Tout enfant grandit au milieu des secrets, tout simplement parce qu'il est confronté à des mots, des mimiques et des attitudes d'adultes dont il ne comprend pas le sens. Bientôt, il questionne et parfois on lui répond. D'autres fois, on lui sourit en lui disant qu'il le saura quand il sera plus grand. C'est notamment le cas lorsque sa curiosité implique la sexualité. Mais d'autres fois encore, ses questions suscitent chez ses parents des réactions de colère, de tristesse ou de gêne incompréhensible. Ce sont ces réactions que Serge Tisseron nomme " les suintements du secret ". Ils mettent l'enfant sur la voie de penser qu'on lui cache quelque chose de grave, l'invitent à le deviner tout en lui interdisant tacitement d'y parvenir car cela serait trop douloureux pour l'adulte. De cette injonction contradictoire naissent des troubles dans sa construction psychique : le traumatisme vécu et tenu caché par la première génération " ricoche " sur la deuxième, parfois sur la troisième encore. Serge Tisseron analyse la logique et les mécanismes propres aux secrets de familles. Il montre comment on peut aussi en guérir. Il souligne ainsi que ces secrets s'opposent moins à l'idée d'une Vérité qu'à la communication.

Merel woont de ene helft van de week bij haar vader en de andere helft bij haar moeder. Elke keer moet ze weer bedenken wat ze allemaal mee moet nemen. En dat is best lastig voor iemand die altijd 100 dingen tegelijk wil doen en dus 99 dingen vergeet. Merel heeft de ene hobby na de andere: dansen, muziek maken, zingen... allemaal even leuk! Maar nu zit ze op musicalklas, en dat is misschien wel nét ietsje leuker. Zeker als ze de kans krijgt om mee te doen aan een echte musical die in grote theaters zal gaan draaien. Maar daarvoor moet ze wel eerst auditie doen...



**Recencie(s)**

Wervelwind Merel heeft een heleboel hobby's en bezigheden. Haar grootste passie is musical. Bij een auditie wordt ze geselecteerd voor een voorstelling die in landelijke theaters zal spelen. Zowel de voorbereidingen op de auditie als het repeteren voor de echte voorstelling, zorgen voor een hoop onrust in Merels hoofd. Omdat haar ouders gescheiden zijn, heeft ze ook nog twee adressen waar ze steeds naartoe moet en twee gezinnen waar ze in het ene een stiefzus en in het andere halfbroertjes heeft. En dan nog een irritante echte broer. Het verhaal is met veel vaart geschreven en past qua stijl goed bij het drukke leventje van deze 12-jarige. De aandacht voor het leven in twee gezinnen is niet te zwaar, maar is wel wat over de top: een lesbische moeder die een relatie heeft met een vrouw die een kind met kunstmatige inseminatie heeft gekregen, een vader die een nieuw gezin sticht, een opnieuw zwangere stiefmoeder. De stijl van het hele boek is nogal 'veel' en druk. Het kleurige omslag toont een foto van een vrolijk meisje. Een gezellig boek voor meisjes vanaf ca. 10 jaar.
Drs. A. ten Bruggencate
(source: Bol.com)

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—Connie Pickles, 14, is a nerdy London girl who loves French culture and dreams of one day reuniting with her grandparents, the exotic de Bellechasses. Inspired by Nancy Mitford's The Blessing, Connie decides to help fix her widowed mother's bad luck with men and find her a suitable husband. After creating a list of qualities such as being financially stable, hunky, and a French buff, she and her best friend devise plans to con the unsuspecting suitors into meeting her mom. As disaster and hilarity become inevitable, Connie must figure out how to undo what has been done. Readers are sure to relate to the protagonist. Lonely, confused, and an outcast, she has to deal with issues of love, sex, puberty, honesty, and being a good friend. The climactic party at a friend's house, which involves heavy drinking, seems wild for this audience but Connie is always an observer with a mature outlook. She and Julie discuss the pressure of partying and how it is not for everyone. The book hits contemporary issues with a subplot that deals with Connie's feelings about a vague, ongoing overseas war. The diary format makes the text heartfelt and realistic. An enjoyable, lighthearted read.—Jessica Lamarre, Medford Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Sabine Durrant is a writer and journalist. She is the author of the adult novels The Great Indoors and Having It and Eating It. She lives in London, England, with her three children.

