Discover the classic coming of age novel that confronts prejudice and injustice with power and humanity. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RITA MAE BROWN Molly Bolt is a young lady with a big character. Beautiful, funny and bright, Molly figures out at a young age that she will have to be tough to stay true to herself in 1950s America. In her dealings with boyfriends and girlfriends, in the rocky relationship with her mother and in her determination to pursue her career, she will fight for her right to happiness. Charming, proud and inspiring, Molly is the girl who refuses to be put in a box.

The acclaimed author of Rubyfruit Jungle and Six Of One retums to Runnymede, Maryland, for an outrageous, poignant, and surprising story of passion, rivalry, and small-town fun.  Straddling the Mason-Dixon Line since before the Civil War is Runnymede.  And it seems that ever since then, most people in the town have been inherently split:  between good and bad, or love and sex, or male and female, or politics and sobriety.  Nicole ("Nickel") Smith is in such a dilemma herself--here she is, an avowed lesbian, having an affair that would shock Runnymede as much as it shocks Nickel herself.  And her work seems to be going to the dogs, too, when the beloved newspaper where she is an editor is put up for sale.  Thank goodness the weekly bingo games still go on, though Nickel is a little weary of playing referee there for the flamboyant Hunsenmeir sisters, Louise and Julia.  Nickel's momma, who is now pushing ninety but clawing like cats over handsome newcomer Ed Tutweiler Walters.  A parade of townsfolk and kin weave their colorful way through the trials, tribulations, and ultimate triumphs of our heroines, in this spirited novel of the South that appeals as much to the funny bone as to the heart.


From the Paperback edition.

" Rita Mae Brown] enlivens a timely tale with . . . amusing accounts of her four-legged creations and delightful descriptions of the central Virginia countryside."--"Richmond Times-Dispatch"
"New York Times" bestselling author Rita Mae Brown bounds to the front of the pack with "Fox Tracks, " the thrilling new mystery in her beloved foxhunting series featuring the indomitable "Sister" Jane Arnold and, among others, the boisterous company of horses and hounds. Now, as a string of bizarre murders sweeps the East Coast, this unlikely alliance must smoke out a devious killer who may be closer than they first think.
While outside on Manhattan's Midtown streets a fierce snowstorm rages, nothing can dampen the excitement inside the elegant ballroom of Manhattan's Pierre Hotel. Hunt clubs from all over North America have gathered for their annual gala, and nobody is in higher spirits than "Sister" Jane, Master of the Jefferson Hunt in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Braving the foul weather, Sister and her young friend "Tootie" Harris pop out to purchase cigars for the celebration at a nearby tobacco shop, finding themselves regaled by the colorful stories of its eccentric proprietor, Adolfo Galdos.
Yet the trip's festive mood goes to ground later with the grisly discovery of Adolfo's corpse. The tobacconist was shot in the head but found, oddly enough, with a cigarette pack of American Smokes laid carefully over his heart.
When a similar murder occurs in Boston, Sister's "horse sense" tells her there's a nefarious plot afoot--one that seems to originate in the South's aromatic tobacco farms. Meanwhile, Sister's nemesis, Crawford Howard, will stop at nothing to subvert the Jefferson Hunt Club. There's more than one shadowy scheme in the works in Albemarle County, and some conspirators are unafraid of taking shots at those evidencing too keen an interest in other people's business. When Sister voices her suspicions, she, too, becomes a target. Fortunately for her, the Master of the Jefferson Hunt may rely upon the wits and wiles of her four-legged friends--including horses Lafayette and Matador, the powerful hound, Dragon, and even the clever old red fox, Uncle Yancy
From Manhattan's gritty streets to the pastoral beauty of Virginia horse country, Fox Tracks features the beloved characters from past Sister Jane novels in a fascinating new intrigue. This sly, fast-paced mystery gives chase from sizzling start to stunning finish
Praise for Rita Mae Brown's "Sister" Jane novels
"Brown is a keen plotter who advances her story with well-placed clues and showy suspects."--"The New York Times Book Review"
" Brown] succeeds in conjuring a world in which prey are meant to survive the chase and foxes are knowing collaborators."--"People"
"One of the most entertaining amateur sleuths since those of Agatha Christie."--"Booklist"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"A rich, atmospheric murder mystery . . . rife with love, scandal . . . redemption, greed and nobility," raved the San Jose Mercury News about Outfoxed, Rita Mae Brown's first foxhunting masterpiece. In The Hunt Ball, the latest novel in this popular series, all the ingredients Brown's readers love are abundantly present: richness of character and landscape, the thrill of the hunt, and the chill of violence.
The trouble begins at Custis Hall, an exclusive girls' school in Virginia that has gloried in its good name for nearly two hundred years. At first, the outcry is a mere tempest in a silver teapot-a small group of students protesting the school's exhibit of antique household objects crafted by slaves-and headmistress Charlotte Norton quells the ruckus easily. But when one of the two hanging corpses ornamenting the students' Halloween dance turns out to be real-the body of the school's talented fund-raiser, in fact-Charlotte and the entire community are stunned. Everyone liked Al Perez, or so it seemed, yet his murder was particularly unpleasant.
Even "Sister" Jane Arnold, master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, beloved by man and beast, is at a loss, although she knows better than anyone where the bodies are buried in this community of land-grant families and new-money settlers. Aided and abetted by foxes and owls, cats and hounds, Sister picks up a scent that leads her in a most unwelcome direction: straight to the heart of the foxhunting crowd. The chase is on, not only for foxes but also for a deadly human predator.
No one has created a fictional paradise more delightful than the rolling hills of Rita Mae Brown's Virginia countryside, or has more charmingly captured the rituals of the hunt. No one understands human and animal nature more deeply. The Hunt Ball combines a rounded, welcoming world with an edge of unforgettable white-knuckled menace.

