When the phone rings at precisely six o'clock one evening, it shatters the silence of the farmhouse where Fran has lived alone since her mother abandoned her at age fourteen.
She recognizes the voice on the line immediately. Though it has been four years since she left, Fran's mother offers no apologies or explanations. She is calling to tell Fran the family stories. And though Fran longs to hang up on her, she can't help but be drawn in by the strange and wonderful tales her mother has to tell.
With plot twists and turns and an untold secret that will change their lives forever, high school students Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan fall in love in a coastal North Carolina town in 1958. Pain and sorrow lie ahead for the pair, but the story lets you believe in the power of love and that dreams do come true. The inspiration for this novel came from Nicholas Sparks's sister: her life and her courage.
Last in a line of proud queens elected to rule the fertile lands of the West, true owner of the legendary Round Table, guardian of the Great Goddess herself . . . a woman whose story has never been told -- until now.
When a young woman's body is discovered in the summer of 1910 Vienna, the Inspector's wife is certain the figs found in her stomach during the autopsy are the clue to the identity of the murderer--for there are no fresh figs in Vienna at this time of year.
