Five people buffeted by life's difficulties come together at a rundown estate house in Northern Scotland during a revelatory Winter Solstice.

Delighted to be offered a permanent position with crusty Dr. O'Reilly, Dr. Barry Laverty confronts a crisis when his reputation is threatened by the unexpected death of one of his patients.

The early death of a small town councilman reveals deep-rooted conflicts in the seemingly idyllic community of Pagford, which rapidly deteriorates in the face of cultural disputes, generation clashes, and a volatile election.

In 1935 England, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses an event involving her sister Cecilia and her childhood friend Robbie Turner, and she becomes the victim of her own imagination, which leads her on a lifelong search for truth and absolution.

"In a North Carolina mountain town filled with moonshine and rotten husbands, Sadie Blue is only the latest girl to face a dead-end future at the mercy of a dangerous drunk. She's been married to Roy Tupkin for fifteen days, and she knows now that she should have listened to the folks who said he was trouble. But when a stranger sweeps in and knocks the world off-kilter for everyone in town, Sadie begins to think there might be more to life than being...

A girl and her dog go through a day highlighted by the vivid colors of sunrise, rain, mountains, forests, a rainbow, and sunset.

Retreating from his celebrity life to his quiet home in rural Devon, a renowned actor is joined by a friend from London who is wondering how to reply to a former love who has written, asking to reconcile.

Includes index.

A young boy describes the favorite places that he shares with his family on his grandparents' farm and in the nearby countryside.