"From the Hardcover edition."

From the best-selling author of  Rubyfruit Jungle and  Bingo, here is a writers' manual as provocative,  frank, and funny as her fiction. Unlike most  writers' guides, this one had as much to do with how  writers live as with mastering the tools of their  trade. Rita Mae Brown begins with a very personal  account of her own career, from her days as a young  poet who had written a novel no publisher wanted  to take a chance on, right up to her recent  adventures as a Hollywood screenwriter. In a sassy style  that makes her outspoken advice as entertaining as  it is useful, she provides straight talk about  paying the rent while maintaining the energy to  write; and dealing with agents, publishers, critics,  and the publicity circus; about pursuingj  ournalisim, academia, or screen-writing; and about rejecting  the Hemingway myth of the hard-living,  hard-drinking genius. In addition Brown, a former teacher or  writing, offers a serious examination of the  writer's tool--language, plotting, characters,  symbolism--plus exercises to sharpen the ear for dialogue,  and a fascinating, annoted reading list of  important works from the seventh century to the late  twentieth.

From the celebrated author of Rubyfruit  Jungle and Bingo  comes a stirring novel of the Civil War, a tale of  true love and mistaken identity. Brimming with  colorful characters and vivid settings, High  Hearts is Rita Mae Brown at her most  ambitious and entertaining.

April 12,  1861. Bright, gutsy and young,Geneva Chatfield  marries Nash Hart in Albemarle County, Virginia, the  same day Fort Sumter's guns fire the start of the  Civil War. Five days later she loses him as Nash  joins the Confederate Army. Geneva, who is known  as the best rider since Light Horse Harry Lee,  cuts her hair, dons a uniform, enlists as "Jimmy  Chatfield," then rides off to be with her  beloved Nash. But sensitive Nash recoils in horror  from the violence of war, while Geneva is  invigorated by the chase and the fight. Can she be all the  man her husband isn't? She'll sure as hell try.  But there is a complication, and his name is Major  "Mars" Vickers. This macho major, to his own  shock and amazement, finds himself inexplicably  attracted to the young soldier named "Jimmy."  And this is only the beginning of a novel that  moves with sureness and grace from the ferocity of  battle to the struggle on the homefront, and brings  passion and sly humor to a story of dawning love.  High Hearts is a penetrating,  delightful and sweeping tale that gives fresh life to a  fascinating  time

Perched right on the Mason-Dixon line, tiny Runnymede, Maryland, is ripe with a history almost as colorful as the women who live there--from Celeste Chalfonte, headstrong and aristocratic, who murders for principle and steals her brother's wife, to Fannie Jump Creighton, who runs a speakeasy right in her own home when hard times come knocking. Then of course, there're Louise and Julia, the boldly eccentric Hunsenmeir sisters. Wheezie and Juts spend their whole lives in Runnymede, cheerfully quibbling about everything from men to child-rearing to how to drive a car. But they "never" let small-town life keep them from chasing their biggest dreams--or from being true to who they really are. Sparkling with a perfect combination of sisterhood and sass, Six of One" "is a richly textured Southern canvas--Rita Mae Brown "at her winning, fondest best"("Kirkus Reviews").

