Books with title Fat Chance: The Novel

Chance is a novel by Joseph Conrad, published in 1913 following serial publication the previous year. Although the novel was not one upon which Conrad's later critical reputation was to depend, it was his greatest commercial success upon initial publication. Chance is narrated by Conrad's regular narrator, Charles Marlow, but is characterised by a complex, nested narrative in which different narrators take up the story at different points. The novel is also unusual among its author's works for its focus on a female character: the heroine, Flora de Barral. The narrators describe and attempt to interpret various episodes in the life of Miss de Barral, the daughter of a convicted swindler named Smith de Barral (though this character is famous in the world of the novel as a criminal, he may, at least at first, have been merely an incompetent banker). Miss de Barral leads a sheltered life while her father is prosperous, then must rely on the generosity of others, who resent her or have agendas for her, before she escapes by marrying one Captain Anthony. Much of the book involves the musing of the various narrators over what she and the Captain expected from this union, and what they actually got from it. When her father is released from prison, he joins them on ship, and the book heads towards its denouement.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes a heartwarming story about childhood friends, broken lives, and a long ago promise that just might offer the hope of love for today.Years ago, the day before Ellie moved from Georgia to California, she and her best friend Nolan sat beneath an ancient oak tree, they wrote letters to each other, and sealed them in a rusty old metal box. The plan was to return eleven years later and read them. But now, much has changed. Ellie, bereft of the faith she grew up with, is a single mom trying to make ends meet. Sometimes she watches television to catch a glimpse of her old friend Nolan, now an NBA star, whose terrible personal tragedies fueled his faith and athletic drive in equal measure. But Nolan also suffers from a transcendent loneliness that nothing has ever eased. As Ellie and Nolan move toward the possibility of a reunion at the oak tree, Kingsbury weaves a tale of loss, the power of faith, and the wounds that only love can heal, showing that it’s never too late for those willing to take a chance.