He is pushed to the brink of a breakdown when he is tormented by mysterious knocks at the window and eerie cries on the wind. His sanity is stretched even further when an intruder breaks into his home to leave items of her clothing. With no idea why she has been taken or by whom, Mike decides to investigate her disappearance himself, determined to bring home the woman he loves. But is the loch ready to disgorge its secrets?

    Trying to fill the gap, her adult daughter, Julia, is looking for love in all the wrong places, and wreaking havoc on the lives that she touches along the way.Just what will it take to shock Catherine back into life?

    “Birdie Carlucci” claims he has lived there since 1933, hiding out in the storeroom of a Harvey House restaurant. Kansas City cop Lieutenant Randy Benton decides to discover the truth behind Birdie’s tale—and finds himself on a ride that leads ever backward into our country’s bloodstained past.Benton’s investigation reveals the story of young Birdie, incarcerated in a brutal insane asylum where the preferred method of treatment is beating with a baseball bat. In that hopeless environment, though, he’s befriended by another patient, Josh Lancaster, once dismissed as a lost cause but snatched back from the brink by a compassionate doctor. But what is the secret of Lancaster’s involvement in an infamous Civil War encounter between Confederate bushwhackers and Union soldiers? And what truly happened after Birdie escaped from the asylum on the famous Flying Crow train?As Benton returns to the present day, he wonders: How much, if any of it, really took place? What were the true public and private traumas of these two troubled men who can’t forget what they’ve seen or merely imagined?Inspired by real events, Flying Crows is a novel that moves as inexorably as a train in the night to a shattering conclusion—one that reveals the many meanings of imprisonment and escape, and all the eccentricities and tragedies of the American soul.

    

    Lorna Kelly's odyssey from middle class British school girl to glamorous, New York Sotheby's auctioneer to volunteer in the slums of Calcutta is a trek that is sobering, inspiriing and breathtakingly compelling. En route Kelly confronts alcoholism, divorce, a growing sense of spiritual disquiet and her own "dark night." What emerges from that spiritual thirst is a buoyant and compelling affirmation of our common humanity. -- Tom Stretton. (This is the second and revised edition which includes new photographs and an Epilogue explaining why the book was self-published as well as a reporting on Mother Teresa's Beatificaton, October 2003.)

    Following eviction from their Albuquerque home, the eight-year-old and his impoverished family have joined the ranks of the nation's homeless, and hope is running low. In a bid to outrun Social Services, the Poduskas crisscross the nation, hitching rides to "anywhere else."For the next eighteen years, the semi-literate young man finds refuge in his anger - and atheism. How could there be a God, with such suffering? Yet unbeknownst to Bernard, even in those darkest of days, the Lord walked by his side. And without realizing the path he was on, the unconquerable Bernard Poduska began a miraculous journey toward the peace of the gospel.Brigham Young University professor Bernard Poduska takes readers on an incredible and personal journey in this chain of reminiscences: from his young fight for survival on the streets to his triumphant rise among the ranks of BYU's most distinguished professors. More than just a rags to riches memoir, this unflinchingly candid tale documents one man's incredible transformation from an ardent anti-Christian into a faithful man of God.

    A desolate maid. And one cold corpse. Richard Lynche, heir of an 18th century Tipperary estate, can find no peace. His bookish ways disgust his bullying letch of a father. His heartsick mother sinks ever-deeper into a drug-induced lethargy. The teen’s only solace are the loving arms of the homesick new maid, Eveleen. Meanwhile jealousy, lust, and oppression lead to gruesome visions, causing Richard to question his own sanity. Desperate to prevail over his demons, he determines there is only one way to stop the torture—a killing. Aroon is a cauldron of old-fashioned Irish stew. Spiced heavily with Downton Abbey, sprinkled with Shakespeare’s Hamlet and a dash of The Godfather’s Michael Corleone, it explores the underbelly of life during the Protestant Ascendancy.

    Arun Singh has witnessed life and death from a vantage point nearly unmatched in medical history, while performing over 15,000 open heart surgeries. Revered by colleagues and patients, under the hot lights of the O.R. this award-winning surgeon has spent thousands of hours performing life-saving operations, while witnessing the miraculous, the joyous, and the devastating. He has held the life-giving heart in his hand and has been praised for his tireless devotion to preserving the lives this organ sustains.Dr. Singh's decorated career is an odyssey of remarkable determination. To illuminate the power of perseverance, Dr. Singh recounts how the same two hands that have so expertly worked to extend life were once crushed and his future nearly shattered. In YOUR HEART, MY HANDS he recalls the fortitude that saw him through a complicated boyhood in India, struggles with dyslexia, and finding his way as an immigrant, to become one of America's most highly-regarded and preeminent surgeons. Reflecting on over 40 years of practice, Dr. Singh shares intimate O.R. secrets, riveting patient accounts, and the life lessons he learned treating his most memorable patients. This book will inspire, enlighten, and captivate readers.

