Book picks similar to
Faith by Itoro Bassey
arc-reviewers-copy
novels
africa
americana
When the Stars Fall to Earth: A Novel of Africa
Rebecca Tinsley - 2011
Their choices affect their families, the people they love, and the course of their lives. Their stories start before the events in Sudan touch them, following them through challenges and triumphs, as they rebuild their lives. What they have in common with the rest of us is that their journeys are about finding out what kind of people they are: Should they try to draw strength from their anger or should they let it go? Is it better to stick with what you know or find the courage to change?
The Rainwater Secret
Monica Shaw - 2017
Single and feeling there is nothing left for her in small-town England, Anna embarks on an adventure as a volunteer with the Medical Missionaries of Mary to teach the leper children in Africa. Life as Anna has known it, is forever changed as she learns the culture that would banish its sick, disfigured, and crippled to the jungles. Babies are left to die on roadsides, children are chased away to live by whatever means they can find. The aged are abandoned. Anna’s daily life is an adventure as she travels from one village to another across a hostile land with few passable roads, rickety bridges threatening to fall apart and cast its occupants on the jagged rocks far below, and weather that turns a calm river into a roiling death trap. In spite of the trials, Anna also manages to find love and family in this godforsaken land. Follow this adventure through disease, weather, strife, death and determination to turn a few acres of land into a loving home for the outcast lepers of Nigeria.
The Persistence of Memory
Tony Eprile - 2004
The Baltimore Sun declared Eprile's "horrifying yet heartrendingly beautiful" prose to be "comparable to his fellow authors of Apartheid Andre Brink and Nadine Gordimer." As the novel builds to a harrowing conclusion, the protagonist, a veteran of the secret war in Angola and Namibia, is forced to appear before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee with astonishing results. Nobel Prize-winning author J. M. Coetzee calls The Persistence of Memory "a story of coming to maturity in South Africa in the bad old days. Always warm-hearted, sometimes comic, ultimately damning."
Comraich (Jessamine #2)
Shani Struthers - 2018
Getting to work in one of the spare bedrooms she makes a startling discovery, one that pulls her into a world of the intense and disturbing passions of others that have been here before.Jessamin has to decide.Will delving deeper into Comraich's history bring hope and peace to this troubled house or return her to a darkness she's only recently left behind?
Praise for Jessamine:
"A haunting tale of lost love and guilt." Carol"A beautiful ghost story which will make you cry." Amazon Customer"When you start to read this prepare to put your life on hold.. you won't want to put it down until you've read the last page." Gill Gillies"Reminiscent in parts of Wuthering Heights and even Jane Eyre in places." Laura Tawn"I fell headlong in the story and nothing else mattered." Amazon Customer
Gathering Storm
Kenneth R. Tarr - 1999
Steven Christopher struggles to make sense of his life after his wife abandons him and their three children to join a polygamous cult. He meets Mary Fleming at his new ward and is deeply attracted by her beauty and intelligence, but his bitter experience with marriage makes him feel unworthy and afraid to give his heart to another woman. Mary, recovering from her own failed relationship, sees something in Steven that even he doesn't realize exists, but how can he trust her? Then the first great catastrophe strikes. Steven and Mary soon find themselves in the midst of apocalyptic prophecies regarding latter-day events—both terrible and marvelous—that unfold shortly before the Second Coming of the Lord. As natural disasters, plagues, anarchy, and the collapse of the American government lead to the degradation of civilization throughout the world, a great worldwide secret combination expands its evil influence. The people of God are the only power that can stand against this evil, people like Steven and Mary—if they will accept the challenge. Join Steven and Mary as they begin a tumultuous journey for survival in a dangerous world. Gathering Storm is a compelling novel that will have you turning pages and looking into your own heart to see how you might deal with the trials ahead. Fast-paced and well-researched, Gathering Storm is not only fascinating but technically sound. As you read this exciting LDS novel, you will recognize yourself and those in your ward, and you will be amazed at how ordinary people grow to meet extraordinary challenges. Adventure, romance, tragedy, and triumph—Gathering Storm has them all! —Rachel Ann Nunes, author of Ariana and Before I Say Goodbye
William Faulkner: The Sound and the Fury and as I Lay Dying: Essays, Articles, Reviews
Nicolas Tredell - 2000
By the end of the Second World War, however, the reputation of both novels had grown and Faulkner's great fictional creation, Yoknapatawpha County, had become as much a part of America as any real area of the Mississippi landscape. This "Guide" explores the wealth of critical material generated by these two exceptional works of modernist fiction. From the initially mixed critical responses to the novels in the early 1930s, the "Guide" follows the enormous growth of interest in Faulkner's work across six decades. New writings shaped by a range of critical theories are discussed, offering the reader a clear view of the place now given to one of America's most innovative and influential novelists.
