Book picks similar to
THE LAND BEYOND GOODBYE by Barbara Scott Emmett
contemporary-fiction
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Your Every Move
Vanessa Garbin - 2022
So when she finds a bag of money under a bush after dropping her kids off at school, she’d be forgiven for thinking her luck has changed for the better.Unfortunately, things go from bad to worse. She starts getting threatening letters. They claim to be from her “number one fan”, referring to a time when she was a popular actress on an Australian soap opera. The person writing them knows about the money.Unsure what to do, and wishing she’d never found the cash, paranoid and suspicious, Dana is forced to comply with her fan’s ever more demanding and bizarre requests.But when her kids are threatened, she’ll have to dig deep to turn the tables on her stalker. Yet putting her life on track will mean confronting her own murky past.
Love in the Years of Lunacy
Mandy Sayer - 2011
Pearl is eighteen, beautiful and impetuous. She plays saxophone in an all-girl jazz band at the Trocadero and occasionally sits in on underground gigs with her twin brother Martin, who also plays the sax. On one such evening black GI and jazz legend James Washington blows into her life, and nothing is ever the same again, especially not Pearl. A love story begins to unfold against the blacked-out nights and rumour-filled days of a city in the grip of war.But public events are closing in on Pearl's private world. When James is shipped out to fight in New Guinea, she hatches a breathtaking plan to reunite with him. And then all hell breaks loose.Moving, tender and audaciously original, Love in the Years of Lunacy is a love story with a haunting jazz soundtrack and a war story like no other.
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Katherine Heiny - 2018
*Includes a free extract from Katherine Heiny’s debut novel, Standard Deviation*
'Just as Jane Austen believed that four people cannot comfortably walk abreast, Charlene believes that three people cannot amicably move one person's belongings. At least not when two of the people used to be married to each other, and the marriage resulted in a bitter divorce in order for one of them to marry the third person'
When Forrest's ex-wife Barbara calls on him to help her move out of the home they once shared, his second wife Charlie finds herself carrying not only dozens of boxes, but also the weight of their shared past. Barbara and Charlie first met twenty years ago when they volunteered at a suicide crisis hotline, and one night in particular is seared into Charlie's memory…From the author of Standard Deviation comes a wryly tender story of crises and cardboard boxes; of marriage and moving on.
Pippa
Annie Seaton - 2020
When Pippa Carmichael inherits a house on a deserted tropical island, it couldn’t have come at a better time for her. Life’s been tough lately; she’s lost her job, given her boyfriend the flick, and now it’s time for her to make a new start. With her two best friends, Pippa heads off to Pentecost Island to investigate her inheritance and is surprised to find there is another resident on the island. Reclusive author, Rafe Rendell, is not impressed when a boatload of women turn up on his island, interrupting his peaceful existence. He is less impressed when he meets Pippa, the sassy new owner of Ma Carmichael’s sprawling house. Can these two live in harmony on the same small island, or is Pippa's dream destined to fail?
The Passengers
Eleanor Limprecht - 2018
Sarah, Hannah’s grandmother, is returning to the country of her birth, a place she hasn’t seen since boarding the USS Mariposa in 1945. She, along with countless other war brides, sailed across the Pacific to join the American Servicemen they’d married during World War II.Hannah is the age Sarah was when she made her first journey, and in hearing Sarah tell the story of her life, realises the immensity of what her grandmother gave up.The Passengers is a luminous novel about the journeys we undertake, the sacrifices we make and the heartache we suffer for love. It is about how we most long for what we have left behind. And it is about the past - how close it can feel - even after long passages of time.Praise for The Passengers: ‘A compelling novel about the bruises inflicted by fate and by ourselves, and the blessings to be found in resilience, determination, and love.’ - Debra Adelaide, author of The Household Guide to Dying‘Two women, two generations, two countries, two journeys. Eleanor Limprecht gracefully navigates the crosscurrents of history and creates vibrant characters from the extraordinary true experiences of Australian war brides. Sarah and Hannah’s urgent search for love and wholeness moved me in both senses: they touched my hearts and I still feel I am churning across the Pacific with them. A deeply satisfying novel.’ - Susan Wyndham, former literary editor, The Sydney Morning Herald'I loved this book and I loved its characters, beautifully observed and movingly examined by Limprecht’s exquisite prose. A stunning exploration of hope and desire, fear and control, this story is full of heart and heartbreak.’ - Ashley Hay, author of The Railwayman’s Wife
The Sheriff's Catch
James Vella-Bardon - 2021
Once a famous sniper, Abel finds himself a survivor of the Spanish Armada shipwrecks in 16th C Ireland. Following his capture by a brutal sheriff, Abel flees torture and death with a priceless emerald ring. Dozens of English troopers hunt the Spaniard across the Irish wilds, beating every last bush in a desperate attempt to find him.Muireann is a revered Irish poetess enjoying the hospitality of a neighbouring tribe. Tragedy strikes when the sheriff’s men kill her husband during a violent night raid, with her life barely saved by the fugitive Abel. Newly widowed and shocked by her loss, Muireann must somehow reach the distant lands of her tribe, where she can be reunited with her only son.Both runaways form an unlikely bond as they flee across a strange and stunning land, pushed to the edge of their wits and endurance. Yet unknown to Muireann, the ring Abel carries bears far-reaching consequences beyond Irish shores. Can the unlikely, desperate pair escape a ruthless sheriff who will never give up the chase?Accolades for 'The Sheriff's Catch'Winner in the 'Best Novel' category - The Royal Dragonfly Book Awards, 2019Winner in the 'Best Historical Fiction' category - The Royal Dragonfly Book Awards, 2019Winner in the 'Best Cover Design' category - The Royal Dragonfly Book Awards, 2019Finalist in the 'Book Trailer' category - The Royal Dragonfly Book Awards 2019Finalist - The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards, 2019Finalist - The Eric Hoffer Awards, 2019Finalist in the 'Outstanding Historical' category - The Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards, 2019Winner in the 'Best Cover Design' category - The e-book Cover Design Awards, November 2018Nominee in the 'Best Trailer for a Book or Novel' category - Golden Trailer Awards, 2018
Opening Moves
Colin Gee - 2012
Most of the characters therein are a figment of the author’s imagination. Without exception, those characters that are historical figures of fact or based upon historical figures of fact are used fictitiously, and their actions, demeanour, conversations, and characters are similarly all figments of the author’s imagination.]
