Download or read book Best Contemporary Women s Fiction written by Elizabeth Benedict and published by HMH. This book was released on 2010-12-22 with total page 1868 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Six novels in one volume by today’s most outstanding female writers—includes The Magician’s Assistant, Those Who Save Us, and more. From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Commonwealth and Bel Canto, to the multiple award-winning author of This Must Be the Place, this collection gathers a half-dozen top-notch literary talents in a treasure trove for fiction lovers. Included: Almost by Elizabeth Benedict chronicles the attempt of writer Sophy Chase to come to terms with the death of her almost ex-husband—who may have committed suicide on the New England resort island where she left him just months before. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum follows Trudy, a professor of German history, as she investigates her mother’s past in WWII Germany, combining a passionate, doomed love story; a vivid evocation of life during the war; and a poignant mother/daughter drama. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss is a heartwarming story of a young woman with the rare talent of “gentling” wild horses, and the unexpected and profound connections between people and animals. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones takes readers inside the hidden world of elite cuisine in modern China, through the story of an American food writer in Beijing who discovers that her late husband may have been leading a double life. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell is a gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth. The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett tells the story of the death of a secretive magician—and how it sets in motion his partner’s journey of self-discovery.

Download or read book Why Women Read Fiction written by Helen Taylor and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-12-05 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ian McEwan once said, 'When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.' This book explains how precious fiction is to contemporary women readers, and how they draw on it to tell the stories of their lives. Female readers are key to the future of fiction and—as parents, teachers, and librarians—the glue for a literate society. Women treasure the chance to read alone, but have also gregariously shared reading experiences and memories with mothers, daughters, grandchildren, and female friends. For so many, reading novels and short stories enables them to escape and to spread their wings intellectually and emotionally. This book, written by an experienced teacher, scholar of women's writing, and literature festival director, draws on over 500 interviews with and questionnaires from women readers and writers. It describes how, where, and when British women read fiction, and examines why stories and writers influence the way female readers understand and shape their own life stories. Taylor explores why women are the main buyers and readers of fiction, members of book clubs, attendees at literary festivals, and organisers of days out to fictional sites and writers' homes. The book analyses the special appeal and changing readership of the genres of romance, erotica, and crime. It also illuminates the reasons for British women's abiding love of two favourite novels, Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. Taylor offers a cornucopia of witty and wise women's voices, of both readers themselves and also writers such as Hilary Mantel, Helen Dunmore, Katie Fforde, and Sarah Dunant. The book helps us understand why—in Jackie Kay's words—'our lives are mapped by books.'

Download or read book Food Consumption and the Body in Contemporary Women s Fiction written by Sarah Sceats and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000-04-20 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study explores the subtle and complex significance of food and eating in contemporary women's fiction. Sarah Sceats reveals how preoccupations with food, its consumption and the body are central to the work of writers such as Doris Lessing, Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, Michèle Roberts and Alice Thomas Ellis. Through close analysis of their fiction, Sceats examines the multiple metaphors associated with these themes, making powerful connections between food and love, motherhood, sexual desire, self identity and social behaviour. The activities surrounding food and its consumption (or non-consumption) embrace both the most intimate and the most thoroughly public aspects of our lives. The book draws on psychoanalytical, feminist and sociological theory to engage with a diverse range of issues, including chapters on cannibalism and eating disorders. This lively study demonstrates that feeding and eating are not simply fundamental to life but are inseparable from questions of gender, power and control.

Download or read book What We Owe written by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde and published by HarperVia. This book was released on 2018 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compressed, visceral novel about exile, dislocation, and the emotional minefields between mothers and daughters.

Download or read book Dear Emmie Blue written by Lia Louis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-07-14 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this charming and poignant novel that “oozes charm and wit and speaks beautifully about friendship and love, and the differences between the two” (Laura Pearson, author of I Wanted You to Know), teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it. But fourteen years later, everything Emmie has planned is up in the air. At sixteen, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached was her name, her email address…and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon and immediately emailed the attached address, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens. Now, fourteen years later, Emmie is hiding the fact that she’s desperately in love with Lucas. She has pinned all her hopes on him and waits patiently for him to finally admit that she’s the one for him. So dedicated to her love for Lucas, Emmie has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship—she’s given up the search for her absentee father, no longer tries to build bridges with her distant mother, and lives as a lodger to an old lady she barely knows after being laid off. And when Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s convinced this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings for her. But nothing in life ever quite goes as planned, does it? Filled with heart and humor, Dear Emmie Blue “beautifully captures the heartache and frustrations of carrying our teenaged selves with us wherever we go” (Anstey Harris, author of Goodbye Paris) that is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Evvie Drake Starts Over.

