Jen has dumped Andy, and he's handling the breakup in exactly the way all his friends and family might have expected: very, very badly. Crashing at his mother's house and obsessively photographing his hairline, Andy embraces the rites and rituals of every breakup-the ill-advised decision to move onto a houseboat, the forced merriment of a lads' night out, the accidental late-night text to the ex-all resulting in a never-ending shame spiral. Even as...

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive...

From the moment I first saw Caleb, I knew he belonged to me. And I knew I'd have to save him--because how else does the girl nobody wants win over the boy beloved by all? Nothing about his life or mine has gone to plan. He's isolated and miserable. I've got a vindictive ex, two young kids, and more problems than I can count. But what hasn't changed is this: it still feels like he's mine. And it sure looks like he's in need of saving.

When a young nanny is found dead in mysterious circumstances, new mom, Tash, is intrigued. She has been searching for a story to launch her career as a freelance journalist. But she has also been searching for something else--new friends to help her navigate motherhood. She sees them at her son's new playgroup. The other mothers. A group of sleek, sophisticated women who live in a neighborhood of tree-lined avenues and stunning houses. The sort of...

Raj and Rachel Ranjani have invited a small group of their ride or dies from college for a celebratory weekend in Napa Valley. On the agenda: three nights in the couple's vineyard mansion, a lavish dinner at Napa's hottest new restaurant, exclusive tastings, and the grand opening of the Ranjanis' ultra-high-end winery. It's a reunion of six friends who haven't seen each other in years. What could go wrong? To start, there's the less-than-warm welcome:...

In New Haven in 1901, 18-year-old Portia Washington sneaks out to see her father--the great Booker T. Washington--greet President Teddy Roosevelt but then falls ill. Coming to her aid is Teddy's daughter, Alice, who brings Portia to her hotel room to recover and, despite some awkward moments, the two bond over their motherlessness. Thus begins a lifelong friendship. Portia eventually spends time in Germany studying music, and returns to Tuskegee to...

In an alternative 2011, the Mental Parity movement takes hold. Americans now embrace the sacred, universal truth that there is no such thing as variable human intelligence. Because everyone is equally smart, discrimination against purportedly dumb people is 'the last great civil rights fight.' Tests, grades, and employment qualifications are all discarded. Children are expelled for saying the S-word ("stupid") and encouraged to report parents who...

Los Angeles brims with opportunity in 1959-though not for aspiring fashion designer Cordelia Mai Yin, the first-generation child of Vietnamese immigrants, who finds the city unkind to outsiders and as dispirited as her own family. When Cordi rents a cheap loft in an old apartment building, she quickly warms to kindred souls Tessa, Audrey, and Silly. They also want better things and have pasts they'd rather forget. That they all share the same middle...

Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Her mother has just passed away, her brother is newly married, and now that the Great War is over, she has been asked to give up managing the estate she helped to run when the men all joined the army. It is suggested to her that she become a governess. But first, she will act as caretaker to Mrs. Fog, an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside resort. Constance is soon swept up in the social whirl...

Every creation two friends build together end up tumbling down, except their friendship.