New England Literature

It's summertime in Busman's Harbor, Maine, and the clamming is easy - or it was until a mysterious new neighbor blocks access to the beach, cutting off the Snowden Family Clambake's supply. Julia Snowden is just one of many townspeople angered by Bartholomew Frick's decision. But which one of them was angry enough to kill?

Two years into his new life on Nantucket, Dr. Christopher Morgan is beginning to make peace with his past. But romance is not on his agenda—until Marci Clay enters his life one rainy night and manages to breach the walls around his heart. But Marci has secrets … regrets … and an aversion to blue-blood pedigrees. Yet Christopher doesn’t conform to her rich-boy stereotype. And as they join forces to help his older neighbor, might they find a way to reconcile their divergent backgrounds and build a future together?

Off the New England coast, courageous Mehitabel Ampleford wields a rifle to protect her home from a brutish band of men who are after her land. She will not be intimidated, but their attacks are growing fiercer, and just as their latest confrontation threatens violence, a bold stranger appears out of the ocean mists to send the raiders packing. Geordie MacEnroy has seen the ravages of war in his mountain town - and in the injuries suffered by his youngest brother; now, his restless soul is calling him to find sanctuary by the sea.

The Yarn Studio’s Seaside Knitters have their hands full designing new classes for vacationers, as well as testing each other’s originality by creating a single blanket together. Birdie’s teenage granddaughter is also visiting for the season. Meanwhile, the Lazy Lobster and Soup Café’s local fare is gaining newfound attention with the addition of a well-known Boston chef. It’s sure to be another beautiful, busy time in their tight-knit town… Until Birdie spots a huge blaze from her balcony one evening, frighteningly close to knitter Cass’s lobster business.

Ever since her first ghostly sighting, Abby Kimball has been trying to unravel the mystery of her newly discovered ability. So when she sees the apparition of a Revolutionary War soldier in the middle of the town green - just days before the annual Patriot's Day celebration, no less - she's determined to figure out her connection to the man. The ethereal soldier is not the only mystery in Abby's life.

When oyster farmer Andie Greatorex is robbed of a bucket of oyster seeds worth $35,000, she comes to Julia Snowden for help. Who wants to sink Andie's successful business? Is it a rival oyster farmer, an ex-employee, a neighbor who objects to the oyster cages floating on the beautiful Damariscotta River, a lobsterman who feels pushed out by the farm leases, or someone from Andie's personal life? Then Andie turns up dead, floating by her dock in the SCUBA gear she wears when harvesting her oysters.

Late September 1957. Henry and Effie, very young newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon only to find the town is deserted. Feeling shy of each other and isolated, they decide to cut the trip short. But before they leave, they meet a glamorous set of people who sweep them up into their drama. The empty beach town becomes their playground, and as they sneak into abandoned summer homes, go sailing, walk naked under the stars, make love, and drink a great deal of gin, Henry and Effie slip from innocence into betrayal, with irrevocable consequences.

Ria lived on Tara Road in Dublin with her dashing husband, Danny, and their two children. She fully believed she was happily married, right up until the day Danny told her he was leaving her to be with his young, pregnant girlfriend. By a chance phone call, Ria meets Marilyn, a woman from New England unable to come to terms with her only son's death and now separated from her husband. The two women exchange houses for the summer with extraordinary consequences, each learning that the other has a deep secret that can never be revealed.

When young Mattie Silver arrives at her cousin Zeena Frome's farm in the New England village of Starkfield, no one could have imagined the tale of sublime and thwarted passion which ensues. Starkfield, like so many New England village communities, is a place where the emotional terrain resembles the physical: stony, hard, and snow covered much of the year. Ethan Frome - "the most striking figure in Starkfield" - ekes out a bleak living from his ungenerous farm, until Mattie brings love and a dream of escape. The powerful sway of obligation and duty and Ethan's inherent dignity make this novel a great American tragedy.

