One of The Atlantic's Great American NovelsOne of the New York Times' 25 Most Significant New York City Novels From the Last 100 Years"A towering landmark of postwar Realism…A sustained work of prose so lucid and fine it seems less written than carved." —David Foster WallaceOtto and Sophie Bentwood live in a changing neighborhood in Brooklyn. Their stainless-steel kitchen is newly installed, and their Mercedes is pa...

A Great American Novel – from the author of ‘Borrowed Finery’.Otto and Sophie Bentwood live childless in a renovated Brooklyn brownstone. The complete works of Goethe line their bookshelf, their stainless steel kitchen is newly installed, and their Mercedes is parked outside. After Sophie is bitten on the hand while trying to feed a half-starved neighbourhood cat, a series of small and ominous disasters begin to plague their lives, revealing the faultlines and fractures in a marria...

Pointillist in detail, lapidary in method and brutal in effect...an eloquent, disturbing memoir." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York TimesBorn in the 1920s to nomadic, bohemian parents, Paula Fox is left at birth in a Manhattan orphanage, then cared for by a poor yet cultivated minister in upstate New York. Her parents, however, soon resurface. Her handsome father is a hard-drinking screenwriter who is, for young Paula, "part ally, part betrayer." Her mother...

Newbery Medal winner Paula Fox depicts a fateful summer on the mysterious Greek island of Thasos in this "haunting tale" ( The New York Times Book Review).Lily Corey and her older brother, Paul, have been summering on the Greek island of Thasos with their parents. For Lily, it's been fun hanging out with her brother, exploring the island, and studying ancient mythology and archaeology—until they meet Jack Hemmings.When Paul and Jack become...

In this elegant and affecting companion to her "extraordinary" memoir, Borrowed Finery, a young writer flings herself into a Europe ravaged by the Second World War (The Boston Globe)In 1946, Paula Fox walked up the gangplank of a partly reconverted Liberty with the classic American hope of finding experience—or perhaps salvation—in Europe. She was twenty-two years old, and would spend the next year moving among the ruins of London, Warsaw, Paris, Prague, Madrid, and...

Newbery Medal Winner: A young Louisiana boy faces the horrors of slavery when he is kidnapped and forced to work on a slave ship in this iconic novel.Thirteen-year-old Jessie Bollier earns a few pennies playing his fife on the docks of New Orleans. One night, on his way home, a canvas is thrown over his head and he's knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, Jessie finds himself aboard a slave ship, bound for Africa. There, the Moonlight picks up ninety-eigh...

Eleven-year-old Clay must find a home on the streets of New York City in this award-winning, heartbreakingly honest novel.He was eleven years old, and he had never felt so alone in his life.Clay Garrity lived a normal life until his father lost his job and abandoned the family. Now his pregnant mother has deserted him too, leaving Clay alone in a welfare hotel with a jar of peanut butter and half a loaf of bread. Fearing being placed in foster care...

Newbery Medal–winning author Paula Fox's gripping and sensitive portrayal of a teenage girl who discovers her father is not the man she thought he was.Catherine Ames's father, Harry, has always been a mystery. Her parents divorced when she was three, and she has spent most of her life in a Montreal boarding school. When Harry suggests a month-long stay with him at his summer cabin in Nova Scotia, Catherine is thrilled. Finally she'll have the kind of relationship w...

America and the catastrophic world of twentieth-century war, mass murder, and horror are the backdrop of this story of Annie Gianfala, a young woman who finds herself cast adrift in Hollywood with World War II looming.Defending herself with despairing stubbornness against personal catastrophe, she is able to save her life and escape. "Enormously touching and wholly believable."— Washington Post Book World

"Not only can Fox see, she can hear, she can feel."—Zadie Smith, Harper'sThis gathering of Paula Fox's short work spans her illustrious career, from 1965 to the present including perfectly turned stories; pointed, engaging essays; and raw yet eloquent memoir.

Winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award: A young girl learns some hard truths about human nature in this thought-provoking, beautifully crafted novel.Tomorrow, Emma's uncle is coming to take her to his house on Long Island while her father undergoes surgery and her mother stays with him in hospital. For two whole weeks, Emma will be stuck with her father's half-sister: the strange, bossy Aunt Bea.Luckily, Emma makes a friend at the beach...

"Chekhovian. . . . Every line of Fox's story, every gesture of her characters, is alive and surprising."—Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York TimesOn the eve of their trip to Africa, Laura Maldonada Clapper and her husband, Desmond, sit in a New York City hotel room, drinking scotch-and-sodas and awaiting the arrival of three friends: Clara Hansen, Laura's timid, brow-beaten daughter from a previous marriage; Carlos, Laura's flamboyant and charming brother;...