SUMMARY: Dear Elizabeth, It's early morning and I'm sitting here wondering where you are, hoping you're all right. A fight, ended by a slap, sends Elizabeth out the door of her Baton Rouge home on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Her mother, Laura, is left to fret and worry--and remember. Wracked with guilt as she awaits Liz's return, Laura begins a letter to her daughter, hoping to convey "everything I've always meant to tell you but never have." In her painfully candid confession, Laura shares memories of her own troubled adolescence in rural Louisiana, growing up in an intensely conservative household. She recounts her relationship with a boy she loved despite her parents' disapproval, the fateful events that led to her being sent away to a strict Catholic boarding school, the personal tragedy brought upon her by the Vietnam War, and, finally, the meaning of the enigmatic tattoo below her right hip. Absorbing and affirming, George Bishop's magnificent debut brilliantly captures a sense of time and place with a distinct and inviting voice. Letter to My Daughter is a heartwrenching novel of mothers, daughters, and the lessons we all learn when we come of age. "From the Hardcover edition."

SUMMARY: In The Game, Neil Strauss delves into the bizarre underworld of `pickup artists' - men who have devoted their lives to different techniques of seducing women. These are men with their own vernacular and codes of honour, who operate online and in person, who are so committed to honing their strategies that they give each other seminars and live together in shared houses - or `Projects', as they like to call them. Neil Strauss lived amongst the players and survived - but not before he became one of them. In the course of two years, he transformed himself from a self-confessed balding, skinny writer into the quick-thinking, smooth-talking Style, a character irresistible to women, half psychologist, half magician. He became friends with the other players. He used his Game techniques on Britney Spears. By turns jaw-dropping, poignant and side-splittingly funny, The Game is a gripping portrait of a mad, self-referential community in the process of slow implosion. With guest appearances from Paris Hilton, Tom Cruise (whose character in Magnolia is based on a real-life pickup artist) and Courtney Love, who lived with Neil in `Project Hollywood' for a while, The Game is also the most sensational relationships manual since The Rules - essential reading for men and women alike.

When lightning strikes, lives are changed. BECCA On a sunny day in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, eight-year-old Becca Burke was struck by lightning. No one believed her—not her philandering father or her drunk, love-sick mother—not even when her watch kept losing time and a spooky halo of light appeared overhead in photographs. Becca was struck again when she was sixteen. She survived, but over time she would learn that outsmarting lightning was the least of her concerns. BUCKLEY In rural Arkansas, Buckley R. Pitank’s world seemed plagued by disaster. Ashamed but protective of his obese mother, fearful of his scathing grandmother, and always running from bullies (including his pseudo-evangelical stepfather), he needed a miracle to set him free. At thirteen years old, Buckley witnessed a lightning strike that would change everything. Now an art student in New York City, Becca Burke is a gifted but tortured painter who strives to recapture the intensity of her lightning-strike memories on canvas. On the night of her first gallery opening, a stranger appears and is captivated by her art. Who is this odd young man with whom she shares a mysterious connection? When Buckley and Becca finally meet, neither is prepared for the charge of emotions—or for the perilous event that will bring them even closer to one another, and to the families they’ve been running from for as long as they can remember. Crackling with atmosphere and eccentric characters, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors explores the magic of nature and the power of redemption in anovel as beautiful and unpredictable as lightning itself.

Review

Praise for Annie Groves:‘An engrossing story.’ My Weekly‘A stirring and heartrending family saga…Against a backdrop of change when the suffragette movement was coming to the fore, the choices and dreams of a generation of women combine to create this passionate story.’ Liverpool Daily Post‘Heartwrenching and uplifting in equal measure – a tragic indictment of what can happen when you swap passion for duty. Roll on the sequel!’ Take a Break‘Written from the heart’ My Weekly‘Exceptionally good within this area, well written and beautifully developed characters.’ Sarah Broadhurst, Bookseller

Product Description

From the author of ‘The Grafton Girls’ comes the story of one Liverpool family preparing for the onslaught of World War Two, while trying not to fight among themselves.Jean and Vi are twins but couldn’t be more different. Jean’s proud of her honest, hardworking husband and their children, but there’s never a penny to spare. Vi’s equally proud of her husband’s new role as a local councillor and their elegant new house, and has raised her children to expect the best.As war breaks out, agonising decisions must be faced. Should the oldest children enlist? Should the youngest be evacuated? All the traditional certainties are overturned. Then the twins’ own younger sister, singer Francine, returns home unexpectedly and stirs up the past, even in the midst of present danger.This is a tremendous saga of fighting spirit and family closeness, and the belief that even though today is full of destruction and pain, there is hope for a better tomorrow.

