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Burroughs' first novel, a largely autobiographical account of the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures and relapses, remains the most unflinching, unsentimental account of addiction ever written. Through junk neighborhoods in New York, New Orleans and Mexico City, through time spent kicking, time spent dealing and time rolling drunks for money, through junk sickness and a sanatorium, Junky is a field report (by a writer trained in anthropology at Harvard) from the American post-war drug underground.

When Rachel and her husband lose their unborn child, feelings of grief and resentment drive them apart. Desperate for empathy, Rachel reaches out to a man from her past who's also lost someone, but their relationship soon spirals into a destructive affair.

Middle-aged mother of two Ginnie Holmes embarks on an affair with a married man, taking to an abandoned river house for their Thursday trysts. But when she thinks she sees a murderer by the river, she must decide whether to risk exposing her affair by going to the police.

When former Confederate officer Colonel French returns to his North Carolina hometown after building his fortune in the North, he is a new man. He intends to create better economic conditions for those who have only known hardship. But there is a new social order in the South that stands in his way. The very men who used to look upon Colonel French with awe now berate him and his idealism--and they are determined to make him fail.

Schmidt is a self-described maverick WASP attorney who now heads a foundation established by his magnanimous billionaire Jewish Egyptian friend, Mike Mansour. At 78, Schmidt is widowed, vigorous, shrewd yet romantic, with a gargantuan capacity for alcohol, sex, and transatlantic flights. His one sorrow is his contentious relationship with his difficult daughter, Charlotte, whose horrid husband and in-laws are hell-bent on vacuuming up Schmidt's fortune. His ardor is Alice, the enigmatic French widow of a lawyer Schmidt affectionately mentored, who harbored his own explosive secrets.

The death of famous jazz musician Joss Moody brings to light a dark secret--one that leaves his adopted son Colman searching for answers, and his wife Millie fleeing for the solitude of a remote Scottish village.

Fourteen years ago, Jinx's mother was brutally stabbed to death in their East London home. Haunted by this tragedy, Jinx is surprised one day when her mother's friend Lemon appears at her door. Over a tension-filled weekend, the two recount and examine this tragic event, each searching for a path to redemption.

First published in 1929, Passing is a remarkable exploration of the shifting racial and sexual boundaries in America. Larsen, a premier writer of the Harlem Renaissance, captures the rewards and dangers faced by two negro women who pass for white in a deeply segregated world.

This haunting story bridges two centuries, two mother-daughter relationships, and two tragic love stories in a small town called Dundee on the coast of Maine.

A girl named Fall disappears, leaving behind her good-looking and well-liked boyfriend Julius. Hovering about the proceedings too is Noel, an odd loner who may hold the key to Fall's disappearance.