Family life fiction / Stories about family
Small Beer Press Terra Nullius
Book Synopsis
£13.29
Small Beer Press Taboo
Book Synopsis
£12.34
Angelico Press The Chain: A Story of Faith Seeking Understanding
Book Synopsis
£26.00
Strategic Book Publishing The Children of White River
Book Synopsis
£9.68
Interlink Publishing Group, Inc The Book of Queens
Book Synopsis
£14.44
Interlink Publishing Group, Inc All The Women Inside Me
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Strategic Book Publishing When This War Is Over
£10.32
Black Lawrence Press The Stone Sister
Book Synopsis
£18.95
Black Lawrence Press, Inc. News of the Air
Book Synopsis
£17.05
Arcade Publishing The Best Intentions
Book Synopsis
£15.30
Arcade Publishing Private Confessions
Book Synopsis
£13.59
Arcade Publishing Jean Harley Was Here
Book Synopsis
£19.99
Turner Publishing Company Our Daily Bread
Book SynopsisFrom renowned playwright Jackie Alexander comes a captivating, masterfully told coming-of-age novel of a young man struggling through his haunting past to discover and save himself. Stigmatized at birth due to his interracial parentage and reared in a household poisoned by domestic abuse, Kevin Matthews is orphaned at age ten after losing his mother to a violent attack at the hands of his father, who is jailed for the crime. Raised by his paternal grandfather, a Baptist Minister who instills values of the church as a base for recovery, Kevin is content with life in rural Louisiana during the 1970s until disturbing news surfaces regarding his mother's attack—news that sheds doubt on his father's guilt, and leads Kevin to relive painful memories. As Kevin grows up, the emotional scars of his childhood cast dark clouds over his relationships with women, and his life begins to spiral out of control. Faced with losing all that he loves, Kevin is forced to confront the man who holds the key to his salvation, his father. Our Daily Bread is a rich and compelling coming-of-age story of a young boy whose journey takes us from the bayous of Louisiana to the big city lights of New York and Paris. Examining family, race, religion, and the lingering effects of domestic abuse, Our Daily Bread questions what defines one's legacy: the surroundings we are born into, or the choices we make thereafter.Trade Review“Engaging in its lyricism and piercingly honest . . . Alexander’s voice is distinctive, fluid, and captivating. His keen sense and talent for dialogue; his narrative style, simple but profound; and his humor make Our Daily Bread compelling and irresistible.” —Mohammed Naseehu Ali, author of The Prophet of Zongo Street “Alexander’s characters stay with you long after reading the last page of Our Daily Bread, so much so that you miss them and find yourself wondering how they’re doing in life. With dialogue so skillfully constructed that conversations feel as if they are being eavesdropped on rather than read, this story becomes a part of you.” —Jill Sorensen, founder of Knock-Out Abuse
£19.79
WW Norton & Co The Wind Whistling in the Cranes: A Novel
Book SynopsisWith the grand sweep of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, this enduring tale transports us to a picturesque seaside town haunted by its colonial past. Considered one of Europe’s most influential contemporary writers, Portuguese novelist Lídia Jorge has captivated international audiences for decades. With the publication of The Wind Whistling in the Cranes, English-speaking readers can now experience the thrum of her signature poetic style and her delicately braided multi-character plotlines and witness the heroic journey of one of the most maddening, and endearing, characters in literary fiction. Exquisitely translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Annie McDermott, this breathtaking saga, set in the now-distant 1990s, tells the story of the landlords and tenants of a derelict canning factory in southern Portugal. The wealthy, always-scheming Leandros have owned the building since before the Carnation Revolution. It was Leandro matriarch, Dona Regina, who handed the keys to the Matas, the bustling family from Cape Verde who saw past the dusty machinery and converted the space into a warm—and welcoming—home. When Dona Regina is found dead outside the factory on a holiday weekend, her body covered in black ants, her granddaughter, Milene, investigates. Aware that her aunts and uncles, who are on holiday, will berate her inability to articulate what has just happened, she approaches the factory riddled with anxiety. Hours later, the Matas return home to find this strange girl hiding behind their clotheslines and with caution, they take her in. Days later, the Leandros realise that Milene has become hopelessly entangled with their tenants, and their fear of political and financial ruin sets off a series of events that threatens to uproot the lives of everyone involved. Narrated with passionate, incandescent prose, The Wind Whistling in the Cranes establishes Lídia Jorge as a novelist of extraordinary international resonance.Trade Review"[T]he book’s distinctive blend of social history and the most intimate of family sagas . . . Jorge’s book is very much its own thing, with a razor-sharp postcolonial subtext that asks deeper questions about who we consider the outsider, and why." -- Liam Hess - Vogue"A big, satisfying national saga...A long, immersive novel that parcels out information and plot turns at a methodical pace. This feels very natural: The novel is a flexible art form, of course, but among its signal virtues are patience and deliberation. Depicting the decline of an old order is something it is uniquely good at doing and there is great pleasure to be had in Ms. Jorge’s confident handling of the classic subject. As private desires clash with public appearance, a quiet moral accounting emerges in Milene’s consciousness. “What did goodness have to do with strength?” she wonders. “Were the two qualities mutually repellant?” The answer is as layered and ambiguous as the rest of this fine book." -- Sam Sacks - Wall Street Journal"The novel moves rhythmically, as if wavering under the blazing sun...This is a thrillingly immersive 'parable about life, about the struggle between rich and poor, between one race and another.' Even the trees and surrounding landscape — “mute figures who, of course, had knowledge and memory” — have their point of view." -- Anderson Tepper - The New York Times Book Review
£21.59
WW Norton & Co The Taste of Sugar: A Novel
Book SynopsisIt is 1898, and groups of starving Puerto Ricans, los hambrientos, roam the parched countryside and dusty towns begging for food. Under the yoke of Spanish oppression, the Caribbean island is forced to prepare to wage war with the United States. Up in the mountainous coffee region of Utuado, Vicente Vega and Valentina Sanchez labor to keep their small farm from the creditors. When the Spanish-American War and the great San Ciriaco Hurricane of 1899 bring devastating upheaval, the young couple is lured, along with thousands of other puertorriquenos, to the sugar plantations of Hawaii—another US territory—where they are confronted by the hollowness of America’s promises of prosperity. Writing in the tradition of great Latin American storytelling, Marisel Vera’s The Taste of Sugar is an unforgettable novel of love and endurance, and a timeless portrait of the reasons we leave home.Trade Review"Enthralling. . . . [I]n a sense, The Taste of Sugar is a corrective to those French melodramas that Valentina once devoured: It’s a passionate love story purified in the crucible of suffering. . . . Intimate and finely drawn details are nested within a masterful work of historical fiction that traces monumental economic and political currents. . . . [A] Latino Grapes of Wrath." -- Ron Charles - The Washington Post"Capacious.... A young woman, relinquishing a dream of one day seeing Paris, marries a coffee farmer and struggles to find a role in her new household.... The book, yoking family crises to geopolitical ones, succeeds in creating characters who feel individuated rather than schematic. The coffee farmer, observing his disenchanted bride, wonders, 'Why did all the women in his family stare out the window?'" -- The New Yorker, "Briefly Noted""A sprawling family epic that stretches from the mountains of Puerto Rico to Hawaii and across decades of love, famine, and war. . . . Vera tells a grand story using innovative techniques. . . . The Vega and Sánchez families are made up of vivid, fully realized characters, and Vera has a knack for writing dialogue that is full of personality. Her descriptions of Puerto Rico’s natural beauty are impressive . . . [T]he reader will emerge with a deep sense of Puerto Rican history and suffering that has been lost to most Americans . . . Vera’s breakout novel is a sweeping, emotional tale that puts her characters, and her readers, through an emotional wringer." -- Kirkus Reviews"Vera’s saga is impeccably timed to provide insights into the troubling history of Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States, and showing that the colonization of puertorriqueños extended to the Pacific fills a gap in history for many. Recommended for anyone who enjoys epic stories of hardship and loss as well as the perseverance, love, and strength drawn from one’s family and culture." -- Faye Chadwell - Library Journal"Tapping into her Puerto Rican heritage and conducting plenty of research, [Vera] presents a heartfelt depiction of once-proud coffee plantation hacendados (owners) in very difficult times. . . . Progressing chronologically, the omniscient narrator seamlessly folds in Spanish words and phrases as well as epistolary interludes . . . Vera’s novel is historical fiction at its best, featuring engaging survivors from a forgotten past." -- Sara Martinez - Booklist"Subtle yet arresting, The Taste of Sugar, is a gorgeous feat of storytelling. Marisel Vera melds meticulous research with deep compassion and pure talent to fashion a novel that excavates the pain of the history while drawing hope from the buried stories of our nation. This is historical fiction as its best, using the moral dilemmas of the past to decipher our present conflicts in order to light our way toward a more just