Just after her mother's funeral, five-year-old Holly is dropped off by her father at her grandfather's South Carolina dairy farm. It will be 30 years before Holly sees her father again-plenty of time to develop a fondness for drinking and video poker. And also plenty of time to contemplate why her father abandoned her.

Normandy, France, 1970s. Anne is transitioning from middle school to high school. She expresses her feelings about her parents, her education, and her sexual encounters, growing more mature but also conflicted and unhappy. In leaving behind the innocence of her middle school years, Anne must navigate the often-confusing signals she receives from boys, while also moving further away from her parents as she surpasses their educational level and worldview.--...

Paul Morel's childhood and early manhood in the English midlands are deeply affected by his devotion to and concern for his dominating mother.

"The story of the dangerous first love of two young men: Mungo and James. Born under different stars--Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic--they should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all. Their environment is a hyper-masculine and sectarian one, for gangs of young men and the violence they might dole out dominate the Glaswegian estate where they live. And yet against all odds Mungo and James become best friends as they find a...

Distraught over the deaths of her husband and son in a suicide bombing at a London soccer match, a woman writes a letter to Osama bin Laden to persuade him to abandon his terror campaign.