After her husband's sudden death from a heart attack and to keep her family in their beloved Nantucket home, Carley Winsted transforms her expensive, expansive house into a bed-and-breakfast . But complications arise: Carley's mother-in-law disapproves; a friend forces Carley to keep a secret that, if revealed, will undo families and friendships; and, her late husband's former law partner keeps...

In these new poems, her eleventh collection, Maxine Kumin expands on the themes that have engaged her most strongly. Family connections resurface as she imagines a letter to her mother, long dead, or assesses the shift of responsibility between generations (" ... they still love us who overtake us"). Her dialogue with the natural world - especially with the narrow divide between human and animal - continues, most notably in "Deja Vu", where she pays...

A heat wave induced by the rule of Hyperion compels Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades to search for answers about why the titan is overheating the world, a mystery that is complicated by their efforts to rescue Hera and outmaneuver the minions of their nemesis, Cronus.

"Nora loves spending summers with Lola at her sari-sari store, a treasure trove filled with everything you could need, from hair accessories to toys, creamy yema to sour tamarind candy. And this year, Nora is big enough to help her grandmother. But when a heat wave strikes and no one comes to the store, Nora worries that she won't get to spend the rest of the summer with her lola -- until she gets a sweet idea. After all, the mangoes on the tree outside...

"During a terrible heat wave in 1991--the worst in a decade--ten-year-old Anton has been locked in an apartment in the projects, alone, for seven days, without air conditioning or a fan. With no electricity, the refrigerator and lights do not work. Hot, hungry, and desperate, Anton shatters a window and climbs out. Cutting his leg on the broken glass, he is covered in blood when the police find him. Juanita, his mother, is discovered in a crack house...

As a photographer with a broken leg, Stewart takes up the fine art of spying on his Greenwich Village neighbors during a summer heat wave. Things really begin to get hot when he suspects a salesman may have murdered his nagging wife and buried the body in a flower garden. He actively enlists the help of his girlfriend to investigate the highly suspicious chain of events. Events that ultimately lead to one of the most memorable and gripping endings...