Book picks similar to
The Forbidden Dreams of Betsy Elliott by Carolyn R. Parsons


newfoundland
canada
historical-fiction
newfoundland-labrador

The Zima Confession


Iain M. Rodgers - 2019
    Party activists develop the plan - code name Zima and lie in wait...London 2013 - Richard is in London, working for a financial software company. He has held onto the Zima plan all this time and has been signalling he can activate it. Is anyone listening? Have others stayed true to the ideology?The "suicide" of Richard's work colleague shows British and Russian Intelligence have been listening and waiting too. Tension mounts as more players reveal themselves and the battle for power and control moves to Moscow. As the coil of agents, misinformation and mind control experiments connected to Zima unravel - where do allegiances lie? Can Richard trust anyone - even himself?Can MI9 stop a catastrophic act of sabotage on the banking system? Will the revolution succeed? Can Richard uncover the TRUTH and save himself?

The Young Widow: An Ambition & Destiny Novel (The Ambition & Destiny Series Book 6)


V.L. McBeath - 2020
    When an enigmatic stranger steals her heart, can she know he wants her for the right reasons?London 1808: Widowed at the age of twenty, Ann has no optimism for the future. At the beck and call of her domineering mother she longs to make a new life for herself with the legacy left by her late husband. But it's not that easy. Not when it means leaving her sisters behind. Her world is turned upside down when a curious gentleman stops to speak to her. Chas is new to the area, but he seems to know a lot about her … and he certainly looks well-to-do. Could he be her saviour? With newfound hope Ann dares to dream again, but Chas has a secret. Something he refuses to share. As their friendship grows, there are those who want to keep them apart … but when Ann stumbles upon Chas’s past, she realises that only she can decide what their future holds. Inspired by the compelling family history of author V L McBeath, The Young Widow is a standalone story in The Ambition & Destiny Series. Set in Georgian-era London, forty years before the start of this historical family saga, The Young Widow adds another dimension to this epic series. Get your copy today. Please Note: The Young Widow is written in UK English. Other books in The Ambition & Destiny Series: Prequel: Condemned by Fate Part 1: Hooks & Eyes Part 2: Less Than Equals Part 3: When Time Runs Out Part 4: Only One Winner Part 5: Different World

Scrivener of Rome: A tale of the Ancient Republic


Ken Farmer - 2015
    A young man is given a new start in life as a result of an impulsive action, beginning a journey that will take him to the far reaches of the known world to watch - and sometimes to partake in - the rise and fall of mighty empires.

Born a Workhouse Baby: Victorian Romance


Dolly Price - 2021
    Deserted by a selfish man, and driven to the workhouse, young Annabel and her midwife mother face a harsh and hopeless future.A critical situation for the workhouse governor then opens a door of deliverance for them both, but it seems that revenge and bitterness hound their every step.A harrowing story of stolen love, rich and poor, faith, family, and fearful odds, Born A Workhouse Child, will keep your heart pounding and your hopes soaring to the end.Join Dolly Price for her most heart-warming Victorian romance yet, and follow Annabel’s courageous quest to discover the real meaning of love, faith, and family.

Shadows of the Past


June Francis - 2019
    Fifteen-year-old Annie Anderson was adopted by Sylvia and Hugh after the death of their own daughter. Annie is told that her own mother in childbirth and her father died before she was born.A chance encounter introduces Annie to local lad Andrew Fraser. Their friendship blossoms, but once Annie’s adoptive parents learn of it they forbid her from seeing him. When Annie asks why, it sets her on a path to discover more about her origins – but will what she learns bring heartache or joy? Don’t miss this rich and vivid saga by one of Liverpool’s best-known novelists, perfect for fans of Kitty Neale and Katie Flynn.

House Maid: A story behind the suffering of a Sri Lankan Migrant worker in Saudi Arabia.


