Download or read book The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy written by Rachel Joyce and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-03-03 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an exquisite love story about Queenie Hennessy, the remarkable friend who inspired Harold’s cross-country journey. “This lovely book is full of joy. Much more than the story of a woman’s enduring love for an ordinary, flawed man, it’s an ode to messy, imperfect, glorious, unsung humanity.”—The Washington Post A runaway international bestseller, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry followed its unassuming hero on an incredible journey as he traveled the length of England on foot—a journey spurred by a simple letter from his old friend Queenie Hennessy, writing from a hospice to say goodbye. Harold believed that as long as he kept walking, Queenie would live. What he didn’t know was that his decision to walk had caused her both alarm and fear. How could she wait? What would she say? Forced to confront the past, Queenie realizes she must write again. In this poignant parallel story to Harold’s saga, acclaimed author Rachel Joyce brings Queenie Hennessy’s voice into sharp focus. Setting pen to paper, Queenie makes a journey of her own, a journey that is even bigger than Harold’s; one word after another, she promises to confess long-buried truths—about her modest childhood, her studies at Oxford, the heartbreak that brought her to Kingsbridge and to loving Harold, her friendship with his son, the solace she has found in a garden by the sea. And, finally, the devastating secret she has kept from Harold for all these years. A wise, tender, layered novel that gathers tremendous emotional force, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy underscores the resilience of the human spirit, beautifully illuminating the small yet pivotal moments that can change a person’s life.
Download or read book Perfect written by Rachel Joyce and published by Random House. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A spellbinding novel that will resonate with readers of Mark Haddon, Louise Erdrich, and John Irving, Perfect tells the story of a young boy who is thrown into the murky, difficult realities of the adult world with far-reaching consequences. Byron Hemmings wakes to a morning that looks like any other: his school uniform draped over his wooden desk chair, his sister arguing over the breakfast cereal, the click of his mother’s heels as she crosses the kitchen. But when the three of them leave home, driving into a dense summer fog, the morning takes an unmistakable turn. In one terrible moment, something happens, something completely unexpected and at odds with life as Byron understands it. While his mother seems not to have noticed, eleven-year-old Byron understands that from now on nothing can be the same. What happened and who is to blame? Over the days and weeks that follow, Byron’s perfect world is shattered. Unable to trust his parents, he confides in his best friend, James, and together they concoct a plan. . . . As she did in her debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce has imagined bewitching characters who find their ordinary lives unexpectedly thrown into chaos, who learn that there are times when children must become parents to their parents, and who discover that in confronting the hard truths about their pasts, they will forge unexpected relationships that have profound and surprising impacts. Brimming with love, forgiveness, and redemption, Perfect will cement Rachel Joyce’s reputation as one of fiction’s brightest talents. Praise for Perfect “Touching, eccentric . . . Joyce does an inviting job of setting up these mysterious circumstances, and of drawing Byron’s magical closeness with Diana.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Haunting . . . compelling.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune “[Joyce] triumphantly returns with Perfect. . . . As Joyce probes the souls of Diana, Byron and Jim, she reveals—slowly and deliberately, as if peeling back a delicate onion skin—the connection between the two stories, creating a poignant, searching tale.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Perfect touches on class, mental illness, and the ways a psyche is formed or broken. It has the tenor of a horror film, and yet at the end, in some kind of contortionist trick, the narrative unfolds into an unexpected burst of redemption. [Verdict:] Buy It.”—New York “Joyce’s dark, quiet follow-up to her successful debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, could easily become a book club favorite. . . . Perfect is the kind of book that blossoms under thoughtful examination, its slow tendencies redeemed by moments of loveliness and insight. However sad, Joyce’s messages—about the limitations of time and control, the failures of adults and the fears of children, and our responsibility for our own imprisonment and freedom—have a gentle ring of truth to them.”—The Washington Post “There is a poignancy to Joyce’s narrative that makes for her most memorable writing.”—NPR’s All Things Considered
Download or read book The Music Shop written by Rachel Joyce and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An unforgettable story of music, loss and hope. Fans of High Fidelity, meet your next quirky love story.”—People NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES (UK) AND THE WASHINGTON POST It is 1988. On a dead-end street in a run-down suburb there is a music shop that stands small and brightly lit, jam-packed with records of every kind. Like a beacon, the shop attracts the lonely, the sleepless, and the adrift; Frank, the shop’s owner, has a way of connecting his customers with just the piece of music they need. Then, one day, into his shop comes a beautiful young woman, Ilse Brauchmann, who asks Frank to teach her about music. Terrified of real closeness, Frank feels compelled to turn and run, yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems, and Frank has old wounds that threaten to reopen, as well as a past it seems he will never leave behind. Can a man who is so in tune with other people’s needs be so incapable of connecting with the one person who might save him? The journey that these two quirky, wonderful characters make in order to overcome their emotional baggage speaks to the healing power of music—and love—in this poignant, ultimately joyful work of fiction. Praise for The Music Shop “Captures the sheer, transformative joy of romance.”—The Washington Post “Love, friendship, and especially the healing powers of music all rise together into a triumphant crescendo. . . . This lovely novel is as satisfying and enlightening as the music that suffuses its every page.”—The Boston Globe “Magnificent . . . If you love words, if you love music, if you love love, this [novel] will be without question one of the year’s best.”—BookPage (Top Pick in Fiction) “Joyce has a knack for quickly sketching characters in a way that makes them stick. [The Music Shop] will surprise you.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune “Rachel Joyce has established a reputation for novels that celebrate the dignity and courage of ordinary people and the resilience of the human spirit. . . . But what really elevates The Music Shop is Joyce’s detailed knowledge of—and passion for—music.”—The Guardian
