Book picks similar to
Admissions by Jennifer Sowle


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What She Left Behind


Ellen Marie Wiseman - 2013
    Devastated by her mother’s apparent insanity, Izzy, now seventeen, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at a local museum, have enlisted Izzy’s help in cataloging items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades old journal, and a window into her own past.Clara Cartwright, eighteen years old in 1929, is caught between her overbearing parents and her love for an Italian immigrant. Furious when she rejects an arranged marriage, Clara’s father sends her to a genteel home for nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash, he can no longer afford her care—and Clara is committed to the public asylum.Even as Izzy deals with the challenges of yet another new beginning, Clara’s story keeps drawing her into the past. If Clara was never really mentally ill, could something else explain her own mother’s violent act? Piecing together Clara’s fate compels Izzy to re-examine her own choices—with shocking and unexpected results.Illuminating and provocative, WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND is a masterful novel about the yearning to belong—and the mysteries that can belie even the most ordinary life.

Dear Grace


Clare Swatman - 2021
    The most unexpected consequences.When Anna’s husband cheats on her, she’s sure she’ll never be happy again. But then she meets 94-year-old Grace. Despite an age gap of more than fifty years, the pair set out together on a life-changing journey halfway across the country in search of some answers. Sometimes the only way to move on is to revisit the past. But will Anna and Grace be prepared for what they find? A story about love, female friendship, heartbreak and learning to forgive.

Where There's Smoke: Charlie Walden's First Case


Peter Murphy - 2017
    But he soon finds himself struggling to keep the peace between three feisty fellow judges who have very different views about how to do their job, and about how Charlie should do his.And as if that’s not enough, there’s the endless battle against the ‘Grey Smoothies’, the humourless grey-suited civil servants who seem determined to drown Charlie in paperwork and strip the court of its last vestiges of civilisation.No hope of a quiet life then for Charlie, and there are times when his real job – trying the challenging criminal cases that come before him – actually seems like light relief. If you like Rumpole of the Bailey, you'll love Walden of Bermondsey Praise for Walden of Bermondsey 'No one writes with more wit, warmth and insight about the law and its practitioners than Peter Murphy. He has no equal since the great John 'Rumpole' Mortimer' - David Ambrose'Though his exasperation is sometimes palpable, what triumphs over everything is his sense of humour. And it is the humour that makes Walden of Bermondsey such a delightful read. Think of him as what Rumpole would be like if he ever became a judge, and you get some idea of his self-deprecating wit and indomitable stoicism. Add a dash of Henry Cecil for his situation and AP Herbert for the fun he has with the law, and you get a sense of Peter's literary precedents' - Paul Magrath

Hebridean Storm


Libby Patterson - 2013
    His self esteem and drive abandoning him as he felt the Navy had. Travelling to Glasgow on family business, he intervenes to help a woman; Marieke and her small child who he thinks are being mugged. He is unwittingly dragged into their nightmare, being hunted down by ruthless villains led by Nick Parson, a bent London copper, who will stop at nothing to silence her and recapture the evidence she holds against him.To keep them safe, Matt brings her home to Uist, thinking no one will find them in the peaceful hills of the remote community. But he underestimates Parson, who follows them home like an unrelenting Hebridean Storm. They hide, but even here, nowhere is safe. Matt seeks help from friends and family, but will it be enough to escape with their lives and to protect the safety of those they love?

Covet


Lakisha Johnson - 2020
    Their marriage isn’t perfect, but they’ve made it work. They’re active members of True Vine MB Church, she’s a photographer and he owns a tire shop. Things are, well, they are good.Until the day, their life becomes the object of somebody’s obsession. The only downside, they don’t know who it is. This person, in the darkness has a yearning, a desire to possess something Karis and Darius has ... they just didn’t know it yet.Pray and fast, that’ll help when you’re going through a storm, right? Well, they’re doing that, but things are getting worst. Fire, turmoil, secrets and a kidnapping of a spouse. It’s clear, the person responsible hasn’t read Romans 13:9, “For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet...”

