In this wise, beguiling, and beautiful novel set in the era of the Civil War, award-winning playwright and author J. California Cooperpaints a haunting portrait of a woman named Always and four generations of her African-American family."

A fourth collection of stories by the award-winning author.

The extraordinary debut short story collection from the award-winning author of Family and Life is Short But Wide.

With InSearch Of Satisfaction, Coopergracefully portrays men and women, some good and otherswickedly twisted, caught in their individualthickets of want and need on a once-grand plantation.
In Yoville, "a legal town-ship founded by thevery rich for their own personal use," afreed slave named Josephus fathers two daughters, Ruth and Yinyang, by two different women. Hisdesire to give Yinyang and himself money andopportunities oozes through the family like an elixir. In seeking the legacy left by their father, Ruth and Yinyang pull each other, their families, and their Yoville...

Whether through her stories or her legendary readings, J. California Cooper has an uncanny ability to reach out to readers like an old and dear friend.Her characters are plain-spoken and direct: simple people for whom life, despite its ever-present struggles, is always worth the journey.
In Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime, Cooper's characteristic themes of romance, heartbreak, struggle and faith resonate.We meet Darlin, a self-proclaimed femme fatale who uses her wiles to try to find a husband; MLee, whose life seems to be coming to an end at the age of forty until she decides to...

A dramatic and thought-provoking novel of one family's triumph in the face of the hardships and challenges of the post-Civil War South.
The Wake of the Wind, J. California Cooper's third novel, is her most penetrating look yet at the challenges that generations of African Americans have had to overcome in order to carve out a home for themselves and their families. Set in Texas in the waning years of the Civil War, the novel tells the dramatic story of a remarkable heroine, Lifee, and her husband, Mor. When Emancipation finally comes to Texas, Mor, Lifee, and the extended family...

From the beloved author of Family and A Piece of Mine comes a dazzling new collection of stories featuring ordinary women who discover that love sometimes comes when you least expect it.
Vinnie is an overworked and self-sacrificing single mother who gets a second chance at love and independence, in "The Eagle Flies." In "A Shooting Star" a happily married mother of two laments the fate of her beautiful friend Lorene, whose naivete about desire has deadly consequences. In "A Filet of Soul," Luella's luck soon changes when her mother leaves her a modest inheritance, but not as...

For generations Eula Too s family has been making a journey North, year after year, step by painful step; and she s determined to be the one to make it all the way to Chicago. In and out of school, taking care of her fourteen brothers and sisters, she can see no way out. But when a new family burden threatens to overwhelm her, she at last leaves for the city, only to find that her life gets even tougher.
Ranging from the Deep South at the turn of the century, to a diverse contemporary town filled with people striving for a better life, "Some People, Some Other Place" is J. California...

J. California Cooper s irresistible collection of new stories explores the universal themes of romance, family, and the hopes that propel people s dreams. In As Time Goes By a young woman singlemindedly pursues material wealth, only to suffer from an empty heart. Catch a Falling Heart tells of a slyly arranged marriage, and The Eye of the Beholder portrays a plain girl s search for love and her own brand of freedom. Wise, earthy and intimate, these stories are moving parables of the human need to seek some sort of satisfaction, just as a wild star seeks a midnight sun."

An irresistible story of faith and perseverance, Life Is Short But Wide follows twofamilies as they prove that no matter who you are or what you do, you are never too old to chase your dreams.
Like the small towns J. California Cooper has so vividly portrayed in her previous novels, Wideland, Oklahoma, is home to ordinary Americans with big hearts. Among them are newlyweds Irene and Val, who graciously allow their neighbors, Bertha and Joseph, to build a house on their land. Together the couples have three daughters, all who struggle to find love and success in the changing...