Central Kansas Library System

First serialized in 1924 and published as a complete novel in 1925, "The Painted Veil" is the powerful novel of transgression and redemption by popular and prolific British author W. Somerset Maugham. "The Painted Veil" tells the story of the lovely and superficial Kitty Garstin and her unhappy marriage to Walter Fane, a quiet and honorable man. Kitty agrees to marry Walter not because she loves him, but because she fears being upstaged by her younger...

"Katie Kuhlmann's marriage is falling apart. But she has a secure job, her children are healthy, and her house, a new construction in the prestigious Country Club neighborhood of Edina, Minnesota, is beautiful. She can almost ignore the way her husband, Jack, has been acting--constantly checking his phone, not going to work, disappearing from the house only to show up again without explanation. Tension in the Kuhlmann house only gets worse when Adam...

"From the beloved bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, an unforgettable novel about a couple in a small town and the complexities of marriage, family, longing, and desire. Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger...

From the day Cobb and Mary meet kayaking on Maine's Allagash River and fall deeply in love, the two approach life with the same sense of adventure they use to conquer the river's treacherous rapids. but rivers do not let go so easily... and neither does their love. So when Mary's life takes the cruelest turn, she vows to face those rough waters on her own terms and asks Cobb to promise, when the time comes, to help her return to their beloved river...

Everyone in town knows that Sarah Yoder is enamored with Jonah Miller, even though he's been with his girlfriend, Lorie, for years. But all that changes when Lorie runs off with another man. Inconsolable, his faith in love shattered, Jonah resists everyone's attempts to ease his pain until the unexpected happens. Sarah is not the woman he years for, yet he asks for her hand in marriage, if only out of honor. Jonah tries to look toward to future -...

Liesel Albright has dreamed of starting a family. She never bargained on inheriting one already in progress...or one so deeply damaged. When nineteen-year-old Sunshine appears on the Albrights' doorstep claiming Liesel's husband, Chris, is her father, all they can think to offer is temporary shelter. The next day, they're stunned by the news that the Family of Superior Bliss, led by a charismatic zealot, has committed mass suicide. Sunny and her children...

Kelly and her husband move to Paris where her husband betrays her and she forms a friendship with two totally different women who help her win him back.

Paulie Flax decides to leave Howard, her unfaithful husband of nearly twenty-five years, but on the eve of her defection, Howard suffers a heart attack and belatedly realizes that he truly loves Paulie.

From National Book Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author Louise Erdrich, a profound and enchanting new novel: a richly imagined world "where butchers sing like angels." Having survived World War I, Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend, killed in action. With a suitcase full of sausages and a master butcher's precious knife set, Fidelis sets out for America. In Argus, North...

"It started as a dream vacation in Spain, with Fay and Paul Agarra enjoying all the delights of a European holiday. A respected New York City judge, Paul has always been the man Fay can rely on no matter what. When he inexplicably disappears from a Granada street corner, Fay knows something is terribly wrong. Once they are reunited, Paul shrugs off the episode as a simple misunderstanding -- but Fay suspects her almost perfect life has taken a dark...