Showing results for "The Willows" in Literary Fiction

In each story in this collection, Haruki Murakami sidesteps the real and sprints for the surreal. Everyday events are transcended, leaving the reader dazzled by this master of his craft. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is Murakami's most eclectic collection of stories to date, spanning five years of his writing.

Ses brillantes études universitaires terminées, Anne Shirley se voit confier la direction du lycée de Summerside, une petite bourgade de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard, d'apparence paisible, mais qui va lui réserver bien des surprises. Elle nous fait tour à tour découvrir Windy Willows, la pension où elle va vivre pendant trois ans - ainsi que ses trois occupantes -, la petite Elizabeth, sa féerique voisine, Katherine Brooke, sa collègue désabusée, et ses élèves, qu'ils soient touchants ou tout à fait exaspérants.

Tobi and Ella's childhood in East Berlin is shrouded in mystery. Now adults living in London, their past is full of unanswered questions. Both remember their family's daring and terrifying attempt to escape which ended in tragedy, but the fall-out from that single event remains elusive. In contemporary Germany, Aaron works for the archive, making his way through old files, piecing together the tragic history of thousands of families. But one file in particular catches his eye; and soon unravelling the secrets at its heart becomes an obsession.

In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients - dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups - from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble. He goes by Alif - the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and a convenient handle to hide behind. The aristocratic woman Alif loves has jilted him for a prince chosen by her parents, and his computer has just been breached by the state’s electronic security force, putting his clients and his own neck on the line.

Nadia has been investigating the secretive business of the wealthy Wilcox Smiths in Bahrain. When she goes missing, presumed dead, those close to her unravel a trail that leads back to the '70s in Tehran, where Martin Wilcox Smith began his career as a diplomat. Phoebe, Martin's enigmatic wife, is divided between her love of Nadia and protecting her husband; Fauzia, Martin's daughter-in-law, is a reporter investigating British ties to the Middle East; and Kate, Martin's niece, is in a relationship with a Bahraini refugee who opens her eyes to Martin's corruption.

Elin Willows’ popular debut Inlands explores the emotional journey of a young woman who leaves behind her life in Stockholm and finds herself in a new place at the edge of the Arctic Circle. Overwhelmed by nature’s magnitude and the simplicity and strangeness of her new life, she searches for a new identity and for ways to overcome her feelings of alienation. Rather than returning to the known (Stockholm, her friends and family), she chooses to stay and struggles to adapt to its new customs.

When a fire destroys the factory where Willow Miller works, her only choice for a secure future comes through becoming a mail-order bride to ex-Amish Amos Stoltzfus and moving to her ancestral home of Pennsylvania. Hope carries her forward into a new life, but guilt over her part in the fire that destroyed the factory threatens to hold her back.

International lawyer Sophie Bellamy has dedicated her life to helping people in war-torn countries. But when she survives a hostage situation, she remembers what matters most: the children she loves back home. Haunted by regrets, she returns to the idyllic Catskills village of Avalon on the shores of Willow Lake, determined to repair the bonds with her family.

Constance Wilde's marriage has ended. Oscar is in prison and she has fled to Italy with their children to escape London gossip and public disapproval. Here she reflects on her marriage to Oscar, the confusing difference between his private and public self and whether she always knew that their marriage was founded on a different kind of love. Despite her family's warnings, her frustration with her impossible husband's spending and drinking, his affairs and his prison sentence, Constance remains loyal and loving.

Ingrid is desperate to sell up and move on. Recently widowed, she no longer needs the large house or the treasures (and tat) collected by her late husband, Tommy, an auctioneer. Then there’s the debt he left her with, too. So, she jumps at the chance to downsize and move to Willowbrook on a temporary lease. She’ll open a pop-up shop for just one year – to dispose of Tommy’s accumulated goods – and then move on. No getting embroiled in village life. But Ingrid hasn’t reckoned on Willowbrook’s extrovert local ladies. Or handsome local craftsman Joel, with whom there’s a definite attraction.

The Willow Wren is based on the true story of a neurodivergent boy growing up in Nazi Germany, surviving bombing, the Hitler Youth, and Russian occupation before escaping to the west.

Gavin Ramsay, a 42-year-old man with a checkered past, travels to Willow Lake - a sleepy town somewhere in New England - to complete a carpentry contract. On the way he meets Liam Strindberg, a 27-year-old hipster who is reeling after his fiancé left him on the morning of their wedding day.

Amy Bright might be the best matchmaker in Destiny, Ohio, but she's desperately shy when it comes to her own love life - and helpless when it comes to Logan Whitaker, with whom she's head-over-heels in love. So Amy decides to become Logan's secret admirer, sending him sensual love letters steamy enough to unseal their own envelopes. After a tragedy on the job, firefighter Logan is battling demons. Thank goodness Amy is there for him. But when a woman from Logan's past resurfaces, he doesn't know what he needs.

Rose Gregory has suffered a devastating blow, a double bereavement from which months later she is still reeling. Sanctuary and rest are prescribed by her doctor. But when she arrives at her refuge, a dank and decaying monastery, she finds it is not the haven promised. Despite the veneer of calm contemplation, the monastery turns out to be a hotbed of intrigue and disharmony. Rose witnesses bullying and cruelty and ultimately in defence of the vulnerable turns to violence herself.

Strum is an epic tale that crosses geography, time, and cultures. In 1950s Quebec, a deaf woodworker, Bernard Tenderfield, is drawn deep into the woods when he hears a lulling melody in his dreams. The forest gives him an unexpected gift - an ancient cedar falls at his feet, and he nearly loses his life salvaging part of the fallen tree to build two magical guitars. From there, the story moves back and forth, tracing Bernard's European and Iroquois bloodline through time.

Cynny Barlow is just eighteen when she falls helplessly in love with the dashing Ralph Clinton, an ambitious and talented actor visiting her home town for the summer. However, when Ralph is talent-spotted by a film producer, he puts everything behind him and leaves for the big time, with no idea that Cynny is already pregnant. Whilst her daughter Suzie is a toddler, Cynny can see no way out of her life of drudgery, working at the grocer's during the day, and as a barmaid in the evenings to make ends meet.