Book picks similar to
Collected Writings: Olive Moore by Olive Moore
fiction
deputy-of-acquisitions
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Mums on Strike
Laura Kemp - 2014
Perfect for fans of Pedigree Mum and The Mummyfesto.It was just a squashed grape on the kitchen floor. Hardly a reason to get upset, right? But six years of motherhood has left Lisa Stratton feeling like a skivvy. Every morning before she’s opened her eyes, she starts her mental inventory of jobs to do. And just like yesterday, the day before and every day since she became a mum, she’s woken up knackered. So when her husband deliberately steps over the grape because it’s ‘her responsibility’ to run the house, it tips her over the edge. He wasn’t always like this – they used to share everything. Then the kids came along and he saw it as an excuse to sit back. But this time things are going to change. Lisa has made a decision. She’s going on strike…
Daughters of the Witching Hill
Mary Sharratt - 2010
Bess Southerns, an impoverished widow living in Pendle Forest, is haunted by visions and gains a reputation as a cunning woman. Drawing on the Catholic folk magic of her youth, Bess heals the sick and foretells the future. As she ages, she instructs her granddaughter, Alizon, in her craft, as well as her best friend, who ultimately turns to dark magic. When a peddler suffers a stroke after exchanging harsh words with Alizon, a local magistrate, eager to make his name as a witch finder, plays neighbors and family members against one another until suspicion and paranoia reach frenzied heights. Sharratt interweaves well-researched historical details of the 1612 Pendle witch-hunt with a beautifully imagined story of strong women, family, and betrayal. Daughters of the Witching Hill is a powerful novel of intrigue and revelation.
Final Breath
John Francome - 2008
Danny was plunged into a time of bitter mourning but now he's back on his feet, with a lot of help from Kirsty's best friend, Tara. In fact, Danny has fallen for Tara in a major way. Danny's godfather Adrian Spring, who runs a racing stable, isn't at all happy about this. He can't help wondering how much Tara knows about the secrets that died with Kirsty. Secrets he'd prefer stayed secret for ever. Tara herself is uneasy: unconvinced that Kirsty's death was an accident, she fears that she might fall victim to a fatal 'accident' herself. And she's never been the paranoid type...
The Harry Palmer Quartet
Len Deighton - 2013
When Len Deighton wrote THE IPCRESS FILE, HORSE UNDER WATER, FUNERAL IN BERLIN and BILLION-DOLLAR BRAIN he not only reinvented spy fiction, but he created a style icon and literary legend: ‘Harry Palmer’. The nameless, working-class spy of the books was given a face and identity when he was played by Michael Caine in three classic films. Since then both the books and the character have become international icons. Now it’s your chance to delve into the mysteries of the four ‘Secret Files’ as Harry Palmer investigates conspiracies, secret experiments and even a deadly virus, with all the cockiness and dry wit a reluctant spy can muster.
Our Tragic Universe
Scarlett Thomas - 2010
But for Meg—locked in a dead-end relationship and with a deadline looming for a book that she can't write—this thought fills her with dread. Stuck in a labyrinth of her own devising, Meg knows that there must be a way out.
An Unsafe Pair of Hands
Chris Dolley - 2011
I laughed out loud in public in response to the quirky plot twists. An Unsafe Pair of Hands by Chris Dolley is a masterful addition to the British mystery genre." -- Barth Siemens Peter Shand is the 'safe pair of hands' - a high-flying police administrator seconded to a quiet rural CID team to gain the operational experience he needs for promotion. On his second day he's thrust into a high-profile murder case. A woman's body is discovered in an old stone circle - with another woman buried alive beneath her. The pressure on Shand is enormous. The media is clamoring for answers, but everything about the case is baffling. Then a local journalist singles out Shand as the reason for the lack of progress, and goads him at a press conference. Shand responds by inventing a lead, and keeps on lying - to the press, his boss, his team - telling himself that he'll solve the case before anyone finds out. And then another murder occurs. And had there been a third? Shand begins to doubt his ability. He's desperate, increasingly unpredictable, pursued by an amorous psychic, and somehow gaining a reputation for arresting livestock. Which will break first? The case, or Shand? Chris Dolley is a New York Times bestselling author. REVIEWS "This mystery is so much fun. The humor is delightful and the plot is complex enough to keep you turning pages to the end... This is by far one of the best summer reads of 2011." -- Jensview "One of the best I've read in years." -- Laura Belgrave "I loved this book." -- Bookworm "This is a very good read. You will want to be sure to have a day off or a quiet weekend ahead of you, because this book is very hard to put down once you get started reading it." -- Kathleen Kempa "I literally struggled to put the book down, only doing so hours after I should have been asleep." -- Aeries
A Few Green Leaves
Barbara Pym - 1980
Switching points of view among many characters, she builds with accumulating effect the picture of life in a town forgotten by time yet affected dramatically by it. Historical time- represented by Druid ruins, the local eighteenth-century country manor, and the last aristocrats who occupied it in the 1920s- is juxtaposed against the banalities of life in today's world.
