Jacquelyn Mitchard Libri

Arley Mowbray è una quattordicenne di umilissime origini che, per riscattarsi da un'infelice situazione famigliare, si impegna nello studio e nelle attività di volontariato; per questo inizia un rapporto epistolare con un carcerato, il trentenne Dillon LeGrande, condannato per rapina. A poco a poco i due si innamorano e decidono di sposarsi. Considerata l'età di Arley e il disinteresse di sua madre, la giovane è posta sotto la tutela di Annie Singer,avvocato dei servizi sociali. La donna si affeziona ad Arley come a un figlia:è lei ad accompagnare la ragazza fino alle porte del carcere per la prima notte di nozze e a sostenerla durante l'inattesa e difficile gravidanza. Ma la morbosa gelosia di Dillon non tarda a manifestarsi in tutta la sua forza.

Da quel tragico giorno a Chicago,quando suo figlio Ben è stato rapito nell'atrio affollato di un albergo, Beth ha smesso di lavorare, di mangiare, di lavarsi e vestirsi. Vive come un automa, imbottita di tranquillanti, senza mai togliersi il pigiama. Per anni quella scena scioccante l'ha tormentata, come un film al quale avrebbe voluto disperatamente cambiare il finale: lei alla reception in mezzo a tanta gente e il piccolo Vincent che piange spaventato perché non trova più il fratellino Ben... Ben, tré anni, sparito. Solo una scarpina rossa trovata nel parcheggio dell'hotel è la prova del rapimento. Beth ricorda di aver fatto di tutto per ritrovare il suo piccolo. E poi, a un certo punto, di aver cominciato credere che fosse morto, per non pensare a quante cose orribili possono capitare a un bambino rapito e vivo. Fino a quel sabato mattina di nove anni dopo. Quando Beth si vede davanti un ragazzine con la stessa faccia di Ben. E si sente mancare. Rimane sconvolta quando scopre che quello è proprio suo figlio. Anche se ha un'altra famiglia, un padre al quale è molto affezionato. E allora, quale può essere la scelta di una madre: pretendere giustizia, in nome dei legami di sangue oppure rinunciare a lui per il suo bene? Comunque, la scelta di Beth sarà una scelta di dolore vero, estremo. Che solo una scrittrice poteva raccontare con tanta bravura e intensità, suscitando grande interesse nel mondo editoriale e giudizi entusiasti da parte del pubblico, soprattutto quello femminile.

Jacquelyn Mitchard reaches for heart and mind simultaneously, with both wit and nostalgia but never with sentimentality. Whether writing of gun laws and garage sales, the loneliness of the long-haul single mother, fear of gardening, or the late great American game of baseball, Mitchard stresses the personal stake each of us has in the stand-up drama of daily life. The single mother of five children, she shares her own family's dramas and epiphanies - her own mother's tradition of optimism based on nothing, the early death of her husband, the adoption of her baby daughter - as well as the great wheeling issues that confound 1990s Americans every day. If Jacquelyn Mitchard wore a T-shirt, it would say, "What are you waiting for?" Along with only a few writers of our time - Judith Viorst, Anna Quindlen, Erma Bombeck - Jacquelyn Mitchard is able to concoct a graceful blend of humor, vinegar and eloquence that reminds us that no matter how we change or how far we range, we are all "the rest of us."

When his sister and her husband die in a car accident, Gordon McKenna and his parents are thrown into a fierce custody battle for three-year-old Keefer, as they try to prove that a single man can make a good parent and that adopted siblings have the same rights as biological ones.

When her husband decides to leave, advice columnist Julianne Ambrose Gillis must carry on alone. In his absence, Julie is diagnosed with a serious illness, which drives her children to undertake a dangerous journey to find their dad.

A beautiful late autumn day, an innocent game of hide-and-seek . . . but when twelve-year-old Ronnie Swan emerges from her hiding-place, she finds the brutally murdered bodies of her two little sisters. Nearby, a complete stranger covered in blood, sits sobbing on the family picnic table. The killer, Scott Early, is schizophrenic. And although her parents somehow find the strength to forgive him, Ronnie cannot. Over the years, calmly, systematically, she plans her revenge. But as she closes in on Early, Ronnie will discover the true meaning of sin and compassion - and her decision will change her and her family's lives for ever.

What do you do when the person you love best becomes unrecognizable to you? For Thea Demetriou, the answer is both simple and agonizing: you keep loving him somehow.Stefan was just seventeen when he went to prison for the drug-fueled murder of his girlfriend, Belinda. Three years later, he’s released to a world that refuses to let him move on. Belinda’s mother, once Thea’s good friend, galvanizes the community to rally against him to protest in her daughter’s memory. The media paints Stefan as a symbol of white privilege and indifferent justice. Neighbors, employers, even some members of Thea's own family turn away.Meanwhile Thea struggles to understand her son. At times, he is still the sweet boy he has always been; at others, he is a young man tormented by guilt and almost broken by his time in prison. But as his efforts to make amends meet escalating resistance and threats, Thea suspects more forces are at play than just community outrage. And if there is so much she never knew about her own son, what other secrets has she yet to uncover—especially about the night Belinda died?

The story unfolds two decades after Beth Cappadora's son, Ben, was abducted at the age of three. Miraculously returning nine years later, the family faces the challenges of reintegration and healing as they navigate the complexities of their shattered lives. The narrative explores themes of loss, resilience, and the enduring bond of family.