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The horse : a novel / by Vlautin, Willy,author.;
Al Ward lives on an isolated mining claim in the high desert of central Nevada fifty miles from the nearest town. A grizzled man in his sixties, he survives on canned soup, instant coffee, and memories of his ex-wife, friends and family he's lost, and his life as a touring musician. Hampered by insomnia, bouts of anxiety, and a chronic lethargy that keeps him from moving back to town, Al finds himself teetering on the edge of madness and running out of reasons to go on--until a horse arrives on his doorstep: nameless, blind, and utterly helpless. Al hopes the horse will vanish as mysteriously as he appeared. Yet the animal remains, leaving him in a conundrum. Is the animal real, or a phantom conjured from imagination? As Al contemplates the horse's existence--and what, if anything, he can do--his thoughts are interspersed with memories, from the moment his mother's part-time boyfriend gifts him a 1959 butterscotch blonde Telecaster, to the day his travels begin. He joins various bands--all who perform his songs once they discover his talent-playing casinos, truck stops, clubs, and bars. He falls in love, and finds pockets of companionship and minor success along the way. Never close to stardom or financial success, he continues as a journeyman for decades until alcoholism and a heartbreaking tragedy lead him to the solitude of the barren Nevada desert. A poignant meditation on addiction, heartbreak, and the reality of life on the road in small-time bands, The Horse is a beautiful, haunting tale from an author working at the height of his powers.
Subjects: Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Alcoholism; Composers; Memory; Musicians; Recluses;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Black woods, blue sky : a novel / by Ivey, Eowyn,author.; Hulbert, Ruth,illustrator.;
"Birdie splits her days between caring for her six-year-old daughter, Emaleen, and working as a waitress at a roadside lodge in Alaska. But this is not the life she'd dreamed of as a child. Back then, she had fantasized about being free in the world of nature. Arthur is a soft-spoken recluse--adopted as a boy under mysterious circumstances by a local couple who raised him as their own but understood that he could never fully fit into their world. He calls the mountains on the far side of the Wolverine River his home and lives completely off the grid, appearing in the town at random intervals. But when he shows up at Birdie's lodge one day and she serves him honey and tea, the two form a friendship, and as they eventually fall in love Birdie begins to imagine a different life for herself and her daughter. When Birdie and Emaleen move to Arthur's remote cabin life initially seems idyllic; they spend their days catching fish, picking berries, and playing games in the sunshine. But as the days shorten Birdie begins to realize that the truth of Arthur's life is much more complicated and mysterious than she understood, and that the reality of who he is may be putting her and her daughter's life in danger"--
Subjects: Magic realist fiction.; Novels.; Man-woman relationships; Recluses; Shapeshifting; Single mothers; Wilderness areas;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Seven days in June : a novel / by Williams, Tia,1975-author.;
"Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone's surprise, shows up in New York. When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York's Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can't deny their chemistry-or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since. Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva's not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered ... With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual"--
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Authors; African Americans; Man-woman relationships;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Stone Yard Devotional A Novel [electronic resource] : by Wood, Charlotte.aut; cloudLibrary;
Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, a novel about forgiveness, grief, and what it means to be good, from the award-winning author of The Weekend. “Stone Yard Devotional is as extraordinary as you’ve heard.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post “An exquisite, wrenching novel of leaving your life behind.” —Lauren Christensen, New York Times Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia. She doesn't believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident. But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signaling a new battle against the rising infestation. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past. Meditative, moving, and finely observed, Stone Yard Devotional is a seminal novel from a writer of rare power, exploring what it means to retreat from the world, the true nature of forgiveness, and the sustained effect of grief on the human soul.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Small Town & Rural; Literary; Contemporary Women;
© 2025., Penguin Publishing Group,
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Night music / by Moyes, Jojo,1969-author.;
The Spanish House is known to locals as an architectural folly, and it is now nearly derelict to boot. When its reclusive owner dies intestate the Spanish House is left to his city-dwelling niece. For the recently-widowed Isabel, the house is a potential lifeline. For her neighbour Matt McCarthy, the house is revenge.
