Laura Kalpakian, Author . Morrow $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-380-97768-0
Kalpakian's narrative skill and interest in generational legacies are evident in her latest novel, in which the theory of progressive education becomes the catalyst for a fateful intertwining of several lives. The setting is Temple School,...
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Laura Kalpakian, Author . St. Martin's $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-312-32275-5
"The memoir is... literary shape that you give to the past," but how might an understanding of past events shape the future? Kalpakian (Educating Waverly
; Graced Land
) explores this question in her 12th novel, in which six women enrolled...
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Laura Kalpakian, Author John F. Blair Publisher $19.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-89587-223-4
""Rainmaker Returns to Valley"" trumpets the local paper. The year in this winning fable is 1916, and the place is Kalpakian's familiar, fictional St. Elmo, Calif., a Methodist and Mormon stronghold victimized by 302 straight days without rain. Into
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Laura Kalpakian, Author Graywolf Press $14 (268p) ISBN 978-1-55597-295-0
Subtitled ""Wayward Pieces,"" this generally beguiling collection of nine varied short stories veers from lightweight entertainment to some solid explorations of the human condition. Kalpakian is most impressive in two stories in which she features...
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Laura Kalpakian, Author Avon Books $23 (321p) ISBN 978-0-380-97767-3
The legacy of the free-living 60s extends into the 90s in Kalpakians beguiling novel, in which changing social mores, sexual passion, the longing for family and the need for independence motivate a cast of engaging women. After Celia Westervelt lost
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Laura Kalpakian, Author Random House (NY) $17.95 (334p) ISBN 978-0-394-55852-3
Shifting back and forth between the 1950s and the present, this is a tale of dirty deals among the well-to-do. We meet Claire Stone as she learns of her husband Lucky's attempted suicide on the heels of tax delinquency, then flash back to her...
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Laura Kalpakian, Author Viking Books $17.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-670-82531-8
The six hearty old-fashioned tales in Kalpakian's ( Crescendo ; Fair Augusto ) current collection have the feel of the Saturday Evening Post. Most are set in small towns in Idaho and California. In the title story, meant to convey the idea that...
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Laura Kalpakian, Author Penguin Books $8.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-14-011622-9
These six tales introduce various, mostly small-town women, among them Africa, who is ``a strange terrain'' to certain men; Manila, who goes mad over her son's death in WW II; and Jolee, ambivalent toward her mother's irresponsible second husband....
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Laura Kalpakian, Author Grove/Atlantic $18.95 (264p) ISBN 978-0-8021-1474-7
Although even devoted Elvis Presley fans may at first find it difficult to warm to this novel, perseverance will be rewarding. Beneath its dense veneer of laudatory references to The King lies an absorbing tale of hardship, love and the value of...
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Laura Kalpakian, Author HarperCollins Publishers $24 (652p) ISBN 978-0-06-017222-0
Kalpakian trades the intimate scale of her quirky Graced Land for the sprawl of a historical saga, picking up Victor Hugo's 1862 classic where it ended. Though named after Cosette, the adopted daughter of the indomitable Jean Valjean, this sequel...
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Laura Kalpakian. Berkley, $16 trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-1-101-99018-6
After a lengthy hiatus, Kalpakian (American Cookery, 2007) returns with a chick-lit homage to 1950s Hollywood. The opening, a self-absorbed monologue by 20-something
Roxanne Granville at her grandmother’s graveside, sets a lugubrious pace for the...
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