Elise Armstrong, Carmen Bradshaw, and DeeDee Davis meet in a yoga class. Though vastly different, these women discover they all have one thing in common: their mothers have recently passed away. Becoming fast friends, the trio make a pact to help each other sort through the belongings their mothers left behind. But when they find old letters and diaries, Elise, Carmen, and DeeDee are astonished to learn of the secrets their mothers hid.
Domestic fiction
- Author:Williams, SheilaSummary:
- Author:Harvey, Kristy WoodsonSummary:
Leaving fans "practically [begging] for a sequel" (Bookpage), critically acclaimed author Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with the second novel in her beloved Peachtree Bluff series, featuring a trio of sisters and their mother who discover a truth that will change not only the way they see themselves, but also how they fit together as a family. After finding out her military husband is missing in action, middle sister Sloane's world crumbles as her worst nightmare comes true. She can barely climb out of bed, much less summon the strength to be the parent her children deserve. Her mother, Ansley, provides a much-needed respite as she puts her personal life on hold to help Sloane and her grandchildren wade through their new grief-stricken lives. But between caring for her own aging mother, her daughters, and her grandchildren, Ansley's private worry is that secrets from her past will come to light. But when Sloane's sisters, Caroline and Emerson, remind Sloane that no matter what, she promised her husband she would carry on for their young sons, Sloane finds the support and courage she needs to chase her biggest dreams-and face her deepest fears. Taking a cue from her middle daughter, Ansley takes her own leap of faith and realizes that, after all this time, she might finally be able to have it all. Harvey's signature warmth and wit make this a charming and poignant story of first loves, missed opportunities, and second chances and proves that she is "the next major voice in Southern fiction" (Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author).
- Author:Molnar, MartaSummary:
When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law. Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh's paintings. They were all she had, and they weren't worth anything. She was a 28 year old widow with a baby in the 1800s, without any means of supporting herself, living in Paris where she barely spoke the language. Yet she managed to introduce Vincent's legacy to the world. The inspiration couldn't come at a better time for Emsley. With her business failing, an unexpected love turning up in her life, and family secrets unraveling, can she find answers in the past?
- Author:Lewis, BeverlySummary:
Jennifer Burns has always had an "old soul," but joining the Amish world will challenge her spirit--and her heart--in ways she never expected.
- Author:Christie, AgathaSummary:
Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley, two unemployed school chums, bump into each other in London and agree to become the "Young Adventurers," who will go anywhere and do anything, according to their ad. Soon they are involved in a complex plot involving the sinking of the Lusitania, British Intelligence, false identities, kidnapping, and poison. The two sleuth's partnership is cemented when they solve the fast-paced case and make marriage their next collaboration.
- Author:Candlish, LouiseSummary:
Kate divorces Alistair after 10 years of marriage, swearing off relationships altogether. But that was before she rented the extra space in her flat to the charming Davis Calder, who soon endears himself to Kate and her teenage daughter Roxy. Now married again and fresh off her honeymoon, Kate discovers a shocking secret about Davis and her daughter.
- Author:Snelling, LauraineSummary:
Meg and Kenneth Sorenson are in their fifties and near early retirement, their hearts set on traveling abroad and spending limitless hours in the garden. But when they learn their son has gone MIA on a military assignment, they try to hold the family, and even their plans, together.
- Author:Hearon, ShelbySummary:
Ellen Marshall is in her second marriage, now the mother of a 12-year-old son with her first husband Franklin and a four-year-old daughter with her current husband John. Ellen is growing tired of John's constant need for everyone's reassurance. Having left Franklin for his rigidity and domineering attitude, Ellen realizes she may have traded one set of imperfections for another.
- Author:Donoghue, EmmaSummary:
Based on the details of a scandalous divorce case that gripped England in 1864, The Sealed Letter is a provocative historical drama that is strangely relevant to modern issues surrounding women, marriage, rights and roles.
- Author:Sumner, MelanieSummary:
Although Louise Peppers' family is a bit eccentric and dysfunctional, they are also loving and supportive. In conventional Counterpoint, Georgia, Louise grows up to be a "normal" teen. But after the accidental death of her older brother, she can't get her life back on track. When she runs away to join the circus, and seeks comfort in alcohol and sex, her parents struggle to bring her hom. Will their love, however suffocating and complicated, be enough to help Louise come to her senses?
