Book picks similar to
The Sweet Hills of Florence by Jan Wallace Dickinson
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Beyond the Crushing Waves: A gripping, emotional page-turner
Lilly Mirren - 2021
Invisible Thread
Maree Giles - 2001
The State places her in a training school for girls. She has to deal with strict rules and gets no sympathy from the staff even though she is pregnant.
The Pastor and the Painter: Inside the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – from Aussie schoolboys to Bali 9 drug traffickers to Kerobokan's redeemed men
Cindy Wockner - 2018
Cindy Wockner was a journalist reporting the story of two surly drug smugglers. She was there from the beginning and would become a good friend of the two changed men.
At 12.35 a.m. on 29 April 2015, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were led out in front of a firing squad. Strapped to wooden crosses, they looked straight down the barrels of their killers' rifles. On that day, the Indonesian government did not execute two drug smugglers, they executed a pastor and a painter.But who were Andrew and Myuran?In 2005, the lure of drugs, money, fast cars and a better life led them and seven other Australians into a smuggling plot to import heroin from Indonesia to Australia. Unbeknownst to them all, the Australian Federal Police knew of their plan and tipped off the Indonesian authorities. Charged with drug trafficking, Myuran and Andrew were found guilty and sentenced to death. Andrew was 21 years old. Myuran was 24.At the time, Cindy Wockner was the Indonesia correspondent for News Limited: for a decade she covered their story and she got to know Myuran, Andrew and their families. They let her into their lives and she watched them transform from angry, defiant young inmates into fully rehabilitated, good men.This is the intimate, and untold, story of Andrew and Myuran. It details their redemption inside Kerobokan prison and their passion for helping others - through Andrew's growing commitment to his faith and Myu's burgeoning artistic talent. It reveals the boys they were and the men they became, in a potent cautionary tale and a poignant reminder of what we all lose when we ignore the power of mercy.
'gripping' DAILY TELEGRAPH on Cindy Wockner and Madonna King's BALI 9
The Case for Courage
Kevin Rudd - 2021
The nation’s major policy challenges go unaddressed, our economic future is uncertain, and political corruption is becoming normalised. We can’t understand the current predicament of our democracy without recognising the central role of Murdoch’s national media monopoly. There is no longer a level playing field in Australian politics. We won’t see another progressive government in Canberra until we deal with this cancer in our democracy. Three more things must change for Labor to be returned to office. Labor must significantly broaden its political base; demolish the entire rationale for the conservative political project now that the Liberal Party has abandoned its position on debt, deficit, and government intervention in the economy; and put forward a clear plan dealing with the challenges ahead: recurring pandemics, demographic decline, technological disruption undermining economic competitiveness and employment, the rise of China, and the continued economic and environmental devastations of climate change. All four tasks are essential. All four will require great political courage.
The Emerald Heart of Courtenay
Anita Stansfield - 2019
For on his deathbed, Lord Courtenay left his daughter a cryptic message: a dark curse will fall upon the house should Sarah fail to obtain and protect a priceless treasure. Sarah’s astonishment upon discovering the carefully hidden sword sparkling with jewels is nothing compared to the shock she feels when she learns the nature of her father’s death: he was poisoned. And now, Sarah herself might possess something worth killing for. Desperate to avoid her father’s fate, Sarah flees the only home she’s ever known, taking with her a loyal maid and a hired bodyguard, who will stop at nothing to protect the beautiful woman in his care. From the safety of a remote farm, Sarah finds a renewed measure of peace and hope for the future. But the sinister weapon that glitters amid her belongings in that small farmhouse beckons a shadowy enemy, one who will not be deterred from taking everything from Sarah—including her life
Loving a Fearless Duchess
Abigail Agar - 2018
She will compete for the attention of marriageable gentlemen along with beautiful girls with flawless beauty while she has a large scar marring hers.Nash met Penelope years ago and experienced an instant connection with her. Defying the odds, Nash and Penelope meet and connect again. But Penelope's cousin Henry works relentlessly to break them up. He is fearful his secret will become common knowledge if she marries Nash because Henry will no longer have leverage over her.As the only son and heir to the Duke of Somerset, Henry's future depends on the course of this relationship, a relationship he is determined to end."Loving a Fearless Duchess" is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
The Science of Appearances
Jacinta Halloran - 2016
His logical mind draws him towards the pursuit of science and knowledge. Mary, who loves to draw, is passionate and impetuous. The small country town in which they live, in the aftermath of World War II, is not enough to contain her ambitions for life and for love.When Mary escapes to Melbourne in pursuit of sensuality and art, Dominic must shoulder the mantle of family responsibility. Mary begins a new life, exploring the bohemian haunts of a rapidly changing post-war city. Dominic studies hard and eventually finds himself drawn into the field of eugenics, a fraught pseudo-science based on ideology. Then he meets Hanna, the daughter of Jewish refugees, who begins to show him the limitations of his scientific view.But Dominic and Mary are destined to come together, and the past cannot be left behind so easily. When Dominic comes looking for his sister, Mary must decide where her loyalties lie: to her family or to her art.Dominic, meanwhile, bears a secret of his own.This is a powerful novel about the choices we make in pursuit of our ideas, and the inexorable pull of the past. Set in an era of social constraint but profound genetic discovery, The Science of Appearances examines how the complex interplay of heredity and environment makes, shapes, and sometimes breaks us.
A Universe of Sufficient Size
Miriam Sved - 2019
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of AuschwitzI have wished so many times that I had acted differently.I wish that I had been more worthy of you...Eventually the war will end, and then we will find each other.Until then, remember me.Budapest, 1938. In a city park, five young Jewish mathematicians gather to share ideas, trade proofs and whisper sedition.Sydney, 2007. Illy has just buried her father, a violent, unpredictable man whose bitterness she never understood. And now Illy's mother has gifted her a curious notebook, its pages a mix of personal story and mathematical discovery, recounted by a woman full of hopes and regrets.Inspired by a true story, Miriam Sved's beautifully crafted novel charts a course through both the light and dark of human relationships: a vivid recreation of 1930s Hungary, a decades-old mystery locked in the story of one enduring friendship, a tribute to the selfless power of the heart.LONGLISTED FOR THE COLIN RODERICK AWARD 2020PRAISE FOR A UNIVERSE OF SUFFICIENT SIZE'A fascinating, compelling, beautifully written novel.' Liane Moriarty, author of Big Little Lies and The Husband's Secret 'A taut, tender novel about family, secrets, genius and survival. Sved shows great insight into the complicated emotional architecture of family created in the aftermath of trauma.' Emily Maguire, author of An Isolated Incident'A superbly structured novel of family, history, secrets, trauma, and mathematics, stretching from 1930s Budapest to Sydney in the 2000s' Andrea Goldsmith'Sved's prose is as sinewy and powerful as her characters - beautifully controlled and full of revealing moments that... glow in the memory.' Cate Kennedy'A beautifully imagined inter-generational portrait of friendship, love and loss, set across three continents.' Julienne van LoonPRAISE FOR MIRIAM SVED'The best kind of storyteller... hypnotic, startling almost.' Clementine Ford, author of Fight Like a Girl and Boys Will Be Boys'At times I found myself being reminded of the American author Jennifer Egan. Both authors share the ability to surprise with character insights, something so traditional yet so mentally refreshing. The prose is limpid yet razor sharp. Highly recommended.' The Australian
Alice to Prague
Tanya Heaslip - 2019
Dismissing concerns from family and friends that her safety and career were at risk, she arrived with no teaching experience whatsoever, to work at a high school in a town she'd never heard of, where the winters are frigid and plunge to sub-zero temperatures.During her childhood on an isolated cattle station in Central Australia, Tanya had always dreamed of adventure and romance in Europe but the Czech Republic was not the stuff of her dreams. On arrival, however, she falls headlong into misadventures that change her life forever.This land of castles, history and culture opened up to her and she to it. In love with Prague and her people, particularly with the charismatic Karel, who takes her into his home, his family and as far as he can into his heart, Tanya learns about lives very different to hers.Alice to Prague is a bittersweet story of a search for identity, belonging and love, set in a time, a place and with a man that fill Tanya's life with contradictions.
