Biographical Fiction

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of eighteen hundred starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

In 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy makes a historic run for the White House. Despite concerns about his Catholicism, Kennedy’s outward charm is winning the country over, but his inner demons are putting his candidacy in danger and risk destroying his political career. That same year, Caitlin Russo, a former cop turned reporter, is devoting her skills to finding her husband’s killer. His job as a CIA operative posed its fair share of risks, but when Caitlin discovers his notes about the case that led to his death, she knows there’s more to the story than simple tragedy.

When Ruth Handler walks into the boardroom of the toy company she co-founded and pitches her idea for a doll unlike any other, she knows what she’s setting in motion. It might just take the world a moment to catch up. In 1956, the only dolls on the market for little girls let them pretend to be mothers. Ruth’s vision for a doll shaped like a grown woman and outfitted in an enviable wardrobe will let them dream they can be anything.

Waiter by day, man about Paris by night; the young and good looking Felix Krull has created for himself a personality to charm and deceive the world of wealth. When the Marquis de Venosta makes him a proposal that he can't refuse, the young Felix finds himself on the pathway that will elevate him into the world of riches.

Bart dreams of being an inventor, of building something that matters. When a famous composer asks him to make an instrument that doesn’t exist, an opportunity exceeding his imagination presents itself, along with it, struggle and heartache of overwhelming proportions. When life throws its worst at him, and his decade-long vision is destroyed by his own hands, everything seems lost. But with the help of friends closer than family, his wife, Adele, and a mountain of grit, an idea becomes a reality.

This imagined retelling of Jho Low’s story, based on real events, gives listeners an insider’s view of the glitzy, glamorous world of wealth and privilege, as well as a close-up look at this enigmatic protagonist’s high-stakes fall from grace. The narrator is quirky yet eloquent, at times thoughtful and other times brash, as he leads readers through the corridors of power, where the line between friend and foe blurs. As secrets unravel and fortunes teeter on the edge, readers get a front-row seat to the dark underbelly of high finance and the price of unchecked ambition and greed.

Aus dem Englischen von Giovanni Bandini. Colm Toibin erzählt mit einmaliger Empathie das Leben von Thomas Mann als Roman. Von der Kindheit in Lübeck bis zur Heirat in München, von der Gegnerschaft gegen die Nazis bis zum amerikanischen Exil. Wie viele Gesichter hatte der weltberühmte Autor und Familienvater, der sein Gefühlsleben verborgen hielt, zerrissen zwischen homosexuellem Begehren und familiärem Pflichtgefühl, zwischen der Wonne der Bürgerlichkeit und der künstlerischen Askese? (Perlentaucher.de).

At seventeen, Alice Marble has no formal tennis skills and no coach. What she does have is an ability to hit the ball as hard as she can and a strong desire to prove herself. With steadfast determination and one sacrifice after another, Alice plays her heart out on the courts of the rich and famous, at national tournaments, and—the greatest of them all—at Wimbledon, rising to be one of the top-ranked players in the world.

El 8 de enero de 1982, la escultora colombiana Feliza Bursztyn murió en un restaurante de París. Tenía cuarenta y ocho años. En el momento de su muerte repentina la acompañaban su marido y cuatro amigos. Uno de ellos, el escritor Gabriel García Márquez, publicó días después un artículo que incluía tres palabras en apariencia simples, pero misteriosas en el fondo: «Murió de tristeza».

Escenas de una infancia reúne, por primera vez en lengua española, una selección de la mejor prosa breve del Premio Nobel de Literatura. De los relatos aquí contenidos, algunos se adentran libremente en el terreno de lo autobiográfico, como las extraordinarias estampas de «Escenas de una infancia» o «El pelo de Line»: evocan primeras veces, amistades, pérdidas, el descubrimiento del deseo, instantes de felicidad y fracasos más o menos estrepitosos.

AARON IS A WIND TURBINE APPRENTICE and now works 100m up in the air in remote wind farms in Scotland, Texas and Australia. He falls out of a wind turbine, crashes company cars, almost drowns, stops a turbine with a shotgun, escapes lightning storms and has to share his cramped work environment with his colleague's bowel movements. And that's just the day job.

Dans le New York des années 1930, le fabuleux destin d'une jeune femme qui allait révolutionner l'univers de la beauté : Estée Lauder. Une épopée romanesque et féministe, un vrai bijou de lecture. New York, l'endroit parfait pour se faire oublier. C'est en tout cas l'espoir de la jeune Gloria qui fuit un scandale familial dévastateur. Prête à se réinventer, il ne lui manque plus qu'une nouvelle amie pour l'accompagner dans la ville de tous les possibles. C'est alors qu'elle va trouver sur sa route la très idéaliste Estée.

In this enchanting tale of love, faith, and self-discovery, beautiful Clare Castlemaine's privileged English world crumbles when her father's death leaves her penniless. Forced to seek refuge with her mother's Irish relatives in Dublin, Clare finds herself swept into the warm embrace of the charismatic Blake family–and an Ireland on the brink of transformation.

