Kerri Maher

The dramatic story of how a humble bookseller fought against incredible odds to bring one of the most important books of the 20th century to the world in this new novel from the author of The Girl in White Gloves. When bookish young American Sylvia Beach opens Shakespeare and Company on a quiet street in Paris in 1919, she has no idea that she and her new bookstore will change the course of literature itself. Shakespeare and Company is more than a bookstore and lending library: Many of the prominent writers of the Lost Generation, like Ernest Hemingway, consider it a second home. It's where some of the most important literary friendships of the twentieth century are forged--none more so than the one between Irish writer James Joyce and Sylvia herself. When Joyce's controversial novel Ulysses is banned, Beach takes a massive risk and publishes it under the auspices of Shakespeare and Company. But the success and notoriety of publishing the most infamous and influential book of the century comes with steep costs. The future of her beloved store itself is threatened when Ulysses' success brings other publishers to woo Joyce away. Her most cherished relationships are put to the test as Paris is plunged deeper into the Depression and many expatriate friends return to America. As she faces painful personal and financial crises, Sylvia--a woman who has made it her mission to honor the life-changing impact of books--must decide what Shakespeare and Company truly means to her.

A dramatic and inspiring novel based on the true story of the Jane Collective and the brave women who fought for the right to choose, from the national bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller. Chicago, early 1970s Who does a girl call when she needs help? Jane. The best-known secret in the city, Jane is a women's health organization composed entirely of women helping women, freeing them from the expectations of society and family. Veronica, Jane's founder, prides herself on the services she has provided to thousands of women, yet the price of others' freedom is that she leads a double life--when she's not at Jane, Veronica plays the role of a conventional housewife--which becomes even more difficult during her own high-risk pregnancy. Two more women in Veronica's neighborhood are grappling with similar disconnects. Margaret, a young professor at the University of Chicago, secretly volunteers at Jane as she falls in love with a man whose attitude toward his ex-wife increasingly disturbs her. Patty, who's long been content as a devoted wife and mother, has begun to sense that something essential is missing from her life. When her runaway younger sister Eliza shows up unexpectedly, Patty is forced to come to terms with what it really means to love and support a sister. In this historic moment when the personal was nothing if not political, when television, movies, and commercials told women they'd "come a long way, baby," Veronica, Margaret, and Patty must make choices that will change the course of their lives forever.

A captivating novel following the exploits of Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, the forgotten and rebellious daughter of one of America's greatest political dynasties.London, 1938. The effervescent "It girl" of London society since her father was named the ambassador, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy moves in rarified circles, rubbing satin-covered elbows with some of the 20th century's most powerful figures. Eager to escape the watchful eye of her strict mother, Rose, the antics of her older brothers, Jack and Joe, and the erratic behavior of her sister Rosemary, Kick is ready to strike out on her own and is soon swept off her feet by Billy Hartington, the future Duke of Devonshire.But their love is forbidden, as Kick's devout Catholic family and Billy's staunchly Protestant one would never approve their match. When war breaks like a tidal wave across her world, Billy is ripped from her arms as the Kennedys are forced to return to the States. Kick gets work as a journalist and joins the Red Cross to get back to England, where she will have to decide where her true loyalties lie—with family or with love . . .

A life in snapshots… Grace knows what people see. She’s the Cinderella story. An icon of glamor and elegance frozen in dazzling Technicolor. The picture of perfection. The girl in white gloves. A woman in living color… But behind the lens, beyond the panoramic views of glistening Mediterranean azure, she knows the truth. The sacrifices it takes for an unappreciated girl from Philadelphia to defy her family and become the reigning queen of the screen. The heartbreaking reasons she trades Hollywood for a crown. The loneliness of being a princess in a fairy tale kingdom that is all too real. Hardest of all for her adoring fans and loyal subjects to comprehend, is the harsh reality that to be the most envied woman in the world does not mean she is the happiest. Starved for affection and purpose, facing a labyrinth of romantic and social expectations with more twists and turns than Monaco’s infamous winding roads, Grace must find her own way to fulfillment. But what she risks--her art, her family, her marriage—she may never get back.

Some women make headlines; an icon defies them.A vivid reimagining of the exhilarating and sensationalized life of Princess Grace of Monaco from the acclaimed author of The Kennedy Debutante.Hungry for her art and hopeful for the future, young Grace Kelly has the world at her feet. MGM's rising queen is poised to win the Oscar, but she chafes at the studio's increasing restrictions on her life. When an unexpected friendship develops between her and Prince Rainier of Monaco, she faces the tempting possibility of a new role--one that offers the power and stability she craves.But life isn't like the movies. Twenty years into her crumbling marriage, Grace finds herself frustrated and disillusioned. Conflicted by notions of family, career, and the very nature of womanhood--notions Grace herself shaped for a generation of women--the world's loneliest princess searches for purpose beyond the labels and headlines.A Hollywood darling, a fairy-tale princess, and a wife starved for autonomy, Grace Kelly is a woman divided. And though she is confined by public perception and societal conventions, one thing is certain--she will never bow to them.

În toamna anului 1919, la Paris, tânăra americană Sylvia Beach, inspirată de Adrienne Monnier, prietena și ulterior companioana sa, deschide o mică librărie de limbă engleză numită Shakespeare and Company, fără să-și închipuie cât de important avea să devină gestul ei pentru istoria literaturii. Aici îi întâmpină pe cei mai mari scriitori ai zilei, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, dar și pe mulți artiști, compozitori și filozofi care ajung să îndrăgească exploziva comunitate cosmopolită din jurul librăriei. Dar cel pe care Sylvia îl așteaptă mai cu seamă este James Joyce. Scriitorul irlandez nu va întârzia să-i treacă pragul, iar pe cei doi îi va lega o prietenie tumultuoasă, țesută în jurul unui imperativ: publicarea controversatului roman Ulise. Când Ulise este interzis în S.U.A., fragmentele apărute în reviste fiind etichetate drept pornografie, Sylvia decide, asumându-și toate riscurile, să-l publice ea însăși sub egida librăriei sale, convinsă fiind că este o capodoperă. Shakespeare and Company, casa generației pierdute, ecranul pe care se proiectează mari prietenii literare ale secolului XX, dar și micile furtuni existențiale ale protagoniștilor, este rodul convingerii Sylviei Beach că literatura trebuie să fie neîngrădită și accesibilă. Romanul oferă o perspectivă seducătoare asupra istoriei unei librării iconice și a fascinantei sale fondatoare.