From Library Journal

Touted as a "handbook on the most subtle and effective form of power" and "an indispensable primer on how to take what you want from whomever you want," this book is more than a little creepy. Following on the heels of his 48 Laws of Power, this book continues Greene's gross exploration of social power, this time in the realm of sexual politics. In Part 1, Greene, again paired with "packager" Joost Elffers (Play with Your Food), offers a straight-faced description of the nine types of seductive character, from the "Ideal Lover" to the "Rake." Elffers's contribution comes in the form of numerous quotes by famous contemporary and historical figures tucked into the side margins. Part 2 examines the process of seduction, subdivided into four phases, with chapter headings such as "Master the Art of Insinuation" and "Isolate the Victim." This book will have real appeal for power mongers, gold diggers, and heartless manipulators everywhere. Books such as Beverley East's Finding Mr. Write (LJ 5/1/00) and Jama Clark's What the Hell Do Women Really Want? (Island Flower, 1997) offer advice on the same subject without the distasteful exploitative emphasis. David Valencia, King Cty. Lib. Syst., WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Greene is the author of The 48 Laws of Power (1998), a compilation of quotes from throughout history that prescribe methods of obtaining and wielding power. He now adds seduction to the mix of stratagems for those who feel the need to scheme to get what they want. Given the popularity of so-called reality-based television programs, it is clear there is a large audience of such people. Greene, again providing quotes on his topic from philosophers, scientists, playwrights, and novelists, examines "the achievements of the greatest seducers throughout history" and profiles 10 seductive archetypes. Although the tactics Greene advises may be distasteful to some, his literary survey is fascinating. As was Greene's previous work, this one is billed as "A Joost Elffers Production." Elffers is identified--with no hint of embarrassment--as a book "packager." A "quote" from a Newsweek review of The 48 Laws is used to hype the new book, though the actual article in which the quote appeared challenged Greene's credentials as an editor and playwright and offered only lukewarm praise. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

Based in Stepney, this book is set on a rough and ready council estate, in the heart of London's East End. A story that starts in 1975 ends in 2005, it tells the trials and tribulations of the Hutton family. Maureen - the gutsy mum, separated from her alcoholic husband, she scrimps and saves for years to bring up her children and instil life's good values in them. She tries her utmost, but with only moderate success. Tommy, the eldest son, does ten years for murder. On his release he promises to go straight. The trouble is that the underworld beckons and he struggles to keep his promise. Susan, the daughter, unpopular and spiteful as a child, she finally makes her family proud when she gets pregnant and moves in with her boyfriend. But what has she forgotten to tell him? James, the youngest son. Does mummy's blue-eyed boy stay on the straight and narrow? Or does he get stuck into a life of crime, just like his elder brother? Ethel - gran and mother-in-law. A wise old owl, granny could sense disaster looming all along. What a tragedy that no one would listen to her. And finally, Maria, the girl next door and the love of James's life. Will they? Won't they? Who knows - because Maria holds the biggest secret of them all. Or does she?

About the Author

Kimberley Chambers, one-time DJ and street market trader, is now a full-time author and has also written Billie Jo, Born Evil, The Betrayer and The Feud. She lives in Romford close to her childhood friends and family.

Product Description

Not once had Terry ever been hauled in by old bill. He was sure the filth was aware of him, as he had his fingers stuck in many pies, but he was a background man and that's the way he liked it. He made sure that he kept well away from the dodgy motors, the thieves and the yards...'Terry – the lucky villain with a heart of gold – is riding for a fall. Michelle – the wife he hates and is plotting to leave – knows something is afoot, but not quite what. Billie Jo – their adored only daughter – loathes her parents quarrelling and her mother drinking, but will she understand when Terry tells her the truth: that he is planning to marry his pregnant secretary? Jade is a cut above the rest and waits patiently for the day when she and Terry can live peacefully together on his ill-gotten gains, probably on the Costa del Sol. But fate is about to deal a terrible hand, leaving Billie Jo's protected world in tatters.

About the Author

Billie Jo is Kimberley Chambers's first novel. She has been a disc jockey and a street trader and is now a full-time writer. She lives in Romford.

