He lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from society, which will destroy him if he is ever seen. She dwells in seclusion, a fugitive from enemies who will do her harm if she is ever found. But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives. Something more than chance -- and nothing less than destiny -- has brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching.

Young Emma Wagner chafes at the constraints of Bethel colony, an 1850s religious community in Missouri that is determined to remain untainted by the concerns of the world. A passionate and independent thinker, she resents the limitations placed on women, who are expected to serve in quiet submission. In a community where dissent of any form is discouraged, Emma finds it difficult to rein in her tongue, and often doesn't even try to do so. This fuels...

Living deep within a cove in the Appalachians of North Carolina during World War I, Laurel Shelton finally finds the happiness she deserves in Walter, a mysterious stranger who is mute, but their love cannot protect them from a devastating secret.

Merricat Blackwood lives on the family estate with her sister Constance and her uncle Julian. Not long ago there were seven Blackwoods -- until a fatal dose of arsenic found its way into the sugar bowl one terrible night. Acquitted of the murders, Constance has returned home, where Merricat protects her from the curiousity and hostility of the villagers. Their days pass in happy isolation until cousin Charles appears. Only Merricat can see the danger,...

Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world's best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance...

A woman living alone in a cabin in the Alps experiences flashbacks that give her connections with the natural world. As people grow wary of her odd behavior, some take matters into their own hands.

Wherever Rain Boy goes, rain follows, and when he is invited to Sun Kidd's birthday party the other children complain that his presence is ruining their fun; now Sun Kidd is hiding in her room because she is upset by her friends' behavior, and an apparently an endless storm has descended on the world--until they all discover that something wonderful happens when rain and sun finally get together.

"Anna is a regular teenaged girl ... But one day at track practice, Anna falls unconscious ... but instead of falling down, she falls up, defying gravity in the disturbing first symptom of a mysterious disease. Anna's world is turned upside down ... Her friends don't seem to understand, running track is out of the question, and the other kids at the disease clinic she attends once a week are a cruel reminder that things will never be the same"--

True crime writer Wylie Lark, snowed in at an isolated farmhouse where she's retreated to write her new book, finds a small child in the snow outside and, bringing him inside for warmth and safety, learns that the farmhouse isn't as isolated as she thought.

"Four Londoners - Leah, Natalie, Felix, and Nathan - try to make adult lives outside of Caldwell, the council estate of their childhood. From private houses to public parks, at work and at play, their London is a complicated place, as beautiful as it is brutal, where the thoroughfares hide the back alleys and taking the high road can sometimes lead you to a dead end."--From publisher's information.