Frank Carlson Library

An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present day. The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy Afghan youth and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of...

"Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera's lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery,...

"A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smiths Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her...

"Poor and illiterate, Bhima had faithfully worked for the Dubash family, an upper-middle-class Parsi household, for more than twenty years. Yet after courageously speaking the truth about a heinous crime perpetrated against her own family, the devoted servant was cruelly fired. The sting of that dismissal was made more painful coming from Sera Dubash, the temperamental employer who had long been Bhima's only confidante. A woman who has endured despair...

"Two familes from different social classes are joined together by an unexpected pregnancy and the child that it produces. As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier,...

"For two years, Catherine Marks has been a paid companion to the Hathaway sisters -- a pleasant position, with one caveat. Her charges' older brother Leo Hathaway, is thoroughly exasperating. Cat can hardly believe that their constant arguing could mask a mutual attraction. But when one quarrel ends in a sudden kiss, Cat is shocked at her powerful response -- and even more so when Leo proposes a dangerous liason. Leo must marry and produce an heir...

A family drama of dark secrets and individual awakenings is set against the backdrop of the turbulent summer of 1968 in Martha's Vineyard, where twenty-two-year-old Whitney Dane begins questioning her goals and sense of independence at the side of a fiercely ambitious, underprivileged man.

Among the green hills and trees of Lancashire, only a few miles from the sea, lies the beautiful and ancient estate of Ashton Park. The year is 1916. The First World War has engulfed Europe and Sir William's and Lady Elizabeth's three sons are all in uniform--and their four daughters are involved in various pursuits of the heart and soul. As the head of a strong Church of England family for generations, Sir William insists the Danforth estate hold...

"Searching for a story to launch her career and new friends to help her navigate motherhood, Tash, welcomed into a circle of sleek, sophisticated mothers, discovers the kind of life she's always dreamed of until two recent murders make her wonder why she's been so quickly accepted into their exclusive world"-- Tash has been searching for a story to launch her career as a freelance journalist, as well as new friends to help her navigate motherhood....

"In Mariah Fredericks's Death of a Showman, the fourth in this absorbing series set in Gilded Age New York, lady's maid Jane Prescott is thrust into the world of show business, where a killer is stalking Broadway. It's the summer of 1914 and Jane Prescott--lady's maid to Louise Tyler, daughter of a wealthy New York society family--has just arrived home from Independence Day celebrations to find musician Leo Hirschfeld playing the Tylers' piano. Jane's...