future." -- Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage"A majestic work with the grand sweep of history and the intimacy of a compelling dream. Marisel Vera has written a compassionate, unforgettable, richly detailed novel about colonialism in all its guises, offering us little-known stories from the past that are essential to understanding the present." -- Cristina Garcia, author of Dreaming in Cuban"In The Taste of Sugar, Vera adds an important contribution to Puerto Rican literature by chronicling the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico, the San Ciriaco hurricane, and the mass migration to Hawaii. Throughout, Vera captures the 'trabajo y tristeza' of the Puerto Rican people. Brava to Marisel Vera for telling our stories!" -- Ivelisse Rodriguez, author of Love War Stories"Vera eloquently tells the story of an astonishing Puerto Rican family and their countrymen and women, as their people are constantly betrayed, discarded and ruined, first by the Spanish, next by the Americans, yet they never give up hope. Haunting, mesmerizing, and heart-scorching, you will turn pages while holding your breath. You don’t just read this genius alive novel, you live it." -- Caroline Leavitt, author of Cruel Beautiful World"A family saga set against the backdrop of Puerto Rico in the late 1800s, The Taste of Sugar plunges us into a world where people who are struggling with profound poverty, abuse and discrimination manage to preserve their hopes, dignity, grace and the familial love that holds them together. Marisel Vera’s novel is a real contribution to the literature about the immigrant experience of yesterday—and today." -- María Amparo Escandón, author of Esperanza’s Box of Saints and González and Daughter Trucking Co.
£19.94
WW Norton & Co Biloxi: A Novel
Book SynopsisBuilding on her critically acclaimed novel The Last Days of California and her biting collection Always Happy Hour, Miller transports readers to this delightfully wry, unapologetic corner of the south—Biloxi, Mississippi, home to sixty-three-year-old Louis McDonald, Jr. Louis has been forlorn since his wife of thirty-seven years left him, his father passed away and he impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance cheque that may not come. These days he watches reality television and tries to avoid his ex-wife and daughter, benefiting from the charity of his former brother-in-law, Frank, who religiously brings over his takeway leftovers and always stays for a beer. Yet the past is no predictor of Louis’s future. On a routine trip to Walgreens to pick up his diabetes medication, he stops at a sign advertising free dogs and meets Harry Davidson, a man who claims to have more than a dozen canines on offer, but offers only one: an overweight mixed breed named Layla. Without any rational explanation, Louis feels compelled to take the dog home and the two become inseparable. Louis, more than anyone, is dumbfounded to find himself in love—bursting into song with improvised jingles, exploring new locales and reevaluating what he once considered the fixed horizons of his life. With her “sociologist’s eye for the mundane and revealing” (Joyce Carol Oates, New York Review of Books), Miller populates the Gulf Coast with Ann Beattie-like characters. A strangely heartwarming tale of loneliness, masculinity and the limitations of each, Biloxi confirms Miller’s position as one of our most gifted and perceptive writers.
£12.34
WW Norton & Co Ordinary People: A Novel
Book SynopsisHailed as a “lyrical and glorious writer; a precise poet of the human heart” (Naomi Alderman), London-based author Diana Evans received international acclaim for Ordinary People. In a crooked house in South London, Melissa feels increasingly that she’s defined solely by motherhood, while Michael mourns the thrill of their romance. In the suburbs, Stephanie’s aspirations for bliss on the commuter belt compound Damian’s itch for a bigger life. Longtime friends from the years when passion seemed permanent, the couples have stayed in touch, gathering for births and anniversaries. But as bonds fray, the lines once clearly marked by wedding bands aren’t so simply defined. Sweeping eloquently from the specific to the universal, Ordinary People “unpacks the intersection of race, gender, and politics with something as profoundly intimate as marriage” (Claire Fallon, Huffington Post)
£13.29
WW Norton & Co The Taste of Sugar: A Novel
Book Synopsis Marisel Vera emerges as a major new voice in contemporary fiction with this “capacious” (The New Yorker) novel set in Puerto Rico on the eve of the Spanish-American War. Up in the mountainous region of Utuado, Vicente Vega and Valentina Sanchez labor to keep their coffee farm from the creditors. When the great San Ciriaco hurricane of 1899 brings devastating upheaval, the young couple is lured along with thousands of other puertorriquenos to the sugar plantations of Hawaii, where they are confronted by the hollowness of America’s promises of prosperity. Depicting the roots of Puerto Rican alienation and exodus, which resonates especially today, The Taste of Sugar is “a gorgeous feat of storytelling” (Tayari Jones).
