Julia and Cassie have been friends since nursery school. They have shared everything, including their desire to escape the stifling limitations of their birthplace, the quiet town of Royston, Massachusetts. But as the two girls enter adolescence, their paths diverge and Cassie sets out on a journey that will put her life in danger and shatter her oldest friendship.

"The Emperor's Children is a novel about the intersections in the lives of three friends, now on the cusp of their thirties, making their way - and not - in New York City." "There is beautiful, sophisticated Marina Thwaite - an "It" girl finishing her first book; the daughter of Murray Thwaite, celebrated intellectual and journalist - and her two closest friends from Brown, Danielle, a quietly appealing television producer, and Julius, a cash-strapped...

"A Simple Tale is the touching story of Maria Poniatowski. Born in the Ukraine between the two world wars and taken by the Germans for slave labor, Maria finds herself relocated as a displaced person in Canada. She and her husband settle in Toronto, where he works in construction and she as a cleaning woman. They build a new life and provide their son Radek, who prefers to call himself Rod, with every opportunity. But eventually his success as an...