- Author:Chan, JessamineSummary:
In this taut and explosive debut novel, one lapse in judgement lands a young mother in a government reform program where custody of her child hangs in the balance. Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn't have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents' sacrifices. She can't persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with Harriet, their cherubic daughter, does Frida finally attain the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she is just enough. Until Frida has a very bad day. The state has its eyes on mothers like Frida. The ones who check their phones, letting their children get injured on the playground; who let their children walk home alone. Because of one moment of poor judgment, a host of government officials will now determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother's devotion. Faced with the possibility of losing Harriet, Frida must prove that a bad mother can be redeemed. That she can learn to be good. A searing page-turner that is also a transgressive novel of ideas about the perils of "perfect" upper-middle class parenting; the violence enacted upon women by both the state and, at times, one another; the systems that separate families; and the boundlessness of love, The School for Good Mothers introduces, in Frida, an everywoman for the ages. Using dark wit to explore the pains and joys of the deepest ties that bind us, Chan has written a modern literary classic.
- Author:Rivers, FrancineSummary:
When Sierra discovers her young ancestor's handcrafted quilt and reads her journal, she finds that their lives are very similar. By following her ancestor's example, she learns to surrender to God's sovereignty and unconditional love.
- Author:Andrews, Mary Kay.Summary:
From May Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of Hello, Summer, comes a novella celebrating the magic of Christmas and second chances in The Santa Suit . When newly-divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse sight unseen, she is definitely looking for a change in her life. The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love-but Ivy didn't bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk, that it's a full-time job sorting through all of it. At the top of a closet, Ivy finds an old Santa suit-beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of a suit she finds a note written in a childish hand: it's from a little girl who has one Christmas wish, and that is for her father to return home from the war. This discovery sets Ivy off on a mission. Who wrote the note? Did the man ever come home? What mysteries did the Rose family hold? Ivy's quest brings her into the community, at a time when all she wanted to do was be left alone and nurse her wounds. But the magic of Christmas makes miracles happen, and Ivy just might find more than she ever thought possible: a welcoming town, a family reunited, a mystery solved, and a second chance at love. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press
- Author:Birdsell, SandraSummary:
- Author:Chiaverini, JenniferSummary:
In this intriguing novel, master quilter Sylvia Compson comes across an heirloom quilt that muddles her heritage. She's always believed her ancestors were active in the Underground Railroad'but perhaps she's been mistaken. 'Chiaverini manages to impart a healthy dollop of history in a folksy style, while raising moral questions in a suspenseful narrative.' 'Publishers Weekly
- Author:BROOKNER, AnitaSummary:
Elizabeth and Betsy knew each other as school-children. When they meet again in later life, one is safely married, the other most unsafely partnered.
- Author:Simsion, GraemeSummary:
Don and Rosie are back in Melbourne after a decade in New York, and they're about to face their most important project. Their son, Hudson, is having trouble at school: his teachers say he isn't fitting in with the other kids. Meanwhile, Rosie is battling Judas at work, and Don is in hot water after the Genetics Lecture Outrage. The life-contentment graph, recently at its highest point, is curving downwards. For Don Tillman, geneticist and World's Best Problem-Solver, learning to be a good parent as well as a good partner will require the help of friends old and new. It will mean letting Hudson make his way in the world, and grappling with awkward truths about his own identity. And opening a cocktail bar.
- Author:Engel, AmySummary:
Returning to her family's Kansas estate in the hopes of discovering the fate of her missing cousin, Lane reconnects with a young man from her past and is confronted by dark family secrets that prompted her to flee years earlier.
- Author:Fowler, EarleneSummary:
Ruby McGavin returns to Cardinal, California, with her brother Nash, hoping the fresh start will help him kick a debilitating drinking habit. And Ruby's not the only one with renewed hope, as saddlemaker Lucas McGavin redoubles his efforts to win her heart--even if Ruby is his brother's widow. Soon, all three learn that building a better future means first making peace with the past.
- Author:McCall Smith, AlexanderSummary:
Isabel Dalhousie's life is thrown for a few loops when her cousin Mimi arrives from Dallas with her husband Joe. Through Mimi and Joe, Isabel meets Texas hotshot Tom Bruce, who is about to marry someone Isabel suspects of gold-digging. Further complicating matters, Tom seems to have an unusual level of interest in Isabel. Meanwhile, Isabel has her own feelings to deal with--not to mention those of her beloved niece, Cat, whose romantic interest may not be up to snuff.