Book picks similar to
Defying Gravity: A Political Life by Dennis Altman
political-analysis
sociology
antipodes
gay
Rag and Bone Winter Hope: A Christmas Victorian Romance
Rosie Swan - 2020
Driven from home to be dumped in the workhouse, Charlie has had to fight for survival and has vowed to never forgive those who hurt her.Paul Vermont is a godly man who falls in love with Charlie from the moment he first sets eyes on her. The textiles in the factory are nothing but rags compared to her beauty, but bitterness in her heart is evident in the way she treats everyone around her. Paul has strong faith and refuses to believe that Charlie cannot change.He sets out to help her deal with her past—and that means returning to where it all began.The brave Christmas journey she takes then changes everything for them both.If you enjoy heartfelt Victorian romance you will love this beautiful Christmas tale. Read it today.
Her Unintentional Pure Love
Lilah Rivers - 2020
She lives in a disrepaired ranch in Coleburn with her father and her brother, since a double disaster turned everything upside down: her dearest mother passed away and winter storms wiped out most of their cattle herd. Having to deal with her father's gabling addiction, as well as her brother's irresponsibility, she desperately hopes for things to get better. When a wealthy young rancher offers a helping hand with the critically damaged ranch, she will doubt his true intentions. Will his manipulative behavior become an obstacle to her growing fondness for him?Jarrett Rains is the third son of the wealthiest family in Coleburn County. For many years, he has dreamt of marrying Pauline Dixon and has no plans to escape that fate. When he loses a poker game to one of the most misfortunate farmers in the town, his pride is deeply hurt. Feeling completely humiliated and embarrassed, he decides to do whatever it takes to get sweet revenge on his family. Having the perfect plan in mind, he will start working for the Andersons. But will he succeed in fulfilling his insidious idea or will the Anderson family realize his underlying goal?Life in the ranch brings Jarrett and Laila closer than they would ever expect to be, and undeniable emotions are growing between them. Will Jarrett get the future he has always been planning, and run off with Pauline? Or will he see that real respect, honor and love might be staring him right in the face without him realizing it?"Her Unintentional Pure Love" is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
Blackpool Lass
Maggie Mason - 2018
She's sent to an orphanage in Blackpool, but the master has an eye for a pretty young lass. Grace won't be his victim, so she runs, destitute, into the night. In Blackpool, she finds a home with the kindly Sheila and Peggy - and meets a lovely airman. But it's 1938, and war is on the horizon. Will Grace ever find the happiness and home she deserves?
A Mother's Sacrifice: The most moving and page-turning saga you'll read this year
Jennie Felton - 2020
The Market Stall Girl
AnneMarie Brear - 2020
Working on the family's stall, selling the fruit and vegetables grown in their own fields, gives her a sense of purpose and is healthier than working in a dangerous cotton mill.Although not thinking of marriage, when Beth meets Noah Jackson, a village miner, she is suddenly very aware of Noah as a man who could change her mind. The summer brings the two closer, and their feelings deepen, while Noah studies hard to fulfill his dreams of becoming a teacher and securing a better life than his parents endure.But, a disaster at the coal mine changes lives forever. Noah's plans are shattered. His love for Beth is put at risk, and he fears they can never find happiness together.However, another man wants Beth. Louis Melville, the wealthy son of a local gentry family, is acutely aware of Beth's beauty, and he wants her for himself. At first, he is willing to offer marriage, but when Beth turns him down in favour of Noah, Melville, furious to be denied, reeks revenge with devastating consequences.Will Beth and Noah find the happiness they wish for, or will overwhelming events break them apart?
The Fleethaven Trilogy
Margaret Dickinson - 2001
Plough the Furrow begins in 1910. Esther Everatt, shunned by her family and desperate for work and a place to say, finds her way to Sam Brumby's farm. Able to work alongside any man, she earns old Sam's grudging respect. Prepared to risk everything to secure her future, Esther marries a local farmhand. But as war arrives she comes to understand that only the truest of love can survive the passing of the seasons. Sow the Seed follows the story of Kate, Esther's daughter. Kate is determined to marry her childhood sweetheart, Danny. But when she reaches eighteen Kate is told the bitter truth of her family's past and the reasons why marriage to Danny can never happen. Heart-broken Kate witnesses many things amidst the chaos and destruction of WWII, which finally lead her to experience a love that allows her to leave the past behind. Reap the Harvest is set in the aftermath of the disastrous Lincolnshire floods of 1953. Kate's daughter Ella finds herself compelled to live at Brumby's Farm with her grandmother, Esther. This story of love, war, secrets and tragedy seems destined to repeat itself in heartache before coming full circle and bringing this glorious trilogy to a close.
In Compromise with the Earl
Ava MacAdams - 2021
Still, she pretends to wear her reputation of a hoyden like a badge of honor.Cheated on and humiliated across every acre of the Ton, Oswald Bristol, the Earl of Tennesley, needs to find a timid wife this time. But relying on a matchmaker seems more than ridiculous to him.Except, an odd thing happens when the man who has spent his life being proper overhears a lady of loose morals calling him a bore. Determined not to let this slight pass, he takes it upon himself to prove her wrong. Even if that means putting her in greater danger than he realizes.
