Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/27/2012
ISBN-13: 9780307599599
ISBN-10: 0307599590

Buenos Aires university student Perla Correa has always lived a privileged life, never thinking too deeply about the role her father played in Argentina's Dirty War. But an uninvited visitor to her parents' house, where she is staying alone, forces her to confront her father's military past. This strange, dripping-wet, and initially mute interloper shares stories of his life with her -- a life that ended more than 20 years ago when he became one of Argentina's thousands of désaparecidos -- as she begins to wonder about her own identity. Told mostly in a series of flashbacks, this gripping novel will appeal to readers of Latin American fiction and those who enjoy well-told and slightly mystical coming-of-age novels.

Publisher: Harper Perennial
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/27/2012
ISBN-13: 9780062094667
ISBN-10: 0062094661

Publisher: Dial Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/20/2012
ISBN-13: 9781400069774
ISBN-10: 1400069777

Thirty-year-old Irina Ellison watched her father succumb to Huntington's disease and, knowing that she is vulnerable to its early onset, takes on a quest he started. Recognizing his time was limited, he'd written to a chess grandmaster asking for advice on making graceful exits when faced with a sure loss. Though Aleksandr Bezetov never answered, Irina decides to visit him in Russia to get the answer herself, abandoning her academic career in Boston to do so. Jumping through time from Aleksandr's early career (when he was first introduced to Soviet politics) to 2006, when he wages a hopeless campaign against Vladimir Putin, this debut novel masterfully handles both terminal illness and Russia's political landscape.

Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/03/2012
ISBN-13: 9780061779749
ISBN-10: 0061779741

Readers expecting the farcical comedy and outlandish premises of A Dirty Job or Bite Me may be disappointed, but Sacré Bleu has treasures to offer all the same, including the quirky characters and off-color humor for which Christopher Moore is known. Lucien Lessard is a baker and aspiring artist who grew up surrounded by the likes of Renoir and Pissarro; when he receives a tube of brilliant blue paint, his mediocre painting improves. But he becomes obsessed with his mysterious muses, Juliette, the origins of the blue paint, and the strange death of Vincent van Gogh. His search for answers (aided by his best friend, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec) brings him into contact with some strange individuals and several brothels, and offers readers quite possibly the funniest art history education ever.

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/12/2012
ISBN-13: 9780399157585
ISBN-10: 0399157581

Nell Slattery has survived a terrible plane crash only to deal with the physical fallout -- and amnesia. She doesn't recognize her sister, her mother, or her husband, but as her memory is jogged -- by friends, family members, and even music -- she feels that they're not telling her the whole story. Nor is she living the sort of life she hoped she would be. So in hopes of finding some answers, she and the only other survivor of the plane crash, self-medicating actor Anderson Carroll, take off on a road trip. Like the protagonist in Liane Moriarty's recent novel What Alice Forgot, Nell has been given the chance to remake her life; the confusion and frustration she experiences along the way is as realistic as Nell is likeable.

Publisher: Europa Editions
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 09/02/2008
ISBN-13: 9781933372600
ISBN-10: 1933372605

Widowed 54-year-old Renée Michel is a concierge in a fancy Parisian apartment building populated by pretentious, wealthy snobs. Though she is well-read and extremely intelligent, Renée hides her interests in order to be what her employers expect her to be -- both uninteresting and unthreatening to class expectations. Living in the same building is an extremely bright but pessimistic 12-year-old, Paloma Josse. Though these two have much in common, it's not until the arrival of a new Japanese tenant that they are brought together, to the benefit of all three. Though this bestselling fable features a fairly simple plot, there is humor in Renée's observations, and readers interested in philosophy, culture, and class divisions will be especially appreciative.

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Publisher: Bloomsbury
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/02/2006
ISBN-13: 9781582346175
ISBN-10: 1582346178

Supposedly based on the author's own experiences, A Year in the Merde follows Paul West's adventures as a British expatriate living in Paris. Brought there by a French firm to open a chain of British tea rooms, Paul soon sees much to dislike about France (the food, his business associates) and to like (mostly, the women). With pointed commentary about inefficient French business practices, the snobbery of Parisians, the laziness of the workers, and the scheming nature of Paul's boss, A Year in the Merde nevertheless showcases all there is to love about France, making it perfect for armchair travelers wishing to visit France -- as long as you've got a sense of humor.

Publisher: Harper Perennial
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780061431630
ISBN-10: 006143163X

In Chocolat, Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk opened a chocolate shop in a small French town. In this long-anticipated sequel, Vianne assumes a new, low-profile identity in Paris with Anouk and a second daughter, four-year-old Rosette. Still selling chocolates, she determines that the magic and sorcery of the past are well behind her, and she has a suitor in the staid, bourgeois Thierry. But a devious new friend has dark plans, and the arrival of river gypsy Roux finally forces her to recognize that she is in danger of losing everything she has worked for. Though this follow-up is darker than Chocolat, those who were captivated by that story will nevertheless enjoy this one as well.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/12/2007
ISBN-13: 9780312370831
ISBN-10: 0312370830

In 1942, French police rounded up and arrested thousands of Jewish families in Paris, including that of ten-year-old Sarah Starzynski, who had hidden her four-year-old brother in a locked cupboard, thinking she'd be back soon to let him out. On the 60th anniversary of these arrests, American journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article on this dark time, and determines to find out what had happened to the previous occupants of the apartment her French husband's family has owned for three generations. Her investigation leads her to Sarah, and to long-hidden family secrets that threaten her perspective of her husband, his family, and France itself. Switching between Sarah's story in 1942 and Julia's in the present, this debut novel is "masterful and compelling" (Library Journal).

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Publisher: Delacorte Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780385335409
ISBN-10: 0385335407

Frenchwoman Isabelle Forrester has been married to her controlling, distant husband, a Parisian banker, for long enough that she is used to being ignored; she finds happiness and solace in her 14-year-old son, who has suffered his entire life with a grave illness that keeps him weak and wheelchair-bound. But recently, her friendship with a powerful (and faithfully if unhappily married) American man has also offered freedom and happiness -- until a car accident that leaves them comatose destroys their personal lives, perhaps forever. Fortunately, author Danielle Steel prefers happy endings, so there may be a chance at bliss for both of them before this love story is over...

First Chapter