New Fiction

Lucky Break by Esther Freud
It is their first day at Drama Arts, and the nervous students huddled in a circle are told in no uncertain terms that here, unlike at lesser drama schools, they will be taught to Act. To Be. To exist in their own world on the stage. But outside in the real world--a pitiless, alluring place in which each of them, in their most fervent dreams, hopes to flourish and excel. Nell, insecure and dumpy, wonders if she will ever be cast as anything other than the maid. She's never compete, she knows, with the multitude of confident, long-legged beauties thronging the profession--most notably Charlie, whose effortless ascendance is nothing less than she expects for herself. Meanwhile, Dan, ambitious and serious, has his sights set on the role of Hamlet, as well as on the fiery, rebellious Jemma.

Ghost Lights by Lydia Millet
An IRS bureaucrat named Hal is a man baffled by his wife's obsession with her young employer, T., and haunted by the accident that paralyzed his daughter, Casey. In a moment of drunken heroism, Hal embarks on a quest to find T. who has vanished in the jungle. On his trip to Central America, Hal embroils himself in a surreal tropical adventure, descending into strange and unpredictable terrain (and an unexpected affair with a beguiling German woman).

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Rachel White is the consummate good girl. A hard-working attorney at a large Manhattan law firm and a diligent maid of honor to her charmed best friend Darcy, Rachel has always played by all the rules. Since grade school, she has watched Darcy shine, quietly accepting the sidekick role in their lopsided friendship. But that suddenly changes the night of her thirtieth birthday when Rachel finally confesses her feelings to Darcy's fiance, and is both horrified and thrilled to discover he feels the same way. As the wedding date draws near, events spiral out of control, and Rachel knows she must make a choice between her heart and conscience.