Abrams: 1969 books

This fictional account of the seventeenth-century Spanish painter’s life is “a very enjoyable read . . . A portrait of Velázquez and a meditation on love” (Washington Independent Review of Books). Narrated by the mysterious model who posed for Rokeby Venus, Diego Velázquez’s only...

Design Brooklyn is a visual exploration of the unique and diverse architecture, interiors, and design of public and private spaces in today’s Brooklyn, from mechanics’ shops renovated into restaurants, to newly built museums, to restored brownstones and modern townhouses. Chapters focusing on...

First published in 1998, On Garden Style established Bunny Williams as a reputable expert on gardens. In Bunny Williams on Garden Style, Williams visits impeccably designed gardens around the world, shedding light on the key components that make a garden so appealing and idyllic. For Williams, gardens...

The acclaimed author of I Smile Back, Amy Koppelman is a novelist of astonishing power, with a sly, dark voice, at once fearless and poetic. In Koppelman’s new novel, Dr. Susanna Seliger is a renowned psychiatrist who specializes in treatment-resistant depression. The most difficult cases come through...

Pushkin’s “novel in verse? has influenced Russian prose as well as poetry since its completion nearly 175 years ago. By turns brilliant, entertaining, romantic, and serious, it traces the development of a young Petersburg dandy as he deals with life and love. Influenced by Byron, Pushkin reveals...

In the turbulent final years of the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Meng is a low-level bureaucrat, employed by the government of Mongol conquerors established by the Kublai Khan. Though he wonders about his own complicity wit this regime—the Mongols, after all, are invaders—he prefers not to dwell on his...

And yet she went on to fall in love with and marry another star of the art world, muralist Diego Rivera. filled with passion, jealousy, and deceit, their story captured the world's imagination. Told in the voice of Frida's sister Cristina, who bears witness to Frida and Diego's tumultuous marriage,...

Unavailable to English readers for more than 50 years, The Island of Second Sight is a masterpiece of world literature. Set in the years leading up to World War II, it is the fictionalized account of the time spent in Mallorca by the author and his wife, who encounter the most unpredictable and surreal...

For as long as women have been knitting, they’ve been knitting garments for men—only to have men hide their lovingly created pieces in drawers and closets. Men aren’t being intentionally cruel; they’re just not comfortable in knitwear made with bright colors, itchy yarn, or flashy designs. So...

This debut novel of the Vietnam War from the veteran and famous Merry Prankster is a “cross between Joseph Heller and Hunter S. Thompson” (Booklist).   Lt. Tom Huckelbee, leathery as any Texican come crawling out of the sage, and Lt. Mike Cochran, loquacious son of an Ohio gangster, make an...

Featuring the acclaimed novella The Old Woman and darkly humorous short prose sequence Events (Sluchai), Today I Wrote Nothing also includes dozens of short prose pieces, plays, and poems long admired in Russia, but never before available in English. A major contribution for American readers and students...

To commemorate its 100th anniversary, Girl Scouts of the USA is launching a yearlong celebration that kicks off with this special look at its history. The organization has culled iconic photographs, documents, and letters from its vast archives that honor the unique sisterhood of Girl Scouts, some...

This captivating novel intertwines the stories of several inhabitants on Saipan, America's least-appreciated tropical island. George Griffin is a jaded writer who comes for a press junket and stays far longer than expected; Stephanie Warner is a university professor recently on "trial separation"...

Sue Hubbard, whose peerless and enduring voice combines the emotional intensity of John Banville and the lyrical evocation of Anne Enright, delivers in Rainsongs an affecting story of transformation. Newly widowed, Martha Cassidy has returned to a remote cottage in a nearly abandoned village...