At 22, Dan Brown came to the Bronx's P.S. 85 as an eager, fresh-faced teacher. Unbeknownst to him, his assigned class, 4-217, was the designated "dumping ground" for all fourth-grade problem cases, and his students would prove to be more challenging than he could ever anticipate. Intent on being a caring, dedicated teacher but confronted with unruly children, absent parents, and a failing administration, Dan was pushed to the limit time and again: he found himself screaming with rage, punching his fist through a blackboard out of sheer frustration, often just wanting to give up and walk away.

When Georgia rents her country home for the month of August, it’s off to the relaxing Connecticut shore for her; her husband, Tom; and their young daughter. It’s just what they need to ease family tensions and reconnect. All that’s left to do is leave behind their house keys—to a stranger. For Anna, Georgia and Tom’s house in the cool woodlands is a dream break from the oppressive heat of a New York City summer—and from an increasingly ill-fated relationship with her lover. A month apart and Anna can clear her head and reassess her future. She’s found the perfect place to do it.

When they meet in the 1930s, Doris and Tup’s love is immediate. They marry quickly and Doris commits to the only life Tup ever wanted: working the Senter family farm. Soon their first child, Sonny, is born and Doris and Tup understand they are blessed. More children arrive - precocious, large-hearted Dodie and quiet, devoted Beston - but Doris and Tup take nothing for granted. When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered.

When Paul Fischer receives a strange phone call asking for help, from a woman who might be his estranged wife Rachel, he's drawn into a mysterious search that threatens not only his struggling bookstore, but long-buried dreams too.

When mum of two Beth moves out of her beloved marital home and into an unloved and unkempt cottage, she can’t help but feel demoralised. Faced with months of DIY and dust, her children Jacob and Olivia aren’t impressed either. But when Beth finds a box of letters while she’s clearing out the children’s room, things start to look up. The correspondence is decades old, between agony aunt Evelyn and those in need of solace. Intrigued as to why the letters have been kept safe all these years, Beth can’t resist reading them.

One third to one half of Americans are introverts in a culture that celebrates - even enforces - an ideal of extroversion and a cult of personality. Political leaders are charismatic, celebrities bask in the spotlight, and authority figures are assertive. It is no surprise that a quiet revolution has begun to emerge among the invisible half of the population, asserting that they are just as powerful in their own unique ways. The Irresistible Introvert embodies the spirit of this revival and breaks down the myth that charisma is reserved for extroverts only.

Port Kingerton: the insular cray-fishing town at the butt-end of South Australia, where everyone knows everyone. And everyone knows too that when Abigail Fancy left town at seventeen, she hung out the window of her boyfriend's Corolla, middle fingers held high, swearing she'd never come back. And she hasn't, until now. At her parents' house Abigail finds a party (read: town meeting) in full swing over something iffy found on the beach—a thigh bone.

Liv and Toni were once inseparable. While their parents focused on Mandy, their little sister with special needs, the two older sisters leaned on each other for love, support and security. When they were in their teens, and Liv needed a lifesaving operation, Toni didn’t hesitate to do whatever it took to help her. Since then, their lives have gone in different directions. They live in different cities and rarely see each other. But now it’s Toni who needs help from Liv. Because she’s desperate for a baby.

Heroic bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street. There's nothing in the bag to indicate who it belongs to, although there's all sorts of other things in it. Laurent feels a strong impulse to find the owner and tries to puzzle together who she might be from the contents of the bag. Especially a red notebook with her jottings, which really makes him want to meet her. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?

Myrna, Leonie, and Chrissy meet every Thursday to sample fine cheeses, to reminisce about their former lives as professors, and lately, to muse about murder. Decades ago, a vicious cabal of male poets contrived—quite publicly and successfully—to undermine the writing career, confidence, and health of their dear friend Fern. Now, after Fern has taken a turn for the worse, her three old friends decide that it’s finally time to strike back—in secret, of course, since Fern is far too gentle to approve of a vendetta.

When Caroline, a gifted ornithologist who wants a life of travel and adventure, gets pregnant against her wishes, her husband, Charlie, assumes she will change her mind. She doesn't—and as their daughter, Grace, grows up, she falls through the devastating schism that has grown between them. Told by all three of the characters involved and set against the backdrop of Lake Superior, Finding Grace is a piercing chronicle and a poignant comic-of-age journey for a daughter and her parents.

One year ago today, Tress Walker’s husband was killed in a car accident, on a trip with his secret mistress whilst Tress gave birth to their son. But as time moves on, Tress has to choose whether to protect her fragile heart or open it to love again.

Noah Clark was equally devastated to discover his wife and his best friend were having an affair. Now the love of his life is asking for a second chance. But can there ever be a way back once the trust is broken?

Few women of her time lived to see their name in print. But Katherine was no ordinary woman. She was Sir Walter Raleigh’s mother. This is her story.

The war is over and so are the jobs (and freedoms) of tens of thousands of Australian women. The armaments factories are making washing machines instead of bullets and war correspondent Tilly Galloway has hung up her uniform and been forced to work on the women's pages of her newspaper—the only job available to her—where she struggles to write advice on fashion and make-up. As Sydney swells with returning servicemen and the city bustles back to post-war life, Tilly finds her world is anything but normal. 

Angela Alexander, a New England bookshop owner and support talk-line volunteer, is dedicated to listening to people without her own filter getting in the way. Though her life is full and satisfying, she faces the ultimate dilemma after her husband, Tucker—an exuberant bird photographer and blues musician—is harmed by medical malpractice during a routine hernia repair. Left in intractable pain, he struggles to focus on any shred of quality of life. When Tucker expresses the desire to end his life before he loses full autonomy, Angela has to decide to support him in that decision, or not.