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Mansions; Inheritance and succession; Widows; Revenge;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 3
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When she dreams / by Quick, Amanda,author.;
"Return to 1930s Burning Cove, California, the glamorous seaside playground for Hollywood stars, mobsters, spies, and a host of others who find more than they bargain for in this mysterious town. Maggie Lodge, assistant to the reclusive advice columnist known only as Dear Aunt Cornelia to her readers, hires down-but-not-quite-out private eye Sam Sage to help track down the person who is blackmailing her employer. Maggie and Sam are a mismatched pair. As far as Sam is concerned, Maggie is reckless and in over her head. She is not what he had in mind for a client, but he can't afford to be choosy. Maggie, on the other hand, is convinced that Sam is badly in need of guidance and good advice. She does not hesitate to give him both. In spite of the verbal fireworks between them, they are fiercely attracted to each other, but each is convinced it would be a mistake to let passion take over. They are, after all, keeping secrets from each other. Sam is haunted by his past, which includes a marriage shattered by betrayal and violence. Maggie is troubled by intense and vivid dreams-dreams that she can sometimes control. There are those who want to run experiments on her and use her for their own purposes, while others think she should be committed to an asylum. When the pair discovers someone is impersonating Aunt Cornelia at a conference on psychic dreaming and a woman dies at the conference, the door is opened to a dangerous web of blackmail and murder. Secrets from the past are revealed, leaving Maggie and Sam in the path of a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to exact vengeance"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Historical fiction.; Novels.; Extortion; Man-woman relationships; Murder; Private investigators;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 3
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A history of wild places : a novel / by Ernshaw, Shea,author.;
"The New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep weaves a richly atmospheric adult debut following three residents of a secluded, seemingly peaceful commune as they investigate the disappearances of two outsiders. Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James-a well-known author of dark, macabre children's books-he's led to a place many believed to be only a legend. Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn't exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it ... he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James. Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis's abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there's a risk of bringing a disease-rot-into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn't as safe as they believed-and that darkness takes many forms. Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind"--
Subjects: Thrillers (Fiction); Psychological fiction.; Communal living; Missing persons; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The stranger in the woods : the extraordinary story of the last true hermit / by Finkel, Michael,author.;
"For readers of Jon Krakauer and The Lost City of Z, a remarkable tale of survival and solitude--the true story of a man who lived alone in a tent in the Maine woods, never talking to another person and surviving by stealing supplies from nearby cabins for twenty-seven years. In 1986, twenty-year-old Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the woods. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even in winter, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store food and water, to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothes, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed, but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of the why and how of his secluded life--as well as the challenges he has faced returning to the world. A riveting story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded"--Publisher description.
Subjects: Biographies.; Knight, Christopher Thomas, 1965-; Hermits; Recluses; Thieves; Survival; Solitude;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The messy lives of book people / by Patrick, Phaedra,author.;
"The house cleaner of a famous author must carry out her employer's shocking last wish in this delightful new novel from beloved author Phaedra Patrick. Mother of two Liv Green barely scrapes by as a maid to make ends meet, often finding escape in a good book while daydreaming of becoming a writer herself. So she can't believe her luck when she lands a job housekeeping for her personal hero, megabestselling author Essie Starling, a mysterious and intimidating recluse. The last thing Liv expected was to be the only person Essie talks to, which leads to a tenuous friendship. When Essie passes away suddenly, Liv is astonished to learn that her dying wish was for Liv to complete her final novel. But to do so Liv will have to step into Essie's shoes. As Liv begins to write, she uncovers secrets from the past that reveal a surprising connection between the two women--one that will change Liv's own story forever ..."--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Humorous fiction.; Novels.; Authors; Books and reading; Female friendship; Life change events; Secrecy; Self-realization in women; Single mothers; Women household employees;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Hemlock [electronic resource] : by Albert, Susan Wittig.aut; cloudLibrary;
From Susan Wittig Albert, the New York Times bestselling author of A Plain Vanilla Murder, comes a tightly crafted novel that juxtaposes the disappearance of a rare, remarkably illustrated 18th-century herbal with the true and all-too-human story of its gifted creator, Elizabeth Blackwell. ​Herbalist China Bayles’ latest adventure takes her to the mountains of North Carolina, where her friend Dorothea Harper serves as the director and curator of the Hemlock House Library, a priceless collection of rare gardening books housed in a haunted mountainside mansion that once belonged to Sunny Carswell, a reclusive heiress. But the most valuable book—A Curious Herbal, created by Elizabeth Blackwell in the 1730s—is  missing and Dorothea is under suspicion. China’s search for the thief takes on a new urgency when she discovers Miss Carswell’s bookseller, the victim of an attempted murder. Is his shooting connected with the theft? And there are other urgent questions: What is the Hemlock Guild? Who owns Socrates.com? Did Sunny Carswell really kill herself, or does her ghost have a different story to tell? And what is the real truth behind the many tantalizing mysteries of A Curious Herbal? Hemlock is a compelling mix of mystery and herb lore, past secrets and present sins, and characters who are as real as your friends and neighbors—in an absorbing novel that only Susan Wittig Albert could create.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Mystery & Detective;
© 2021., Persevero Press,
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