Titles starting with L from BEJAYS Books

Delia Grinstead, a 40-year-old mother of three almost-grown children, abandons her family impulsively in search of an entirely new life a few miles from home, becoming secretary to a lawyer. Gradually, she begins to return to her old life--first for her daughter's wedding, then for small occasions, finding that the people she left behind have changed as much as she has.

In the tiny town of Larksdale, Minnesota, the Mostly Methodist Club, known for its good works, becomes the Larksdale Ladies Independence Club to take advantage of the boom economy of the 1980s by investing in software--whatever in tarnation THAT is! Eventually, as prime Microsoft shareholders, they make a killing--and perform good works at the same time.

Fifteen years before the events of this novel, the Larksdale Ladies Independence Club made some savvy financial moves and ended up saving their beloved town's best business from disaster. Now a glitzy New York firm wants to acquire Prairie Machine Tools, and the ladies are suspicious.

Long ago, when Jane Hudson was a student at Heart Lake School for Girls, both of her roommates committed suicide, and only Jane knew the mysterious reasons behind their acts. Now, divorced and the mother of a young daughter, Jane returns as a Latin teacher, and when her old diary turns up, traumatic events from the past threaten to overwhelm the serenity of the present.

An episodic novel that tells the story of Larry Weller, born in Winnipeg, Canada of English parents. In a series of vignettes, readers are introduced to the people in Larry's life, his career as a landscape designer and maze-maker, his troubled marriages, and the development of his personality. As the confused protagonist struggles to make sense of who he is, mazes come to take on a more symbolic role, and readers become enveloped within Larry Weller's psyche. A "New York Times" Notable Book for 1997.

Paul Masterson was an elite drug strike force agent until a raid killed two of his fellow agents and left him maimed and almost blind. Devastated, he left his family and fled to a solitary life in Montana. But now a threat to his family has brought him out of hiding, forcing him to call on the survival skills that he once possessed as an agent, in order to save his family.

An ex-executive for X-Corp, John Slocum spends his days trying to fix the decrepit engine of his ancient diesel-powered boat--quite a change from his days building virtual reality environments for his somewhat sinister former employer. When he refuses to give up his ship's berth in favor of a gleaming cruise ship affiliated with the substantially more sinister Syndicate, Slocum finds himself in the midst of a corporate war from which he must extricate himself, or become a casualty.

Winner of the Booker prize in 1996, Graham Swift's LAST ORDERS is a honest, humble yet emotionally gripping novel about four old working-class London men on a day's excursion to scatter the ashes of their drinking buddy and friend since World War II. Narrated in the wonderfully differentiated and vivid voices of the four men, the novel slowly reveals both the men's loyalty and loves, and also their betrayals and jealousies. Filled with humor, humanity, a rich grasp of vernacular speech, and a subtle understanding of life's tragedies, LAST ORDERS is quietly brilliant book.