The highly praised new book that delivers a "hefty emotional wallop" ("Chicago Tribune") from the acclaimed author of "Other People's Houses" and "Her First American," "Shakespeare's Kitchen," Lore Segal's first major work of fiction in more than twenty years, was widely celebrated upon its publication in hardcover. Serialized in "The New Yorker" and excerpted in the "2008 O. Henry Prize Stories" collection, it was also a Book Sense Pick, a Pick of the Week in both "Entertainment Weekly" and "People" magazine, and a Summer Reading Pick in Oprah's "O" Magazine. In these "wry, finely honed, interlocking stories" ("Atlantic Monthly"), Segal offers a brilliant and nuanced portrayal of the lives of a close-knit group of friends and colleagues in a fictional college town in Connecticut. Told through a series of unforgettable dinner parties, afternoon picnics, and Sunday brunches, "the cumulative power of "Shakespeare's Kitchen" lies in Segal's dazzling ability to merge the mundane details of life with the arc of human emotion" ("Washington Post Book World"). It's a deeply moving work that marks the triumphant return of a writer at the height of her powers.