First published in 1907, "The Shepherd of the Hills" is Harold Bell Wright's mostly fictional tale of people living in the foothills of the Ozarks. The story is principally concerned with the relationship of Grant Matthews, Sr., affectionately known in his community as "Old Matt", and "The Shepherd of the Hills", a wise old man who has chosen the peace of the backwoods over the hustle and bustle of the city. The Shepherd is a quiet and mysterious...

First serialized in "The Atlantic Monthly" and then published as a novel in 1896, Sarah Orne Jewett's "The Country of the Pointed Firs" is the story of a female writer seeking isolation and inspiration for her writing in the small coastal New England town of Dunnet Landing in the late 1800's. Originally from Boston and drawn back to the quiet town after a visit years earlier, the narrator is at first frustrated by the constant interruptions of the...

The enduring love story and satirical comedy by a master of the English novel. A young vicar's ambition drives him into a costly bargain in this classic tale from one of the Victorian era's finest novelists. Set in rural England in the fictitious county of Barsetshire, the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Barsetshire brilliantly examines the intersection of romance and social class. Mark Robarts is a young, ambitious vicar from the village of Framley,...

Frankie Addams, a motherless twelve-year-old raised by her father and the family's African-American cook, struggles with conflicting feelings about her brother's upcoming wedding.

A little-known masterpiece, this cycle of short stories concerns life in a small town at the end of the nineteenth century and forever changed the course of American storytelling. Bittersweet and richly insightful, it reveals Sherwood Anderson's special talent for taking small moments and transforming them into timeless folk tales—a talent that inspired a generation of writers including William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck. At...

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves,...

Resisting romantic commitments while enjoying a life of boating, swimming, and barbecues, Travis Parker is unable to deny his attraction to new neighbor Gabby Holland, a defensive woman whose long-time boyfriend further challenges Travis' growing feelings.

"It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas' house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household-where everything is so well tended to-and this summer must soon come to an end."--

Before the burglary that shattered her confidence, Phoenix Rose had a fiancé, a successful store and a busy, happy existence. After months spent adrift, she takes a job at the lakeside resort of Cooper's Charm. Surrounded by beautiful scenery, friendly colleagues and a charismatic, widowed boss, Phoenix is slowly inching her way back into the world. Visiting Cooper's Charm to check up on her little sister, Ridley Rose impulsively agrees to fill in...

"It's the summer of 1994 in Claypot, Wisconsin, and the lives of ten-year-old Fischer 'Fish' Branson and Dale 'Bread' Breadwin are shaped by the two fathers they don't talk about. One night, tired of seeing his best friend bruised and terrorized by his no-good dad, Fish takes action. A gunshot rings out and the two boys flee the scene, believing themselves murderers. They head for the woods, where they find their way onto a raft, but the natural terrors...