Download or read book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry written by Rachel Joyce and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-07-24 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Joyce’s beguiling debut is [a] modest-seeming story of ‘ordinary’ English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds.”—People (four stars) IN DEVELOPMENT AS A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning a letter arrives, addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl, from a woman he hasn’t heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. But before Harold mails off a quick reply, a chance encounter convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. In his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold Fry embarks on an urgent quest. Determined to walk six hundred miles to the hospice, Harold believes that as long as he walks, Queenie will live. A novel of charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise—and utterly irresistible—storyteller.
Download or read book Harold Fry Queenie Two Book Bundle from Rachel Joyce written by Rachel Joyce and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-04-21 with total page 720 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet a pair of beloved characters—Harold Fry and Queenie Hennessy—in an eBook bundle that collects two linked novels from a wise and utterly irresistible storyteller. “[Rachel Joyce] has a lovely sense of the possibilities of redemption. . . . She’s cleared space where miracles are still possible.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post Rachel Joyce’s unforgettable debut, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, became a runaway international bestseller as readers fell in love with her unassuming hero as he embarked on an incredible adventure spurred by a letter from his old friend Queenie. In The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, Joyce reveals the other side of the story in a journey just as remarkable as Harold’s. Together these exquisite parallel novels illuminate the feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, and the small yet pivotal moments that can change a person’s life. Praise for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry “[A] gorgeously poignant novel of hope and transformation.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Joyce’s beguiling debut is [a] modest-seeming story of ‘ordinary’ English lives that enthralls and moves you as it unfolds.”—People (four stars) “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is not just a book about lost love. It is about all the wonderful everyday things Harold discovers through the mere process of putting one foot in front of the other.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “A moving story about an ordinary man on an extraordinary journey.”—Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank “A gentle adventure with an emotional wallop . . . a smart, feel-good story.”—Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today “I found myself laughing through tears, rooting for Harold at every step of his journey. I’m still rooting for him.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife Praise for The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy “This lovely book is full of joy. . . . [Queenie’s] love song is for us. Thank you, Rachel Joyce.”—The Washington Post “Joyce’s writing at moments has a simplicity that sings. She captures hope best of all.”—The Guardian “[A] deeply affecting novel . . . Culminating in a shattering revelation, [Queenie’s] tale is funny, sad, hopeful: She’s bound for death, but full of life.”—People “Like Harold Fry, Queenie is delightful and dark. . . . But Joyce is so deft that when the book is over and you close the cover, the darkness fades. What sticks with you is the light of Queenie’s unwavering love.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune “Wonderful . . . It is not necessary to read Harold’s story before reading Queenie’s to enjoy this bittersweet novel, which is a pleasure in its own right. However, reading both will only serve to double that pleasure.”—The Independent “After two such involving novels, readers are bound to wish for a third.”—The Telegraph
Download or read book Miss Benson s Beetle written by Rachel Joyce and published by Dial Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A beautifully written, extraordinary quest in which two ordinary, overlooked women embark on an unlikely scientific expedition to the South Seas.”—Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand WINNER OF THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE • From the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes an uplifting, irresistible novel about two women on a life-changing adventure, where they must risk everything, break all the rules, and discover their best selves—together. She’s going too far to go it alone. It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist—the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship. Praise for Miss Benson’s Beetle “A hilarious jaunt into the wilderness of women’s friendship and the triumph of outrageous dreams.”—Kirkus Reviews
Download or read book The Love Song of Ivy K Harlowe written by Hannah Moskowitz and published by Entangled: Teen. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ivy K. Harlowe is a lot of things. She’s my best friend. She’s the center of attention. She is, without fail, the hottest girl in the room. Anytime. Anyplace. She has freckles and dimples and bright green eyes, and with someone else’s energy she’d be adorable. But there is nothing cute about Ivy. She is ice and hot metal and electricity. She is the girl who every lesbian wants, but she has never been with the same person twice. She’s one-of-a-kind but also predictable, so I will always be “best friend Andie,” never “girlfriend Andie.” Then she meets Dot, and Ivy does something even I would have never guessed—she sees Dot another day. And another. And another. Now my world is slowly going up in smoke, and no matter what I do, the flames grow higher. She lit that match without knowing who or what it would burn. Ivy K. Harlowe is a lot of things. But falling in love wasn’t supposed to be one of them...unless it was with me.
