Book picks similar to
Stir-up Sunday by Kath Middleton
christmas
fiction
christmas-reads
short-stories
The Frangipani Hotel
Violet Kupersmith - 2014
From the story about a beautiful young woman who shows up thirsty in the bathtub of the Frangipani Hotel in Saigon many years after her first sighting there, to a young woman in Houston who befriends an old Vietnamese man she discovers naked behind a dumpster, to a truck driver asked to drive a young man with an unnamed ailment home to die, to the story of two American sisters sent to Vietnam to visit their elderly grandmother who is not what she appears to be, these stories blend the old world with the new while providing a new angle of insight into the after-effects of the war on a generation of displaced Vietnamese immigrants as well as those who remained in Vietnam.
Luckenbooth
Jenni Fagan - 2021
But the real reason she's there is to bear him and his barren wife a child, the consequences of which curse the tenement building that is their home for a hundred years. As we travel through the nine floors of the building and the next eight decades, the resident's lives entwine over the ages and in unpredictable ways. Along the way we encounter the city's most infamous Madam, a seance, a civil rights lawyer, a bone mermaid, a famous Beat poet, a notorious Edinburgh gang, a spy, the literati, artists, thinkers, strippers, the spirit world - until a cosmic agent finally exposes the true horror of the building's longest kept secret. No. 10 Luckenbooth Close hurtles the reader through personal and global history - eerily reflecting modern life today.
Driving in the Dark
Jack Harding - 2021
There’s something in his bag. Something silver and glistening, sparkling with hopes and dreams of a bright and beautiful future. The only thing standing between him and his soon to be fiancée Emma is his arduous, mind-numbing drive home. But something isn’t right. His phone, his hearing, the music, the traffic; everything just seems off and out of sync, and Riley can’t quite put his finger on it.All he has to do is keep his eyes on the road…All he has to do is take it slow…In this brooding and deeply moving short story by Jack Harding, buckle up and settle down for a journey that will stir your senses and pull on your heart strings, keeping you guessing right until the end of the road.
The Girl in the Photograph
Kate Riordan - 2015
Kate Riordan’s novel is a beautifully dark and beguiling tale which will sweep you away. It will appeal to fans of Kate Morton and Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca.In the summer of 1933, Alice Eveleigh has arrived at Fiercombe Manor in disgrace. The beautiful house becomes her sanctuary, a place to hide her shame from society in the care of the housekeeper, Mrs Jelphs. But the manor also becomes a place of suspicion, one of secrecy.Something isn't right.Someone is watching.There are secrets that the manor house seems determined to keep. Tragedy haunts the empty rooms and foreboding hangs heavy in the stifling heat. Traces of the previous occupant, Elizabeth Stanton, are everywhere and soon Alice discovers Elizabeth's life eerily mirrors the path she herself is on.(
The Road to Berry Edge
Elizabeth Gill - 1997
Perfect for fans of Dilly Court, Maggie Hope and Nadine Dorries.
1903. As Rob Berkeley comes home to Berry Edge, ten years after his brother's terrible death, he brings with him memories that Faith Norman, his dead brother's fiancée, would rather forget. Rob, driven by guilt, is determined to bring the family business, the foundering steelworks, back to full strength. But every time he sees Faith, he is remained of the part he played in her bereavement and the debt he owes her and Berry Edge. The secrets he hides from the community around him could threaten his very future, and jeopardise his growing feelings for Faith . . .
Florence & Giles
John Harding - 2010
Banned from reading, Florence devours books in secret and talks to herself—and narrates her story—in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles.After the sudden violent death of the children's first governess, a second teacher, Miss Taylor, arrives, and immediately strange phenomena begin to occur. Florence becomes convinced that the new governess is a malevolent spirit who means to do Giles harm. Against this powerful enemy, Florence must use all her intelligence and ingenuity to protect her little brother and preserve her private world. This Gothic page-turner in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher is told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating narrative voice.
The Terror
Giles Kristian - 2014
His people have gathered to feast on meat and mead and listen to the old tales. But the village skald, with all his talk of heroes and kings, will have to wait his turn. It is Harald himself who will hold them all spellbound this night. For the jarl has his own story to tell: a tale of adventure and courage. Of honour and of how friendship can be forged in fire and quenched in blood. It is a story of love, too. And of The Terror.
