Relentless, remorseless, and inspirational, this "horrific, hope-filled story" ("Newsday") is certain to haunt a generation of readers. Precious Jones, 16 years old and pregnant by her father with her second child, meets a determined and highly radical teacher who takes her on a journey of transformation and redemption.

"Fern and her mother have lived as servants in Wyndemere House, the old Gothic mansion of the Davenport family, for as long as she can remember, and her friendship with Dr. Davenport's son Ryder was never a problem . . . until they came of age. An intimate encounter following a high school prom brings the pair near-tragic consequences, and the forces of fate, arrogance, and class prejudice gather to crush their warm relationship. Still, the real threat...

The story of a jinxed family, a catalog of rape, incest and death. James Piper abuses his daughter, atones by sending her to New York to study singing while he goes to war, she returns pregnant, dies in childbirth when her mother opens her to save her twins. One of the twins dies, mother commits suicide, the second twin contracts polio while being baptized in a creek by an aunt, the aunt is raped by James. A first novel set in Nova Scotia early this...

Having stopped eating after the death of her father, seventeen-year-old Laurel feels herself losing control of her life in the hot, magical world of Los Angeles.

Left at a monastery as a baby, Ambrosio grew up to be a cruel and stern monk, renowned for his sermons and piety. When a nun named Agnes goes to Ambrosio for the sacrament of confession, she admits that she is pregnant after having a long love affair with a man named Raymond. Though admissions told in confession are meant to be kept in confidence, Ambrosio turns Agnes over to the authorities in her convent for punishment. Without a trace of guilt...

Sixteen-year-old Caroline and her twin sister Honey know for sure that their Uncle Toddy is a vampire who comes at night to drink their blood but fear of the consequences makes them keep their terrible secret.

"Janey lived in the locked room. Twice a day the Persian slave trader came in and taught her to be a whore. Otherwise there was nothing. One day she found a pencil stub and a scrap of paper in a forgotten corner of the room. She began to write down her life, starting with 'Parents stink.' Her father, who is also her boyfriend, has fallen in love with another woman and is about to leave her ... post-punk porn to post-punk feminism ... detailed eroticism...