A stunning first novel from a Melbourne author. The story of the Brown family will wrench at your heart and make you hug those you love ever tighter. Emmett Brown is as dark as Heathcliff, and as unpredictable. Sometimes he's an inspiration, but not often. He's a man of booze and obsessions: one of them is his 'System', an attempt to bend the laws of probability. But when the lottery numbers and horses fail him, so do love and reason, and he becomes an ogre to his wife and children. For the innocents - Louisa, Rob, Peter, Daniel and Jessie - the bonds formed hiding in hedges at the end of the street, waiting for the maelstroms to pass, are complex and unbreakable. Over the years, the consequences of Emmett's rages shape both their spirits and psyches, but as he lies dying they discover that love - however imperfect - is the best defence against pain. THE BOOK OF EMMETT is a novel about hope and love and surviving.

From Publishers Weekly

The Bradshaw family of suburban London is discontent. Thomas Bradshaw has taken a sabbatical from his job to learn to play the piano; his wife, Tonie, has become head of a university English department; their eight-year-old daughter, Alexa, watches as father and mother begin to suffocate under the failure of their expectations. The Bradshaws' brothers, sisters, parents, and in-laws, though sometimes faintly amusing, are no better off. Sister-in-law Claudia, a painter, never paints, blaming her nonproductivity on husband Howard, Thomas's older brother. Little brother Leo and his uneducated wife, Susie, drink too much—public knowledge because their children tattle on them—and the older generation of parents disapproves of them all. Cusk (Arlington Park) dissects her characters with a surgical precision, and all can be diagnosed with the same bourgeois malady: acute but indeterminate angst about the nature of existence. Cusk is a gifted writer who has a knack for razor-sharp characterizations, but the lack of plot—everyone is sad, little is done—is a serious detriment. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Cusk's searing, incisive novels have earned comparisons to Virginia Woolf's for their astute recreations of women's inner lives as they collide with society's expectations. Unfortunately, most critics concluded that Cusk's seventh novel does not live up to the sum of its parts. Despite vivid characters, crisp prose, and sharp psychological insights, the plot lacks tension, while subplots and minor characters drop from the narrative without explanation, and the Bradshaws seem strangely unconvincing. "Really," argues the Boston Globe, "how deeply can we care about a family whose defining characteristic is a lack of warmth toward one another?" Despite these shortcomings, Cusk's fans may pick up The Bradshaw Variations for her eloquence and wry humor. Others may wish to steer clear of her latest.

On A Peat And Heather Island Off The West Coast Of Scotland, Effie And Her Mother Nora Take Refuge In The Large Mouldering House Of Their Ancestors And Tell Each Other Stories. Nora, At First, Recounts Nothing That Effie Really Wants To Hear, Like Who Her Father Was Variously Jimmy, Jack, Or Ernie. Effie Tells Of Her Life At College In Dundee, The Land Of Cakes And William Wallace, Where She Lives In A Lethargic Relationship With Bob, A Student Who Never Goes To Lectures, Seldom Gets Out Of Bed, And To Whom The Klingons Are As Real As The French And The Germans (More Real Than The Luxemburgers). But Strange Things Are Happening. Why Is Effie Being Followed? Is Someone Killing The Old People? And Where Is The Mysterious Yellow Dog?In A Brilliant Comic Narrative Which Explores The Nonsensical Nature Of Language And Meaning, Kate Atkinson Has Created Another Magical Masterpiece.

OPRAH's Book Club Pick #64 Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul -- the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbour who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter's dreams. Together with Walter -- environmental lawyer, commuter cyclist, total family man -- she was doing her small part to build a better world. But now, in the new millennium, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz -- outré rocker and Walter's college best friend and rival -- still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to Patty? Why has the bright star of Barrier Street become "a very different kind of neighbour," an implacable Fury coming unhinged before the street’ s attentive eyes? In his first novel since The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen has given us an epic of contemporary love and marriage. Freedom comically and tragically captures the temptations and burdens of liberty: the thrills of teenage lust, the shaken compromises of middle age, the wages of suburban sprawl, the heavy weight of empire. In charting the mistakes and joys of Freedom's intensely realized characters as they struggle to learn how to live in an ever more confusing world, Franzen has produced an indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time.