The Amish Christmas Scrooge
Hannah Schrock - 2018
Jacob King has learned to look out for himself. After being raised in a poor home and losing both his parents by the time he was eighteen, Jacob vowed never to love again. He pursued his wealth and security with no regard for anyone other than himself. Naomi Miller is twenty-five and has no plans to wed in the near future. She works as a seamstress to help her parents make ends meet all the while taking care of her ill little sister Emma. Her family needs her and Naomi has no plans to leave them to cope on their own. When Jacob finds the Miller children playing near his yard whilst Naomi watches, something inside him warms for the first time in years. The more he tries to ignore Naomi and the feelings she awakens in him the more Jacob realizes she might just be the woman to melt his frozen heart. An unexpected blizzard befalls Naomi as she heads to town to fetch medicine for her ailing sister, will she get back home in time to save her sister, or will she endanger her own life? How will Naomi survive the blizzard that threatens her life and consequently Emma’s? Will Jacob finally lower the walls that guard his heart? Can Naomi follow her heart with a clear conscience towards her family responsibilities? This sweet Amish romance is sure to warm your heart during this holiday season.
The Old Soul
Joseph Wurtenbaugh - 2012
As tiny and inconspicuous as it may seem, That-Which-Had-Been exhibits an unexpected and varied gift for survival, as it journeys implacably toward its ultimate destination. Along the way, it meets a rich array of ordinary human beings, some of whom assist it along its way, others who impede its progress, none of whom have any idea of its existence.From whence comes the strange, but universal, experience of deja vu? Why do some people exhibit a wisdom far beyond their age and experience - persons reincarnationists refer to as 'old souls'? Joseph Wurtenbaugh in this short story offers a fascinating and tantalizingly plausible explanation for these phenomena, presented in a natural setting that brims with adventure and exhilarating possibility. Not to be missed by anyone who enjoys science fiction or thinking outside the box.
Platform Seven
Louise Doughty - 2019
The man crossing the covered walkway on this freezing November morning is confident he's alone. As he sits on the metal bench at the far end of the platform it is clear his choice is strategic - he's as far away from the night staff as he can get.What the man doesn't realize is that he has company. Lisa Evans knows what he has decided. She knows what he is about to do as she tries and fails to stop him walking to the platform edge.Two deaths on Platform Seven. Two fatalities in eighteen months - surely they're connected?No one is more desperate to understand what connects them than Lisa Evans herself. After all, she was the first of the two to die.
An Amish Christmas Wish / The Christmas Prayer
Samantha Bayarr - 2012
When she returns to the community just days before Christmas, her father turns her away. After running her car off the road in a blizzard, Grace ends up at the mercy of Ethan Bontrager, the man whose proposal she'd refused before leaving the community. Will the two of them be able to put the past behind them while trapped together in a blizzard? THE CHRISTMAS PRAYER: The day before school lets out for the holiday season, students are asked to submit a confidential and unselfish prayer to their teacher as an end-of-the-year assignment. When two of the students realize they share a common prayer, they join forces to make certain those prayers are answered. Will their shenanigans bring two broken families together, or will their efforts be in vain?
The Apollyon Game
Clive Reznor - 2017
Portia is a strange girl who has spent most of her life isolated and ridiculed for being different. On this night however, she gathers five friends to take part in The Apollyon Game, a macabre mix of truth or dare where if you get the answers wrong, or are not truthful, the consequences will tear your soul apart. The demons are watching. If you like Gory Books Teen Supernatural Horror Ghosts and Demons Mythical Occult Fiction For fans of stories like The Hellbound Heart or Night Shift, this scary short read injects the reader into the middle of a terrifying paranormal nightmare that will have you questioning what you believe about personal truths and the justifications for revenge.
A Moment in Time: A Short Story
Lyn Andrews - 2015
Each day brings worry and struggle for her mam and da and Ellen works hard as a factory girl to help her family. Together, they get by. She has never imagined any other existence until one night she joins a gathering of suffragettes. Suddenly anything seems possible. But she's soon to discover how much courage it takes to fight for better. And, just when all seems lost, Eddie Shaw walks into her world...
Includes the first chapter of Lyn's captivating new novel FROM LIVERPOOL WITH LOVE.