£12.99
She Writes Press A Better Next: A Novel
Book SynopsisJess Lawson, a forty-five-year-old healthcare consultant, wife, and mother of two, has spent most of her adulthood fostering the illusion of having a perfect life. Her impending empty-nest syndrome as her youngest child prepares to start college is troubling enough, but when her doctor husband, Arthur, announces his intention to take a prestigious new job on the other side of the country—and relocate without Jess—her world quickly crumbles. Amid their acrimonious divorce, revelations about Arthur's infidelity come to light; and at work, instead of the revitalized career Jess is hoping for, she uncovers surprising financial corruption that threatens a scandal for her client—and the well-being of the many unsuspecting patients and physicians they serve. Ultimately, this superwoman is forced to acknowledge that her put-together veneer can't hold up under the weight of these new burdens. She also, however, refuses to wallow in victimhood. So what now? A smart, relatable story for every woman who’s gone bold to sort out her next chapter, A Better Next shows how—with a little soul searching and a supportive circle of friends and colleagues—it’s possible to redefine happiness and establish a liberating, new normal at any stage of life.Trade Review2019 International Book Awards Finalist, Fiction: Chick-Lit/Women's Lit“Both sprightly and deeply felt, A Better Next captures the losses, trade-offs, and rewards of the contemporary career woman/wife/mother. Many are the women who will recognize themselves in Jess' story.”—Faith Sullivan, award-winning author of Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse“Take a woman determined to move on from a failed marriage, give her the support of loyal women friends, and plunge her into a morally challenging, high-level business merger: now that's a story that will keep you turning the pages late into the night!”—Jenni Ogden, author of A Drop in the Ocean“Maren Cooper has created memorable characters, especially in Jess, a smart, strong, and savvy hospital consultant who is blindsided by her husband's affair. The situation may be universal but the story is unique, making for a page-turner tribute to friendships and families.”—Romalyn Tilghman, author of Through the Stars with Difficulty“Maren Cooper's touching debut details one woman's journey through divorce and professional challenge. Jess Lawson is devoted to her family and its veneer of perfection, but in her preoccupation with work, she fails to acknowledge her disintegrating marriage. Featuring a strong female protagonist who takes charge of her life, A Better Next would be a fitting and meaningful read for those entering new chapters in their lives.”—Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg, author of Eden“Jess Lawson is an expert multi-tasker, successfully juggling marriage, family, and career. Yet when her husband announces that he’s through, things threaten to spin out of control. Can she hang on, restore balance, and put everything right? Or must she accept what she can’t control? Maren Cooper’s debut novel takes the reader on Jess’s personal journey with skill, compassion, and insight. A Better Next is a lovely read.”—Anne Leigh Parrish, author of The Amendment“A Better Next is a sensitive drama that follows the day-by-day challenges of starting over.”—Foreword Reviews
£12.34
She Writes Press Chasing North Star: A Novel
Book SynopsisGermany, 1940. While struggling to survive at an orphanage, young Didi crosses paths with a rebellious, quirky girl who will either help her escape a life of abuse and uncertainty or lead her down an even darker path.Fast-forward to 1970. With help from a worn leather journal, another young girl learns the story of Didi, who escaped war-torn Germany for a better life in America—except her life didn’t turn out as expected. The stories of these two girls intertwine and eventually collide one Christmas night when Didi, all grown up, finally remembers the secret she buried long ago.Chasing North Star looks back at a time when four free-range siblings, cigarettes in hand, roamed the streets ’til sunrise and hid from a gun-toting, mentally ill mother who couldn’t help herself. Stingray bicycles, transistor radios, and late nights in the cemetery—just another day in Alamo. That is, until the youngest sibling stumbles upon Didi’s story.Trade Review“Chasing North Star has heart and is packed with nostalgic cultural references from the Wonder Years era. Inspired by a true story, Heidi McCrary’s novel is no one’s fantasy of the perfect childhood. Part horror story, part love story, it keeps the reader engaged and lays bare what it’s like