Rita Mae Brown's earliest memory is of the soothing purr of Mickey, her family's long-haired tiger cat, who curled up and claimed a spot in her crib. From there, a steady parade of cats, dogs, horses, and all manner of two- and four-legged critters have walked, galloped, and flown into and through her world. In Animal Magnetism, the bestselling author shares the lessons she's learned from these marvelous creatures as well as her deep appreciation for them. We meet Franklin, a parrot with a wicked sense of humor; R.C., a courageous Doberman who defined loyalty and sacrifice; Suzie Q, the horse who taught Brown the meaning of hard work; and of course the beloved and prolific Sneaky Pie, who needs no introduction to her legions of fans. As funny as it is poignant, Animal Magnetism shows how these inspiring creatures can bring out the best in us, restore us to our greater selves, and even save our lives.

If you crossed Mitford, North Carolina, with Peyton Place, you might come up with Runnymede, Maryland, the most beguiling of Southern towns. In Loose Lips, Rita Mae Brown revisits Runnymede and the beloved characters introduced in Six of One and Bingo, serving up an exuberant portrayal of small-town sins and Southern mores, set against a backdrop of homefront life during World War II.

"I'm afraid life is passing me by," Louise told her sister.

"No, it's not," Juts said. "Life can't pass us by. We are life."

In the picturesque town of Runnymede, everyone knows everyone else's business, and the madcap antics of the battling Hunsenmeir sisters, Julia (Juts) and Louise, have kept the whole town agog ever since they were children. Now, in the fateful year of 1941, with America headed for war, the sisters are inching toward forty...and Juts is unwise enough to mention that unspeakable reality to her sister.

The result is a huge brawl that litters Cadwalder's soda fountain with four hundred dollars' worth of broken glass. To pay the debt, the sisters choose a surprisingly new direction. Suddenly they are joint owners of The Curl 'n' Twirl beauty salon, where discriminating ladies meet to be primped, permed, and pampered while dishing the town's latest dirt.

As Juts and Louise become Runnymede's most unlikely new career women, each faces her share of obstacles. Restless Juts can't shake her longing for a baby, while holier-than-thou Louise is fit to be tied over her teenage daughter's headlong rush toward scandal. As usual, the sisters rarely see eye to eye, and there are plenty of opinions to go around. Even the common bond of patriotic duty brings wildly unexpected results when the twosome joins the Civil Air Patrol, watching the night sky for German Stukas. But loose lips can sink even the closest relationships, and Juts and Louise are about to discover that some things are best left unsaid.

Spanning a decade in the lives of Louise, Juts, and their nearest and dearest, including the incomparable Celeste Chalfonte, Loose Lips is an unforgettable tale of love and loss and the way life can always throw you a curveball. By turns poignant and hilarious, it is deepened by Rita Mae Brown's unerring insight into the human heart.


From the Hardcover edition.

The author of "Venus Envy" takes you on a riotous ride back to onewoman's future...

In a delightful contemporary farce with a riotous twist, Rita Mae Brownwelcomes you to Virginia's horse country, where a fox hunt is about to lead a1990s woman, Cig Blackwood, into a 1690s adventure of the heart. Infidelity, single motherhood, family betrayal, and the thrill of the hunt (in manyvarieties) are hilariously and poignantly played out in this captivating novelof time travel and self-discovery.

"It's a search for Mr. Right and the meaning of life that moves back andforth across time periods deftly as a minuet, with each century yielding uptruths about the other."
-- "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"

"Giddily enjoyable...with its feisty heroine, vivid period detail andwell-turned plot twists, this novel is charming."
-- "Publishers Weekly"

"The pace is fast and full of life....a whopping good read and a heckuva ride."
-- "Richmond Times-Dispatch"

"Laugh-out-loud lines...dead-on ridicule of modern-day bad behavior."
-- "Kirkus Reviews"