Frances Barnett and Abby Bernacki are two haunted young mothers living in the same house in two different centuries. In the late 1800s, Frances eagerly followed the famous murder trial of Mary Stannard and finds an escape from the monotony of new motherhood -- but is her obsession entirely innocent? 125 years later, Abby has been adjusting to motherhood smoothly -- until recently. When she starts to question the house's history, she is given the diary of Frances Barnett. The more Abby learns, the more she wonders about a negative -- possibly supernatural -- influence in her house. And like Frances, Abby discovers that by trying to uncover another's secrets, she risks awakening some of her own.

Product Description: A gripping blend of psychological suspense and historical true crime, this riveting novel-inspired by a sensational real-life murder from the 1800s-by critically acclaimed author Emily Arsenault delivers a heart-stopping mystery linking two young mothers from different centuries...read more

Product Description: Scandal, love, family, and murder combine in this gripping literary mystery by critically acclaimed author Emily Arsenault, in which a young academic's life is turned upside down when her brother is arrested for murder and she must prove his innocenceThe Battle siblings are used to disappointment...read more

Product Description: Gretchen Waters is most famous for her memoir Tammyland, a "honky-tonk Eat, Pray, Love" about her divorce and her admiration for Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton. When Gretchen dies falling on the stone steps outside of a library, everyone thinks it was an accident or a botched mugging...read more

The dusty files of a venerable dictionary publisher . . . a hidden cache of coded clues . . . a story written by a phantom author . . . an unsolved murder in a gritty urban park–all collide memorably in Emily Arsenault’s magnificent debut, at once a teasing literary puzzle, an ingenious suspense novel, and an exploration of definitions: of words, of who we are, and of the stories we choose to define us.In the maze of cubicles at Samuelson Company, editors toil away in silence, studying the English language, poring over new expressions and freshly coined words–all in preparation for the next new edition of the Samuelson Dictionary. Among them is editorial assistant Billy Webb, just out of college, struggling to stay awake and appear competent. But there are a few distractions. His intriguing coworker Mona Minot may or may not be flirting with him. And he’s starting to sense something suspicious going on beneath this company’s academic facade.Mona has just made a startling discovery: a trove of puzzling citations, all taken from the same book, The Broken Teaglass. Billy and Mona soon learn that no such book exists. And the quotations from it are far too long, twisting, and bizarre for any dictionary. They read like a confessional, coyly hinting at a hidden identity, a secret liaison, a crime. As Billy and Mona ransack the office files, a chilling story begins to emerge: a story about a lonely young woman, a long-unsolved mystery, a moment of shattering violence. And as they piece together its fragments, the puzzle begins to take on bigger personal meaning for both of them, compelling them to redefine their notions of themselves and each other.Charged with wit and intelligence, set against a sweetly cautious love story, The Broken Teaglass is a tale that will delight lovers of words, lovers of mysteries, and fans of smart, funny, brilliantly inventive fiction.