Book picks similar to
An Irishwoman's Tale by Patti Lacy
christian-fiction
fiction
christian
historical
Sergei and Hans
Dennis Santaniello - 2015
Set on the Eastern Front of WWI, on a cruel and unforgiving mountain, and later in a terrifying German prison camp, this fascinating story encapsulates real men and their struggles to survive a war unlike the world has ever seen. Both soldiers have their own stories to tell.They are “SERGEI AND HANS”.
Tahn
L.A. Kelly - 2005
Trapped between his master's evil commands and his persistent conscience that tells him to do otherwise, Tahn Dorn finds himself in a twisting plot that threatens not only his life but also that of the lovely Netta.
The Time Keeper
Mitch Albom - 2012
The inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.He returns to our world - now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began - and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so.
Rain Dance
Joy E. DeKok
What happens when a Christian woman facing a childless future and a woman seeking an abortion are waiting to see the same doctor?What if after that "chance" encounter they are unable to forget each other?What if they find themselves drawn together in spite of their drastic differences by their surprising similarities?What if they somehow find the courage to become friends?Rain Dance takes the listener into the hearts of these two women as they journey closer to the heart of the One who offers hope and healing.
Prints Charming
Rebeca Seitz - 2007
Her non-profit publicity firm is doing well and her new neighbor, Jake, is causing all kinds of sparks.But when the Ex returns with a sorrowful heart begging for one more chance, Jane pulls her wedding scrapbook out of the closet to decide if her future lies in the past. With her friends going through trials of their own--adoption, run-ins with the law, and marital trouble--Jane and the girls come together over the scrapping table to make sense of their crazy lives.Through the diverse and connected lives of four women, Rebeca Seitz creates an engaging story that celebrates the power of friendship and the uncertain-but-exciting world of starting anew.
The Edge of Light
Ann Shorey - 2009
And when Samuel's unscrupulous brother takes over the family business, Molly must head out on her own, leaving her old life behind. It's a dangerous journey, but somehow she must find a way to make a living, keep her family together, and fend off some over-eager suitors.
McKenzie
Penny Zeller - 2010
McKenzie is desperate, after all, to save her beloved younger sister, Kaydie, from her evil, abusive husband, who robs banks for a living. And so, it is with reckless determination that McKenzie runs away from the comforts of home and hearth to head West and meet her new husband-whom she'll divorce, of course, after she rescues her sister. "Desperate times call for desperate measures" is the reasoning that also prompts Zachary Sawyer, a rugged rancher after God's own heart, to post an ad for a mail-order bride in various newspapers across the country. Managing a ranch and caring for his adoptive son, Davey, has become more than one man can handle alone, and Zach prays for God to send him a wife with whom to build a life and share his dreams.When McKenzie arrives at Zach's ranch, she immediately puts her plan in motion, searching for her sister and doing all she can to keep her new husband from forming an attachment. But his persistent kindness and significant self-sacrifices begin to change her heart-and ruin her plans. God has a way of working things out to the good of those who love Him, though, as McKenzie and Kaydie will soon see.
The Letter
Kathryn Hughes - 2013
The novel explores two historical strands, bringing together an abused housewife from the 1970s and a young girl from the early 1940s in a story of love, loss and unexpected consequences.The Letter follows the life of Tina in the 1970s who seeks respite from her abusive marriage by volunteering at a charity shop. One day, while sorting through the pockets of a second-hand suit, she comes across an old letter. It is still firmly sealed and un-franked. Unable to resist the pull of curiosity, Tina opens the letter. It was written on 4th September 1939. She is so moved by the contents and bemused as to why the letter was never delivered, she embarks on a quest to find out what became of the writer and his intended recipient.The mystery of how this love letter ended up in Tina’s hands is also uncovered through Billy’s story from the early 1940s. He writes a letter that will change his life forever, unaware that it will not be read for another 34 years, and then by a complete stranger.With a swift pace, memorable characters and a wonderful conceptual depth, Hughes’ novel is one that simply can’t be put down.
Love Comes Softly
Janette Oke - 1979
They would stake a claim of their own on the new frontier, and build a home for themselves and their family.But just after they'd arrived and Clem had chosen the perfect setting for their new home, an accident took his life...leaving Marty alone and pregnant. Then, on the day of his funeral, Clark Davis came along...and asked Marty to marry him!Marty was infuriated -- but with no money, no shelter, and a baby on the way, what choice did she have? Besides, Clark said he only wanted her to be a mama to his baby girl, Missie. If Marty was still unhappy come spring, he would pay for her ticket back East.Determined not to be a burden to Clark, and intending only to earn her keep. Marty threw herself into her new role of "Mama." But she had never been anyone's mama before, and she didn't even know how to keep a house! If only she could do right by this lonely man and his daughter just long enough to earn her train fare back home...Now, Marty must learn wholeness and love through patience and faith
The Yellow House
Patricia Falvey - 2010
Eileen O'Neill's family is torn apart by religious intolerance and secrets from the past. Determined to reclaim her ancestral home and reunite her family, Eileen begins working at the local mill.