Kate's perfect life is a lie. Her finances are a mess, her marriage is struggling, and her teenage daughter, Claire, makes life even more difficult with her moodiness. Day after day, she hides the truth. But when her estranged father schedules a visit, she seizes her last chance to try to make him proud of what she's made of her life since dropping out of law school. If Kate can't get life together before her father comes to town, she'll only prove she really is a failure. Just like he's always believed.

Welcome to Greenwich, Connecticut, home of scenic beaches, dazzling autumn foliage, and swoon-worthy affluent men. Hindered by a recent surgery that has left his arm in a sling, Eric Salko’s life is upended when the VP of his investment firm hires a temporary new personal assistant to run errands and help with Eric’s daughter, Bella. All bets are off when the stunning employee enters his palatial Connecticut estate. Broke and with her life in shambles, Kira Blumquist is desperate to make the most of her lucky break.

A young couple buys an historic New England home with plans to restore it to its original time and beauty. But they have scarcely moved in when strange and frightening things begin to happen. From a child's gravestone in the backyard, to a horrific history discovered about previous owners, there is little time for them to enjoy this home.

It is the late spring of 1978 in a world in which the American Revolution failed in 1776 after George Washington was killed and the Continental Army was destroyed at the Battle of Long Island. The rumbling aftershocks of the Empire Day atrocities which reverberated through Two Hundred Lost Years are threatening to come to the boil. While in Philadelphia the politics become ever more fractious in Spain the Royal Alcazar is a citadel besieged in a country which might as well still be stuck in the 19th century.

Miranda is too busy for cancer. But medical tests don't lie. A deadly tumor is taking over her 18-year-old brain, threatening to shatter her hard-earned dreams of an Ivy League education to dust. Schoolwork competes with plans for treatment, and Miranda's stress heightens when her parents schedule the local pastor's kid to come over and pray for her healing every morning before school. When Miranda's health takes a turn for the worse, she looks into religious matters. Including life after death. Just in case.

When her mother telephones from France with news of her imminent arrest, Ella along with her aunt and an eccentric friend rush to her aid. But what starts as a simple disappearance quickly turns to murder and Ella finds herself embroiled in a mystery which is far more complex than she'd anticipated.

In this collection of four short stories, 19th-century writer Sarah Orne Jewett explores the theme of female friendship. Tana Hicken brings authenticity to the New England towns in which each story is set. The skillful reading and vivid descriptions conjure images of strong country women living simple, inspirational lives. In "Martha's Lady", the listener's own chest nearly fills with pride as Martha is inspired by a visitor's kind words.

They are icons of the literary world whose soaring works have been discussed and analyzed in countless classrooms, homes, and pubs. Yet for most listeners, the living, breathing human beings behind the classics have remained unknown - until now. In this utterly captivating audiobook, Dr. Elliot Engel, a leading authority on the lives of great authors, illuminates the fascinating and flawed members of literature's elite. In lieu of stuffy biographical sketches, Engel provides fascinating anecdotes.

New York - July 1976 - in a world in which New England remains the sparkling jewel in the crown of the British Empire. It is the day before Empire Day - July 4 - the day each year when the British Empire marks the brutal crushing of the rebellion dignified by the treachery of the 56 delegates to the Continental Congress who were so foolhardy as to sign the infamous Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on that day of infamy in 1776.

Female friendship is intense and that intensity can erupt into dangerous passions when teenage girls are cooped up in an exclusive East Coast boarding school. Beautiful, streetwise Cassidy Thomas; debutante jock Abby Madison; academic, sensitive Karen Mullens; and sophisticated troublemaking Zoey Spalding are four seventeen-year-olds who should be cruising happily through their Senior Year. But jealousies are simmering. And when Zoey plays a game with the class list—if you lose your virginity you get a star beside your name—it sets in motion a chain of shocking events.

Cody, Christopher, Carla, and Steven are about to uncover a truth hidden for almost three decades. While they unravel the shocking mystery that will change their lives forever, they must find a way to forgive the past and each other and find their way to love again. While mysteries unravel and feelings blossom, Cody learns that true love deserves a second chance, after all. Escape into the beauty of the Atlantic coastline and fall in love with Cody Moore, her adorable teens, and her crazy house full of loveable pets.