Musings on joy and suffering, midlife and meaning, by a National Book Award–nominated poet and essayist praised for his “fine ear” (Publishers Weekly). Midway through the journey of his life, Dan Beachy-Quick found himself without a path, unsure how to live well. Of Silence and Song follows him on his resulting classical search for meaning in the world and in his particular, quiet life. In essays, fragments, marginalia, images, travel writing, and poetry, Beachy-Quick traces his relationships and identities. As father and husband. As teacher and student. As citizen and scholar. And as poet and reader, wondering at the potential and limits of literature. Of Silence and Song finds its inferno—and its paradise—in moments both historically vast and nakedly intimate. Hell: disappearing bees, James Eagan Holmes, Columbine, and the persistent, unforgivable crime of slavery. And redemption: in the art of Marcel Duchamp, the pressed flowers in Emily Dickinson’s Bible, and long walks with his youngest daughter. Curious, earnest, and masterful, Of Silence and Song is an unforgettable exploration of the human soul. Praise for the writing of Dan Beachy-Quick: “Intelligent, compassionate, exquisite . . . a unique voice.” —Cole Swensen “Rich, profound, fascinating.” —Los Angeles Times

Lucy and Charlie Tuttle agree on one thing: they’re committed to each other for life. Trouble is, neither of them expected life to look like this. While Charlie retired early, Lucy is devoted to a long-term career . . . until the day she has no choice. Forced to retire from her position as music educator in a small Midwestern K-8 school, Lucy can only watch helplessly as the program her father started years ago disintegrates before her eyes. As the music fades and a chasm separates her from the passion of her heart, Lucy wonders if her faith’s song has gone silent, too. The musical score of her life seems to be missing all the notes. When a simple misstep threatens to silence Lucy forever, a young boy and his soundless mother change the way she sees—and hears—everything.

There have been many great and enduring works of literature by Caribbean authors over the last century. The Caribbean Contemporary Classics collection celebrates these deep and vibrant stories, overflowing with life and acute observations about society. 'Falling in the spaces between knowing and not knowing, between silence and not speaking' Told from the perspective of Marlene, Songs of Silence is a vivid collection of reflections and recollections that meander through life in rural Jamaica, observing the lives and bonds of its colourful, boisterous inhabitants. Rich, poetical and profoundly contemplative, the recollections transcend the gossip and intrigue, the unsaid thoughts and silences, to ossify in a maturation of selfhood. It is not the 'Bam! Baddam!' of Papacita but rather the murmur of the river, this inexplicable river, and its cool morning misty silence that settles across this collection, singing to it and to the reader in a thoughtful lull and soft hum.

What would you be willing to do if one day you awoke in a cell and discovered that you were the primary suspect in the murder of your husband? Aida Lizaro’s life was perfect. A loving husband, a beautiful house, money, and the social status necessary to be someone. She had it all until one day she wakes up with no memory, locked behind bars, and with the only certainty being that she didn’t do it, regardless of how much the evidence insists on insinuating otherwise. A prostitute, a nurse, and a child will be the ones to demolish and reconstruct the falsity of the Delvecchio marriage. Three witnesses to a life full of abuse, lies, facades, and pain. Three witnesses who will bring embarrassment and desperation to light. What would you do to preserve your life and that of the people you love most if the rest of the world turned its back on you? How many punches can be taken without screaming? Her silence was Carlo Delvecchio’s greatest weapon and that gave Aida wings with which to fly. Love, passion, weakness, blood, and a beautiful background song about death and liberation. Months ago, when the music didn’t stop playing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “She has managed to deceive the reader in order to provide an ultimate surprise. The method and the ending are not gratuitous either, they are well-developed and it comes out well. As a debut it suggests a good start for this young novelist.” - Anika Lillo, Anika entre Libros “Upon reading the grand finale I felt like getting up and applauding until my hands bled.” Edelia, Ex Libri “Leara keeps us glued to the pages from the first act, eager to understand the entire mystery around the murder, with the certainty that it is a developed and gruesome plot.” - Daniel Ojeda, Fantasymundo.com “What I enjoyed most was the narrat

An inspiring memoir of a young man who discovered he was going completely deaf just at the moment he’d fallen in love for the first time. As a child, Matt Hay didn’t know his hearing wasn’t the way everyone else processed sound—because of the workarounds he did to fit in, even the school nurse didn’t catch his condition at the annual hearing and vision checks. But by the time he was a prospective college student and couldn’t pass the entrance requirements for West Point, Hay’s condition, generated by a tumor, was unavoidable: his hearing was going, and fast. A personal soundtrack was Hay’s determined compensation for his condition. As a typical Midwestern kid growing up in the 1980s whose life events were pegged to pop music, Hay planned to commit his favorite songs to memory. He prepared a mental playlist of the bands he loved and created a way to tap into his most resonant memories. And the track he needed to cement most clearly? The one he and his new girlfriend, Nora—the love of his life—listened to in the car on their first date. Made vivid with references to instantly recognizable songs—from the Eagles to Elton John, Bob Marley to Bing Crosby, U2 to Peter Frampton—Soundtrack of Silence asks readers to run the soundtrack of their own lives through their minds. It’s an involving memoir of loss and disability, and, ultimately, a both unique and universal love story.