Book picks similar to
Thicker Than Soup by Kathryn Joyce
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Burnt Land
Tua Harno - 2015
For men, it can be lonely, but for women, in a land where little is protected, danger lurks in every leering glance.And Sanna is terrified. A graduate student researching gender equality in the mines while attempting to hide her pregnancy, she left her abusive boyfriend and her unstable family far behind in Finland, hoping to find inner peace in a new environment—only to find crude, scary men and tragic stories.Amid the parched, hostile surroundings, Sanna impossibly starts to feel love when she meets middle-aged miner Martti—another Finn, another restless soul with emotional scars. As their relationship deepens and her pregnancy progresses, Sanna’s unfulfilled desire for healing draws her to a charismatic spiritual guide who promises enlightenment. When Sanna follows her guide on an extended walkabout into the barren yet magical Australian desert, she discovers new connections with nature and herself. But will her quest lead her to happiness and peace, or could this trek be far more dangerous than she ever imagined?
Tidelands
Philippa Gregory - 2019
A dangerous time for a woman to be different . . .Midsummer’s Eve, 1648, and England is in the grip of civil war between renegade King and rebellious Parliament. The struggle reaches every corner of the kingdom, even to the remote Tidelands – the marshy landscape of the south coast. Alinor, a descendant of wise women, crushed by poverty and superstition, waits in the graveyard under the full moon for a ghost who will declare her free from her abusive husband. Instead she meets James, a young man on the run, and shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marsh, not knowing that she is leading disaster into the heart of her life.Suspected of possessing dark secrets in superstitious times, Alinor’s ambition and determination mark her out from her neighbours. This is the time of witch-mania, and Alinor, a woman without a husband, skilled with herbs, suddenly enriched, arouses envy in her rivals and fear among the villagers, who are ready to take lethal action into their own hands.
Real Monsters
Liam Brown - 2015
The lines are now so blurred, no one knows who the real enemy is anymore.Reeling from the terrorist attack that killed her father, Lorna lurches through an inebriated adolescence until she finds redemption in a young soldier called Danny. However, her dream of a stable life is shattered when Danny is called to serve in war overseas.Danny is lost in the desert. Most of his unit is dead – victims, it would seem, of a brutal ambush. With their equipment destroyed and food running out, the small band of men stumble through the sand and shadows, desperate to find salvation. As their hope fades, they begin to turn on each other, until finally it becomes clear that only the truly monstrous will survive.Brown creates a compelling and gripping experience alternating between the soldier and home narrative. Cleverly employing letters and unique voices we are drawn completely into the raw desert while being left with a thought-provoking and graphic view of modern warfare.What Reviewers and Readers Say:'Beautifully written, smart and punchy'. Sam Mills, author of The Quiddity of Will Self'A memorable and moving portrait of the futility of 21st century conflict'. Benjamin Myers, author of Pig Iron and Beastings
The Chateau by the River
Chloé Duval - 2018
. . and the enduring mystery of love.
Traveling to France on business, Alexandra Dawson has decided to seize the opportunity to explore a mysterious piece of her own heritage—a half-burnt picture of a woman who looks eerily like her, taken more than a hundred years ago in a local castle. In the charming rural village of Chandeniers, she discovers something else too—the gruff, ruggedly good-looking heir of the crumbled chateau. Eric Lagnel is completely uninterested in Alex’s queries, until he realizes that she may have stumbled on a way to save the building. Their unlikely partnership is a surprise. But as Alex slowly unravels the secrets of her great-great-grandmother’s photograph—and the true history of the chateau—she begins to understand that no one is ever prepared for the ways love can heal old wounds and open the hardest hearts.
We Can't Be Broken
H.K. Christie - 2017
Once Anna is born everything changes for the better: a new sister, a new house and a perfect life. It’s as if nothing can go wrong—until Anna gets cancer.
In the wake of seemingly never-ending hospital stays and chemo treatments, Casey and her older siblings, Kelly and Sam, are suddenly forced to fend for themselves while constantly adapting to a new normal, which is anything but. Now growing up in the shadow of their sister’s cancer, Casey and her siblings try to survive as well as figure out their own place in the world.
With the family they once had no longer in existence, Casey finds herself wondering what’s next. Will they ever again find peace, happiness or each other? We Can't Be Broken is a novel inspired by true events.
The Archer's Son
M.E. Hubbs - 2014
The breast of the mail bore a ragged hole and the heavy links were sticky. It took a moment for Hedyn to realize it was soaked in drying blood.“A bascinet and hauberk?” he asked.“Aye, you shall need these before the night is done.” . . . Treachery, disease, hunger, and death plague their steps as King Henry’s men near their fateful battle with the French army at Agincourt. Eager to see the world that lies beyond his small Cornish village, 12 year ol Hedyn, son of an archer and serf, is thrilled to be chosen to join King Henry’s army as it advances on Normandy. His excitement quickly gives way to exhaustion in body and spirit, as well as worry for the safety of his newfound friends and comrades. Can a mysterious stranger with a secretive past offer Hedyn hope amidst the horrors of battle?