Castlegar & District Public Library

A powerful, unsettling portrait of family life in Cuba, Carlos Manuel Álvarez's first novel is a masterful portrayal of a society in free fall. Diego, the son, is disillusioned and bitter about the limited freedoms his country offers him as he endures compulsory military service. Mariana, the mother, is unwell, prone to mysterious seizures, and forced to relinquish control over the household to her daughter, Maria, who has left school and is working as a chambermaid in a state-owned tourist hotel. The father, Armando, is a committed revolutionary, a die-hard Fidelista who is sickened by the corruption he perceives all around him. As each member of the family narrates seemingly quotidian and overlapping events, they grow increasingly at odds for reasons that remain elusive to them--each of them holding and concealing their own secrets. In meticulously charting the disintegration of a single family, The Fallen offers a poignant reflection on contemporary Cuba and the clash of the ardent idealism of the old guard with the jaded pragmatism of the young.

In the middle of 1962 Brooklyn Heights sits the Starlite: boutique dress shop by day, underground women's club by night. Madeline's social club is a safe haven for women from all walks of life looking for a respite from their troubled relationships and professional frustrations. But when Madeline's councilman ex-husband shows up again, the luster of Starlite quickly dampens. When an unspeakable tragedy befalls their sorority, one woman must decide whether to hide the truth from the group or jeopardize her own hopes and dreams.

"Bud Threadgoode grew up in the bustling little railroad town of Whistle Stop, Alabama, with his mother Ruth, church going and proper, and the fun-loving hell-raiser, his Aunt Idgie. Together they ran the town's popular Whistle Stop Café, known far and wide for its famous "Fried Green Tomatoes." And as Bud often said of his childhood, "How lucky can you get?" But sadly, the railroad yards began to shut down and the town became a ghost town, with nothing left but boarded-up buildings and memories of a happier time. Then one day, Bud decides to take one last trip, just to see where his beloved Whistle Stop used to be. In so doing, he discovers new surprises about Idgie's life and about other beloved Fried Green Tomatoes characters, and about the town itself. He also sets off a series of events, both touching and inspiring, which change his life and the lives of his daughter and others. Could these events all be just coincidences? Or something else? And can you go home again?"--Publisher

"Paul Prescot's desire to catalogue and comprehend the Aboriginal rock paintings of the Canadian Shield is told through the eyes of the woman he loves, and who, for her own reasons, accompanies him on his travels to the deep north. Her journeys with her husband, and then alone, returning to the north shore of Lake Superior to commend his ashes to the water, draw her deeper into a history that, while foreign to them both, seems to offer a meaningful alternative to a world that has gone wrong."-- Provided by publisher.

When three female suspects in the murder of an accountant, who was a master manipulator, go missing, Detective Sean Walsh, who has a personal connection to the case, discovers why the women have to stay hidden from both the law and each other.

Waking up in a small hospital with no memory of what happened, playboy James Cahill gradually recalls that his girlfriend had just discovered his affair before going missing

After avoiding an arranged marriage, thwarting a coup, and inadvertently kick-starting a revolution, Rory Thorne is no longer a princess, but a space pirate. When Rory and her crew-- former royal bodyguards, Thorsdottir and Zhang, and co-conspirator Jaed--encounter an abandoned ship registered under a false name, they find evidence of vicious technology and arithmancy, alien and far beyond known capabilities. The only answer may lie in the cargo: a rose plant--that is sentient, and designed as a massive biological weapon.

In this feminist fantasy series, the ability to do magic has given women control over their own bodies. But as the patriarchy starts to fall, they must now learn to rule as women, not men. Alys may be the acknowledged queen of Women's Well--the fledgling colony where women hold equal status with men--but she cares little for politics in the wake of an appalling personal tragedy. It is grief that rules her now. But the world continues to turn. In a distant realm unused to female rulers, Ellin struggles to maintain control. Meanwhile, the king of the island nation of Khalpar recruits an abbess whom he thinks holds the key to reversing the spell that Alys's mother gave her life to create. And back in Women's Well, Alys's own half-brother is determined to bring her to heel. Unless these women can all come together and embrace the true nature of female power, everything they have struggled to achieve may be at risk.

Looking forward to relaxing with his girlfriend after returning from a dangerous coastal adventure, Stone Barrington finds his plans thwarted by the arrival of a grisly crime on his doorstep, along with some suspicious new clients eager for his help.

A duke's mysterious bequest brings fortune and passion to three young women . . . . Minerva Hepplewhite has learned the hard way how to take care of herself. When an intruder breaks into her home, she doesn't swoon or simper. Instead she wallops the rogue over the head and ties him up only to realize he is Chase Radnor, a gentleman and grandson of a lord, and a man who makes it his business to investigate suspicious matters. Now he's insisting that Minerva has inherited a fortune from his uncle, a wealthy duke. Only one thing could surprise her more: her sudden attraction to this exasperating man . . . . Chase can't decide whether Minerva is a wronged woman or a femme fatale. Either way, he's intrigued. Maddeningly, with her unexpected inheritance, she has set up a discreet detective business to rival Chase's own. She may be the perfect person to help him uncover the truth about his uncle's demise. But as proximity gives way to mutual seduction, Chase realizes he craves a much deeper alliance . . . .

