The Nowhere City

Polly Alter is 39, a failed artist whose marriage has collapsed but who has just been commissioned to write the biography of a brilliant but obscure artist, Lorin Jones. Alter becomes obsessed with finding the truth about Lorin Jones, and when she does, she is exposed to truths about herself, as well.

When a wife reaches her breaking point and her husband begins an ill-advised affair, civil war breaks out within their family.

Erica Tate wouldn’t mind getting up in the morning if she enjoyed her children more. Until puberty struck, Jeffrey and Matilda were absolute darlings, but in the last year, they have become sullen, insufferable little monsters. Erica’s husband, Brian, is so deeply immersed in university life—and the legs of a half-literate flower child named Wendy—that he either doesn’t notice his wife’s misery or simply doesn’t care. Worst of all, their pleasant little neighborhood is transforming into a subdivision. And with each new ranch house that springs up around their lot, Erica’s marriage inches closer to disaster. Admitting she is sick of her family is only the first step. When the Tate household tips into full-scale emotional combat, Erica must do her best to ensure that she comes out on top. In this darkly comic tale, there is nothing more important than having a good exit strategy. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Alison Lurie including rare images from the author’s collection.

On a hot midsummer morning, after sixteen years of marriage, Jane saw her husband fifty feet away and did not recognise him. Alan has changed because he's injured his back. Pain has altered his appearance, but he has also changed in other ways: he has become glum and demanding. Jane has to do everything for him - fetching, carrying, shopping, cooking, even dressing and undressing him. When she longs for escape, her mother accuses her of selfishness - of course she can't abandon a man so handicapped and needy - Meanwhile Henry cares in a different way for his self-centred wife, Delia, a writer and researcher specialising in fairytales, who in her own estimation is a 'Great Artist'. He tends the flame, making certain Delia gets everything she desires including spectacular doses of adulation. Can sexy Delia, with her trailing scarves and lacy shirts, coax Alan out of his grumpiness? Can Henry stop Jane feeling guilty? Can the couples swap roles?

Are some of the world's most talented children's book authors essentially children themselves? In this engaging series of essays, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alison Lurie considers this theory, exploring children's classics from many eras and relating them to the authors who wrote them, including author Louisa May Alcott and author Frank Baum, as well as Dr. Seuss and Salman Rushdie. Analyzing these and many others, Lurie shows how these gifted writers have used children's literature to transfigure sorrow, nostalgia, and the struggles of their own experiences.

Профессору английской литературы Винни Майнер пятьдесят четыре, она не очень красива и давно поставила крест на своей личной жизни. Побывав замужем, Винни раз и навсегда отказалась от идеи брака. Изредка в ее постели появляются партнеры, но не более того. Она довольна своей жизнью, работой и собой. Но все меняется, когда Винни в очередной раз отправляется в Англию. И взбаламутил ее жизнь неотесанный мужлан Чак из американского захолустья…

Фред Тернер, молодой коллега Винни, неприлично красив и терпеть не может Англию. В этой стране его раздражает буквально все: еда, погода, аборигены. Его лондонская жизнь — сплошная тоска, пока в нее не врывается Розмари, блистательная звезда британских мыльных опер…

Ни Фред, ни Винни не помышляли об иностранных связях, отправляясь в Англию, но именно они опутали их плотным коконом из любви, тоски, легкого безумия и тонкого английского юмора.

«Иностранные связи» — роман о любви, роман об одиночестве, получивший Пулитцеровскую премию — самую престижную литературную премию США. Именно «Иностранные связи» принесли Элисон Лури славу, роман был переведен на очень многие языки и экранизирован.