Unwillingly brought together to care for their ailing mother, three sisters who were named after famous Shakespearean characters discover that everything they have been avoiding may prove more worthwhile than expected.

How do you cope in a world without your mother? When Barbara realizes time is running out, she writes letters to her four daughters, aware that they'll be facing the trials and triumphs of life without her at their side. But how can she leave them when they still have so much growing up to do? Take Lisa, in her midthirties but incapable of making a commitment; or Jennifer, trapped in a stale marriage and buttoned up so tight she could burst. Twentysomething...

Everything Happens Today records a single day in the life of Wes, a seventeen-year-old who attends Manhattan's elite Dalton School and lives in Greenwich Village in a dilapidated town house with his terminally ill mother, distant father, and beloved younger sister. In the course of one day everything will happen to Wes: he will lose his virginity to the wrong girl and break his own heart, try to meet a Monday morning deadline for a paper on War and...

"McFadden's reissued second novel takes an unflinching look at the corrosive nature of alcoholism ... This is not a story of easy redemption ... McFadden writes candidly about the treacherous hold of addiction." -Publishers Weekly "Riveting... . So nicely avoids the sentimentality that swirls around the subject matter. I am as impressed by its structural strength as by the searing and expertly imagined scenes." -Toni Morrison, author of Beloved "The...

As the child of remote, chilly parents, Cassie reveled in the exuberant chaos she found at the home of the Darlings-two boys, a cheerful father, and a glorious mother, Phoebe, who welcomed the lonely little girl next door into their family circle. Now Cassie is all grown up, the editor of a highly respectable literary magazine, with a well-ordered life and a suitable boyfriend. But her beloved Phoebe is dying and comes to Cassie with one last request:...

"Over the course of a week, thirteen-year-old track & field runner, Josie Tomaselli, confronts multiple challenges with humour, confusion, fear, "lady balls," and the support of her pre-race music playlist. As the big race approaches she's missing the support of her father, who is dying of cancer. While at first she refuses to acknowledge the possibility of losing him, in the end she decides to face the situation and find a way to say goodbye to her...

Harry Whitney is dying. And in the process, he's losing his mind. Afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, he knows his "good" time is dwindling. Wishing to be remembered as more than an ailing old man, Harry realizes the greatest gift he can pass on is the wisdom of his years, the jumbled mix of experiences and emotions that add up to a life. And so he compiles a book of his poems for his favorite granddaughter, Emily, in the hope that his words might...