Download or read book Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty written by Diane Williams and published by McSweeney's. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty, Diane Williams lays bare the urgency and weariness that shape our lives in stories honed sharper than ever. With sentences auguring revelation and explosion, Williams's unsettling stories—a cryptic meeting between neighbors, a woman's sexual worries, a graveside discussion, a chimney on fire—are narrated with razor-sharp tongues and naked, uproarious irreverence. These fifty stories hum with tension, each one so taut that it threatens to snap and send the whole thing sprawling—the mess and desire, the absurdity and hilarity, the bruises and bleeding, the blushes and disappointments and secrets. An audacious, unruly tour de force, Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty cements Diane Williams' position as one of the best practitioners of the short form in literature today.

Download or read book Contemporary Irish and Welsh Women s Fiction written by Linden Peach and published by University of Wales Press. This book was released on 2020-10-01 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a comparative study of fiction by late twentieth and twenty-first century women writers from Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales. This work is of interest to students interested in women’s studies, gender studies, and cultural studies as well as Welsh, Irish and Celtic studies.

Download or read book Women s Fiction written by Rebecca Vnuk and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-09-17 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offering a fresh perspective on women's fiction for a broad reading audience—fans as well as librarians—this book defines and maps the genre, and describes hundreds of relevant titles. Women's Fiction: A Guide to Popular Reading Interests celebrates the books in this broad genre—titles that explore the lives of female protagonists, with a focus on their relationships with family, friends, and lovers. After a brief introductory history and a chapter that defines the characteristics of women's fiction, the author showcases annotations and suggestions of approximately 300 titles by more than 100 authors. She explains how women's fiction differs from romance fiction, enabling readers to appreciate this rich body of literature that encompasses titles as diverse as Meg Cabot's lighthearted chick lit to the more serious novels of Elizabeth Berg and Maeve Binchy. The book identifies some of the most popular and enduring women's fiction authors and titles, and provides invaluable reading lists and readalike suggestions that will be appreciated by both librarians and general readers.

Download or read book Irigaray Incarnation and Contemporary Women s Fiction written by Abigail Rine and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-08-01 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the provocative recent work of feminist theorist Luce Irigaray, Irigaray, Incarnation and Contemporary Women's Fiction illuminates the vital and subversive role of literature in rewriting notions of the sacred. Abigail Rine demonstrates through careful readings how a range of contemporary women writers - from Margaret Atwood to Michèle Roberts and Alice Walker – think beyond traditional religious discourse and masculine models of subjectivity towards a new model of the sacred: one that seeks to reconcile the schism between the human and the divine, between the body and the word. Along the way, the book argues that literature is the ideal space for rethinking religion, precisely because it is a realm that cultivates imagination, mystery and incarnation.

Download or read book Women s Fiction 1945 2005 written by Deborah Philips and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organised around each decade of the post war period, this book analyses novels written by and for women from 1945 to the present. Each chapter identifies a specific genre in popular fiction for women which marked that period and provides case studies focusing on writers and texts which enjoyed a wide readership. Despite their popularity, these novels remain largely outside the 'canon' of women's writing, and are often unacknowledged by feminist literary criticism. However, these texts clearly touched a nerve with a largely female readership, and so offer a means of charting the changes in ideals of femininity, and in the tensions and contradictions in gender identities in the post-war period. Their analysis offers new insights into the shifting demands, aspirations and expectations of what a woman could and should be over the last half century. Through her analysis of women's writing and reading, Philips sets out to challenge the distinction between 'popular' and 'literary' fiction, arguing that neat categories such as 'popular', 'middle brow' and 'serious fiction' need more careful definition.

Download or read book The Medusa Gaze in Contemporary Women s Fiction written by Gillian M. E. Alban and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2017-08-21 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Medusa Gaze offers striking insights into the desires and frustrations of women through the narratives of the impressive contemporary novelists Angela Carter, Toni Morrison, Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, Iris Murdoch, Jeanette Winterson, Jean Rhys and Michèle Roberts. It illuminates women’s power and vulnerability as they construct their own egos in opposition to their hostile alter egos or others facing them in their mirrors, and fixes a panoptic gaze on the women stalking its pages, as they learn how to deflect the menacing gaze of others by returning their look defiantly back at them. Some stare back and win assurance; others are stared down, reduced to psychic trauma, madness and even suicide. The book shows how Freud’s, Sartre’s and Lacan’s androcentric views define the Medusa m/other as monstrous, and how the efforts of mothers to nurture may be slighted as inadequate or devouring. It presents Medusa and other goddess figures as inspirational, repelling harm through the ‘evil eye’ of their powerful gaze. Conversely, it also shows women who are condemned as monstrous Gorgons, trapped in enmity, rivalry and rage. Representing English, American and African American, Canadian and Caribbean writing, the works explored here include realistic, social narrative and magical realist writings, in addition to tales of the past and dystopian narratives.