One Monday, four people board an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Although each presses a button for their floor, the elevator proceeds, nonstop, to the top. Once there, it pauses for a few seconds, but the doors don't open. The it plummets. Right to the bottom of the shaft. It appears to be a random accident...But on Tuesday, it happens again, in a different Manhattan skyscraper. Wednesday brings yet another tragic high-rise catastrophe. In only three days, one of the most vertical cities in the world is plunged into chaos. Who is behind this? Two seasoned New York detectives and a straight-shooting journalist race against time to uncover the truth before the city's newest residential tower has its ribbon-cutting on Friday night. 

A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against a ruthless corporation. A raving madman who wanders the desert lost in the past, haunted by his own creation: an invisible monster whose name he has forgotten and whose purpose remains hidden. Jeff Vandermeer's Dead Astronauts presents a City with no name of its own where, in the shadow of the all-powerful Company, lives human and otherwise converge in terrifying and miraculous ways. At stake: the fate of the future, the fate of Earth--all the Earths.

A young woman in 1960's North Carolina resents the moonshining operation her family has conducted for generations, blaming it for her mother's death. When her father insists that moonshining is in her veins, Jessie devises a plan to destroy the stills. Her scheme escalates an old rivalry and reveals long-held grudges.

"A Snake Lies Waiting is the next in Jin Yong's high stakes, tension-filled epic Legends of the Condor Heroes series, where kung fu is magic, kingdoms vie for power and the battle to become the ultimate kung fu master unfolds. Guo Jing has confronted Apothecary Huang, his sweetheart Lotus Huang's father, on Peach Blossom Island, and bested the villainous Gallant Ouyang in the three trials to win the hand of his beloved. But now, along with his two friends and shifus, Zhou Botong of the Quanzhen Sect, and Count Seven Hong, Chief of the Beggar Clan, he has walked into another trap. Tricked into boarding a unseaworthy barge by Apothecary Huang, the three friends will surely drown unless Lotus-who has overheard her father's plans-can find a way to save them. Yet even if they are to survive the voyage, great dangers lie in wait on the mainland. Viper Ouyang, the gallant's uncle and one of the Five Greats of the martial world, is determined to have his revenge on Guo Jing for getting the better of his nephew, and bent on becoming the most powerful master of the wulin. Meanwhile, Yang Kang, who Guo Jing has come to trust, has yet to reveal the full extent of his treachery"--

"Newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter are head over heels, and excited to say good-bye to New York and start a life together in Sam's sleepy hometown in upstate New York. Or, it turns out, a life where Annie spends most of her time alone while Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his downstairs office, tending to the egos of his (mostly female) clientele. Little does Sam know that through a vent in his ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist's wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn't satisfy her in bed. Who could resist listening? Everything is fine until the French girl in the green mini Cooper shows up, and Sam decides to go to work and not come home, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie's happily ever after. Showcasing Molloy's deft ability to subvert norms and culminating in the kind of stunning twist that is becoming her trademark, Goodnight Beautiful is a thrilling tale of domestic suspense that not only questions assumptions but defies expectations."-- Provided by publisher.

When Flashman, the most decorated poltroon of the Victorian age, accepted an invitation from his old enemy, Tom Brown of Rugby, to join in a friendly cricket match, he little knew that he was letting himself in for the most desperate game of his scandalous career -- a deadly struggle that would see him scampering from the hallowed wicket of Lord's to the jungle lairs of Borneo pirates, from a Newgate hanging to the torture pits of Madagascar, from Chinatown dens to slavery in the palace of a mad black queen. If he had known what lay ahead, Flashman would never have taken up cricket seriously.

It's V-E Day 1946 in London. Former spy Livy Nash is celebrating with her third drink before noon. She went to war to kill Nazis and quickly became one of the toughest agents in France. But her war ended with betrayal and the execution of the man she loved. Now Livy spends her days proofreading a demeaning advice column and her nights alone with black market vodka. But everything changes when she meets Ian Fleming. The man who will create the world's most sophisticated spy has an agenda and sends Livy to France with one task: track down the traitor who killed the man she loved. Livy jumps at the chance, heading back to Paris undercover as a journalist. But the City of Lights is teeming with spies, and Livy quickly learns just how much the game has changed. With enemies on every corner and ever-shifting alliances, shell have to learn to fight a new war if she wants to conquer the past once and for all.

"Newlyweds Sam Statler and Annie Potter are head over heels, and excited to say good-bye to New York and start a life together in Sam's sleepy hometown in upstate New York. Or, it turns out, a life where Annie spends most of her time alone while Sam, her therapist husband, works long hours in his downstairs office, tending to the egos of his (mostly female) clientele. Little does Sam know that through a vent in his ceiling, every word of his sessions can be heard from the room upstairs. The pharmacist's wife, contemplating a divorce. The well-known painter whose boyfriend doesn't satisfy her in bed. Who could resist listening? Everything is fine until the French girl in the green mini Cooper shows up, and Sam decides to go to work and not come home, throwing a wrench into Sam and Annie's happily ever after."--Publisher.