My husband died my life collapsed. On a February morning in 2008 Joyce Carol Oates drove her ailing husband Raymond Smith to the emergency room of the Princeton Medical Center where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Both Joyce & Ray expected him to be released in a day or two. But in less than a week even as Joyce was preparing for his discharge Ray was dead from a hospital-acquired virulent infection & Joyce was suddenly faced -- totally unprepared -- with the reality of widowhood. A Widows Story illuminates one womans struggle to comprehend a life absent of the partnership that had sustained & defined her for nearly half a century. Joyce Carol Oates shares the derangement of denial the anguish of loss the disorientation of the survivor amid a nightmare of death duties & the solace of friendship. She writes unflinchingly of the experience of grief -- the almost unbearable suspense of the hospital vigil the treacherous pools of memory that surround us the vocabulary of illness the absurdities of commercialized forms of mourning. Enlivened by the piercing vision acute perception & mordant humour that are the hallmarks of the work of Joyce Carol Oates this is a extremely moving tale of life & death love & grief. ...

When Nathan Smith 51 is found in bed with a hole in his head its hard not to imagine his young bride as the one with her finger on the trigger. Even her lawyer thinks she is guilty. But given that Mary Smith is entitled to the best defence she can afford
- & thanks to Nathans millions she can afford plenty
- Spenser is hired to investigate Marys bona fides. Her alibi is flimsy
- she claims she was watching TV in the other room when the murder occurred. But the couple were seen fighting at a high profile cocktail party earlier that evening...


...

A Widow's Guilty Secret Detective Nick Jeffries moved to Vengeance hoping to leave behind grisly homicides but the triple murder that hits his desk nixes that idea. Being attracted to the widow of one of the victims is the last thing he needs but when Suzy & her baby are threatened he'll risk all to keep them from a killer's crosshairs... Colton Showdown Hiding in New York City with a handsome detective? Hannah's out of her element. The big city
- & men like Tate Colton
- are part of a world she's not used to. But as danger inches closer he's her only route to safety...and a forbidden attraction she dares to indulge in.

...

Harry Rawlins had been masterminding raids & robberies for almost twenty years. The hijack of a security van in the Strand Underpass would bring the gang thousands
- but the job went disastrously & fatally wrong. Harry always said that if anything ever happened to him Dolly would be all right: Joe & Terry would take over the team would look after everyone. But when Harry got blown to bits trapped in a blazing van Joe & Terry went with him. Dolly had three options. She could give up & hand over Harrys ledgers to the police. She could hand them over to a bunch of thugs. Or she
- & the other widows
- could take the business over.. .and survive.


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I loved it loved it loved it. Its so funny & true & sad & hopeful & wise & ultimately heartwarming. Marian Keyes Maybe it was because I was about to turn the same age my mother was when I lost her. Maybe it was because my husband & I were running out of things to say to each other. But when the online study called Marriage in the 21st Century" showed up in my inbox I had no idea it would change my life. It wasnt long before I was assigned both a pseudonym (Wife 22) & a caseworker (Researcher 101). & just like that I found myself answering questions. Before the study I was Alice Buckle: wife & mother drama teacher & Facebook chatter downloader of memories & Googler of solutions. But these days Im also Wife 22. & somehow my correspondence with Researcher 101 has taken an unexpectedly personal turn. Soon Ill have to make a decision-one that will affect my family my marriage my whole life. But at the moment Im too busy answering questions. As it turns out confession can be a very powerful aphrodisiac." ...

This edition of Chaucers classic tale

Includes:: a lengthy introduction to the biographical & historical context

...

Six-hundred-year-old tales with modern relevance. As well as the complete text of the Wife of Bathr's Prologue & Tale the student will find illustrated information on Chaucer's world including a map of the Canterbury pilgrimage a running synopsis of the action an explanation of unfamiliar words & a wide range of classroom-tested activities to help bring the text to life. Guided by the suggestions for study & the wide range of helpful information students will readily appreciate Chaucer's wit & sense of irony his love of controversy & his delight in character portrayal. ...

After orchestrating a scandalous high-society ruse Lady Jeannette Brantford is banished from her familys estate in England & sent to live with boring elderly cousins in the Irish countryside. But Jeannettes exile is surprisingly eventful. En route to her dreaded destination she encounters Darragh OBrien a devilishly handsome architect who transforms Jeannettes punishment into a delicious whirlwind of wits words & undeniable passion. But Jeannette is determined to land herself a titled husband & no Irish commoner is going to make her change her mind... The second part in Tracy Anne Warrens bestselling Trap Trilogy of Regency romances. Other titles in this series are The Husband Trap & The Wedding Trap. Rouge Romance
- your first stop for romance books
...

Kate Forrest is invisible... Ned the husband she adores doesn't seem to know she's alive & her two charming children have grown into stroppy adolescents. Her boss is suddenly shunting her towards career Siberia & her demanding mother is never off the phone. With her fortieth birthday fast approaching all Kate wants to do is run away from the lot of them. & so she does. On impulse Kate walks out of her job her family & her life & gets on a plane to Italy. With no ties & no responsibilities she soon finds herself deliriously caught up in La Dolce Vita -- & the arms of a man barely half her age. But when the unthinkable threatens her family Kate is brutally forced to choose between her past & the future. ...

A Wigan Childhood is a happy marriage of personal memoir & local history. With great warmth & wit John Taylor paints a vivid picture of knee-high life in the 1950s an era that many Wiganers will remember with clarity & fondness. Indeed this book will be a sheer delight for anyone who recalls (or loves to read about) a time when Mondays meant the smell of boiling washing; when net curtains twitched in the hope of witnessing scandal; homemade brakeless go-karts terrorised old ladies; cinema lights shone on every corner; & the air was filled with the competing aromas of coal dust meat & potato pies & Uncle Joes mintballs. In a tremendously entertaining style & with real honesty the author tells not only of his own childhood but also reveals the stories
- skeletons & all!
- of generations of his family. The portrayals of austere aunts black-clad grandmothers naughty boys & a myriad of other characters will have readers nodding in recognition & laughing out loud at some of their tales & exploits. & to set the whole lot in context John has woven skillfully into the narrative the history of the town itself right back to earliest times making this book a truly rounded evocation of a much-loved Lancashire town & a must for all who know it. A thoroughly engaging book to be read & treasured

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