Fiction : Humorous

From the author of the international bestseller A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian comes a tender and hilarious novel about a crew of migrant workers from three continents who are forced to flee their English strawberry field for a journey across all of England in pursuit of their various dreams of a better future. Somewhere in the heart of the green and pleasant land called England is a valley filled with strawberries. A group of migrant workers, who hail from Eastern Europe, China, and Africa have come here to harvest them for delivery to British supermarkets, and end up living in two small trailer homes, a men's trailer and a woman's trailer. They are all seeking a better life (and in their different ways they are also, of course, looking for love) and they've come to England, some legally, some illegally, to find it. They are supervised-some would say exploited-by Farmer Leaping, a red-faced Englishman who treats everyone equally except for the Polish woman named Yola, the boss of the crew, who favors him with her charms in exchange for something a little extra on the side. But the two are discreet, and all is harmonious in this cozy vale-until the evening when Farmer Leaping's wife comes upon him and Yola and does what any woman would do in this situation: She runs him down in her red sports car. By the time the police arrive the migrant workers have piled into one of the trailer homes and hightailed it out of their little arcadia, thus setting off one of the most enchanting, merry, and moving picaresque journeys across the length and breadth of England since Chaucer's pilgrims set off to Canterbury. Along the way, the workers' fantasies about England keep rudely bumping into the ignominious, brutal, and sometimes dangerous realities of life on the margins for ŽmigrŽs in the new globalized labor market. Some of them meet terrible ends, some give up and go back home, but for those who manage to hang in for the full course of this madcap ride, the more...

Price: $24.95

Vicky Townsley is single, solvent, and seriously successful. Features director of the hugely successful Poise! magazine, she has an amazing flat, good friends, a fantastic wardrobe...in short, everything—except the life she wants: marriage, children, and a house in the country. On the other side of the Atlantic, Amber Winslow has a stone mansion in Connecticut, two kids (and a full-time nanny), the requisite golden retriever, and a busy charitable commitment for the local Women's League. But she hasn't quite found the fulfillment she had expected from being a wife and mother. When she spots an intriguing contest in Poise!, Amber never expects to be picked. Swapping Lives is a riotous and poignant look at what happens when two women, both of whom think their bliss lies elsewhere, walk in each other's shoes for a month only to discover that happiness is closer than they'd ever thought. A rich, clever, and sharply observed chronicle of the true lives of women, Swapping Livesis a must read for the modern mademoiselle that will again squarely position Jane Green in a preeminent place in women's fiction. more...

Price: $14.00

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Price: $14.00

Short stories and essays about friends, family and politics based on observations in the USA, England and India. more...

Price: $7.95

Mindy Solomon has to leave Miami. Florida is bad for her head - and her hair. Dreaming of a dancing career on Broadway, she moves to New York, but quickly sees she needs to rethink her plan. One night at a comedy club, she goes onstage. People laugh. Mindy and her friend Ursula Duran embark on a wild ride on the comedy circuit - and have the last laugh. more...

Price: $9.99