Download or read book I Love My Michigan Valentine written by Marianne Richmond and published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's Valentine's Day in Michigan, and I just want to say that I love you SO MUCH, and in SO MANY ways! Experience boundless and unconditional love as you travel around your home state in this sweet and colorful story. Based on Marianne Richmond's bestselling book "I Love You So...," I Love My Michigan Valentinecelebrates a parent's love for their child bycomparing their love to special characteristics of where they live! This heartwarming book puts into words the often indescribable quality of boundless, steady and unconditional love while using familiar landmarks around them. I Love My Michigan Valentineis the perfect way to share your love with a treasured child this Valentine's Day!
Download or read book Starring Miss Darlene written by and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-08-07 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Much to her surprise, a young girl's on-stage mishaps are reviewed favorably by the theater critic.
Download or read book The Music Shop written by Rachel Joyce and published by Random House. This book was released on 2017-07-13 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Warm-hearted, unusual, romantic with a sense of hope' The Times 'A beautiful novel, a tonic for the soul and a complete joy to read.' Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep A story of love, community and how music can bring us back to life from the worldwide bestseller of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - 1988. Frank owns a music shop. It is jam-packed with records of every speed, size and genre. Classical, jazz, punk - as long as it's vinyl he sells it. Day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need. Then into his life walks Ilse Brauchmann. Ilse asks Frank to teach her about music. His instinct is to turn and run. And yet he is drawn to this strangely still, mysterious woman with her pea-green coat and her eyes as black as vinyl. But Ilse is not what she seems. And Frank has old wounds that threaten to re-open and a past he will never leave behind... 'Hits all the right notes...a love story that's as much about the silences between words as what is said - the spaces between people that can be filled with mystery, confusion and misunderstanding as well as hope.' Observer Readers are falling in love with The Music Shop: ***** 'Joyous and perfectly done' ***** 'A beautifully crafted love story. It will make you laugh and cry' ***** 'I totally fell in love with every character in this book' RACHEL JOYCE'S NEW NOVEL, MISS BENSON'S BEETLE, IS OUT NOW
Download or read book Miss You written by Kate Eberlen and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If ever a couple was ‘meant to be,’ it’s Tess and Gus. This is such a witty, poignant, and uplifting story of two lives crisscrossing over the years, with near miss after near miss. . . . I couldn’t put it down." — Sophie Kinsella For fans of One Day in December, The Flatshare, and This Time Next Year, a wryly romantic debut novel that asks, what if you just walked by the love of your life, but didn’t even know it? "TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE." Tess can’t get the motto from her mother’s kitchen knickknack out of her head, even though she’s in Florence on an idyllic vacation before starting university in London. Gus is also visiting Florence, on a holiday with his parents seven months after tragedy shattered their lives. Headed to medical school in London, he’s trying to be a dutiful son but longs to escape and discover who he really is. A chance meeting brings these eighteen-year-olds together for a brief moment—the first of many times their paths will crisscross as time passes and their lives diverge from those they’d envisioned. Over the course of the next sixteen years, Tess and Gus will face very different challenges and choices. Separated by distance and circumstance, the possibility of these two connecting once more seems slight. But while fate can separate two people, it can also bring them back together again. . . .
