A provocative novel of a New Orleans woman's heartbreaking decision, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Keepers of the House. Joan Mitchell has two suitors, and can't decide whom to marry. A witness to her mother Aurelie's less than successful romantic history, she'd like to skip marriage altogether. Joan and Aurelie live together in a beautiful French Quarter home on Coliseum Street in New Orleans, along with Joan's many half-sisters born of Aurelie's five disastrous marriages. Joan lives a mostly carefree life, but when she becomes pregnant, she chooses to end her pregnancy rather than marry a man she doesn't love—a decision with grave consequences in conservative 1950s New Orleans. The second novel by a National Book Award finalist and one of the most acclaimed voices of the American South, The House on Coliseum Street is a brave, heartbreaking love letter to New Orleans and "a sad, wistful, young,...

From a Pulitzer Prize–winning author: A multigenerational saga of a wealthy man's rise in early twentieth-century New Orleans. Like many people in turn-of-the-twentieth-century New Orleans, Thomas Henry Oliver came to the city to escape a dull life—in his case, a childhood in the backwoods of the Midwest. But few New Orleans immigrants find as much prosperity as Oliver does amongst the city's lively streets. By the time he's ninety-five, Oliver has amassed an enormous fortune built from brothels and speakeasies. But as his wealth grows, so does his family's desire to control it. After a series of strokes, Oliver must choose an inheritor, even though his two entitled daughters and ambitious adopted son don't always seem worthy of his legacy. The Condor Passes is a simmering dynastic saga of three generations colliding in their battle to control an empire. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Shirley Ann Grau, including...

Grau's insightful and mesmerizing collection of stories, about nine Southern women unified by their search for happiness in the face of overwhelming oddsThe nine namesake women of this collection come from all levels of New Orleans society, from the daughters of servants to affluent ladies. All, however, struggle with grief, longing, and hope. In "Widows Walk," for instance, Myra Rowland tries to make sense of life after the death of her husband. "In the Beginning" depicts a daughter trying to understand her own mother's determination to raise her up from abject poverty. "Ending," meanwhile, tells of a couple whose union dissolves just as their daughter marries. In many cases, these protagonists are struggling to accept the sudden loss of life and love in a land teeming with both. Grau is one of America's most masterful storytellers, a writer with an eye for the teeming diversity of life in the Deep South.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Shirley Ann...

"A large and delicately colored panorama of summertime on a hot and lonely island off the coast of Louisiana." —The New YorkerWest of New Orleans among a few small Gulf islands lies the Isle aux Chiens, a tiny, impoverished strip of land burdened by intolerable heat and roaming packs of wild dogs. Here a handful of Creole families eke out a meager existence by fishing the Gulf waters. Such is the fate of Al Landry and his seventeen-year-old daughter, Annie. All Annie has ever known is the wild sea, but she longs for other people and places, including the glamor of life in the Big Easy. When a cruel, handsome man from the city passes through, he kindles Annie's fantasies for a life beyond the island. Soon, the young girl faces a decision: remain planted in the predictable life she has always known, or toss it all aside for her dreamed-of adventure.The Hard Blue Sky is Grau's debut novel, establishing her as a chronicler of bayou life and the complexities of the Deep...

Grau's Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, about the racial prejudice and long-buried secrets that threaten to destroy a distinguished Southern familyThe Howland dynasty began after the War of 1812, when a young Tennessee solider fighting for Andrew Jackson settled in Alabama. Over the next century, the Howlands accumulated a fortune, fought for Secession, helped rebuild the South, and established themselves as one of the most respected families in the state. But that history means little to Abigail Howland. Though she inherited the Howland manse, her fortunes reverse when her family's mixed-race heritage comes to light and her community—locked in the prejudices of the 1960s—turns its back on her. Faced with such deep-seated prejudice, Abigail is pushed to defend her family at all costs.  Winner of the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, The Keepers of the House is an unforgettable story of family, tradition, and racial injustice set against a richly drawn...

Grau's remarkable story of a black mother and daughter struggling to find their own paths through the tumult of the Great Depression and the civil rights movementThere are few circumstances worse than being an orphaned, homeless, African American child in the South during the Great Depression. When Mary Woods found herself in that treacherous situation, she quickly learned she needed to count on what family she could find in order to survive. When she grows up to become a successful artist and has a daughter of her own, Nanda, she's determined to hold her child close. But when Nanda is accepted into an elite school on the East Coast, Mary finds she can't keep some of the world's cruel realities at bay forever.Told from the perspective of both mother and daughter, Roadwalkers is the story of a special bond forged by savage history, and a tale of extraordinary loyalty and sacrifice.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Shirley Ann Grau, including rare photos...