The Perfect World: A Journey to Infinite Possibilities
Priya Kumar - 2011
In a desperate attempt to seek clarity, courage and confidence, she unwittingly leads herself into meeting with evolved souls from across the universe. These superior souls belong to The Perfect World and with them Niki Sanders embarks on the most thrilling adventure of her life; an adventure into infinite possibilities, wisdom and self discovery.An inspirational thriller not only takes you on a journey into the universe but also on a parallel journey within. Sprinkled with fun, triumph and wisdom the story urges you towards choices of power, passion and purpose into your daily actions. The Perfect World will lead you towards your spiritual awareness and spiritual greatness, for that is the true meaning of success.Enchanting, irresistibly captivating ‘The Perfect World’ is an extraordinary story of the truth about your own eternity that will find place in your daily consciousness long after you have turned the final page.
Seasons of Sun and Rain
Marjorie Dorner - 1999
Tracing each woman's emotions around the early onset of Alzheimer's disease that has stricken one of them, Marjorie Dorner delivers an honest portrayal, laced with humor.
Bodies of Light
Sarah Moss - 2014
Ally (older sister of May in Night Waking), is intelligent, studious and engaged in an eternal - and losing - battle to gain her mother's approval and affection. Her mother, Elizabeth, is a religious zealot, keener on feeding the poor and saving prostitutes than on embracing the challenges of motherhood. Even when Ally wins a scholarship and is accepted as one of the first female students to read medicine in London, it still doesn't seem good enough. The first in a two-book sequence, Bodies of Light will propel Sarah Moss into the upper echelons of British novelists. It is a triumphant piece of historical fiction and a profoundly moving master class in characterisation.
Nesta: Princess of Wales
Mammie Belle Tower - 2019
Nesta was a consort to King Henry I, wife to Gerald of Pembroke and the captive-lover to Owain of Poweys. She is thought to be the original mother to the Tudor and Stuart Dynasties which Princess Diana and John F Kennedy are both descendants.
The Last Telegram
Liz Trenow - 2012
She’s tried for decades to forget, but now an unexpected event pulls her back to the 1940s British countryside. She finds herself remembering the brilliant, lustrous colors of the silk she helped to weave at her family’s mill, the relentless pressure of the worsening war, and the kind of heartbreaking loss that stops time. In this evocative novel of love and consequences, Lily finally confronts the disastrous decision that has haunted her all these years.
Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Marilyn Herbert - 2008
This book tells the dramatic story of an unlikely friendship between two women, Mariam and Laila, who are married to the same man. The story takes us through each of their lives before the Russians enter Afghanistan, into the horrible years of Taliban rule, and beyond. Watching these women grow in their relationship, we are given a picture of what it has meant to be a woman in Afghanistan during the last four decades. The novel lifts the veil of these women and shows the reader the female face of Afghanistan's population. Readers can use Bookclub-in-a-Box to unravel and be sensitive to the exceptionally difficult situation in Afghanistan today, to appreciate the intricate nature of human endurance, faith, hope and resilience, to explore the complex relationships of Afghanistan's sons and daughters to each other and to the world at large, and to find out what Hosseini and others envision for Afghanistan's future. Every Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide includes complete coverage of the themes and symbols, writing style and interesting background information on the novel and the author.
Autumn
Ali Smith - 2016
Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. The United Kingdom is in pieces, divided by a historic once-in-a-generation summer.Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever...