Clarissa

A mesmerising novel set in Japan, by the author of Rainbirdsand The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida, about a young man trying to escape his past. When Shouji Arai crosses one of his company's most powerful clients, he must leave Akakawa immediately or risk his life. But his girlfriend Youko is nowhere to be found. Haunted by dreams of drowning and the words of a fortune teller who warned him away from three women with water in their names, he travels to Tokyo, where he tries in vain to track Youko down. But Shouji soon realises that not everything Youko told him about herself was true. Who is the real woman he once lived with and loved, and where could she be hiding? Watersongis a spellbinding novel of loves lost and recovered, of secrets never spoken, and of how our pasts shape our futures.

High school junior Clarissa Thomas has always made good choices. She studies hard to get good grades. She trains hard in swimming so she can be a city champion. She understands that these choices will have the desired consequence, which is getting into the college of her dreams. But what choices does she make when she falls in love? In this novel, Fifty Shades of Grey meets Encyclopedia Brown. When it comes to love and her body, Clarissa needs your help understanding choices and consequences. What will happen when you make Clarissas Choice?

What distinguishes Clarissa from Samuel Richardson's other novels is Richardson's unique awareness of how his plot would end. In the inevitability of its conclusion, in its engagement with virtually every category of human experience, and in its author's desire to communicate religious truth, E. Derek Taylor suggests, Clarissa truly is the Paradise Lost of the eighteenth century. Arguing that Clarissa's cohesiveness and intellectual rigor have suffered from the limitations of the Lockean model frequently applied to the novel, Taylor turns to the writings of John Norris, a well-known disciple of the theosophy of Nicolas Malebranche. Allusions to this first of Locke's philosophical critics appear in each of the novel's installments, and Taylor persuasively documents how Norris's ideas provided Richardson with a usefully un-Lockean rhetorical grounding for Clarissa. Further, the writings of early feminists like Norris's intellectual ally Mary Astell, who viewed her arguments on behalf of women as compatible with her conservative and deeply held religious and political views, provide Richardson with the combination of progressive feminism and conservative theology that animate the novel. In a convincing twist, Taylor offers a closely argued analysis of Lovelace's oft-stated declaration that he will not be 'out-Norris'd' or 'out-plotted' by Clarissa, showing how the plot of the novel and the plot of all humans exist, in the context of Richardson's grand theological experiment, within, through, and by a concurrence of divine energy.

What happens when the love spell you cast to conjure the perfect man comes knocking at your door? Clarissa's from a long line of self-proclaimed witches, so when her great-aunt leaves her a sprawling eight bedroom McMansion in Manitou Springs—a Colorado mountain town thick with supernatural energy—she creates an occult-themed B&B that will attract visitors from across the country. But first, a soft opening and a girl's weekend where she leads her friends through a spell where they manifest their perfect partner. Dallas is a nomad, a drifter, a beach bum in the summer, and a ski bum in the winter with a job and a bank account that allows him to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and wherever he wants. He doesn't know what drew him to the paranormal B&B versus an extended stay hotel, but the moment the innkeeper opened the door, he knew he found a place to settle his wandering spirit. Clarissa is like no woman he's ever met, and while her witchy vibes are adorable, he's not sure he believes in witchcraft, but he does believe in her. She never expected him—the one man he's been dreaming of since she was a teenager—to knock at her door. Picture perfect down to the small scar on his chin and his big hands, he's everything she's asked the goddess to bring her, but when he tells her he's a non-believer, can she trust what's standing in front of her?

A complete re-imagining of the 1990s television hit Clarissa Explains it All as 20-something Clarissa tries to navigate the unemployment line, mompreneurs and the collision of two people in love. She was a smart, snappy, light-hearted girl who knew it all at fourteen and let television audiences everywhere know it. Now a woman in her late twenties, her searching blue eyes are more serious, but mostly amused by the people around her. The gap-toothed smile that made her seem younger than she really was is gone, but she still lightens up the room. Her unpredictable wardrobe rocks just like when she was a kid, but her fashion sense has evolved and it makes men and women turn their heads. After leaving high school early, Clarissa interned at the Daily Post while attending night school. At the ripe old age of twenty- two she had it made - her own journalism beat (fashion, gender politics and crime), an affordable apartment in FiDi and a livable wage. She was so totally ahead of the game. Ah, those were the days! All three of them. Remember the Stock Market Crash of 08? Remember when people actually bought newspapers? All of Clarissa's charming obsessions, charts, graphs, and superstitions have survived into adulthood, but they've evolved into an ever-greater need to claw the world back under control. Her mid-twenties crisis has left her with a whole set of things she can't explain: an ex-boyfriend turned stalker, her parents' divorce, a micro relationship with the cute coffee guy, java addiction, "To-Flue Glue," and then there's Sam. Where's Sam anyway? Things I Can't Explain is about knowing it all in your teens and then feeling like you know nothing in your twenties. It is an entertaining and must-read sequel to all fans of Mitchell Kriegman's Nickelodeon TV show,Clarissa Explains It All.