Dog Eat Dog
Niq Mhlongo - 2005
Dingz -- a bright, articulate student -- and his circle of friends like to sit around drinking and discussing AIDS, racism, history and South African politics.They also have some hair-raising adventures; like being kidnapped by taxi-drivers, contracting gonorrhea and trying to fake a death certificate. The novel's constant backdrop is the subtle but institutionalized racism at Dingz's university; which threatens to deny him financial aid. Dingz is an intelligent and likable character -- but he is certainly no saint. His anger at the racism around him is sometimes over-the-top but certainly not hard to understand, and his self-aware, cynical usage of the 'race card' is at times incredibly amusing. This is an authentic, witty, slice-of-life piece of fiction set at the time of the first South African democratic elections.
Henderson the Rain King
Saul Bellow - 1959
His feats of strength, his passion for life, and, most importantly, his inadvertant success in bringing rain have made him a god-like figure among the tribes.
The Watershed Years
Russell Rowland - 2007
"The Watershed Years" takes place immediately after World War II following the lives of the Arbuckles, a ranching family on the vast plains of eastern Montana.
Northern Sky
Mark Radcliffe - 2005
His dream is to play with them again, but the club's new owner has ambitions plans that may not involve Ed, and his ex may be less than willing to take him back. This is a funny and touching novel, written with real Northern soul by one of the country's most popular and knowledgeable commentators on music.
Allapattah
Patrick D. Smith - 2012
“Allapattah” means alligator or crocodile, a creature which becomes Toby Tiger’s obsession, and he must wrestle it to set himself free.
Playing with Fire: A Legal Thriller
James Taylor Adams - 2015
Thwarted in a previous attempt to bring charges for other nefarious crimes, Ms. Battle is determined to put the crime boss behind bars, and this time she has what looks like an airtight case. Claiming he has been framed, Carmine hires the blue blood, Harvard-educated attorney Harrison Fletcher, Jr. who was recently fired from his position as Assistant DA for refusing to compromise his ethics, to help him prove his innocence. Assisted by his beautiful wife and a scruffy, alcohol-loving detective, Harry sets out to discover who set the fire and why. As what really happened that June night becomes clear, evidence begins to disappear. With the defense’s case starting to crumble, Harry devises a way to prove Carmine’s innocence. But will the plan work?
The Jade Rabbit
Mark Matthews - 2011
She is adopted and raised in the United States where she becomes a social worker in order to help children in a desolate Detroit neighborhood. Her nickname is The Jade Rabbit and this is her story.As director of a shelter for runaway and neglected youth, Janice Zhu Woodward gets pulled into the lives of the lost children of the Detroit streets. Fueled by angry parents, stories of ghosts who haunt the shelter's basement, and her own history of being left by a birth-mother who may have long forgotten her, Janice emulates her adoptive mother and becomes an avid, nearly obsessed marathoner. Training injuries, failed goals, and unexpected trauma test her will and take her near her breaking point. When a mysterious girl with dreadlocks is abandoned at the shelter's front door, Janice becomes her surrogate mother and risks everything to save her. Only a miraculous, unforgettable run through the streets of Detroit can save them both.
The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg
Geoff Herbach - 2008
I killed myself.”Having destroyed his life, the suicidal T. Rimberg strikes out on a journey through history and geography. From Minneapolis to Europe to a fiery accident near Green Bay, he searches for a father who is likely dead, digs for meaning where he’s sure there is none, fires off suicide letters to family, celebrities, presidents, and football stars, and lands in a hospital bed across from a priest who believes that Rimberg has caused a miracle. This funny, moving novel asks us to consider the nature of second chances and the unexpected form that grace sometimes takes.
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (And 7 Other Traditional British Mysteries): Boxed Set
Fergus Hume - 2017
This collection includes 8 traditional British mystery novels: A COIN OF EDWARD VII THE SOLITARY FARM HAGAR OF THE PAWN-SHOP RED MONEY THE BISHOP'S SECRET THE GREEN MUMMY THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB THE MYSTERY QUEEN