A Mother’s Courage


Maggie Hope - 2018
    When she comes of age, Eleanor is married to Frances Tait, a missionary, and she is delighted to have a husband who shares her passion for helping others. It is not long before Eleanor starts a family of her own. But when Mr Tait’s work takes their family far from home, her children face dangers that Eleanor could never have imagined. She will need to put her family first, before everything else, if she wants to protect them… A gripping saga from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Coal Miner's Daughter

The Sarah Winman Collection: WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT and A YEAR OF MARVELLOUS WAYS


Sarah Winman - 2017
    Discover one of the UK's most eloquent and moving writers through her Sunday Times bestselling, critically acclaimed literary sensations. 'Winman's narrative voice is beautifully true' The TimesIf you've never read the phenomenon that is WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT, now is your chance. It's a book about a brother and sister. It's a book about childhood and growing up, friendships and families, triumph and tragedy and everything in between. More than anything, it's a book about love in all its forms.Then experience the sheer joy of A YEAR OF MARVELLOUS WAYS, a book that Rosamund Lupton described as 'a glorious poem of a novel'. This is a story about Marvellous Ways, an eighty-nine-year-old woman who sits by a creek in Cornwall, waiting for a last adventure. It's about Francis Drake, a young soldier who washes up there, reeling from war and broken-hearted. It's about the magic in everyday life and the lure of the sea, and how we carry on when grief comes snapping at our heels. Two stories. Two journeys. Two reading experiences you'll never forget.

Unwrapped


M.C. Decker - 2016
    He endures a Planes, Trains and Automobiles type adventure, dealing with a bustling city, delayed planes, road trips with strangers, and an overcrowded train station. Will Rich finally make it home to his family and friends to celebrate the holiday? Maybe there's a bit of Christmas magic at work?

The Beautiful Years


Katia Lief - 2016
    Unfolding the story over seven years on three separate milestones—a graduation, a funeral, and a wedding— Katia Lief weaves between perspectives to reveal a tapestry rich in motive and emotion. The Beautiful Years is a dazzling rendering of hubris, consequence and the complexity of love.

Against Her Will


Serita Stevens - 2015
    Well, they can go to hell. After yet another fight with my manipulative lawyer father and bible thumping mother, I disappear onto Hollywood Blvd among the other street kids. Or so I thought. The cops pick me up for a BS crime I didn't commit, and Dad announces the only way I can avoid charges is to voluntarily admit myself into Oak Dale, a psych ward for crazy teens. I don t belong there my parents are the real nutjobs but it s not like I have a choice.At Oak Dale, everyone is going on about the kid who just killed himself trying to escape. How could they dump me in a place like this? I m thrown in with my anorexic roommate, Erin; foster care system victim, Gina; and pyromaniac Tony. Guess he likes to light em up. All of us are unwanted baggage, here against our will. I quickly learn only the strong survive Oak Dale and some of us won t make it out alive.

Who Killed the Kaneez?


Vijay Kakwani - 2019
     Farzana is one of the prostitutes at Begum's kotha and Ramakant Bannerjee, the writer, loves her deeply. He's promised to marry her once he has enough money. He's currently writing his most ambitious novel, the story of Kaneez. As the story of Kaneez unfolds, so does the intriguing life of Farzana. What fate does she meet? Read on to find out.

Snowday: A festive feel good romantic comedy (The Riverside Series Book 1)


B.R. Maycock - 2018
     Eloise is too busy juggling the chaos of three kids, an ever present ex-husband and a demanding boss to even remember the last time dating crossed her mind. But as soft snow falls silently all around, romance twinkles with the flakes. After being single for so long, Eloise suddenly has a lot of choices. Too many choices. Will anyone be worthy of melting the guard around her heart to let love in? A fun-filled, festive read for fans of Christie Barlow, Fiona Gibson and Colleen Coleman

Mute


Christine Bernard - 2018
    Will it be the peaceful reprise that she so desperately seeks? Or will she be forced to face aspects of herself that a noisy world helps hide so well?Join Rebecca on this humorous and poignant journey.

Made You Up


Francesca Zappia - 2015
    Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

The Fear of Ravens (Esme Quentin Mystery Book 4)


Wendy Percival - 2020
    Can a 19th century curse still wield its formidable power? What connects Anna with the 24 year-old mystery concerning the whereabouts of the charismatic Ellen Tucker?​Esme must uncover the truth to save Anna from becoming a 21st century victim, in a cruel repetition of her ancestor’s merciless fate.