"It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon." This is the way Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with Red that day in July 1959. The whole family--their two daughters and two sons, their grandchildren, even their faithful old dog--is on the porch, listening contentedly as Abby tells the tale they have heard so many times before. And yet this gathering is different too: Abby and Red are growing older, and decisions...

The authors, family counselors Gerald and Marlene Kaufman, urge adult children and their parents to have direct conversations about the decisions that lie ahead as parents age. A thoughtful and useful guide to a life stage that's often dreaded and muddled through.

"When it comes time to provide care for those who once cared for us, where can we turn? This book offers practical guidance for a broad range of caregiving situations when family caregivers assume their new role. Uses the latest research and draws on case histories and interviews. Is a resource as well as a source of inspiration, with a blend of powerful stories and practical advice. Helps caregivers cope with numerous challenges, including parents...

"Growing up in Alabama, Renkl was a devoted reader, an explorer of riverbeds and red-dirt roads, and a fiercely loved daughter. Here, in brief essays, she traces a tender and honest portrait of her complicated parents--her exuberant, creative mother; her steady, supportive father--and of the bittersweet moments that accompany a child's transition to caregiver."--

"From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go. For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family's yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and--thanks to the cottage's ancient plumbing--septic too....

Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's a total pro at other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own. The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of...

"In the end, I have only myself to blame. I'm the one who let her in. Jodi Bishop knows success. She's the breadwinner, a top-notch real estate agent. Her husband, Harrison . . . not so much. Once, he had big dreams. But now, he's a middling writer who resents his wife's success. Jodi's father, Vic, now seventy-nine and retired, is a very controlling man. His wife, Audrey, was herself no shrinking violet. But things changed when Audrey developed Parkinson's...

Acclaimed for her insightful depiction of the magic and mystery in everyday life and relationships, Luanne Rice is one of today's most gifted novelists. Now the author of eight consecutive New York Times bestsellers delivers her most powerful book yet-the story of a man and woman forced to choose between the past that haunts them and the love that won't let them go. Jane Porter left the apple orchards of rural Twin Rivers, Rhode Island, years ago,...

"An emotionally charged novel about family -- the slow accumulation of wrongs that drive us apart and the unlikely paths that lead us home again. Piper Hart has poured all her energy into raising her son, Fred, while her often-absent husband, Isaac, has poured all his energy into a career defending the wrongly accused. She's always told herself her son is perfectly normal, but somewhere deep inside her rests a tiny suspicion that all is not well....

"When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern's husband is sure it's because of Astrid's famous kidnapping--and equally famous return--twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown. And when Astrid appears in Fern's recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading,...