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The Keys To The Garden by Susan Sallis


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The Obituary Writer


Lauren St. John - 2013
    When he survives unscathed, his friends and colleagues consider him the luckiest man alive. Only Nick knows the truth - that he is tormented by horrific nightmares. When they start to appear grimly prescient, his meticulously constructed urban life is derailed.Escaping to the wilds of Cornwall strikes him as the answer, especially after he becomes captivated by a beautiful woman and a tempestuous horse he sees playing on a beach. But when his nightmares return, they threaten his fragile new world.As Nick struggles to understand his dreams, his demons and, most dangerously of all, his passions, he realises that falling in love might come at a terrible price.

Back Trouble


Clare Chambers - 1994
    It only needed a discarded chip on a South London street to lay him literally flat. So, bedbound and bored, Philip naturally starts to write the story of his life. But the mundane catalogue of seaside holidays and bodged DIY, broken relationships and unspoken truths, reveals more surprises, both comic and touching, than Philip or his family ever bargained for. Even, perhaps, a happy ending ...

The Prodigy


Alton Gansky - 2001
    A dying businessman is cured of cancer. Undeniable miracles are following a rusty station wagon on its journey west. But the person behind them is no charismatic religious figure. He’s the six-year-old son of a poor single mother and the possessor of a gift he can’t explain. To multitudes, however, Toby Matthews is about to become a New Age messiah--and to unscrupulous opportunists, a ticket to undreamed-of wealth. But one person besides his young mother will see Toby for who he really is. Thomas York, a gifted but searching divinity student, finds in Toby a kindred spirit--brilliant, intuitive, hungry for truth. And as an evil beyond their comprehension unfolds, Truth will become their only weapon against a terrifying enemy unseen by all except Toby.A taut supernatural thriller, The Prodigy probes the influence of the invisible realm on the world around us and the indomitable power of the Light that shines in the darkness.

A Friend of the Family


Lisa Jewell - 2003
    Tony’s dealing with divorce and a weight problem.  Novelist Sean is up against a serious case of writer’s block and a shock announcement from his “perfect” new girlfriend. Their parents have a new lodger, Gervase—why is Bernie, their mother, so keen to give this unsavory waif a home?  And what is the real reason for kid brother Ned’s surprise return from his travels in Australia?A Friend of the Family is a hilarious, dead-on-target story from the bestselling author of Thirtynothing and Ralph’s Party.

16 Lighthouse Road


Debbie Macomber - 2001
    You see, I'm inviting you to my home and my town of Cedar Cove because I want you to meet my family, friends and neighbors. Come and hear their stories—maybe even their secrets!I have to admit that my own secrets are pretty open. My marriage failed some years ago, and I have a rather…difficult relationship with my daughter, Justine. Then there's my mother, Charlotte, who has plenty of opinions and is always willing to share them.Here's an example. I'm a family court judge and she likes to drop in on my courtroom. Recently I was hearing a divorce petition. In my mother's view, young Cecilia and Ian Randall hadn't tried hard enough to make their marriage work—and I actually agreed. So I rendered my judgment: Divorce Denied.Well, you wouldn't believe the reaction! Thanks to an article by Jack Griffin, the editor of our local paper (and a man I wouldn't mind seeing more of), everyone's talking.Cedar Cove—people love it and sometimes they leave it, but they never forget it!See you soon….Olivia

The Beach House


Jane Green - 2008
    But when she discovers that the money she thought would last forever is dwindling, she realizes she must make drastic changes to save her beloved house. So Nan takes out an ad: Rooms to rent for the summer in a beautiful old Nantucket home with water views and direct access to the beach.Slowly people start moving in to the house, filling it with noise, laughter, and with tears. As the house comes alive again, Nan finds her family and friends expanding. Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside down. As she did so masterfully in her numerous NY Times bestselling novels, including Second Chance, Jane Green once again proves herself one of the preeminent writers of contemporary women's fiction.

Crossed Arrows: Mountain Men


Terry Grosz - 2010
    The rugged mountains that lay beyond America’s frontier remained mostly unexplored. In those days, when beaver were plentiful and the buffalo roamed freely, the killing was good. The two young men would also find that life would be hardscrabble in the high frontier. They would face grizzly bears and hostile Indians. And they would risk horse wrecks and mountain storms to trade their furs each year at “rendezvous.” Crossed Arrows is the story of two adventurers who lived hard in the earliest days of the Wild West.

