ALLEGRA GOODMAN

Tension arises in the love affair of a young artist for whom nothing is permanent and his girlfriend, a teacher who believes that things are meant to last by the New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist.This is a compelling love story between two very different young people: Collin, a disarming chalk artist who thinks nothing of erasing his dazzling work, and Nina, an idealistic teacher who struggles every day to make a lasting impact on her students. Wanting Collin to realize his full talent, Nina warily introduces him to her powerful father, who owns the most cutting edge virtual reality game company in the world. Add to this a brilliant but unstable pupil of Ninas who is gaming obsessed, and you have contemporary life caught in the crosshairs by one of our most charming and socially astute literary voices.

n exquisite detail, Goodman explores what happens when an alternate reality takes over one boy's life, and the forces at work behind his obsession: the all-encompassing gaming realm that becomes more authentic than his real world. Aidan and his twin sister Diana live with their mother in a small American town, which is dominated by the gaming company Arkadia. By day, Aidan goes to school, struggles with his friendships, does his homework as all normal teenagers do. But by night, he is a champion fighter, at the top of Arkadia's EverWhen gaming world. When he is mysteriously sent a small black BoX, which physically takes him into that world, the reality and perceptions of his two lives start dangerously to shift. Nina, Aidan's English teacher and the daughter of Arkadia's owner, suspects that something is wrong and wants to help, but she has her own demons to deal with. The love of her life, Collin, is being pulled further into the clutches of EverWhen - when the two worlds collide, everyone involved will have to decide where their loyalties actually lie

Cleopatra, la última reina de Egipto, es una de las mujeres más misteriosas de la historia: pese a que todos reconocemos su nombre, apenas sabemos nada de ella. La leyenda la retrata como una sirena

'[Goodman's] characters so live and breathe on the page that they could get up and make you a cup of coffee while you finish the next chapter. Intuition is a stunning achievement.' Economist Sandy Glass and Marion Mendelssohn work together as co-directors of a cancer research lab in Boston.

A charismatic doctor and a rigorous scientist are co-directors of a cancer research lab. They demand nothing less than complete dedication and obedience from their young proteges.

LONGLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION 2009 SHORTLISTED FOR THE WELLCOME TRUST BOOK PRIZE 2009A charismatic doctor and a rigorous scientist are co-directors of a cancer research lab. They demand nothing less than complete dedication and obedience from their young proteges. In this high-pressure setting, one young mans experiments begin to show exciting results. At first the entire lab is giddy with expectation. But his colleagues become suspicious, and soon an all-too-public controversy engulfs the lab and everyone in it...Intuition is a rich and compelling human drama about the quest for truth, that asks: who can you trust when you arent even sure you can trust yourself?

In exquisite detail, Goodman explores what happens when an alternate reality takes over one boys life, and the forces at work behind his obsession: the all-encompassing gaming realm that becomes more authentic than his real world. Aidan and his twin sister Diana live with their mother in a small American town, which is dominated by the gaming company Arkadia. By day, Aidan goes to school, struggles with his friendships, does his homework as all normal teenagers do. But by night, he is a champion fighter, at the top of Arkadias EverWhen gaming world. When he is mysteriously sent a small black BoX, which physically takes him into that world, the reality and perceptions of his two lives start dangerously to shift. Nina, Aidans English teacher and the daughter of Arkadias owner, suspects that something is wrong and wants to help, but she has her own demons to deal with. The love of her life, Collin, is being pulled further into the clutches of EverWhen - when the two worlds collide, everyone involved will have to decide where their loyalties actually lie.

Two sisters, opposite in every way: twenty-eight-year-old Emily is a CFO of an internet start-up, twenty-three-year-old Jess is a graduate student in philosophy. Pragmatic Emily is making a fortune in Silicon Valley, romantic Jess works in an antiquarian bookstore. Emilys boyfriend is fantastically successful. Jesss boyfriend is an environmental activist. But the dot-com bubble must burst, while Jesss work on a cache of rare cookbooks uncovers strange erotic drawings and marginalia that bring her closer to their mysterious collector...Rich in ideas and characters, The Cookbook Collector is a novel of substitutions: reading cookbooks instead of cooking, speculating instead of creating, collecting instead of living. But above all it is about holding on to what is real in a virtual world: love that lasts.

