Rubyfruit Jungle is the first milestone novel in the extraordinary career of one of this country's most distinctive writers. Bawdy and moving, the ultimate word-of-mouth bestseller, Rubyfruit Jungle is about growing up a lesbian in America – and living happily ever after.Born a bastard, Molly Bolt is adopted by a dirt-poor Southern couple who want something better for their daughter. Molly plays doctor with the boys, beats up Leroy the tub and loses her virginity to her girlfriend in sixth grade. As she grows to realize she's different, Molly decides not to apologize for that. In no time she mesmerizes the head cheerleader of Ft. Lauderdale High and captivates a gorgeous bourbon-guzzling heiress. But the world is not tolerant. Booted out of college for moral turpitude, an unrepentant, penniless Molly takes New York by storm, sending not a few female hearts aflutter with her startling beauty, crackling wit and fierce determination to become the greatest filmmaker that ever lived. Critically acclaimed when first published, Rubyfruit Jungle has only grown in reputation as it has reached new generations of readers who respond to its feisty and inspiring heroine.

Rubyfruit Jungle

Literature & Fiction

RITA MAE BROWN

Contemporary

Penguin Books, Ltd.

Rubyfruit Jungle (Essential Penguin)

From the bestselling author of the landmark work Rubyfruit Jungle comes an engaging, original new novel that only Rita Mae Brown could have written. In the pristine world of Virginia foxhunting, hunters, horses, hounds, and foxes form a lively community of conflicting loyalties, where the thrill of the chase and the intricacies of human-animal relationships are experienced firsthand--and murder exposes a proud Southern community's unsavory secrets. . . . As Master of the prestigious Jefferson Hunt Club, Jane Arnold, known as Sister, is the most revered citizen in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountain town where a rigid code of social conduct and deep-seated tradition carry more weight than money. Nearing seventy, Sister now must select a joint master to ensure a smooth transition of leadership after her death. It is an honor of the highest order--and one that any serious social climber would covet like the Holy Grail. Virginian to the bone with a solid foxhunting history, Fontaine Buruss is an obvious candidate, but his penchant for philandering and squandering money has earned him a less than sparkling reputation. And not even Sister knows about his latest tawdry scandal. Then there is Crawford Howard, a Yankee in a small town where Rebel bloodlines are sacred. Still, Crawford has money--lots of it--and as Sister is well aware, maintaining a first-class hunt club is far from cheap. With the competition flaring up, Southern gentility flies out the window. Fontaine and Crawford will stop at nothing to discredit each other. Soon the entire town is pulled into a rivalry that is spiraling dangerously out of control. Even the animals have strong opinions, and only Sister is able to maintain objectivity. But when opening hunt day ends in murder, she, too, is stunned. Who was bold and skilled enough to commit murder on the field? It could only be someone who knew both the territory and the complex nature of the hunt inside out. Sister knows of three people who qualify--and only she, with the help of a few clever foxes and hounds, can lay the trap to catch the killer. A colorful foray into an intriguing world, Outfoxed features a captivating cast of Southerners and their unforgettable animal counterparts. Rita Mae Brown has written a masterful novel that surprises, delights, and enchants.

Outfoxed

Literary

Ballantine Books

“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.

The Hunt Ball: A Novel

Finally, a candidate representing all Americans—both predator and prey! Tired of politics as usual? Despair not: This election year, Rita Mae Brown has thrown her cat into the ring. Her intrepid feline co-author, Sneaky Pie Brown, is taking time off from her busy schedule writing bestselling mysteries to run for President of the United States. Hail to the Chief: Sneaky Pie heads to the Oval Office with an animal-friendly agenda to unify all Americans—regardless of whether they walk on two or four feet or even if they fly. With help from her friends—the irascible gray cat Pewter, the wise Corgi Tee Tucker, and Tally, the exuberant Jack Russell—Sneaky crisscrosses her home state of Virginia hoping to go where no cat since Socks Clinton has gone: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In the tradition of her heroine, Sojourner Truth, she takes her case to the masses. Journeying from the lair of the red-shouldered hawk to the nest of the tufted titmouse, from a pasture full of curmudgeonly cows to the stately halls of Monticello, the tenacious tiger cat even secures the chattering support of Thomas Jefferson’s mice. Mice backing a cat for president? Yes, we can! Now, if Sneaky can get the animal community to band together for the common good, why not the humans? After all, who better to get the economy purring again than an honest tabby with authentic political stripes? Human candidates have had their chance in Washington, with dubious results of late: nowhere does it say in the Constitution that the president cannot be a cat. Isn’t it time for real change? Vote Sneaky!

Sneaky Pie for President (Mrs Murphy)

Sneaky Pie Brown

Humor & Satire

BANTAM BOOKS

Sneaky Pie for President: A Novel

Recorded Books,LLC

Homeward Hound: A Novel ("Sister" Jane Book 11)

Whether careening through town propelling cars like long-range missiles, or laying waste to a costumed July Fourth parade, Wheezie and Juts Hunsenmeir are Runnymede's most irrepressible, mule-headed sister scat. together these unrivaled Southern siblings cheerfully raise hell-and a hell of a family-among some of the most colorful townsfolk you're ever likely to meet. Chief among them is elegant Celeste Chalfonte. As exquisite as she is fearless, Celeste kills a man and marries a woman, sloe-eyed Ramelle Bowman. And when Ramelle has Curtis Chalfronte's child, no one bats an eye-even though Ramelle has no intention of leaving her beloved Celeste. Then there's Fannie Jump Creighton who runs a speakeasy in her mansion. And activist Fairy Thatcher, who disappears into Hitler's Germany. Through it all run Wheezie and Juts, heading pell-mell into the future with their hands firmly gripped around each other's throats. spanning more than fifty years of the tumultuous twentieth century, Six of One is a joyous celebration of the human sprit-and the ties binding even the unlikeliest families.

Six Of One

Romance

W.H.Allen

Rita Mae Brown and her inseparable co-author, that fabulous feline Sneaky Pie Brown, are together again in this triple-threat collection of mystery and manners, southern-style. In fact, the first three novels in the Browns' Mrs. Murphy bestselling mystery series are reprinted here in their entirety. Whether you are already familiar with the detective work of postmistress Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen and her tiger cat Mrs. Murphy or are new to the team, you are sure to be intrigued by their unique approach. It's murder with a touch of whimsy, all set in the cozy hamlet of Crozet, Virginia. Meet Harry's friends, neighbors...and suspects--folks like notorious society vamp Boom Boom Craycroft in Rest in Pieces, or the nice Miranda Hogendobber in Murder at Monticello, and get a good taste of Brown's wickedly observant take on manners below the Mason-Dixon line. Cat lovers, mystery aficionados, and anyone who might like an armchair visit to a delightful old town down South, is sure to enjoy these witty, cleverly-plotted tales of suspense.

Rita Mae Brown: Three Mrs. Murphy Mysteries: Wish You Were Here; Rest in Pieces; Murder at Monticello

United States

Wings

Following up on the success of the first Rita Mae Brown omnibus, here are three more mysteries starring that canny cat sleuth, Mrs. Murphy, and her human, Mary "Harry" Haristeen, postmistress of Crozet, Virginia. Pay Dirt—Who created the computer virus that ravaged the neighborhood and then murdered the mysterious biker who roared into town? Murder, She Meowed—Who murdered a jockey in the barn during the annual steeplechase races? Murder on the Prowl—Who's dead? Who's not? Phony obituaries and real live murders; what's happening in Crozet?

Three More Mrs. Murphy Mysteries in One Volume: Pay Dirt; Murder, She Meowed; and Murder on the Prowl

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

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