From Publishers Weekly

Crafting an elaborate fictional world for his second novel, complete with fabricated news reports and other source material (verified by the editor), Doyle (Revenge of the Teacher's Pet) successfully evokes a moment that will make readers wonder: could this be real? Audrey Mapes is a beautiful Midwestern girl born with no feet and given to eating nonfood items like wood, metal, fabric, or plastic without any adverse effects. Doyle's narrative follows Audrey and her family, including twin siblings Toby and McKenna, as they cope with Audrey's bizarre affliction—her father by means of absence, her mother by pills, her grandmother by religion and her siblings by further eating disorders. Told from McKenna's point of view, the often disturbing story pursues Audrey from unhappy childhood through adulthood success; she earns fame through a traveling freak show and, eventually, arrives in the Michigan city of Kalamazoo for a climactic eating event. While Doyle's novel is relentlessly inventive, his characters are irredeemably unlikable, making it difficult to care about any of the bizarre goings-on. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Darrin Doyle’s The Girl Who Ate Kalamazoo is wildly out there, but its message about family dysfunction is achingly real."—DailyCandy.com, Best New Winter Reads Pick

“As quirky, funny, and masterful as it is, Darrin Doyle’s The Girl Who Ate Kalamazoo isn’t just a book about a girl who ate a city—it’s about the hunger we all have, for love, for family, and for home."—Alix Ohlin, author of The Missing Person and *Babylon and Other Stories*

"Darrin Doyle's The Girl Who Ate Kalamazoo is about, well, the girl who ate Kalamazoo, but it's about much more than that: family, religion, urban blight and renewal, fame, literature, sister love, and weightlifters. This is why Audrey Mapes is such an incredible character: in creating this girl who can and will eat everything, Darrin Doyle has also created a way to talk about the things that matter most to us. It's an incredible, riotous, beautifully written, sneakily profound novel. I don't know of another book like it; I would be jealous of it if I weren't so busy being amazed by it."—Brock Clarke, author of *An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England*

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. When retired newspaperman Stewart Dubinsky (last seen in 1987's Presumed Innocent) discovers letters his deceased father wrote during his tour of duty in WWII, a host of family secrets come to light. In Turow's ambitious, fascinating page-turner, a "ferocious curiosity" compels the divorced Dubinsky to study his "remote, circumspect" father's papers, which include love letters written to a fiancée the family had never heard of, and a lengthy manuscript, which his father wrote in prison and which includes the shocking disclosure of his father's court-martial for assisting in the escape of OSS officer Robert Martin, a suspected spy. The manuscript, hidden from everyone but the attorney defending him, tells of Capt. David Dubin's investigation into Martin's activities and of both men's entanglements with fierce, secretive comrade Gita Lodz. From optimistic soldier to disenchanted veteran, Dubin—who, via the manuscript, becomes the book's de facto narrator—describes the years of violence he endured and of a love triangle that exacted a heavy emotional toll. Dubinsky's investigations prove revelatory at first, and life-altering at last. Turow makes the leap from courtroom to battlefield effortlessly. (Nov. 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Retired reporter Stewart Dubinsky last made an appearance in Presumed Innocent (1987). Here, the self-lacerating Dubinsky delves deep into his family’s wartime history—one loosely based on Turow’s father’s experiences. For critics, the question is whether a legal-thriller writer can succeed in another genre—and the answers vary. Out of the courtroom, Turow remains an effective storyteller whose characters (Gita in particular) and details of war create immediacy and intrigue. However, his usual spark seems to be missing. A few critics faulted the novel for introducing too much history, too many mysteries, and too many themes—from war to love to family secrets. In the end, the personal dramas that characterize Turow’s best works carry this story-within-a-story, too.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

SUMMARY: Jonathan Dee is the author of four novels, most recently Palladio. He is a staff writer for "The New York Times Magazine," a frequent contributor to "Harper's," and a former senior editor of "The Paris Review." He teaches in the graduate writing programs at Columbia University and the New School. "From the Hardcover edition."

From Booklist

Although this is Australian author Tsiolkas’ fourth novel, it is the first to be published in the U.S. With its raw style, liberal use of profanity and racial epithets, and laserlike focus on the travails of suburban life, it is a down-and-dirty version of Tom Perrotta’s best-selling Little Children (2004). At a barbecue in a Melbourne suburb, a man loses his temper and slaps the child of the host’s friends. This incident unleashes a slew of divisive opinions, pitting friends and families against each other as the child’s parents take the man to court. Told from eight different viewpoints, the novel also deftly fills in disparate backstories encompassing young and old, single and married, gay and straight, as well as depicting how multiculturalism is increasingly impacting the traditional Aussie ethos. For good measure, the author also throws in male vanity, infidelity, and homophobia. Tsiolkas’ in-your-face style is sure to alienate some readers—the child’s parents, for example, are among the book’s most unlikable characters—but his novel, which won the 2009 Commonwealth Prize, fairly radiates with vitality as it depicts the messy complications of family life. --Joanne Wilkinson

Review

"A layered, briskly paced story about complex people. Think Tom Wolfe meets Philip Roth. Or 'The Sopranos' meets 'The Real Housewives of Orange County."
-Oscar Villalon, Los Angeles Times