My Daughter My Mother
Annie Murray - 2012
This is the story of two young women discovering the heartbreak of their mothers' lives, and of how mothers create daughters - and learn from them.
The Garden
Gillian Linscott - 2003
No wonder the purple beech is weeping. I'm sure it is from sheer bewilderment. Oh my girl of little patience, this is not the way one makes a garden, any more than one makes a painting by squeezing every tube to hand onto canvas. I shall explain when I come. Holders Hope, Herefordshire. The roots of a great garden are laid in the long summer of the Edwardian age. Grown from a woman s desperate need to hold on to beauty, created by a man who plants his love for her, hated by a husband it humiliates and imprisons - the garden grows around a secret it will take almost a century to solve.For two generations the lives of two families are bound up with the garden. The Allegri family, mine owners with the money to pay for it. The Thomas family, mine workers from the Welsh valleys with whose care and skill help to shape it. Three children - an unhappy rich girl, a musician and a boy dreaming of revolution - meet in the garden and share a secret that will affect the rest of their lives.
Fallen: The inside story of the secret trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell
Lucie Morris-Marr - 2019
'Guilty' he pronounced five times. The third most senior Catholic cleric in the world had been found guilty of sex crimes against children, bringing shame to the Church on a scale never seen before in its history. Investigative journalist Lucie Morris-Marr was the first to break the story that Cardinal George Pell was being investigated by the police. In this riveting dispatch, she recounts how the cleric was trailed by a cloud of scandal as he rose to the most senior ranks of the church in Australia, all the way to his appointment by Pope Francis to the position of treasurer in the Vatican.Despite anger and accusations, it seemed nothing could stop George Pell. Yet in 2017 he was charged by detectives, returning to Australia to face trial.Take a front row seat in court with the author as she reveals the many intriguing developments in the secret legal proceedings which the media could not report at the time. Fallen reveals the full story of the brutal battle waged by the prince of the church as he fought to clear his name, including a ferocious bid to be freed from jail. The author also shares her own compelling personal journey investigating the biggest story of her career and the frequent attacks she endured from powerful Pell supporters. This book also charts how Pell's shocking conviction plunged the Vatican into an unprecedented global crisis after decades of clergy abuse cases. It is a vitally important story that will fascinate anyone interested in the failure of the Catholic Church to address the canker in its heart.
Candelo
Georgia Blain - 1999
Choices were made without thinking. Young lives came together and would never be the same again. Years on, as Ursula confronts decisions that are not so easy to make, revelations collide with memories of Candelo - and some breathtaking secrets come to light.
Fireshadow
Anthony Eaton - 2004
Eric is a WWII soldier, a German boy, imprisoned in a strange land. Vinnie is a modern teenager, scarred both physically and emotionally by the death of his sister.When these two lives meet, both will be changed, because sometimes wars are fought as much in the soul, as on the battlefield.
The Weekend
Charlotte Wood - 2019
But when Sylvie dies, the ground shifts dangerously for the remaining three.They are Jude, a once-famous restaurateur; Wendy, an acclaimed public intellectual; and Adele, a renowned actress now mostly out of work. Struggling to recall exactly why they've remained close all these years, the grieving women gather at Sylvie's old beach house--not for festivities this time, but to clean it out before it is sold. Can they survive together without her?Without Sylvie to maintain the group's delicate equilibrium, frustrations build and painful memories press in. Fraying tempers, an elderly dog, unwelcome guests and too much wine collide in a storm that brings long-buried hurts to the surface--and threatens to sweep away their friendship for good.The Weekend explores growing old and growing up, and what happens when we're forced to uncover the lies we tell ourselves. Sharply observed and excruciatingly funny, this is a jewel of a book: a celebration of tenderness and friendship from an award-winning writer.
A Song For The Void
Andrew C. Piazza - 2020
South China Sea. While on patrol between the Opium Wars, the crew of the steam frigate HMS Charger pursues a fleet of pirates that have been terrorizing the waters surrounding Hong Kong.But now the hunters have become the hunted. Something else has come to the South China Sea, something ancient and powerful and malevolent. Now, the crew of the Charger must face their worst nightmares in order to survive the terrible creature they come to know as the Darkstar.A Song For The Void is a haunting, terrifying historical horror novel that will keep you turning the pages and jumping at the shadows.
Lost & Found
Brooke Davis - 2014
But one day, Millie’s mum leaves her alone beneath the Ginormous Women’s underwear rack in a department store, and doesn’t come back.Agatha Pantha is an eighty-two-year-old woman who hasn’t left her home since her husband died. Instead, she fills the silence by yelling at passers-by, watching loud static on TV, and maintaining a strict daily schedule. Until the day Agatha spies a little girl across the street.Karl the Touch Typist is eighty-seven years old and once typed love letters with his fingers on to his wife’s skin. He sits in a nursing home, knowing that somehow he must find a way for life to begin again. In a moment of clarity and joy, he escapes.Together, Millie, Agatha and Karl set out to find Millie’s mum. Along the way, they will discover that the young can be wise, that old age is not the same as death, and that breaking the rules once in a while might just be the key to a happy life.