The Wonder Garden: Wander through the world's wildest habitats and discover more than 80 amazing animals

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But I don't think Acampora is really after our empathy. She writes, like Margaret Atwood, with delicious, irresistible irony, flirting with the surreal just enough to make us wonder, yet rooting us in a garden we recognize. We nod and snort and generally feel superior to those whose wealth and privilege have always made us slightly ashamed. The Umbrella Bird- Describes the story of a woman who must come to terms with her husband's drastic and unexpected career change. A dark and brilliant collection of stories. Lauren Acampora is a terrific writer.”—Joseph O’Neil, author of Netherland and The Dog

The Virginals" - totally amazing and unique story about a far-too-neglected topic in short fiction, and one perhaps way familiar to anyone who's lived in New England or worked at a museum (I have both!): historical reeenactors! Great detailed story about the allure and peril of fetishizing history - with an unexpected creative twist at the end! The way the book is structured helps keep the reader engaged as you keep finding that characters from previous stories suddenly make an appearance a few stories later. In her stunning debut The Wonder Garden, Lauren Acampora gathers with enchanting realism the myriad lives of a suburban town and lays them bare. These intricately interwoven stories take a trenchant look at the flawed people of Old Cranbury, the supposedly ordinary lives they lead, and the secrets they try so desperately to hide. Acampora’s characters are neighbors, lovers, friends, who, beneath their dreamy suburban surface, are nothing like they appear. These incisive tales reveal at each turn the unseen battles we play out behind drawn blinds, the creeping truths from which we distract ourselves, and the massive dreams we haul quietly with us and hold close. The Wonder Garden found its origin in The Umbrella Bird story. Acampora completed a novel, from the perspective of the wife, Madeleine, but thought it was just not good enough. The Umbrella Bird in this collection is the primary remaining nugget from that project. Some of the supporting cast from the novel show up in the collection as well. Set in the fictional New England town of Old Cranbury, Acampora's narrative on these great collection has been described by critics as the one of an urban anthropologist, fascinated with the customs and rituals of its residents and determined to unearthed the secret lives of its suburbanites.Among my favorite stories in the collection were: "Ground Fault," which followed a home inspector whose personal life is more in disarray than his professional one, but some spillage is inevitable; "Floortime," about a woman struggling to reach her autistic son and willing to consider any means to do so; "Elevations," about a couple struggling with the separate needs of each person; "The Umbrella Bird," which chronicles a woman who must reconcile a drastic change in her husband; and "Moon Roof," in which a woman's inability to move into traffic underscores issues in the rest of her life.

Swarm- A rich couple commissions a retired teacher with artistic aspirations to design giant insects to cover every external wall of their colonial home. Acampora is a brilliant anthropologist of the suburbs . . . [ The Wonder Garden] is reminiscent of John Cheever in its anatomizing of suburban ennui and of Ann Beattie in its bemused dissection of a colorful cast of eccentrics. But Acampora’s is entirely her own book . . . Acampora’s ability to lay bare the heartaches of complex individuals within an utterly unique imaginative world is worthy of high praise.”— Boston Globe Lauren Acampora's intriguing, well-written collection of linked stories, The Wonder Garden, strives to give us insight into the lives of strangers, as she focuses on the residents of Old Cranbury, a well-heeled suburb not far from Manhattan. From John, the home inspector whose intense attention to detail in his professional life hasn't seemed to translate into his personal life; to Madeleine, whose life is upended when her husband leaves his corporate advertising job to pursue a career as a healer; from Harold, whose fascination with the brain veers into bizarre territory after he forms an alliance of sorts with a surgeon; to Camille, whose frustration with motherhood and life after divorce fuels her desire for a life elsewhere, these stories chronicle hope and disillusionment, happiness and hurt, desires realized and desires thwarted.

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More than a collection of short stories, but not quite a novel. This book is really a series of episodes about a group of people who live in an upper-middle-class town called Old Cranbury, in New England. A series of guest-curated dazzling street parties open to all ages will close the weekends every Sunday. Featuring live art, performance, dance, DJs, games, workshops and relaxed in-conversation events, these day-to-night parties will platform creative collectives, performance groups and artists exploring ideas relating to race, gender, sexuality and disability. ​ The stories in Acampora’s first collection are so vivid, tightly plotted, and expertly woven that they make you look forward to reading more by this accomplished author.”— Library Journal (starred review) Change-makers and community collectives share critical thoughts on representation, connection and disrupting the status quo at This Bright Land. On Wednesday 3 August, visitors are invited to join a live recording of Oh Annie Oh’s hit podcast Don’t Call Me “Exotic”. Host Annie will be joined by Jason Kwan and Lilly Snatchdragon from the UK's only Pan-Asian Cabaret collective The Bitten Peach, discussing how and why they formed, and the importance of community.

Spooky and fabulous... A cleareyed lens into the strange, human wants of upper-class suburbia."-- Kirkus (starred review) Lauren Acampora is the author of The Hundred Waters, The Paper Wasp, and The Wonder Garden, all published by Grove Atlantic. In 13 sharply drawn linked stories, Acampora reveals the complexities beneath the polish and privilege of a prosperous Connecticut town."-- People The Hundred Waters, published in August 2022, has been named one of Vogue’s best books of the year, a LitHub best book of the summer, and one of The Millions’ most-anticipated books of 2022.BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is the world's number one premium gin by value and volume (IWSR). Based on a 1761 recipe, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin is created by perfectly balancing a unique combination of 10 hand-selected exotic botanicals from around the world. The BOMBAY SAPPHIRE distillery at Laverstoke Mill has won a BREEAM award for sustainability and is the home of the unique Vapour Infusion process, where the natural flavours of the botanicals are skilfully captured, resulting in the fresh and vibrant taste with which BOMBAY SAPPHIRE is synonymous. A man strikes an under-the-table deal with a surgeon to spend a few quiet seconds closer to his wife than he’s ever been; a young soon-to-be mother looks on in paralyzing astonishment as her husband walks away from a twenty-year career in advertising at the urging of his spirit animal; an elderly artist risks more than he knows when he’s commissioned by his newly arrived neighbors to produce the work of a lifetime. I enjoyed this set of linked short stories about life in an affluent suburb of New York City. The stories present the hidden disappointments, obsessions, and insecurities that lurk amidst the tranquil tree-lined facade of a small upscale community known as Old Cranbury. And because this resource has been created for teachers and home educators, by our experienced team of teachers and designers, you can rest assured that the content is relevant to Year 5 English. Sentry - when her neighbor’s child is left unattended for a prolonged time, Helen Tanner invites her in, to hang out a while, then a while longer, then…