For decades, social scientists have assumed that “fictive kinship” is a phenomenon associated only with marginal peoples and people of color in the United States. In this innovative book, Nelson reveals the frequency, texture and dynamics of relationships which are felt to be “like family” among the white middle-class. Drawing on extensive, in-depth interviews, Nelson describes the quandaries and contradictions, delight and anxiety, benefits and costs, choice and obligation in these relationships. She shows the ways these fictive kinships are similar to one another as well as the ways they vary—whether around age or generation, co-residence, or the possibility of becoming “real” families. Moreover she shows that different parties to the same relationship understand them in some similar – and some very different – ways. Theoretically rich and beautifully written, the book is accessible to the general public while breaking new ground for scholars in the field of family studies.

An analytic and historical perspective of literary texts to understand the position of domestic workers in South Africa More than a million black South African women are domestic workers. Precariously situated between urban and rural areas, rich and poor, white and black, these women are at once intimately connected and at a distant remove from the families they serve. Ena Jansen shows that domestic worker relations in South Africa were shaped by the institution of slavery, establishing social hierarchies and patterns of behavior that persist today. To support her argument, Jansen examines the representation of domestic workers in a diverse range of texts in English and Afrikaans. Authors include André Brink, JM Coetzee, Imraan Coovadia, Nadine Gordimer, Elsa Joubert, Antjie Krog, Sindiwe Magona, Kopano Matlwa, Es'kia Mphahlele, Sisonke Msimang, Zukiswa Wanner and Zoë Wicomb. Like Family is an updated version of the award-winning Soos familie (2015) and the highly-acclaimed 2016 Dutch translation, Bijna familie.

An astonishing memoir that "demonstrates the true meaning of family" from the author of The Paris Wife and When the Stars Go Dark, detailing the years Paula McLain and her two sisters spent as foster children after being abandoned by both parents in California in the early 1970s and (Chicago Tribune). As wards of the State, the sisters spent the next 14 years moving from foster home to foster home. The dislocations, confusions, and odd pleasures of an unrooted life form the basis of one of the most compelling memoirs in recent years -- a book the tradition of Jo Ann Beard's The Boys of My Youth and Mary Karr's The Liar's Club. McLain's beautiful writing and limber voice capture the intense loneliness, sadness, and determination of a young girl both on her own and responsible, with her siblings, for staying together as a family.

The rise and increasingly important role of companion animals in our families From homemade meals for our dogs to high-end feline veterinary care, pets are a growing multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States. In Just Like Family, Andrea Laurent-Simpson explores the expanding role of animals in what she calls “the multi-species family,” providing a window into a world where almost 95 percent of adults who share their homes with dogs and cats identify—and ultimately treat—their animal companions as legitimate members of their families. With an insightful eye, Laurent-Simpson examines why and how these animals have increasingly become an important part of our households. She highlights their various roles in our lives, including as siblings to our existing children, as animal children themselves, and in some cases, even as grandchildren, particularly as fertility rates decline and a growing number of younger couples choose to live a childfree lifestyle. Ultimately, Laurent-Simpson highlights how animals—and their place in our lives—have changed the structure of the American family in surprising ways. Just Like Family provides a fascinating inside look at our complex relationships with our beloved animal companions in the twenty-first century.

All in one day, thirty-five-year-old Hallie Marsh learns that the man she loves, works for, and is living with has found someone else—and that she no longer has a job, a place to live, or a car since she crashed it into a hedge. Her feelings of rage and desire for revenge are soon replaced by a fascination with her new neighbors and her desire to write a book about these four peculiar, elderly people who decide to buy an old run-down estate, fix it up, and live in it "just like family."

Montgomery Family 1: Acting Like Family by J.J. Massa -- Riker Montgomery, a famous actor and werewolf, finds yet another uninvited woman asleep in his hotel bed. Used to encountering many of these fans, Riker is prepared to send this one on her way, but soon realizes that she is his mate. Finally finding the one woman who can make his life complete, Riker falls asleep with her in his arms, only to wake the next day to find her gone. Desperate to find Bet, Riker begins an endless, futile search. Bethany Black, a writer, has never met a man like Riker before. When she learns that he is a famous actor who is always finding women in his bed, she is embarrassed and ashamed and runs away. Before long, she realizes her mistake and tries to contact Riker. When she finds out she's pregnant, she tries again to reach him. The fates of the pack and the lives of their pups lie in the hands of Riker and Bethany. But will they be reunited before it is too late for them all?

Look who’s grown up now… Valentina Romeo loved a romantic wedding, and couldn’t wait to serve as an attendant in her favorite cousin Prince Luca of Monaforte’s upcoming nuptials. She and Luca had reveled in childhood summers at the family estate on the Ligurian Sea. Many of her fondest memories were made there, along with one of her most humiliating, when Luca’s college roommate Parker shunned her brave declaration of love. Investment banker Parker Hornsby hadn’t been back to Monaforte since he was in college. Back then he’d spent a glorious summer enjoying idyllic days at his best friend Luca’s family beach home. The fun was marred only by Luca’s obtrusive younger cousin Valentina, who could barely mask her crush on Parker, forcing him to flatly cut her off before she got her hopes up. The last thing Parker wanted was to be accused of going after his friend’s jailbait cousin, even if she was about the sweetest fourteen-year old girl he’d ever met. But when Parker shows up in Monaforte, paired in Luca’s wedding with Valentina, all bets are off on whether he can restrain himself from the beautiful—and fully grown-up—heiress to the world-famous Romeo wine label, or whether her remains the nemesis she thinks he is.

Following up her highly praised study of the women in the 1920s Ku Klux Klan, Blee discovers that many of today's racist women combine dangerous racist and anti-Semitic agendas with otherwise mainstream lives. The only national sample of a broad spectrum of racist activists and the only major work on women racists, this important book also sheds light on how gender relationships shape participation in the movement as a whole.

"Family Policy offers concrete illustrative examples that bring the academic subject matter to life for students. Questions at the end of each chapter help students test their comprehension of the material, deepen their understanding of the subject matter, and spur classroom discussion."--BOOK JACKET.