"Anne Berest's The Postcard is among the most acclaimed and beloved French novels of recent years. Luminous and gripping to the very last page, it is an enthralling investigation into family secrets, a poignant tale of mothers and daughters, and a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life. January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front,...

"A family has fled their homeland in search of safety in another country, carrying a single suitcase. As their journey unfolds, the oldest child reflects on the special contents of that suitcase: photo albums that evoke eleven of many names for love in Arabic. From sunshine-warm friendship to the love that dissolves all tears; from the love that makes you swoon to the love that leaves you yearning for the heart's homeland--her family has experienced...

"Acclaimed historical novelist Vanessa Riley is back with another novel based on the life of an extraordinary Black woman from history: Haiti's Queen Marie-Louise Coidavid, who escaped a coup in Haiti to set up her own royal court in Italy during the Regency era, where she became a popular member of royal European society"-- 1810. Marie-Louise Christophe is crowned queen as her husband, Henry I, rules over the newly liberated Kingdom of Hayti in...

"In the late nineteenth century, close diplomatic relations existed between the United States and Russia. That changed when George Kennan went to Siberia in 1885 to investigate the exile system and he learned of the brutality Russia was wielding to suppress dissent. Over ten months, he traveled eight thousand miles, enduring sandstorms and blizzards. His interviews with convicts and political exiles revealed how Russia ran on inflicted pain and...