Theodore Dreiser heavily invested himself in The Genius, an autobiographical novel first published in 1915. Thoroughly immersed in the turn-of-the-century art scene, The Genius explores the multiple conflicts between art and business, art and marriage, and between traditional and modern views of sexual morality. Despite heavy editing, The Genius was deemed so shocking that its sale was immediately prohibited by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. It was not released until 1923, and thereafter the episode confirmed Dreiser’s status as a writer ahead of his time.

La Déchéance d'un Homme" est l'un des romans les plus poignants et introspectifs de la littérature japonaise. Écrit par Osamu Dazai, ce récit semi-autobiographique explore la vie tumultueuse de Yozo Oba, un homme en proie à un profond désespoir et à une aliénation constante. Yozo, un jeune homme issu d'une famille aisée, se sent étranger aux normes et attentes de la société.

La nouvelle héroïne d'Alexandra Lapierre. Stupéfiante de modernité ! Australie, 1901 : Miles Franklin, vingt ans, fille de fermiers du bush, parvient contre vents et marées à faire publier son premier roman, un texte remarquable d'insolence et de fougue, qui connaît un immense succès dans le monde anglo-saxon. Alors qu'elle cherche à garder l'anonymat sous un pseudonyme masculin, son identité est révélée et les préjugés misogynes de son époque la heurtent au plus profond.

This portrayal of Douglass distinguishes him as one of the founders of American democracy instrumental in ending the institution of slavery from which he escapes to become a fierce abolitionist, gifted orator, and newspaper publisher of The North Star.

Un bambino viene al mondo; si chiamerà Johannes, sarà un pescatore. Un uomo ormai anziano muore; si chiamava Johannes, era un pescatore. Mattino e sera si estende tra i due estremi della vita, come tra i due estremi del giorno, tra i pensieri di un padre che vede nascere suo figlio e quelli di un vecchio che affronta le cose di ogni giorno, nel suo ultimo giorno, cose sempre identiche, riconoscibili, eppure definitive.

La cronologia dell’acqua è la storia di una vita che “non segue alcun ordine. Gli avvenimenti non rispondono al rapporto di causa ed effetto come vorremmo. È tutta una serie di frammenti e ripetizioni e trame,” perché “questo condividono il linguaggio e l’acqua”. Il nuoto – il corpo che si perde e si ritrova nell’acqua –, e la letteratura – il desiderio di scrivere senza compromessi –, sono le uniche due certezze di Lidia.

PREMI PRUDENCI BERTRANA. Un relat apassionant sobre la resistència i la perseverança dels nostres avantpassats. Al segle XIII, en una època de conquestes i fervor religiós, Cornèlius Papapoulus, nascut a la noble ciutat de Famagusta, veu la seva vida marcada per una sèrie de renaixements que el transformen profundament. Després de conèixer Ramon Llull, Cornèlius s'uneix als temuts almogàvers, liderats per Roger de Flor, per lluitar en les històriques campanyes contra els otomans que assetjaven Constantinoble.

Beyond the Pain tells the powerful journey of Morgan, a young woman who struggles to heal from the trauma of mental and sexual abuse by a beloved family member.

Inspired by true events, The Death of Us All follows the life of Sister Dorothy Stang, a catholic nun who was brutally murdered by contract killers in 2005. Dedicating her life to save the Amazon Rainforest and stop the atrocities inflicted upon the indigenous peoples; her work in Brazil intertwines with locals, Adriana and Izabel.

Wäre dem Autor nur ein Attribut erlaubt, um seine Generation zu beschreiben, so wählte er "sattgelebt"! In einen langen Frieden hineingeboren und im Wirtschaftswunder groß geworden, wärmen die milden Winter und die heißen Sommer deren alten Glieder. Der flüchtigen Freuden des Lebens müde, irrt sie zwischen dem Schielen nach Askese und dem Heischen nach Exzessen durch das Leben – stets darauf bedacht, ihren Footprint kleinzureden. Zahllose Sachbücher belegen den Klimawandel, ohne uns in die Pflicht der Mäßigung zu nehmen.

Im Jahr 1899 entflieht Josef Naumann, 20 Jahre alt, seinem vorbestimmten Leben in Hamburg und nimmt Arbeit in einem Handelshaus in Wladiwostok an. Dort erlebt er Konflikte und Kriege zwischen Russland, China, Japan und den Kolonialmächten. Im 1. Weltkrieg gerät er in zaristische Verbannung, lebt sieben Jahre in der Taiga und gründet dort eine Familie. Von Rotarmisten mit dem Tode bedroht gelingt ihm mit seiner Familie die Flucht in einem Pferdetreck durch kriegerische Fronten.

Escriba errante é uma jornada com as palavras e os amores. Jornada essa cheia de encruzilhadas. Sem GPS. O livro narra a vida de uma escriba mais inquieta do que correta. Mais errante do que linha reta na sua obsessão de fazer sentido ao escrever. Uma escritora trafegando na fronteira do analógico com o digital. Ora seguindo a manada, ora se insurgindo contra ela. Mas não só.