Dickens himself prepared this text from the novel especially for his own public readings he frequently gave of his works.

Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior and being separated from her beloved stepfather and half-sisters when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Schenectady, New York.

Things take a sudden turn for a stepdad who is trying to earn the respect of his stepchildren when the biological father returns.

In a riveting and unputdownable thriller from the Queen of Suspense, a young woman is ensnared into returning to a place she had wanted to leave behind forever—her childhood home.
At the age of ten, Liza Barton shot her mother, trying desperately to protect her from her estranged stepfather, Ted Cartwright. Despite his claim that the shooting was a deliberate act, the Juvenile Court ruled the death an accident. Many people, however,...

Dusty and Brad agree to have Christmas in one house so their kids do not have to travel, but their plans are thrown into chaos when Dusty's macho dad and Brad's ultra-affectionate dad arrive.

Hunted: Young Reagan has simply seen too much. She knows her abusive stepfather will stop at nothing to silence her and quickly realizes that escape into the murky forest is her only hope of survival. The death house: Adam embarks on a late-night investigation of an abandoned mansion, site of a grisly murder a century ago, and is horrified by what he discovers. Haunting reminders: When her former fiancé and his wife become the victims of a vicious...