    From Tehran to Melbourne, a powerful memoir of survival.Scattered Pearls opens in pre-revolutionary Iran, where Sohila Zanjani grew up under the threat of violence, intimidation and control at the hands of her father. Resolving never to tread in the footsteps of her mother and her grandmother, both survivors of domestic abuse, Sohila tried to find a new life for herself on the other side of the world. But to her horror she discovered that living with her father had been gentle in comparison to the reality of her new married life.Spanning more than a hundred years, Scattered Pearls tells the true stories of Sohila, her mother and her grandmother, and the injustice and abuse meted out by the men in their lives. It is a story of cultural misogyny in both Iran and Australia, and of an ongoing search for a loving, equal relationship.Along the way the book provides a glimpse into the lives of ‘ordinary’ Iranians and the power of the Persian culture. It’s also a confronting insight into what can go on behind closed doors – even in an ‘advanced’ society.But at its heart, Scattered Pearls is a story of resilience and personal growth, and of allowing the future to blossom in spite of the damage of the past. It is one of optimism, courage, and love and hope.This is the story of three women, but it carries with it the stories of an entire culture.

    Rejoice over the bonds of love, friendship and forgiveness, of finding relatives, and share the triumph of unexpected turns in Leah's story that will inspire you, leaving you breathless. "How did she do it?" You'll find it all here, as you follow Leah through the many phases of her life, her redemption and revenge against Hitler's evil, and to grateful happiness during her 90th year. When Leah Cik Roth decides to write her secret memoirs for her children, writer, Menucha Meinstein, walks into her life as a volunteer. The two develop the deepest of human bonds as together they uncover Leah's lifelong bitterness and suppressed Holocaust memories. Through Soul-Writing, they struggle to relive Leah's stories, revealing heroic patterns of resilience from the young age of five. Her memories bring out fresh pain, and renewed feelings of loss and loneliness. The Holocaust is merely a backdrop to Leah's life. Together, the two women share joy in the legacy that Leah leaves for the world.

    Sixty miles away, Cory, a city kid on a fishing trip, survives a boating accident that takes his father’s life. Now two boys the same age have lost their fathers­ on the same day.The story bends and twists through eight years, revealing the true impact of this tragic coincidence. For the hard-luck young priest who brings the boys together, it takes beating alcoholism and re-examining his calling to discover true love and grace. For the reclusive widow trapped between emptiness and forbidden love, grace proves to be elusive. And for the boys who grow to become best friends and star teammates in college, the very existence of grace is something they couldn’t have disagreed on more.Fall to Grace is picturesque, spiritual, and reflective—while never forgetting its first obligation: to be a flat-out page-turner. The story takes you to the far edges of loss where love can do surprising things for those willing to reach again. And it reminds us, none too gently, that only angels fall from grace. The rest of us fall toward it.

    . .It’s 1981. Eleven-year-old Sadie adores her beautiful and vibrant mother, Connie, whose dreams of making it big as a singer fill their tiny house in Leeds. It’s always been just the two of them. Until the unthinkable happens.Jean hasn’t seen her good-for-nothing daughter Connie since she ran away from the family home in Harlow – or Pram Town as its inhabitants affectionately call it – aged seventeen and pregnant.But in the wake of the Royal Wedding, Jean gets a life-changing call: could she please come and collect the granddaughter she’s never met?We all know how Charles and Diana turned out, and Jean and Sadie are hardly a match made in heaven – but is there hope of a happy ending for them?Written in Joanna Nadin’s trademark dazzling prose, The Talk of Pram Town tells the story of three generations of Earnshaws and asks whether it always has to be like mother, like daughter . .

    Lawrence Hill’s new book doesn’t lessen the awfulness of the times, but adds a unique human dimension. Hill has created an uplifting and highly educational story about a shameful part of history. The Book of Negroes is sold in the United States under the title, Someone Knows My Name. Aminata Diallo was born free in Africa in the eighteenth century. She had a rich and lovely childhood until the day she was captured by slave traders and marched off to the coast in chains. Along with thousands of others, Aminata was destined for North America as a slave to white owners. She was eleven years old. Hill tracks Aminata’s story through the circle of her life. 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.

    Ellis is obsessed by the spiders that inhabit the crumbling house where he lives with his dad, his older sister and great aunt Mafi - and also by a need to find out more about his mother, whose death overshadows the family's otherwise happy existence. Ellis a quirky soul; awkward and sensitive, out of place most of the time, funny, and with an often embarrassing habit of speaking his thoughts aloud, whatever the company. From early attempts at relationships, to building jobs, flatshares and drug-addled nights on the beach, Ellis muddles his way towards adulthood. What endures is the strength of his bond with his dad and his affectionate relationship with his intrepid sister, Chrissie, who turns up whenever he needs her - a new boyfriend in tow every time - to take the piss out of her introspective and hapless brother. Meanwhile their dad, Denny, an ex-Merchant Navy man, bottles up his grief at the loss of his wife, refusing to talk about her. The family banter is Ellis' lifeline and a counterpoint to the constant heartache of his desire to know something - anything - about his mother.

    Down the side of a dilapidated synagogue in North-west London, a great partnership is born. Apart, Mal Jones and Solly Princeton are two teenage no-hopers scrabbling about in the dirt. Together they are dynamite: a world-beating team who turn a company selling chicken-soup machines to the Jewish mothers of Edgware into an international hotel and leisure empire.But success is never simple. Before long pressures draw them away from the comforts of their roots. They find themselves cutting corners, taking risks and breaking the law. Finally Mal has to confront his life, his friendship with Solly and where their very different ambitions have led them.Thirty-five years later as sunset ushers in the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, Mal, his fortune gone, picks over the ruins of his past with his niece, Natasha. He tells her the story of the Sinai Corporation, of his best friend and business partner, Solly, and at last begins to ask himself: how far must you go before you lose faith in yourself?