Indika Guruge - 2017
    She thinks migrating to a foreign land would be the only hope. The only qualification she has to migrate to a foreign country is to be a housemaid. That salary would be way better than in Sri Lanka, flying to Saudi Arabia as a housemaid would be a dream come true.Yet day after day, Kamala comprehends her mistake and regrets her stupid actions of leaving her beloveds. She is trapped by the secured walls of the Arabian house and by the rules, regulations and her negligence on working. She gets punished by horrific physical and mental abuse by the hands of her employer. Finally trapped her in a room as a punishment with nonpayment of her salary.When she tries to escape she is being physically tortured by the employer with nailing her body feet beating her with chains and sticks. Finally, when she escapes and returns to her mother land, everything what she worked have gone on a waste by her husband and leaving it all for nothing.Why I wrote this book.Labor migration to the Middle East has become a main feature of Sri Lankan economy strategies making it the second biggest foreign exchange earnings. Migration is likely to continue in the future. Foreign embassies continued to receive many reports that employers abused foreign women working as domestic servants. Some embassies of countries with large domestic servant populations maintained safe houses to which their citizens may flee to escape work situations that included forced confinement, withholding of food, nonpayment of salaries, beating and other physical abuse, and rape.These are few stories... "One particular day I dropped a saucer which broke into pieces. My employer was angry and he heated up five nails and drove them into my hand. When I shouted out in pain my employer's wife held a knife to my neck," she said.Why you should read this book?When you Google Sri Lanka all you see is a beautiful island with beautiful sceneries and nature surrounded by lovely sandy beaches, diverse landscapes ranging from plains to highlands, rainforests, wildlife and exotic food.But not many know how the Sri Lankan lower middle class suffer. How everyday is a challenge for them to make their ends meet. How much they suffer to keep their families alive, insufficient money to feed their children and to spend for their education.I was inspired by so many stories about how these migrant workers suffer. I have been fortunate enough to help these people and listen to their stories.This shows us how cruel the world is. Another side of life which many has not seen, or even think about, simply a nightmare. Why cannot the governments take any action about this? Non-government organizations? Is there anyone at all? When they send their hard earn money with high hopes, most of the time husbands waste money on alcohol and gambling, children go astray and get abused. These women and families fall of from the frying pan into fire. Time, money, pain all gets wasted. Everything end up in tears.This story will give you the inner aspect in depth about the middle class migrant workers and their lives, how hard they work, how much they sacrifice, how hard they hide their feelings and pain, suffer and struggle to survive every day.This book is a story about a family that went through this horrific abuse and torture. Hope you enjoy this book.Scroll up and grab your copy now.

Eating Habits of the Chronically Lonesome


Megan Gail Coles - 2014
    The exploration of starvation and consumption is at the core of each character; what does our hunger reveal about the state of our soft hearts? Ellen jumps rope on rooftops in the searing Korean sun. She has sworn off carbohydrates until she can find pants that fit. Damon resents his two dollar chow mein bought on a Montreal curb. There are half-eaten poutines on living room floors and greasy corn kernels stuck to chins. There are weak cocktails, cheap coffees, white plastic forks, and cigarettes. Everywhere.These interwoven stories are propulsive. They pull back the blast shield to reveal blinding interior voices; unrepentant and raw. Coles' irreverent characters scorch, and strangely comfort us, as they struggle to process the permeable nature of their thoughts. Such are the sardonically complex and humourous Eating Habits Of The Chronically Lonesome.

Promise of Dreams


Cecelia M. Chittenden - 2017
    Her father has gone to bring home a son missing because of the war. Loyal servants give her support and comfort and are at her side when she learns of her father’s death. She promises to fulfill her father’s dream but someone doesn’t want her to, the one person she should be able to trust. He sets out to defeat her until another man, a Northern stranger, comes to her aid.

When the Yellow Mocker Calls (Two Feather's Legacy Book 1)


Lila M Beckham - 2016
    However, Charity soon discovers that her grandfather’s objective in making this trip is to get her married off and settled somewhere. Since her beloved grandmother’s passing several months earlier, her grandfather has worried about what would become of Charity should he, too, pass away. And, given his advanced age, he somehow senses that time is near; he does not want to die and leave young Charity alone and desolate. He and his wife reared Charity after her mother and father both died in a yellow fever epidemic when she was 3 years old. As they travel to Fort Charlotte, her grandfather tells her that before going to Fort Charlotte they will be making an overnight stop at his friend’s house. And, that a year or so earlier, he and his long-time friend, Eli Gulledge, talked about what would happen to Charity should both he and his wife pass away and have arranged for Charity and Eli’s son Henry to meet before that time comes to see if they will take a liking to one another. When Charity, who has never met Eli or his family, hears that, she threatens to act rude in order to make them not like her so that she can go back home with him, but her grandfather tells her that she cannot go back home with him and assures her that if young Henry doesn’t take a liking to her, he is sure that some young buck down in Fort Charlotte will be looking for a wife. Faced with the stark realization that her life is changing and she has no control of that change, many thoughts run through young Charity’s mind- she even contemplates running away, but doesn’t want to leave her grandfather alone. When her grandfather suddenly passes away that night at Eli’s house, that threat never comes to fruition. Young, Charity is forced to abide by her grandfather’s wishes and stay there with Eli’s family… When the Yellow Mocker Calls is based on my great-great-grandmother’s life; her spiritual journey, her never ending quest for knowledge, her love of family and storytelling, and, most importantly, her love for Henry…

