A New York Times Notable Book

"As resonant as a blues song. . . . Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett's fiction."—New York Times Book Review

An ex-jazz drummer wants nothing more than to be a good father in this moving family novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Dutch House.

When John Nickel's lover takes away his son, Nickel is left only with his

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On a sultry summer night in 1915, Jay Follet leaves his house in Knoxville, Tennessee, to tend to his father, whom he believes is dying. The summons turns out to be a false alarm, but on his way back to his family, Jay has a car accident and is killed instantly, leaving his wife, brother, and young son to deal with his sudden death.

"Most folk thought Sallie Kincaid was a nobody who'd amount to nothing. Sallie had other plans. Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie...

One of the world's most original works of fiction from one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. • "No one ever wrote better about the power struggles of sex and love." —Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize-winning Author of The Golden Notebook

Gertrude Morel is a refined woman who married beneath her and has come to loathe her brutal, working-class husband. She focuses her passion instead...

"Father Tim and his wife Cynthia are housesitting on an old farm, and there's plenty to keep them busy. Between dust storms and keeping track of the animals, it is becoming difficult to stop and count their blessings. Then, high atop a nearby mountain, a tremendous challenge presents itself. An old, abandoned church is in need of immediate revival-- if Father Tim is up to the task"--Container.

When thirteen-year-old Josh goes to stay with his father in Chicago for a few months, he discovers--to his horror--that his dad has become an Elvis impersonator.

In 1899, ten-year-old Robbie, son of a preacher in a small Vermont town, gets himself into all kinds of trouble when he decides to give up being Christian in order to make the most of his life before the end of the world.

"This memoir by Harry Crews captures the first six years of his life among impoverished tenant farmer families in rural southern Georgia. Crews shares details of farm life, his father's death, his friendship with the son of a Black hired hand; his bout with polio; his mother and stepfather's failing marriage; his near-fatal scalding at a hog-killing; and a five-month sojourn in Jacksonville, Florida. As an introduction to Crews's fiction, this portrait...