Regency Romance: The Duke's Apology (Love at Morley Mills Book 1)
Charlotte Darcy - 2018
Introducing a new and romantic Regency series Love at Morley Mills. Welcome to the first in this new series of truly romantic and inspiring Regency romances. Each one is sweet and wholesome. You will love getting to know the characters in these lovely books and following their adventures as they search for love and fulfilment. Each book is a complete story with a guaranteed Happy Ever After. Jude Hampton is getting used to being a Duke and managing his estate. The mills which keep the Duchy coppers full are run by Galbraith, a hard and efficient man who hides a deep secret. When Lady Rosemary Watson challenges Jude on conditions at his mills it starts something which could change the country forever. Can Jude rise to the challenge? When enemies surround him will he be strong enough to see things through. When Rosemary goes behind his back will it destroy his burgeoning love? A midnight call, a desperate situation, where will Jude’s loyalties lie? Find out in The Duke’s Apology – Love at Morley Mills Book 1 a complete sweet and clean Regency romance.
The God of Spring
Arabella Edge - 2005
From the award-winning international bestselling author of The Company comes a novel inspired by the life of Romantic painter Thodore Gricault and his masterpiece painting, Raft of the Medusa.
Woman of Mettle
Linda Caddick - 2015
Safe in her small agricultural community, the recent outbreak of persecution against the 'followers of the Way' in Jerusalem is distant enough not to affect her, and she is determined to keep it that way. Little does she know, she is about to walk through the fire. How much is she prepared to suffer on behalf of another? Things get dangerous when an ambitious young man crosses her path, especially as he holds the key to her future. To survive, she must employ all her feminine wiles. In spite of her imperfect pursuit of the Master, his exceeding grace sustains her in her darkest hour. But when it's all over, she is yet to find out whether love still remains.
Mr Stuart's Track
John Bailey - 2006
The Australian continent stretched for another 2,000 kilometres to the north and 2,500 to the west and no white man had the slightest idea of what was there. It was to be the first of six expeditions mounted by Stuart, then aged 42, as he sought to uncover the mysteries of the interior and forge a path to the north.Ultimately he was to become part of a race across the continent, his rivals being the Burke and Wills expedition. In the end Stuart was to be the first European to cross Australia from south to north and return again, as the cumbersome expedition of Burke and Wills turned from farce to tragedy. Yet his hero's homecoming was to be shortlived.
Mr Stuart's Track
is a fascinating study of a loner, an explorer of no fixed abode, who battled alcoholism and ill-health to push himself to the limits of endurance in crossing straight through the red centre to the northern seas.
Hello, Goodbye
Emily Brewin - 2017
A profoundly moving story of love during a time of great social change, with an ending that will leave you cheering. May Callaghan is seventeen years old and on her own. At least that’s how it feels.Her devoutly religious mother and her gentle but damaged father are fighting, and May's boyfriend, Sam, has left their rural hometown for Melbourne without so much as a backward glance.When May lies to her parents and takes the train to visit Sam at his shared house in Carlton, her world opens wide in glorious complexity. She is introduced to his housemates, Clancy, an indigenous university student, and Ruby, a wild bohemian. With their liberal thinking and opposition to the war in Vietnam, they are everything that May's strict Catholic upbringing should warn her against.May knows too well the toll that war has taken on her father, and the peace movement in the city has a profound effect on her. For a while, May’s future burns bright. But then it begins to unravel, and something happens to her that will change her life forever.
The Inconvenient Child
Sharyn Killens - 2009
An unacceptable liaison, a secret birth, a mother's silence, and her black child's journey to discover the truth... It is 1948, Sydney, Australia. Pretty, blonde Grace discovers she is pregnant to a black merchant marine who has sailed back to America. The White Australia Policy is in place and society's judgment matters; so what will Grace do with this baby? This is the true story of the inconvenient child. Rescued from neglectful foster care by an American champion boxer, the baby is taken to live in a party house in Sydney's red light district of Kings Cross. Her absent, elegant mother then abandons Sharyn in a convent-orphanage, at age five. By fifteen, discrimination within her family, resentment and clashes over her father's undisclosed identity see the troubled teenager running away to the streets of Kings Cross where she's arrested and sentenced to notorious juvenile detention centers. Sharyn's solace is her love of music but can she realize her dream to become a singer if, by twenty-four, she is trapped in the Kings Cross lifestyle? Determined to find her father, Sharyn sets out in search of her roots, a quest taking her across the world and eventually to America's Deep South. But will she find the loving family and belonging she has yearned for all her life?