Hester Prynne must be punished. Why won't she name her baby's father? The vengeful Puritans of Boston demand an answer. Can the new doctor in town unlock the mystery of the shameful secret? Hester's gentle pastor seems unable- or unwilling- to give her any help.

"Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home--a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse--but John's not here. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month-old resident of Trudy's womb. Told from a perspective unlike any other, Nutshell is a classic tale of murder and deceit from one of the world's master storytellers"--...

A group of young suburban parents, including a stay-at-home dad, a former feminist, and an over-structured mom, finds its sleepy existence shattered when a convicted child molester moves back into town and two of the parents have an affair.

When Demetria Costanas finally confronts a fellow professor to tell him that their affair is over, it's more than the relationship that's finished. After a photo is delivered to the university president and her husband, she may lose her career and marriage, too! Will sorting things out with Christian counselor Sullivan Crisp help?

"Emma Rosenblum's Bad Summer People is a whip-smart, propulsive debut about infidelity, backstabbing, and murderous intrigue, set against an exclusive summer haven on Fire Island. None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder? Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating...

"Jackie Newsome's best friend is dead, and everyone knows who killed her. Jackie is an ex-emotional eater and mother of four, who has finally lost the weight she long yearned to be free of. But leaving her old self behind proves harder than she ever imagined. She believes she should be happier, but misery still chases her, and motherhood threatens to consume her. Her only salve is Theresa, her best friend whose life she desperately covets. Their bond...

A "retelling of the Greek myth of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra and their children -- a spectacularly audacious, violent and riveting story of family and vengeance"--Dust jacket. Since her husband King Agamemnon left ancient Mycenae to sail with his army for Troy, Clytemnestra rules along with her lover Aegisthus. Together they plot the bloody murder of Agamemnon on the day of his return. Clytemnestra reveals how her husband deceived her eldest daughter...

Traces the story of a scandalous trial that rocked Victorian England, describing how Isabella Robinson recorded sexual fantasies in her private diary, which was discovered and read by her husband, who petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery. 1850, Isabella Robinson set out for a party. Her carriage drew up at 8 Royal Circus, a grand sandstone house lit by gas lamps. This was the home of the rich widow Lady Drysdale, a vivacious hostess...

"Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She's a domestic goddess who's never met a party she couldn't host or a charge she couldn't lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be...

"Jenny Erpenbeck (the author of Go, Went, Gone and Visitation) is an epic storyteller and arguably the most powerful voice in contemporary German literature. Erpenbeck's new novel Kairos-an unforgettably compelling masterpiece tells the story of the romance begun in East Berlin at the end of the 1980s when nineteen-year-old Katharina meets by chance a married writer in his fifties named Hans. Their passionate yet difficult long-running affair takes...