Mail Order Nanny: Charlotte's Dream
Jean L. Kuhnke - 2014
She eventually worked for a wealthy family as their head chef. When she slapped the face of her employers son because of inappropriate advances she was immediately terminated. The only job she could find after six months of searching was for a general housekeeper, nanny and cook in Montana. She could pretend to be the mother she knew she would never be.
Opal's Story
Phyllis H. Moore - 2015
At the center of the tragedy is Opal Evans. Over fifty years later, terminally ill, Opal's only desire is to forgive herself for the unspeakable aftermath resulting from the chaos. She wants to face the person who betrayed her trust and let him know he separated her from her faith. With the support of her brothers, their families and an unlikely former student, Opal discovers the forgiveness and the faith she thought she left behind in her twenties, while her niece, Joy, discovers a tender love story she never expected as she learns that decisions to "protect" family from information may deprive them of the opportunity to demonstrate the depth of their emotions. Set in a small town in west Texas, the fictitious, Jordanville, embodies most small towns in the late forties. The lifestyles and attitudes that shaped the community defined the values and the prejudices that could condone and precipitate acts of bullying and intimidation. Harold sat watching Opal recall the house. He never expressed his opinion about his parent’s need to maintain a social presence. It didn’t sit well with him. In fact, it irritated him. He thought the need to have material things and be seen in the community as law-abiding, church-goers was the root of their problems. Opal saw the family one way, and he recalled their existence in a different way. He supposed it was a gender thing. Opal liked the silver, china, bridge-playing, choir-singing. He, on the other hand, didn’t feel those things were necessary. He didn’t mind attending church, but he saw duplicity there. The boys tended to be out on the town, observing the men of the church in the pool hall, courting women, not their wives, gambling, and telling irreverent jokes. He knew their father was one of those men, living one way in view of his family and church, and living another way when they weren’t looking. Harold knew the gambling was a problem and caused the financial problems they discovered after Billy Mack’s death. Harold’s memory was not as flattering to his father. Sometimes he thought his mother’s desire for silver and china was the reason their father turned to gambling. He wanted to blame someone, but he wasn’t sure . . . I’ll let Opal have her pleasant memories. No sense upsetting her at this stage of the game. What’s gone is done. Nothing we can do about it now. She may not even know about the financial problems. Opal may have been in the hospital when we discovered that. I can’t remember. No harm done keeping that away from her. She had enough to worry about. Nothing anyone could do about it anyways.
The Good People
Hannah Kent - 2016
Watching them fade into the grey fall of snow, Nance thought she could hear Maggie's voice. A whisper in the dark.
"Some folk are born different, Nance. They are born on the outside of things, with a skin a little thinner, eyes a little keener to what goes unnoticed by most. Their hearts swallow more blood than ordinary hearts; the river runs differently for them."
Nóra Leahy has lost her daughter and her husband in the same year, and is now burdened with the care of her four-year-old grandson, Micheál. The boy cannot walk, or speak, and Nora, mistrustful of the tongues of gossips, has kept the child hidden from those who might see in his deformity evidence of otherworldly interference. Unable to care for the child alone, Nóra hires a fourteen-year-old servant girl, Mary, who soon hears the whispers in the valley about the blasted creature causing grief to fall upon the widow's house. Alone, hedged in by rumour, Mary and her mistress seek out the only person in the valley who might be able to help Micheál. For although her neighbours are wary of her, it is said that old Nance Roche has the knowledge. That she consorts with Them, the Good People. And that only she can return those whom they have taken...
The Dirty Parts of the Bible
Sam Torode - 2007
Tobias is obsessed with two things: God and girls. Mostly girls, of course. But being a Baptist preacher's son, he can't escape God. When his father is blinded in a bizarre accident (involving hard cider and bird droppings), Tobias must ride the rails to Texas to recover a long-hidden stash of money. Along the way, he's initiated into the hobo brotherhood by Craw, a ribald vagabond-philosopher. Obstacles arise in the form of a saucy prostitute, a flaming boxcar, and a man-eating catfish. But when he meets Sarah, a tough farm girl under a dark curse, he finds out that the greatest challenge of all is love.
We Are Not Ourselves
Matthew Thomas - 2014
They marry, and Eileen quickly discovers Ed doesn't aspire to the same, ever bigger, stakes in the American Dream. Eileen encourages her husband to want more: a better job, better friends, a better house, but as years pass it becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper psychological shift. An inescapable darkness enters their lives, and Eileen and Ed and their son Connell try desperately to hold together a semblance of the reality they have known, and to preserve, against long odds, an idea they have cherished of the future. Through the Learys, novelist Matthew Thomas charts the story of the American Century, particularly the promise of domestic bliss and economic prosperity that captured hearts and minds after WWII. The result is a riveting and affecting work of art; one that reminds us that life is more than a tally of victories and defeats, that we live to love and be loved, and that we should tell each other so before the moment slips away. Epic in scope, heroic in character, masterful in prose, We Are Not Ourselves heralds the arrival of a major new talent in contemporary fiction.