Download or read book The One In A Million Boy written by Monica Wood and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don't they teach you anything at school? So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who's been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she's confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades. One Saturday, the boy doesn't show up. Ona starts to think he's not so special after all, but then his father arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son's good deed. The boy's mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that the world can surprise us at any age, and that sometimes sharing a loss is the only way to find ourselves again. “Readers won’t be able to resist falling for Ona … The conclusion will leave them smiling through their tears.”—Shelf Awareness ?“Poignant … There is much to enjoy in this heartfelt tale of love, loss, and friendship.”—Express “A must-read book … Whimsical and bittersweet.”—Good Housekeeping
Download or read book Gabby Drama Queen written by Joyce Grant and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Gabby and her friend Roy decide to put on a play about "Queen Gabriella" for their neighbor, the two make use of letters from Gabby's magic book to create words that form a stage and props for their performance.
Download or read book Hangover Square written by Patrick Hamilton and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2016-08-04 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seventy-fifth anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Anthony Quinn. 'I recommend Hamilton at every opportunity, because he was such a wonderful writer and yet is rather under-read today. All his novels are terrific' Sarah Waters 'If you were looking to fly from Dickens to Martin Amis with just one overnight stop, then Hamilton is your man' Nick Hornby Patrick Hamilton's novels were the inspiration for Matthew Bourne's new dance theatre production, The Midnight Bell. London, 1939, and in the grimy publands of Earls Court, George Harvey Bone is pursuing a helpless infatuation. Netta is cool, contemptuous and hopelessly desirable to George. George is adrift in a drunken hell, except in his 'dead' moments, when something goes click in his head and he realises, without a doubt, that he must kill her. In the darkly comic Hangover Square Patrick Hamilton brilliantly evokes a seedy, fog-bound world of saloon bars, lodging houses and boozing philosophers, immortalising the slang and conversational tone of a whole generation and capturing the premonitions of doom that pervaded London life in the months before the war.
Download or read book Major Pettigrew s Last Stand written by Helen Simonson and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2010-03-01 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Major Ernest Pettigrew is perfectly content to lead a quiet life in the sleepy village of Edgecombe St Mary, away from the meddling of the locals and his overbearing son. But when his brother dies, the Major finds himself seeking companionship with the village shopkeeper, Mrs Ali. Drawn together by a love of books and the loss of their partners, they are soon forced to contend with irate relatives and gossiping villagers. The perfect gentleman, but the most unlikely hero, the Major must ask himself what matters most: family obligation, tradition or love? Funny, comforting and heart-warming, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand proves that sometimes, against all odds, life does give you a second chance.
Download or read book The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy written by Rachel Joyce and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2015-11-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Queenie Hennessy discovers that Harold Fry is walking the length of England to save her, and all she has to do is wait, she is shocked. Her note had explained she was dying. How can she wait? A new volunteer at the hospice suggests that Queenie should write again; only this time she must tell Harold everything. In confessing to secrets she has hidden for twenty years, she will find atonement for the past. As the volunteer points out, "Even though you've done your travelling, you're starting a new journey too." Queenie thought her first letter would be the end of the story. She was wrong. It was just the beginning.
Download or read book American Made written by Farah Stockman and published by Random House. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when Americans lose their jobs? In American Made, an illuminating story of ruin and reinvention, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Farah Stockman gives an up-close look at the profound role work plays in our sense of identity and belonging, as she follows three workers whose lives unravel when the factory they have dedicated so much to closes down. “With humor, breathtaking honesty, and a historian’s satellite view, American Made illuminates the fault lines ripping America apart.”—Beth Macy, author of Factory Man and Dopesick Shannon, Wally, and John built their lives around their place of work. Shannon, a white single mother, became the first woman to run the dangerous furnaces at the Rexnord manufacturing plant in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was proud of producing one of the world’s top brands of steel bearings. Wally, a black man known for his initiative and kindness, was promoted to chairman of efficiency, one of the most coveted posts on the factory floor, and dreamed of starting his own barbecue business one day. John, a white machine operator, came from a multigenerational union family and clashed with a work environment that was increasingly hostile to organized labor. The Rexnord factory had served as one of the economic engines for the surrounding community. When it closed, hundreds of people lost their jobs. What had life been like for Shannon, Wally, and John, before the plant shut down? And what became of them after the jobs moved to Mexico and Texas? American Made is the story of a community struggling to reinvent itself. It is also a story about race, class, and American values, and how jobs serve as a bedrock of people’s lives and drive powerful social justice movements. This revealing book shines a light on a crucial political moment, when joblessness and anxiety about the future of work have made themselves heard at a national level. Most of all, American Made is a story about people: who we consider to be one of us and how the dignity of work lies at the heart of who we are.
