The story of Joan, a ballerina whose life has been shaped by her relationship with the world-famous dancer Arslan Ruskov, whom she helps defect from the Soviet Union to the U.S. While Arslan's career takes off in New York, Joan's slowly declines, ending when she becomes pregnant and decides to marry her longtime admirer, a PhD student named Jacob. As the years pass, Joan settles into her new life in California, teaching dance and watching her son,...

In 1997 the author, aged 17, escaped North Korea for China. Her mother's first words over the telephone to her lost daughter were "don't come back". The reprisals for all of them would have been lethal. Twelve years later she returned to the North Korean border in a daring mission to spirit her mother and brother to South Korea in a very costly and dangerous journey. This eloquent book offers the first credible account of ordinary life in North Korea...

Peter C. Bjarkman has traveled to all corners of Cuba covering baseball, from their early Olympic baseball triumphs to the recent domestic economic crises that have spurred an increasing number of Cuban stars to abandon their homeland. Having enjoyed rare access and personally knowing most of the top Cuban stars, Bjarkman reveals the complete story behind the Cuban big league phenomenon, and answers numerous questions lurking behind one of the biggest...

"The author of Red Sorghum and China's most revered and controversial novelist returns with his first major publication since winning the Nobel Prize. In 2012, the Nobel committee confirmed Mo Yan's position as one of the greatest and most important writers of our time. In his much-anticipated new novel, Mo Yan chronicles the sweeping history of modern China through the lens of the nation's controversial one- child policy. Frog opens with a playwright...

Love's betrayal: When redcoats bring an injured Henry O'Neil to the Butler home for care and lodging, Delight despises the man. A passionate defender of the patriot cause, she barely tolerates his presence. Sparks fly as Delight and Henry hold heated debates. But as Henry gradually recovers, he professes a change of heart - and insists he will desert the British forces to fight with the American troops. But as her love for Henry grows, she begins...

"A painstakingly researched, revelatory biography of Svetlana Stalin, a woman fated to live her life in the shadow of one of history's most monstrous dictators--her father, Josef Stalin. Born in the early years of the Soviet Union, Svetlana Stalin spent her youth inside the walls of the Kremlin. Communist Party privilege protected her from the mass starvation and purges that haunted Russia, but she did not escape tragedy--the loss of everyone she...

"Running from her father's brutal legacy, Joseph Stalin's daughter defects to the United States against the turbulence of the 1960s. For fans of We Were the Lucky Ones and A Gentleman in Moscow, this sweeping historical novel is inspired by the true story of Svetlana Alliluyeva. In one of the most momentous events of the Cold War, Svetlana Allilyueva, the forty-one-year-old daughter of the notorious tyrannical leader of the USSR, abruptly abandoned...

Based on an inspiring true story, this emotionally powerful crowd-pleaser emerged as one of the year's most talked about independent films. It's the fascinating and epic tale of Li Cunxin, a peasant boy from rural China who beats impossible odds to become a world-renowned ballet dancer. Through breathtaking talent and sheer determination, Li makes his way to the United States, but when he falls in love with an American woman, he must risk everything...

Amanda Cole is a brilliant young CIA agent, following in the footsteps of her father, Charlie. But Amanda's posting in Rome is a sleepy one. She's listless and looking for action when, on a hot summer day, it walks right through the door of her office. A lowly Russian operative is desperate, begging to speak to her. He tells her that a US Senator is about to be assassinated on an overseas trip to Cairo. Amanda believes he's telling the truth, but...