Brooklyn, the 1920s. Margy Shannon-- shy, eager, joyfully optimistic-- lives with her parents and has witnessed how a lifetime of work and poverty has worn them down. Unable to speak up to her overbearing mother, Margy takes refuge in dreams of finding a husband she loves, having children, and living in a nice home. When she meets Frankie Malone, she thinks at last her dreams might be fulfilled ... until a devastating tragedy forces Margy to stand...

"In this gothic tale reminiscent of Faulkner's Light in August, a young woman's journals divulge the horrible secrets of a wealthy family in late nineteenth-century rural France. Before he is called to bless the body of a woman at the nearby asylum, Father Gabriel receives a strange, troubling confession: hidden under her dress he will find the notebooks that contain Rose's harrowing story. At fourteen years old, Rose is sold to a rich man by her...

Nicholas, his mother, and his sister Kate have been left penniless by the death of Mr. Nickleby. In their poverty and desperation they seek help from Nicholas's uncle, the difficult and oppressive Ralph Nickleby who is a usurer. Nicholas's independent attitudes immediately bother his uncle and he is sent to Dotheboys Hall to teach. There he witnesses the mistreatment of orphans by the evil-hearted Wackford Squeers. Nicholas and the orphan boy, Smike,...

Los mellizos Jeanie y Julius tienen 51 años y viven con su madre, Dot, en una casa antigua en mitad de la campiña inglesa. Julius sobrevive gracias a empleos ocasionales; Jeanie apenas sabe leer ni escribir. No tienen internet, televisión ni cuentas bancarias. Ninguno de los dos tiene pareja. Tampoco tienen padre: murió cuando eran niños. Cultivan verduras en su huerto y, cuando cae la noche, tocan sus instrumentos y cantan juntos. Sobreviven...

"For the first time in her privileged life, Adelaide Forsythe won't be swept up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays descending on New York's Fifth Avenue. She couldn't be happier about the prospect of a quieter Christmas. That's not to say her transition from Miss to Mrs. has been without challenge. Though she doesn't regret marrying for love instead of wealth, she can barely light the hearth or cook more than burnt toast. She feels woefully...

From the moment Ava Carson and her ten-year-old son, Toussaint, arrive at the Glenn Avenue family shelter in Philadelphia 1985, Ava is already plotting a way out. She is repulsed by the shelter's squalid conditions: their cockroach-infested room, the barely edible food, and the shifty night security guard. She is determined to rescue her son from the perils and indignities of that place, and to save herself from the complicated past that led them...