Winner of the 2021 Foreword Reviews Indies Award for General Fiction When the body of Alison Goss washes up on Menhaden Island, in the Gulf of Maine, the working-class fishing community of hard-hewn ways and salty perspectives is faced with handling the future of her unusual son, Faron. They soon discover how different he is, in strange but endearing ways, including his fascination with moths and his stunning artistic talent. Bound together by weather and sea, Menhaden neighbors with good hearts and blunt opinions overlook Faron's peculiarities. But their nurturing embrace cannot completely erase his troubled past, which eventually morphs into a life-changing event and forces him to confront lingering memories. Faron faces that which haunts him, works as a sternman on a lobster boat, and paints in his studio. When he meets a bird-watching woman who has returned to Menhaden to live in her grandparent's house, his life takes another unexpected turn.

Book 1-two men, Andrew and I, our lives as different as the color of our skin. I, defeated by the stressors, strains, and denseness of life, multiple losses, those as close as a noon shadow, a boat floundering in the stillness of life's hidden winds. Andrew, a genius, one collected and calm; a passionate and resilient massive sail of a man, empowered by the intensive and powerful breath of encouragement, one to move the mightiest of vessels. Friendships materialize over long periods of time, not days, and in that materialization, trust is born. However, Andrew and I were different. Our friendship was connected by the simple and unassuming, a single number being used to forge the strongest of bonds. Seven. Remember. "Seven straws, handed to me on a Monday, like an Olympic runner passing a baton to a teammate." Yes, remember my words. "Our initial words were minimal, if not laconic by nature, yet they would be far from our last. Those seven days-yes, seven-beginning on a Monday and ending seven days later, on the seventh day of the week, an arbitrary Sunday-would be the most brilliant, mind- and soul-altering weeks of my life. He-yes, he-would touch both ends of the spectrum of good and evil, he would peel rigid and often unyielding layers of my tormented soul, he would create clearness in my mind, he would end the unceasing debate that once anchored me to bitterness, self-depravity, and internal corruption, and he would become the arbiter and authority for which the rest of my life would eternally depend. And it would be accomplished by the most bizarre, mystic, and unbelievable plights. Just wait. Yes, I would look back to those seven days and say, 'I'm glad Andrew Goss came into my life.' But at what cost?"

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The sensational New York Times bestseller The Mill River Recluse reminds us that friendship, family, and love can come from the most unexpected places. Perfect for fans of Maeve Binchy. From the outside, Mill River looks like any sleepy little Vermont town where everyone knows everyone and people never need to lock their doors. There are newcomers for whom this appeals, from police officer Kyle Hansen and his daughter Rowen, who are starting over after heartache, to Claudia Simon, the schoolteacher who is determined to reinvent herself. But on closer inspection, there are those in Mill River—including a stealthy arsonist, a covetous nurse, and a pilfering priest—who have things they wish to hide. None more than the widow Mary McAllister, who for the past sixty years has secluded herself in her marble mansion overlooking the town. Most of the residents have never even seen the peculiar woman. Only the priest, Father O’Brien, knows the deep secrets that keep Mary isolated—and that, once revealed, will forever change the community. Praise for The Mill River Recluse “[Darcie] Chan’s sweet novel displays her talent. . . . A comforting book about the random acts of kindness that hold communities together.”—Kirkus Reviews “A heartwarming story.”—Examiner “A real page-turner.”—IndieReader

Essays on great figures and important issues, advances and blind alleys—from trepanation to the discovery of grandmother cells—in the history of brain sciences. Neuroscientist Charles Gross has been interested in the history of his field since his days as an undergraduate. A Hole in the Head is the second collection of essays in which he illuminates the study of the brain with fascinating episodes from the past. This volume's tales range from the history of trepanation (drilling a hole in the skull) to neurosurgery as painted by Hieronymus Bosch to the discovery that bats navigate using echolocation. The emphasis is on blind alleys and errors as well as triumphs and discoveries, with ancient practices connected to recent developments and controversies. Gross first reaches back into the beginnings of neuroscience, then takes up the interaction of art and neuroscience, exploring, among other things, Rembrandt's “Anatomy Lesson” paintings, and finally, examines discoveries by scientists whose work was scorned in their own time but proven correct in later eras.