"Brilliant, beautiful, shockingly lucid and real, this is a novel as big as life built from small, secret, closely observed beats of the human heart. A cool, calm, irresistible masterpiece."
-Chris Cleave, author of Little Bee

"The Slap is nothing short of a tour de force, and it confirms Christos Tsiolkas's reputation as one of the most significant contemporary storytellers at work today. In his new book, Tsiolkas puts a microscope to family life and presents us with a vision both of unflinching honesty and great tenderness. The luminosity of his prose and the brilliance of his characterisation render the ordinary quite extraordinary. Here is a novel of immense power and scope, reminiscent of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and Don De Lillo's Underworld."
-Colm Toibin, author of Brooklyn and The Master

"Like all Tsiolkas' work, it is wildly energetic and fearless, thrillingly about our lives now."
- Helen Garner, author of The Spare Room

"This is a rich and engrossing novel, full of vivid incidents and intricate patterns...Tsiolkas's subtle character drawing, fast-moving narrative, and above all, fierce moral commitment make The Slap a worthy winner of the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize."
-The Telegraph

"Riveting from start to finish."
-Jane Smiley, author of A Thousand Acres and Private Life

"Radiates with vitality as it depicts the messy complications of family life."
-Booklist

"Complex and multilayered. ...intertwined lives and slowly revealed connections make for a singular reading experience."
-Library Journal

"With The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas secures his place as one of Australia's most important novelists...It is thrilling to have our life reflected back at us so accurately...Tsiolkas has written an absolute ripper."
-The Age

"The best politicians are those who can instinctively divine the zeitgeist of their country's centre. For the ones who can't, I would place The Slap as mandatory bedside table reading. It's a perfect social document... More importantly, it's also a hell of a read."
-The Australian

"Strikingly tender...it claws into you with its freshness and truth."
-Sydney Morning Herald

"A controversial and daring novel, The Slap uses the iconic scene of a suburban Australian barbecue to examine identities and personal relationships in a multicultural society. Offering points of view from eight different characters, it taps into universal tensions and dilemmas around family life and child-rearing. This book is sure to challenge readers and provoke debate."
-Committee for The Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009

It's all down to the butterfly His great-grandfather died at the Battle of Little Big Horn. He wasn't with Custer though. He was holding a sprout-bake in the field next door and went over to complain about the noise. His grandfather was a preacherman, who wore weighted shoes in the pulpit to avoid any embarrassing levitations during moments of extreme rapture. His father practised body-modification and once shinned up the inside of a drainpipe to win a bet with his mum. And then there was him. And he was the Chosen One. He had THE GIFT. You've heard of the Butterfly of Chaos Theory? The one that flaps its wings in the Andes and causes a thunderstorm in Penge? Well, he could do that. Shift a biro in his top pocket and cause the Tokyo Stock Exchange to rise twenty two points. Put a paperclip on his ear and make England win the World Cup. And with a gift like that, imagine what you could do. You could change this world into paradise. Or you could really screw up. BIG TIME!

Amazon.com Review

Finity's End falls after Merchanter's Luck but before Tripoint in the lineup of C.J. Cherryh's Merchanter novels (part of the author's award-winning Alliance/Union universe). It resumes the story of Fletcher Neihart, an orphan and unwanted foster child who, against his will, joins the crew of the legendary merchanter ship Finity's End. As Neihart struggles to find his place both on the ship and in the world, the ship undertakes a mission critical to the continuing peace between the Earth, Alliance, and Union factions.

Review

Finity's End is complex, insightful writing. Cherryh understands human nature under stress, and has a gift for conveying the immediacy of interactions, concerns, betrayals, and forgiveness. -- Science Fiction Age

SUMMARY:
The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling novel from one of Americaa??s greatest contemporary writers, repackaged as part of the Perennial fiction promotion. Larry Cooka??s farm is the largest in Zebulon County, Iowa, and a tribute to his hard work and single-mindedness. Proud and possessive, his sudden decision to retire and hand over the farm to his three daughters, is disarmingly uncharacteristic. Ginny and Rose, the two eldest, are startled yet eager to accept, but Caroline, the youngest daughter, has misgivings. Immediately, her father cuts her out. In a??A Thousand Acresa??, Jane Smiley transposes the a??King Leara?? story to the modern day, and in so doing at once illuminates Shakespearea??s original and subtly transforms it. This astonishing novel won both of Americaa??s highest literary awards, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Criticsa?? Circle Award.