REESES BOOK CLUB PICK NATIONAL BESTSELLER A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history.Jodi Picoult, author of By Any Other NameA new generation of survival story . . . an extraordinary book that reads like a thriller, written with the care of the most delicate psychological and historical fiction.Vogue (Best of 2025 Preview)A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in this lushly painted (People) historical epic of love, faith, and defiance from the bestselling author of Sam.A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, NPR, Slate, The Globe and Mail, Kirkus Reviews, Town & Country, Lit Hub, Christian Science Monitor FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS BOOK AWARDHeir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardianan enigmatic and volatile manspends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. That journey takes a unexpected turn when Marguerite, accused of betrayal, is brutally punished and abandoned on a small island.Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith shed never before needed.Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.

NATIONAL BESTSELLEREmily and Jessamine Bach are opposites in every way: Twenty-eight-year-old Emily is the CEO of Veritech, twenty-three-year-old Jess is an environmental activist and graduate student in philosophy. Pragmatic Emily is making a fortune in Silicon Valley, romantic Jess works in an antiquarian bookstore. Emily is rational and driven, while Jess is dreamy and whimsical. Emilys boyfriend, Jonathan, is fantastically successful. Jesss boyfriends, not so much.National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Allegra Goodman has written a delicious novel about appetite, temptation, and holding on to what is real in a virtual world: love that stays.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A richly textured portrait . . . an intimate look at a closed Orthodox community.Los Angeles Times Book Review NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK It is 1976. And the tiny upstate New York town of Kaaterskill Falls is bustling with summer people in dark coats, fedoras, and long, modest dresses. Living side by side with Yankee year-rounders, they are the disciples of Rav Elijah Kirshner. Elizabeth Shulman is a restless wife and mother of five daughters; her imagination transcends her cloistered community. Across the street Andras Melish is drawn to Kaaterskill by his adoring older sisters. Comforted, yet crippled by his sisters love, he cannot overcome the ambivalence he feels toward his own children and his young wife. At the top of the hill, Rav Kirshner is nearing the end of his life. As he struggles to decide which of his sons should succeed himthe pious but stolid Isaiah or the brilliant but rebellious Jeremyhis followers wrestle with their future and their past. With this community, Allegra Goodman weaves magic. The nationally bestselling author of The Family Markowitz crafts a tale of family and traditionone that confirms this authors place as a virtuoso of her generation.

Allegra Goodman has delighted readers with her critically acclaimed collections Total Immersion and The Family Markowitz, and her celebrated first novel, Kaaterskill Falls, which was a national bestseller and a National Book Award finalist. Abandoned by her folk-dancing partner, Gary, in a Honolulu hotel room, Sharon realizes she could return to Bostonand her estranged familyor listen to that little voice inside herself. The voice that asks: How come Gary got to pursue his causes, while all I got to pursue was him? Thus, with an open heart, a soul on fire, and her meager possessions (a guitar, two Indian gauze skirts, a macrame bikini, and her grandfathers silver watch) Sharon begins her own spiritual quest. Ever the optimist, she is sure at each stage that she has struck it rich spiritually speakinguntil she comes up empty. Then, in a karmic convergence of events, Sharon starts on the path home to Judaism. Still, even as she embraces her tradition, Sharons irrepressible self tugs at her sleeve. Especially when she meets Mikhail, falls truly in love at last, and discovers what even she could not imagineher destiny.