to grow up with a mentally ill mother who broke her children’s 45s but couldn’t break their spirits.” —Lori Moore, TV/radio personality and actress “Chasing North Star explores universal themes of abandonment, isolation, grief, mental illness, and forgiveness in an authentic and engaging manner. The narrative is familiar, like a close friend sharing a secret. Heidi McCrary’s novel sheds light on the ways we are taught to hide or ignore the pain we see in others and just how much one person’s kindness can make all the difference to a person in their life journey.” —J. Dylan Yates, author of The Belief in Angels and Szaja’s Story “Heidi McCrary’s debut novel, Chasing North Star, is a moving story about secrets and survival and enduring sibling ties, bound by a mother’s mental illness. This heartfelt tale lingers long after the final page.” —Linda Kass, author of Tasa’s Song and A Ritchie Boy “Chasing North Star is a poignant novel that beautifully captures the small-town childhood of four siblings trying to survive their mother’s frightening mental illness. The author sharply renders the generational impact of trauma by including shifts to the mother’s difficult past in wartime Germany.” —Elise Schiller, author of Watermark “Heidi McCrary delivers an unforgettable and unflinching coming-of-age novel about the ties that bind siblings in their complicated family struggles. Chasing North Star examines the pain—often terror—of growing up with a narcissistic, mentally ill mother and the fact that the love we all crave has to ultimately be found in ourselves.” —Diana Y. Paul, author of Things Unsaid
£12.34
She Writes Press Boop and Eve's Road Trip: A Novel
Book SynopsisEve Prince is done—with college, with her mom, with guys, and with her dream of fashion design. But when her best friend goes MIA, Eve must gather together the broken threads of her life in order to search for her. When Eve’s grandmother, Boop, a retiree dripping with Southern charm, finds out about the trip, she—desperate to see her sister, and also hoping to alleviate Eve’s growing depression—hijacks her granddaughter’s road trip. Boop knows from experience that healing Eve will require more than flirting lessons and a Garlic Festival makeover. Nevertheless, Boop is frustrated when her feeble efforts yield the same failure that her sulfur-laced sip from the Fountain of Youth wrought on her age. She knows that sharing the secret that’s haunted her for sixty years might be the one thing that will lessen Eve’s growing depression—but she also fears that if she reveals it, she’ll lose her family and her own hard-won happiness. Boop and Eve’s journey through the heart of Dixie is an unforgettable love story between a grandmother and her granddaughter.Trade Review2020 American Fiction Awards Winner in Coming of Age 2021 Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal Finalist 2021 Eric Hoffer Category Finalist Buzzfeed's "12 Most Anticipated Books of Fall" Popsugar's “The 21 Most Exciting New Releases Hitting Bookshelves Throughout October” Parade's “Highly Anticipated Books of Fall” Frolic's “Ten Books Perfect for Your Book Club” “A touching intergenerational romp through the coastal South.” —Kirkus Reviews “Book and Eve's Road Trip will touch your heart. A beautiful and emotional story of sisterhood, family, and friendship. From the first page, Mary Helen Sheriff’s lush and lyrical writing draws you in. Fans of Patti Callahan Henry and Kristy Woodson Harvey will adore this debut.” —Kerry Lonsdale, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Last Summer “Boop and Eve’s Road Trip is warm, witty, and wise, with characters I loved and characters I loved to hate. Filled with twists and turns and many a bump in the road, this trip is a delight from beginning to end.” —Han Nolan, National Book Award–winning author of Dancing on the Edge “Debut author Mary Helen Sheriff has woven a contemporary, heartwarming saga about women, for women. Peppered with surprises and humor, her story follows three generations of a dysfunctional family through their hurt, anger, and regret and toward reconciliation and hope.” —Pam Webber, best-selling author of The Wiregrass and Moon Water “Boop and Eve’s Road Trip is a delightful, funny, poignant ride filled with laughter, tears, and mystery. It is both a physical and emotional journey that Boop and Eve undertake, and the healing they both experience is something that might just heal a little part of everyone.” —Kathy Hepinstall, author of The Book of Polly “Three generations of women, one agonizing secret. Boop and Eve will steal your heart as they travel together—one seeking her future and the other forced to face her past. Sheriff’s novel will make you laugh and cry, sometimes on the very same page.” —T. Greenwood, award-winning author of Keeping Lucy and Rust & Stardust
