A portrait of the thriving African-American community on the island of Martha's Vineyard describes the various groups who settled in Oak Bluffs, including vacationing families, local domestics, and multi-generational professionals.

African Americans of Martha's Vineyard have an epic history. From the days when slaves toiled away in the fresh New England air, through abolition and Reconstruction and continuing into recent years, African Americans have fought arduously to preserve a vibrant culture here. Discover how the Vineyard became a sanctuary for slaves during the Civil War and how many blacks first came to the island as indentured servants. Read tales of the Shearer Cottage, a popular vacation destination for prominent blacks from Harry T. Burleigh to Scott Joplin, and how Martin Luther King Jr. vacationed here as well. Venture through the Vineyard with local tour guide Thomas Dresser and learn about people such as Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and President Barack Obama, who return to the Vineyard for respite from a demanding world.

Michael Blanchard had just received his third DUI in three months—this time after falling asleep on the side of the road with the engine running and being wrestled to the ground by a state trooper.Life had just gone from bad to the very worst. Thirty years of drinking had narrowed his choice to a simple decision between jail and an addiction rehab center.Michael chose a three-month rehab program; and when he came out, began to dedicate his life to staying sober. This is his story— painful, provocative, and, because he has used photography as one of his mainstays in his efforts to keep from drinking, both beautiful and moving.

In this radiant new collection, Franz Wright shares his regard for life in all its forms and his belief in the promise of blessing and renewal. As he watches the “Resurrection of the little apple tree outside / my window,” he shakes off his fear of mortality, concluding “what death . . . There is only / mine / or yours,– / but the world / will be filled with the living.” In prayerlike poems he invokes the one “who spoke the world / into being” and celebrates a dazzling universe–snowflakes descending at nightfall, the intense yellow petals of the September sunflower, the planet adrift in a blizzard of stars, the simple mystery of loving other people. As Wright overcomes a natural tendency toward loneliness and isolation, he gives voice to his hope for “the only animal that commits suicide,” and, to our deep pleasure, he arrives at a place of gratitude that is grounded in the earth and its moods.

The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist “gives a familial face to the mystique of Martha’s Vineyard” in a memoir with “gentle humor and . . . elegiac sweetness” (Kirkus Reviews). A National Book Critics Circle Award finalist In the 1970s, Madeleine Blais’s in-laws purchased a vacation house on Martha’s Vineyard. A little more than two miles down a dirt road, it had no electricity or modern plumbing, the roof leaked, and mice had invaded the walls. It was perfect. Sitting on Tisbury Great Pond—well-stocked with delicious oysters and crab—the house faced the ocean and the sky. Though improvements were made, the ethos remained the same: no heat, television, or telephone. Instead, there were countless hours at the beach, meals cooked and savored with friends, nights talking under the stars, until, in 2014, the house was sold. To the New Owners is Madeleine Blais’s “witty and charming . . . deeply felt memoir” of this house, and of the Vineyard itself, from the history of the island and its famous visitors, to the ferry, the pie shops, the quirky charms and customs, and the abundant natural beauty. But more than that, this is an elegy for a special place—a retreat that held the intimate history of her family (The National Book Review).

Waverly Brennan is looking for a new start, and so she agrees to come help her mother set up a gallery in Martha's Vineyard, but when that falls apart, Blake Ericson and his young daughter provide another reason for staying.

Shattered by love, travel writer Daisy Blanchard's impromptu trip to Martha's Vineyard thrusts her into the arms of a tempting billionaire, challenging her to gamble her fragile heart on a potentially life-altering romance. This sensual contemporary romance series begins on the luscious island of Martha's Vineyard… Travel writer Daisy Blanchard discovers the worst news ever. Her boyfriend is now engaged to her best friend! To add insult to injury, she learned about their happy announcement from a Facebook post. Daisy escapes her life in shambles by taking a last-minute assignment to Martha's Vineyard, where she immediately catches the eye of an alluring billionaire named Belmont "Jack" Lord, who will do whatever it takes to claim her. But is Daisy ready to betray her broken heart and jump two feet into the most sensual love affair of her life? One-touch and the answer is clear. "Find Her, Keep Her: A Martha's Vineyard Love Story" is the first addictive and erotic contemporary romance in the LOVE in the USA series by author Z.L. Arkadie.