Overcome by spiritual restlessness as her children gain independence, a devout Catholic adopts a child from Eastern Europe whose complicated needs estrange the woman from her biological children.

"Mahsa Mohebali's In Case of Emergency follows Shadi, a wealthy junkie, as she traverses Tehran in search of her next fix, and witnesses an apocalyptic day of earthquakes, personal and social upheaval, and the destruction of the status quo"--

Charlotte, a midthirties Long Island woman, has felt so alone since her promising career in neuroscience imploded. But she has an online support group for trauma survivors; she has Rachel, a friend who has seen her through the worst of it; and now she also has Peter, a mysterious new boyfriend who has asked that their budding romance remain a total secret. That is why she is too scared to report his disappearance to the authorities when he vanishes...

When her mother cannot find a babysitter for the weekend, thirteen-year-old Monica is left in charge of the house and her stepsister Angela, with disastrous results.

"An early morning call brings Belfast detective Serena Flanagan to the scene of a sudden death. Henry Garrick, the owner of a successful local car dealership, who had been horrifically maimed in a car accident five months ago, appears to have taken his own life. A simple case, it should be wrapped up in a few days, but something doesn't feel right to Flanagan, despite the fact that there is no evidence of foul play. As she investigates, Flanagan interviews...

"Libby needs a break. Three years ago her husband split, leaving her to raise their infant son Ethan alone as she struggled to launch her writing career. Now for the first time in years, things are looking up. She's just sold her first novel, and she and Ethan are going on a much-needed vacation. Everything seems to be going their way, so why can't she stop looking over her shoulder or panicking every time Ethan wanders out of view? Is it because...

"Sociopaths can be found in every facet of life: personal relationships, work, school, and family. Most people have been in a relationship or interacted with more than one sociopath in their lifetime, often not recognizing their danger until it was too late. The Sociopath At the Breakfast Table breaks new ground in the field of abusive relationships. It presents an emerging theory about sociopathic interaction: SEAT, or the "Sociopath-Empath-Apath...

"Humane, thought provoking, and moving, this hybrid literary portrait of a place makes the case for radical close readings: of ourselves, our cities, and our histories. The Undercurrents is a dazzling work of biography, memoir, and cultural criticism told from a precise vantage point: a stately nineteenth-century house on Berlin's Landwehr Canal, a site at the center of great historical changes, but also smaller domestic ones. The view from this house...

Presents an anthology of the best literary essays published in the past year, selected from American periodicals.