Plantation Restored (Azalea Plantation #3)
B.J. Robinson - 2017
The war ends, and Lexie awaits his return. Other soldiers are making it home, but Reese is missing. She leaves New Orleans and travels back to Azalea Plantation in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to await his return, busying herself with restoring the plantation after the war. Lexie clings to faith and hope and refuses to give up on Reese even though she's heard the stories about prisoners-of-war and the explosion of the Sultana. The family decides to visit Azalea Plantation. Will it be for a funeral or a wedding? Reese has still not shown when they are all gathered together. Is it possible for a country to be restored like a plantation home?
Always Greener
Kate Grenville - 2021
She’d been so pleased with little Dolly Russell, the good life she’d got for them all. Thought she had it made, had got her hands at last on the levers of her life.... Now it turned out that all that, being so pleased with herself, was no more real than a puff of smoke.'Always Greener is an exquisite portrait of Kate Grenville's complex, conflicted grandmother, who she feared as a child and only in adulthood came to understand. Born in rural Australia, Dolly Russell becomes a successful businessperson, mother and troubled wife. Then came the depression, bankruptcy and World War I. Yet, in a way, those disasters freed her. They allowed her to use her intelligence and ambition to make a space for herself in a man’s world.With all the pathos and subtlety that defined Grenville’s Australian classics such as Lilian’s Story and her Booker-shortlisted The Secret River, Always Greener tells the story of a generation of women often forgotten at our own cost.
Hannah's War
Fenella J. Miller - 2012
Torn between her duty and her humanity, she is sheltering a young German pilot knowing she risks being arrested as a traitor. Hannah’s worst fears are realised when Jack finds out what she has done and their love begins to unravel.Will her betrayal be too much for Jack to forgive?
Black Diamonds: One woman's brave heart (Seasons of Change Book 1)
Lynette Rees - 2015
A tale of passion and compassion and most of all, one woman's brave heart. Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, 1865. When Lily Jenkin begins her first day working for the Morgans at their corner shop in the little village of Abercanaid, she has no idea of the calamity that lies ahead of that fateful day. It is a day of tragedy at the Gethin Coal Pit that brings her into contact with the new handsome, chapel minister, Evan Davies, for the first time. Although a dark cloud of death passes over the village, Lily and Evan draw close to one another as they help the villagers deal with the tragedy, forming a bond which could lead to love. However, there is a gossiping old crone in the village who will do her best to cause trouble for the pair by hook or by crook. Lily has the opportunity to escape the valley of the shadow of death to make a new home for herself in Great Salt Lake, America. Will she take the chance to go to ‘Zion’, following her Mormon relatives, and more importantly, will Evan, a Welsh Baptist minister, go with her? The Seasons of Change Series: 1. Black Diamonds 2. White Roses 3. Blue Skies 4. Red Poppies
The Letter (Isabel's Story, #2)
Michelle Vernal - 2020
An unexpected letter. Do words have the power to heal? Veronica and Gabe met when they were children at ballet class and by the time they’d reached their teens they knew they’d be dancing together forever. Only Gabe’s mother had other ideas…Twenty-something years later, Veronica no longer dances and life hasn’t turned out how she thought it would. She’s a divorced woman in her forties with a needy ex-husband, monosyllabic teenage sons, a sister who fancies herself as a long in the tooth ‘it girl’ and a mother who’s recently moved into a care home. She’s tying herself in knots trying to be everything to everyone.Veronica also has a secret.Isabel was a lost soul until she moved to the Isle of Wight and found a place to call home, but there’s a part of her that’s missing. She knows she must reach out if she’s to find the missing piece she needs to feel whole.When Veronica receives a letter, she never thought she’d get her past collides with her present. The time’s come for her to share her secret with her family, but she’s not the only one keeping a secret…
(This book was previously titled The Dancer) It can be read as a standalone novel or as part of the Isabel's story, series
Branded By a Warrior
Sunny Andrews - 2015
They call her The Warrior Queen of Scotland… She is the most notorious woman of all Scotland: fierce, deadly and an unbeatable archer. At only three and twenty, she had become a legend amongst her people and country. Refusing a husband over her sword, Elisabeth is haunted by a vicious enemy who will stop at nothing to make her his bride. Elisabeth Drummond stands alone as she escapes the midnight massacre of everyone she holds dear in her life. Her beloved brother’s dying wish was to see her flee north towards Castle MacMillan, the elusive lair of Laird Broderick MacMillan- the King of England’s most favored warrior, and ally to Clan Drummond. A man who once held her in his arms and nearly ravished her many years ago, a man who had believed he was seducing someone entirely different. In the middle of a laird who wants to see her suffer, and a laird who refuses to trust her, Elisabeth must battle her injuries and her heart to seek vengeance for her fallen clan. Will the Warrior Queen of Scotland be able to soften the heart of Laird MacMillan? Will destiny bring her and Broderick together once again, or will cruel fate rip them from each other once more? In a time where your enemy could be your closest ally, Elisabeth rises out of the ashes…but will Broderick be the man she needs?