The Widow Waltz


Sally Koslow - 2013
    It’s only when Ben suddenly drops dead from a massive coronary while training for the New York City Marathon that Georgia discovers her husband—a successful lawyer—has left them nearly penniless. Their wonderland was built on lies.        As the family attorney scours emptied bank accounts, Georgia must not only look for a way to support her family, she needs to face the revelation that Ben was not the perfect husband he appeared to be, just as her daughters—now ensconced back at home with secrets of their own—have to accept that they may not be returning to their lives in Paris and at Stanford subsidized by the Bank of Mom and Dad. As she uncovers hidden resilience, Georgia’s sudden midlife shift forces her to consider who she is and what she truly values. That Georgia may also find new love in the land of Spanx and stretch marks surprises everyone—most of all, her.   Sally Koslow’s fourth novel is deftly told through the alternating viewpoints of her remarkable female protagonists as they plumb for the grit required to reinvent their lives. Inspiring, funny, and deeply satisfying, The Widow Waltz explores in a profound way the bonds between mothers and daughters, belligerent siblings, skittish lovers, and bitter rivals as they discover the power of forgiveness, and healing, all while asking, "What is family, really?"

The Broken Places


Susan Perabo - 2001
    Subtly heartbreaking and wise, The Broken Places is a masterful exploration of the precarious intersection of honor, duty, and family.

The Children Act


Ian McEwan - 2014
    She is fiercely intelligent, well respected, and deeply immersed in the nuances of her particular field of law. Often the outcome of a case seems simple from the outside, the course of action to ensure a child's welfare obvious. But the law requires more rigor than mere pragmatism, and Fiona is an expert in considering the sensitivities of culture and religion when handing down her verdicts. But Fiona's professional success belies domestic strife. Her husband, Jack, asks her to consider an open marriage and, after an argument, moves out of their house. His departure leaves her adrift, wondering whether it was not love she had lost so much as a modern form of respectability; whether it was not contempt and ostracism she really fears. She decides to throw herself into her work, especially a complex case involving a seventeen-year-old boy whose parents will not permit a lifesaving blood transfusion because it conflicts with their beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses. But Jack doesn't leave her thoughts, and the pressure to resolve the case - as well as her crumbling marriage - tests Fiona in ways that will keep readers thoroughly enthralled until the last stunning page.

Seesaw: bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel


Deborah Moggach - 1996
    Watch what happens when one Sunday seventeen-year-old Hannah disappears without a trace. See how the family rallies when a ransom note demands half a million pounds for Hannah's safe return. But it's when Hannah comes home that the story really begins. Now observe what happens to a family when they lose their house, their status, all their wealth. Note how they disintegrate under the pressures of guilt and poverty and are forced to confront their true selves. And, finally, wait to hear about Hannah, who has the most shocking surprise in store of all.

How to be a Grrrl: by Lucy van Pelt (Canons)


Charles M. Schulz - 2015
    Never one to suffer in silence, in this brand new book she is presented as the role model she has always wanted to be. Packed with tips on how to stick up for yourself, how to make yourself heard, how to stand up for what you believe in and much more besides, How to be a Grrrl is Lucy's guide to making the most of being a girl.

Take Two


Stephen Leather - 2013
    But when she witnesses a gangland killing she has to ask herself if her fame could be the death of her.The killer is charismatic gangster Warwick Richards. A man more than capable of killing again to protect his secret. But does he know that Carolyn saw him commit murder?Take Two is a fast-paced full-length crime thriller and at 92,000 words is the equivalent of about 320 pages. Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers. He was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. Two of his books, The Stretch and The Bombmaker, were made into movies.

Collecting


Miranda Wilson - 2013
    He collects tiny morsels from London’s pavements, parks and gutters and exhibits them at home. Finds include a grape pip, a ball bearing and the wing of a flying ant. When his irritating son, troubled daughter-in-law and much loved baby granddaughter come to stay, a sequence of events lead to Walter being thrust into London’s East End art scene. His son thinks he’s out of control, but his daughter-in-law has found a kindred spirit and Walter discovers more joy and pain than he ever thought possible at his age. This is a book about self discovery that explores how we all are capable of things we may previously have thought unimaginable.

Two Steps Forward


Graeme Simsion - 2017
    It changes everyone…”The Chemin, also known as the Camino de Santiago, is a centuries-old pilgrim route that ends in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. Every year, thousands of walkers—some devout, many not—follow the route that wends through quaint small villages and along busy highways alike, a journey unlike any other.Zoe, an artist from California who’s still reeling from her husband’s sudden death, has impulsively decided to walk the Camino, hoping to find solace and direction. Martin, an engineer from England, is road-testing a cart of his own design…and recovering from a messy divorce. They begin in the same French town, each uncertain of what the future holds. Zoe has anticipated the physical difficulties of her trek, but she is less prepared for other challenges, as strangers and circumstances force her to confront not just recent loss, but long-held beliefs. For Martin, the pilgrimage is a test of his skills and endurance but also, as he and Zoe grow closer, of his willingness to trust others—and himself—again.Smart and funny, insightful and romantic, Two Steps Forward reveals that the most important journeys we make aren’t measured in miles, but in the strength, wisdom, and love found along the way. Fans of The Rosie Project will recognize Graeme Simsion’s uniquely quirky and charming writing style.