Download or read book Contemporary Women s Fiction and the Fantastic written by L. Armitt and published by Springer. This book was released on 2000-04-14 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines a wide variety of the ways in which the fantastic has impacted upon contemporary women's fiction. Some of the issues addressed include: the importance of the cyborg and the spectre to critical and fictional discourses of gender; the interface between the grotesque and contemporary readings of feminist utopianism; the growing similarity between late twentieth-century gothicism and the magical real. The study is based upon the work of fifteen writers and includes novels by Allende, Atwood, Carter, Head, Morrison, Weldon, Winterson and Wittig.

Download or read book Women s Fiction written by Deborah Philips and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-06-19 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in its second edition and with new chapters covering such texts as Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love and 'yummy mummy' novels such as Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It, this is a wide-ranging survey of popular women's fiction from 1945 to the present. Examining key trends in popular writing for women in each decade, Women's Fiction offers case study readings of major British and American writers. Through these readings, the book explores how popular texts often neglected by feminist literary criticism have charted the shifting demands, aspirations and expectations of women in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Download or read book The Complete Novels of the Lear Sister Trilogy written by Julia London and published by Julia London. This book was released on 2011-07-09 with total page 574 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book English Literature in Context written by Paul Poplawski and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-18 with total page 757 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Anglo-Saxon runes to postcolonial rap, this undergraduate textbook covers the social and historical contexts of the whole of the English literature.

Download or read book Miss Fortune written by Julia London and published by Julia London. This book was released on 2011-07-09 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Waiting for Paint to Dry written by Lia Mack and published by Blissfully Beguiling Books. This book was released on 2022-04-29 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Goodreads “Best Contemporary Women’s Fiction” Listopia Book A Goodreads “Favorite Chick-Lit/Women’s Fiction Books” Listopia Book 5-STAR AMAZON REVIEWS "Expertly written." - meg "Prepare to cry." - quilter 218 "Complicated and hard to put down." - SusieS "Gripping Tale of Healing with a Dose of Humor." - GranJan "Sensitive Approach to a Traumatic and Difficult Topic-- Particularly as the First Time Book of This Author." - Sheila "A beautiful book about hope and recovery for sexual abuse victims." - Dr. Patricia K. Martin, Clinical Psychologist "This book brings new understanding of the great effort it takes to overcome the long-lasting effects of such traumas and the importance of support that sometimes comes from even the most unlikely sources." - GiGi2 5-STAR GOODREADS REVIEWS "This was a powerful and almost haunting read. It was good the book had a forewarning. The healing of our souls, when faced with such unmitigated horror, is a task indeed. Superbly written. Tears and mental anguish encompass the pages. Raw and honest." - Julie H. "An emotional story of a woman coming back after closing herself off after being raped. Mack's depiction of the emotions and healing path are spot on. At times, it's so raw and real that it's almost hard to read. Inspirational, raw, and beautiful." - Samantha "Although the recovery time was fast in only a year it is one of the best fictional portrayals of PTSD that I have read." - Kara "Awesome book! Loved the story line, loved the characters. Couldn't put it down, but then I was sad when it ended. It dealt with a difficult subject, but would be good for young girls to read to know that this doesn't have to happen to them." - Carol 5-STAR NET GALLY REVIEWS "While this read has to do with heavy topics, triggers, trauma and everything that comes along with it... it's also a book about healing and I think changing the narrative and giving people hope that they can heal from something like this is incredibly important." - Hazel P. "8/10! Amazing book I loved it. Once I really got into it I couldn’t put it down. I was disappointed there wasn’t much of a reunion with Matty and her parents. I felt that was a bit disappointing. I want to know more about how Matty moves on and her future. I am so excited for book two! And the view it’s going to be." - Meghan K. "Hard to read at times but enjoyed it." - Teresa T. Since sprinting away from her sister's wedding (and knocking over a bridesmaid in the process) Matty Bell has lived in a self-made monochromatic life of work-eat-sleep-survive. In and out of work, she hasn't seen her family in over a decade, lives vicariously through her best friend's seemingly perfect life. And the only goal she has (other than filling her stomach) is to avoid any and all reminders of her birthday. It only brings her pain. But when life catches up with Matty on the night of her surprise 30th birthday, she sets out on a nerve-wreaking last-minute trip home to confront her family that might just result in her coming full-healing-circle. Except, showing up unannounced has Matty staying at her sister's ocean front home, alone, with only thoughts of that buffet-of-a-man she sat next to on the plane dancing in her head. And there's also that pile of left over paint, daring her to take redemption into her own hands. From the author of "Hard-Hitting Fiction, with a Dose of Healing-Humor," comes a serious yet laughter-filled healing story of one's woman journey to reclaim her life, find inner-peace, and stumble into love...