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In her 20th work of fiction, Penelope Lively imagines a mugging that sets off a chain of events — and explores the role that chance plays in our lives. "You find yourself looking back over your own life and wondering about where it could have gone completely different," Lively says.

Amanda Coplin's first novel follows Talmadge, the titular orchardist, who doesn't stray far from his fruit trees — but trouble comes to him in the form of two pregnant teenage runaways. The book, by turns lyrical and gritty, is a glimpse into the massive changes in the American West at the end of the 19th century.

Doctor and civil rights activist Binayak Sen has been imprisoned for a year in an area of India known as the epicenter of the country's Maoist insurgency. He's being held under draconian anti-terrorism laws; his supporters say the charges are nonsense. Some 22 Nobel laureates are appealing for his release.

In his August veto message, Gov. Chris Sununu said the plant has been “enormously expensive for New Hampshire ratepayers."

Napoleonic Wars? The Royal Navy? Yawn. Novelist Nicola Griffith had low expectations when she started reading Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. But soon she was tearing through the 20-volume series, reveling in the deeply rendered friendship between the characters Jack and Stephen. It's a masterpiece, she says: "Jane Austen on a ship of war."

Rising sea levels are destroying the fields and livelihoods of people on Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal. Refugees arrived from a nearby island after it was swallowed up by waves. Scientists say climate change is a factor. Residents of the island, which is a sacred place for Hindus, say God is responsible.

Helen Garner, 80, embraces the many-sidedness of life. Her books crackle with curiosity and unpredictability — they win big prizes, kickstart controversies and say things other people rarely dare.

This month in California, the nation's first commercial direct air carbon capture plant went live. Climate experts say the technology has its limits.

This week, there's fresh fiction from Pulitzer finalist Denis Johnson, novelist Tom Perrotta and newspaperman Pete Hamill; plus, travel editor Mark Adams explores Machu Picchu; Melissa Coleman reminisces about growing up off the grid; and Howard Means looks at the life of Johnny Appleseed.

During a post-mortem exam known as a necropsy, experts from the International Fund for Animal Welfare noted how thin the young female was, with rope deeply embedded in her tail.