The Girl from the Docklands Café


June Tate - 2018
    Jessie is just nineteen when her father passes away and her mother decides to return to her native Ireland. But Jessie, headstrong and independent, prefers to take charge of her own destiny and finds employment at a workman’s cafe, becoming the darling of the dockworkers who are fiercely protective of her.When one of her customers charms his way into her heart, Jessie becomes Mrs Conor McGonigall and soon assumes ownership of the cafe. All the pieces of her life are coming together. But when a pushy local businessman and a former employee with a grudge have other ideas, everything she has worked for is slowly chipped away. Can she find the strength to rebuild the life she wants in the face of immeasurable personal loss?‘Her debut book caused a stir among Cookson and Cox devotees, and they’ll love this. Compulsive reading’ Woman’s Weekly‘A heart-rending tale’ Gilda O’Neill‘A page-turner for all saga lovers’ Katie Fforde‘A heart-warming tale with a vividly drawn central character’ Peterborough Evening Telegraph‘Excellent and gripping . . . compelling. I am eagerly awaiting June Tate’s next offering’ Sussex Life

And One for Luck


Lynda Page - 1996
    The more time Grace spends with Bessie, her six boistrous children and her loving husband Tom, the more she realises what has been missing from her own loveless marriage. As the war takes its toll on Leicester, and one by one the men folk leave to join the fighting, Grace finds comfort in helping others. Each day, as she takes on another new challenge, Grace realises that her daughter might have been right all along - it's time to break out, really make something of her life, and possibly find true love, before it's too late...

No Blacks No Dogs No Irish


Ruby Lord - 2013
    She does so without thinking about the consequences until it’s too late. By the end she realises the man she wants to marry is not in any position to marry her and never will be. Well let’s think about it, he’s not in any position to marry anyone. The Catholic Church don’t allow their priests to get married let alone have secret affairs with desperate women. This isn’t your standard love story, it’s a dark and intense tale of life for one woman in 1960’s Manchester and to some extent what life is/was like for priests of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Gathering Clouds


Andrew Wareham - 2019
    Young Thomas witnessed the atrocities that the Nazis had carried out in Spain and trained his pilots to show no mercy when towards the end of the book, he breached the rules to attack German planes. Published by The Electronic Book Company

The Holding


Merilyn Simonds - 2004
    Wandering there, she uncovers, in the ruins of a log cabin, the writings of a young woman who lived more than a hundred years before. Into Alyson's story Merilyn Simonds weaves the moving tale of Margaret MacBayne, who, with her family, left behind hardship in a seaside Scottish town in the hope of building a new home in the Canadian wilderness. Margaret, an expert on herbs, contemplates revenge when her brothers rob her of her happiness. When Alyson too suffers great loss, she must decide if retribution is worth the price. Taut and uplifting, sensuous and astute, The Holding is psychologically complex and beautifully rendered. Simonds brings us an intimate journey of discovery into the things we keep most guarded, whose truths often lie in unexpected places.

August Gale: A Father and Daughter's Journey into the Storm


Barbara Walsh - 2011
    The surf raged along the New York and New Jersey shores as the gale whirled toward Newfoundland. Waves as tall as three-story houses swamped ships; monster combers broke masts in two and swept every man on deck into the raging sea. Scores of fishermen disappeared when the "divil" descended on that August evening, and one Newfoundland village would never be the same. Forty-two children in a community of three hundred lost their fathers.In August Gale, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Barbara Walsh takes readers on two heartrending odysseys: one into a deadly Newfoundland hurricane and the lives of schooner fishermen who relied on God and the wind to carry them home; the other, into a squall stirred by a man with many secrets: a grandfather who remained a mystery until long after his death.