How does art mirror and shape our lives? Can it transcend the boundaries of time, wealth, and circumstance? Debra Spark—whose previous work the Washington Post described as "richly imaginative" and "real world magic"—explores these themes in her new novel Discipline. With a trio of important paintings missing, the book weaves together three narratives that span almost a century. From an inhumane boarding school in Maine in the late 1970s to a contemporary Boston art appra...

Curious Attractions: Essays on Fiction Writing is a book about what makes fiction work. In nine entertaining and instructive essays, novelist and master teacher Debra Spark pursues key questions that face both aspiring and accomplished writers, including: How does a writer find inspiration? What makes a story's closing line resonate? How can a writer "get" style? Where should an author "stand" in relation to his or her characters?While the book will have immediate appeal f...

For as long Daniella has been married to Joel, they’ve received phone calls at odd hours, and late at night. Daniella knows the caller as Liesel, Joel’s first wife, a woman whose sudden departure devastated her husband. After years of disruptive, long-distance phone calls, Liesel rings to tell Joel she’s letting Idzia, the seventeen-year-old daughter he has never met, visit for the summer. Daniella and Joel prepare for Idzia’s arrival, but when Joel goes to pick her up from the airport, Id...

Good for the Jews is a smart, funny, sexy novel set in Madison, Wisconsin, during the Bush administration. Part mystery and part stranger-comes-to town story, Good for the Jews is loosely based on the biblical book of Esther. Like Esther, Debra Spark's characters deal with anti-Semitism and the way that powerful men—and the women who love them—negotiate bureaucracies.At the core of the story of right and wrong are young, attractive Ellen Hirschorn and her older co...

If you are feeling stuck in life but know somehow you were meant for more, this book is an invitation for women to finally break free.Over the course of your life, you developed an identity that helped you function and survive in the world but also covered up your true power. The flame of passion and limitless possibility of your true nature is still there as brilliant as ever waiting to be rediscovered.Like a Spark From Fire, inspired by the psy...

If you are feeling stuck in life but know somehow you were meant for more, this book is an invitation for women to finally break free.Over the course of your life, you developed an identity that helped you function and survive in the world but also covered up your true power. The flame of passion and limitless possibility of your true nature is still there as brilliant as ever waiting to be rediscovered.Like a Spark From Fire, inspired by the psychology of Carl Jung and Eas...

Riggs was written because of my love for roosters and chickens. They reminded me of children, always seeming to be curious of what is going on around them. Just like our children, they are sometimes getting into trouble because they fail to listen to good advice.-Debra Bass

“More local color than a steamed lobster wearing wild blueberry bracelets, along with a mess of wistful nostalgia for any reader raised in Maine or New England.” —Portland Press HeraldNearly 70 renowned New England writers gather round the table to talk food and how it sustains us—mind, body, and soulAn award-winning collection of essays by internationally recognized and beloved foodies, Breaking Bread celebrates local foo...

Each action-packed story in this engaging Bible comes with a prompt to invite discussion and leaves kids begging for you to read "just one more."The most comprehensive and Scripture-based children's storybook Bible available, The Spark Story Bible includes 100 easy-to-read stories with more than 60 stories from the New Testament. The Spark Story Bible provides a true Gospel-centric resource for kids and families to enjoy. This engaging resource to...