Kathy Hepinstall

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Texas

A Novel

Willow is ten years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman with a sharp tongue who lives to shoot varmints, and drink margaritas; and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young mothers of their small Texas town. She was in her late 50s when Willow was born, has already had two children who are grown and gone, leaving Willow hungry for clues about the family life that preceded her. A bittersweet novel about the grip of love in a truly quirky family, featuring two unforgettable characters.

The Book of Polly

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Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Ohio

Louisiana

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Colorado

“Delightful. . . funny and poignant.” --People With a kick like the best hot sauce, this is the laugh-out-loud story of a girl determined to keep up with her aging, crazy-as-a-fox mother "If you ever pined for a mother who would take a hunting falcon as her wingman to a parent-teacher conference, Polly is the gal for you. Delicious." --Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama Willow Havens is ten years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to chase varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors—and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young modern mothers of their small conventional Texas town. She was in her late fifties when Willow was born, so Willow knows she’s here by accident, a late-life afterthought. Willow’s father died before she was born, her much older brother and sister are long grown and gone and failing elsewhere. It’s just her and bigger-than-life Polly. Willow is desperately hungry for clues to the family life that preceded her, and especially Polly’s life pre-Willow. Why did she leave her hometown of Bethel, Louisiana, fifty years ago and vow never to return? Who is Garland Jones, her long-ago suitor who possibly killed a man? And will Polly be able to outrun the Bear, the illness that finally puts her on a collision course with her past? The Book of Polly has a great blend of humor and sadness, pathos and hilarity. This is a bittersweet novel about the grip of love in a truly quirky family and you’ll come to know one of the most unforgettable mother-daughter duos you’ve ever met.

Red mark on bottom/2 pages slightly irregular on bottom (see photos), does not affect readability at all!

New Hampshire

North Carolina

South Dakota

As the fiercely protective mother and the detective fall into a love affair, they move ever closer to a final confrontation, a terrible choice, and the revelation of a devastating secret."--BOOK JACKET.

Prince of Lost Places

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Rated 4 out of 5 on Goodreads, this book is a true delight.

Maryland

Trade paperback size. Pages are clean and tight with no spine creasing

Wisconsin

Kansas

Willow Havens is ten years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to shoot varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young modern mothers of their small conventional Texas town. She was in her late fifties when Willow was born, so Willow knows she's here by accident, a late-life afterthought. Willow's father died before she was born, her much older brother and sister are long grown and gone and failing elsewhere. It's just her and bigger-than-life Polly.

Willow is desperately hungry for clues to the family life that preceded her, and especially Polly's life pre-Willow. Why did she leave her hometown of Bethel, Louisiana, fifty years ago and vow never to return? Who is Garland Jones, her long-ago suitor who possibly killed a man? And will Polly be able to outrun the Bear, the illness that finally puts her on a collision course with her past?

Amid the mayhem of the Civil War, Virginia plantation wife Iris Dunleavy is put on trial and convicted of madness. It is the only reasonable explanation the court can see for her willful behavior, so she is sent away to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a good, compliant woman. Iris knows, though, that her husband is the true criminal; she is no lunatic, only guilty of disagreeing with him on notions of justice, cruelty, and property. On this remote Florida island, cut off by swamps and seas and military blockades, Iris meets a wonderful collection of residents--some seemingly sane, some wrongly convinced they are crazy, some charmingly odd, some dangerously unstable. Which of these is Ambrose Weller, the war-haunted Confederate soldier whose memories terrorize him into wild fits that can only be calmed by the color blue, but whose gentleness and dark eyes beckon to Iris. The institution calls itself modern, but Iris is skeptical of its methods, particularly the dreaded "water treatment." She must escape, but she has found new hope and love with Ambrose. Can she take him with her? If they make it out, will the war have left anything for them to make a life from, back home? Blue Asylum is a vibrant, beautifully-imagined, absorbing story of the lines we all cross between sanity and madness. It is also the tale of a spirited woman, a wounded soldier, their impossible love, and the undeniable call of freedom.

Arkansas

Blue Asylum

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Iowa

Arrested and declared insane for seeking justice for her plantation owner husband's slaves at the height of the Civil War, Iris Dunleavy endures a lengthy institutional "rehabilitation" under the eye of a pompous superintendent.

Kentucky

Washington

If only Alice could get rid of her new stepfather, Simon Jester. No one wants to believe that the pieces of his tragic past don't seem to fit-or that he is trying to poison Alice and her older brother. Until the one night her mother comes in to kiss her goodnight and instead whispers a single word...RUN.

The Absence of Nectar

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New York

First-person narrator Alice is a precocious eleven-year-old growing up in rural East Texas with one wish on her mind: Get rid of Simon Jester.Simon is the man who saved her mother from drowning. Simon is her mother's hero, her savior -- and her new husband. He's an enigmatic man whose own family, he says, mysteriously drowned.But soon it becomes apparent that Simon's family did not drown. Alice and her brother become convinced that Simon intends to poison them. Their mother, Meg, tells her children that they have wild imaginations. Until she comes to kiss them one night, and instead of her usual endearments, whispers a single word: Run.The Absence of Nectar is a finely wrought and suspenseful coming-of-age novel that confirms the promise of Hepinstall's highly praised debut, The House of Gentle Men.

Advanced uncorrected proof copy. small tear noted on cover. See pictures for details.

Minnesota

The Book of Polly (Advanced Copy)

Slight damage around spine and a page has a small tear at the top. 

Virginia

In a year of war, sixteen-year-old Charlotte sets off on a mission of love in the backwoods of Louisiana, only to be violated by three soldiers in a lonely section of the forest. Charlotte's young life is destroyed, but another life is growing inside her. Years later, in peacetime, Charlotte comes to House of Gentle Men, a mysterious sanctuary where sad, damaged women are administered to by haunted men wishing to atone for their past crimes. Here, Charolotte falls in love with one of the Gentle Men, a tormented young soldier with a terrible secret of his own.

An artistic triumph of the highest order, this debut is a transcendent tale of salvation that celebrates the strength of the heart.

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