Hailed as a writer of uncommon clarity by the New Yorker, National Book Award finalist Allegra Goodman has dazzled readers with her acclaimed works of fiction, including such beloved bestsellers as The Family Markowitz and Kaaterskill Falls. Now she returns with a bracing new novel, at once an intricate mystery and a rich human drama set in the high-stakes atmosphere of a prestigious research institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Sandy Glass, a charismatic publicity-seeking oncologist, and Marion Mendelssohn, a pure, exacting scientist, are codirectors of a lab at the Philpott Institute dedicated to cancer research and desperately in need of a grant. Both mentors and supervisors of their young postdoctoral proteges, Glass and Mendelssohn demand dedication and obedience in a competitive environment where funding is scarce and results elusive. So when the experiments of Cliff Bannaker, a young postdoc in a rut, begin to work, the entire lab becomes giddy with newfound expectations. But Cliffs rigorous colleagueand girlfriendRobin Decker suspects the unthinkable: that his findings are fraudulent. As Robin makes her private doubts public and Cliff maintains his innocence, a life-changing controversy engulfs the lab and everyone in it. With extraordinary insight, Allegra Goodman brilliantly explores the intricate mixture of workplace intrigue, scientific ardor, and the moral consequences of a rush to judgment. She has written an unforgettable novel.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK From the author of The Chalk Artist, this beloved collection of linked stories is one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life to have come our way in quite a while (The Boston Globe). In this beloved collection of linked short stories, Allegra Goodman writes with wit and compassion about three generations of Markowitzes: Rose, the displaced, cantankerous matriarch; her devoted son, Henry, an aesthete living abroad; his younger brother, Ed, a Georgetown scholar specializing in terrorism; Eds wife, Sarah, a housewife with stalled literary ambitions; and their eldest daughter, Miriam, whose budding Orthodoxy bewilders her parents. Through the rhythm of ordinary family ritualsweddings, holiday dinners, hospital vigilsGoodman breathes extraordinary life into a cast of characters who reverberate with authenticity and never fail to speak their minds.Praise for The Family Markowitz These stories sound like no one elses. . . . Goodman is brilliant at capturing the clutter of both interior and exterior life.Los Angeles Times Entertaining . . . The Family Markowitz has great consistency and charm.Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review A revelation . . . Goodmans prose has a steady, silent reserve that always indicates she has bigger things in mind.Dwight Garner, Salon One of the most astute and engaging books about American family life to have come our way in quite a while . . . [Allegra Goodman] has a gift for conveying the peculiar subtleties of Jewish culture.The Boston GlobeFunny and wise and keenly observed . . . one of the most engaging, maddening, and recognizable families to come along in years . . . an enchanting book.Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

In "The Succession," the members of a prosperous Hawaii synagogue agree on almost nothing. But when the president of the synagogue absconds with a small fortune, far deeperand more troublingrifts emerge...In "The Closet," Evelyns sister flees her family to take up residence in the atticwhile the shunned Evelyn finds herself slipping into the waters of her sisters soul....In "Wish List," an expert on terrorism, vacationing at an academic retreat in England,receives a late-night phone call from National Public Radio. Asked for commentary on a hostage situation of which he is ignorant, Ed can whisper only: "Its unspeakable."Total ImmersionIn these and other exquisite stories, Allegra Goodman fills rooms with laughter and voices, captures dinner parties, seaside picnics, academic grudges, shul politics, and the kind of hurts that only families and lovers can know. Featuring two new stories previously published in The New Yorker, Total Immersion is Allegra Goodmans first collection of short fictiona masterful work from one of the most powerful and eloquent voices on the American literary landscape.

A REESES BOOK CLUB PICKThe New York Times Best Books of the Year (So Far)A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in a deeply moving novel of love, faith and survival, for readers of Jessie Burtons The Miniaturist and Anthony Doerrs All The Light We Cannot SeeThis made me cry on an airplane but it was worth it! A luscious, rich and moving novel, a beautiful, careful and profound book about survival and hope Alice Winn, bestselling author of In MemoriamAn extraordinary book that reads like a thriller, written with the care of the most delicate psychological and historical fiction Vogue Best Books of 2025 A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history Jodi Picoult, author of My Sisters KeeperIn sixteenth-century France, as the heiress to an aristocratic fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of privilege. Then she is orphaned, and her enigmatic and volatile guardian squanders her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to the new French colonies of North America. Isolated and afraid, Marguerite befriends her guardians servant and the two develop an intense attraction. But when their relationship is discovered, they are brutally punished, abandoned on a small island with no hope for rescue.From a childhood dressed in gowns with laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she had never before neededInspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola tells the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A kaleidoscopic portrait of a modern American familysteadfast, complicated, begrudging, and lovingfrom the bestselling author of IsolaWise, witty . . . a deliciously readable book [about] the delicate minutiae of family life, played beautifully, boldly, brightly in a major key.The New York Times Book Review (Editors Choice) Goodmans mature and deftly written book suggests that, in family as in art, there is no such thing as uncomplicated happiness.The Wall Street JournalWas this just a brief skirmish, or the beginning of a thirty-year feud? In the Rubinstein family, it could go either way.When their beloved sister passes away, Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein are unmoored. A misunderstanding about apple cake turns into a decade of stubborn silence. Busy with their own livesdivorces, dating, career setbacks, college applications, bat mitzvahs and ballet recitalstheir children do not want to get involved. As for their grandchildren? Impossible.With This Is Not About Us, master storyteller Allegra Goodmanwhose prior collection was heralded as one of the most astute and engaging books about American family life (The Boston Globe)returns to the form and subject that endeared her to legions of readers. Sharply observed and laced with humor, This Is Not About Us is a story of growing up and growing old, the weight of parental expectations, and the complex connection between sistersa big-hearted book about the love that binds a family across generations.

READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY Ive been an Allegra Goodman fan for years, but Sam is hands down my new favorite. I loved this powerful and endearing portrait of a girl who must summon deep within herself the grit and wisdom to grow up.Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & LoversNEW YORK TIMES EDITORS CHOICE What happens to a girls sense of joy and belongingto her belief in herselfas she becomes a woman? This unforgettable portrait of coming-of-age offers subtle yet powerful reflections on class, parenthood, addiction, lust, and the irrepressible power of dreams.A VOGUE AND REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR There is a girl, and her name is Sam. So begins Allegra Goodmans moving and wise new novel.Sam is seven years old and living in Beverly, Massachusetts. She adores her father, though he isnt around much. Her mother struggles to make ends meet, and never fails to remind Sam that if she studies hard and acts responsibly, adulthood will be easiermore secure and comfortable. But comfort and security are of little interest to Sam. She doesnt fit in at school, where the other girls have the right shade of blue jeans and dont question the rules. She doesnt care about jeans or rules. All she wants to climb. Hanging from the highest limbs of the tallest trees, scaling the side of a building, Sam feels free. As a teenager, Sam begins to doubt herself. She yearns to be noticed, even as she wants to disappear. When her climbing coach takes an interest in her, his attention is more complicated than she anticipated. She resents her fathers erratic behavior, but she grieves after hes gone. And she resists her mothers attempts to plan for her future, even as that future draws closer. The simplicity of this tender, emotionally honest novel is what makes it so powerful. Sam by Allegra Goodman will break your heart, but will also leave you full of hope.

A tender affair and the redemptive power of art are at the core of this compelling novel from National Book Award finalist Allegra Goodman, a romantic realist who dazzles with wit [and] compassion (The Wall Street Journal). Collin James is young, creative, and unhappy. A college dropout, he waits tables and spends his free time beautifying the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his medium of choice: chalk. Collins art captivates passersby with its vibrant colors and intricate linesuntil the moment he wipes it all away. Nothing in Collins life is meant to last. Then he meets Nina. . . . The daughter of a tech mogul who is revolutionizing virtual reality, Nina Lazare is trying to give back as a high school teacherbut her students wont listen to her. When Collin enters her world, he inspires her to think bigger. Nina wants to return the favoreven if it means losing him. Against this poignant backdrop, Allegra Goodman paints a tableau of students, neighbors, and colleagues: Diana, a teenage girl trying to make herself invisible; her twin brother, Aidan, whos addicted to the games produced by Ninas father; and Daphne, a viral-marketing trickster who unites them all, for better or worse. Wise, warm, and enchanting, The Chalk Artist is both a finely rendered portrait of modern love and a celebration of all the realms we inhabit: real and imagined, visual and virtual, seemingly independent yet hopelessly tangled.Praise for The Chalk ArtistThe virtual world Goodman conjures is as feverishly vivid as it is mysterious and alluring. Not since I pushed my way through C. S. Lewiss fusty mothballed wardrobe and stepped out into the frozen, pine-scented forests of Narnia can I remember being so effectively transported into a viscerally, sometimes terrifyingly plausible alternate universe. . . . This is a novel full of wit and spark. . . . Irresistible and arresting.The New York Times Book ReviewEnjoyably sharp dialogue and convincing portraits of multiple mindsets and terrains . . . One cant help but marvel at how Goodman has captured the atmosphere of this virtual fantasy land so effectively in words.NPR Mesmerizing depictions of virtual-reality landscapes of Neverwhen and Underworld make the games dangerous power over one of Ninas students very real.PeopleGoodmans latest combines fantastical flourishes (an imagined video game called Underworld) and realistic Cambridge details . . . in a narrative about art and ambition.The Boston GlobeAllegra Goodman creates suspense where you might least expect to find it.The Atlantic