or hopelessly keep them apart. Rich in character, language, and emotion, One Heart is a powerful, moving tale of family, friendship, forgiveness, and redemption--a remarkable achievement from an exquisitely talented new writer.

A family saga considers issues of national and religious identity and how they impact one Jewish American family, including Charles, who aspires to be a Supreme Court Justice, and Bert, who becomes a rabbi despite his ambivalence toward Jewish institution

Early twentieth-century Vienna forms the backdrop for a historical mystery as a police inspector investigates the death of a beautiful young girl, found brutally murdered in the Volksgarten park, while his Hungarian wife and a teenage English governess pu

From one of America's best loved and most prolific novelists: the story of a woman coming to terms with the violent death of her mother, and uncovering all the hidden secrets stowed away over the years. Nikki Eaton is a journalist on the local newspaper. She loves wearing short skirts and nail polish. She's having an affair with a married man, and every time she visits her mother, she feels pangs of guilt for the lifestyle she leads. One day her life is turned upside-down. Worried because her mother hasn't returned her phone-calls, she drives over to her childhood home, only to discover her mother has been murdered and lies stone-cold on the garage floor. From this catalclysmic event unfolds the next year of Nikki's life as she reassess her relationship with her mother and discovers secrets about her past which reveal the cracks in the comfortable, suburban existence her family has built up around itself. This is a dark and unsettling novel from one of America's finest writers.

Eccentric Neighborhoods is a an attempt to lay bare the psychological conflicts that determine the relationships between mothers and daughters and the story of Puerto Rico's transformation, from the beginning of the century, into a spearhead of the Caribbean.

This first novel tells the story of Eleanor and her relationship with her artist lover Jason and his daughter Clover. The story moves from Eleanor's secret endeavours to provide for Clover's future to Clover's story which is a tale of faith and duplicity in New York, London, Paris and Utah.;Mary Flanagan is also the author of a collection of short stories, "Bad Girls".

The lives of two women--a Chinese girl named Mai and her Western niece, Alice--intersect in turn-of-the-century Shanghai

Kate has always been a wanderer. A well-published author, married several times, she has lived a life full of exploration. Now, as she begins to feel the first ravages of age, she wants to find a sense of meaning in her life. She leaves her lover Yolo on a journey down the Colorado river - a journey that will force her to re-explore her own past and her future, and her connection to the real world. On her travels she meets shamans and the mysterious spiritual world of the native Indian. Yolo too begins his own journey as he travels to Hawaii and meets a former lover whose life is being destroyed by the excesses of American society. As Kate and Yolo gain shifting insights into their own lives and the world around them, will their paths diverge or will their journeys lead back to each other? Written with Alice Walker's flawless and passionate prose, this is a beautiful and moving meditation on love and the places love can take us.

With colorful characters, including many based on real figures, and a plot that hinges on romance, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin combines domestic comedy and regional history to examine slavery, Protestant theology, and gender differences in early America.

A young woman's impassioned pursuit of a sealed cache of T. S. Eliot's letters lies at the heart of this emotionally charged novel -- a story of marriage and madness, of faith and desire, of jazz-age New York and Europe in the shadow of the Holocaust. The Archivist was a word-of-mouth bestseller and one of the most jubilantly acclaimed first novels of recent years.