£11.69
She Writes Press How to Make a Life: A Novel
Book Synopsis“An engaging and heartfelt portrayal of intergenerational trauma and hope.”—Kirkus ReviewsWhen Ida and her daughter Bessie flee a catastrophic pogrom in Ukraine for America in 1905, they believe their emigration will ensure that their children and grandchildren will be safe from harm. But choices and decisions made by one generation have ripple effects on those who come later—and in the decades that follow, family secrets, betrayals, and mistakes made in the name of love threaten the survival of the family: Bessie and Abe Weissman’s children struggle with the shattering effects of daughter Ruby’s mental illness, of Jenny’s love affair with her brother-in-law, of the disappearance of Ruby’s daughter as she flees her mother’s legacy, and of the accidental deaths of Irene’s husband and granddaughter.A sweeping saga that follows three generations from the tenements of Brooklyn through WWII, from Woodstock to India, and from Spain to Israel, How to Make a Life is the story of a family who must learn to accept each other’s differences—or risk cutting ties with the very people who anchor their place in the world.Trade Review2021 CIBA Goethe Book Awards Finalist2020 Best Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Women's Fiction“An engaging and heartfelt portrayal of intergenerational trauma and hope.”—Kirkus Reviews“How to Make a Life is a sharp historical novel whose panoptic view of family relationships makes its secrets, estrangements, and reconciliations satisfying.”—Foreword Clarion Review“. . . an immigrant story that will delight readers interested in how the seed of tragedy in one life takes root to produce hope in the future. Its a full-bodied story that will attract novel readers looking for a read both epic and well grounded in both adversity and recovery.”—Midwest Book Review“How to Make a Life: A Novel by Florence Reiss Kraut is a beautifully written historical novel that explores family themes and the challenges of emigration. . . . The prose is gorgeous, the narrative voice compelling and hugely observant. The relationships are well-handled and they feel real to readers. There are pathos, realism, and humanity infused in the writing and I found it easy to relate to the characters. How to Make a Life: A Novel is a spellbinding family saga with strong shades of history; it is engrossing and fast-paced.”—Readers' Favorite, 5-star review“The world of richly drawn characters in How to Make a Life transported me on a compelling emotional journey. In a story that brings the twentieth century to life, the powerful need to assimilate threatens the very bonds that ground an immigrant family with a sense of identity as four generations adapt to a culture that reinvents itself with every decade.”—Stephanie Lehmann, author of Astor Place Vintage“Florence Reiss Kraut’s rich, gutsy, and poignant novel, How to Make a Life, is the saga of four generations of an immigrant family held together by the legacy of trauma and the loyalties of succeeding generations. All the challenges of any real family are woven through this complex story. Kraut’s superb writing and deeply drawn characters, and her faithful evocation of distinct places and eras over the whole of the 20th century, keep the reader grounded and engaged.”—Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of award-winning novels Hard Cider and Even in Darkness“How to Make a Life grabs by the throat and heart from page one. It parallels the gut-wrenching horrors of war and mental illness and the extraordinary and ordinary struggles and sacrifices family makes to survive. Our great-grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandchildren, spouses, in-laws—family—are the reasons we are who we are, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.”—Patricia Dunn, senior director of The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and author of Rebels by Accident“A moving novel of four generations of an immigrant family whose characters are so real I cannot forget them.”—Tessa Smith McGovern, author of London Road Linked Stories and host/producer of BookGirl TV“Florence Kraut has written a sensitive and compelling multigenerational novel that begins with tragedy and ends with hope. Each chapter traces a family member who erases the scars of history's indelible mark with courage, determination, faith, and love. A wonderful read.”—Marsha Temlock, author of The Exile and Your Child's Divorce: What to Expect; What You Can Do“How to Make a Life is a compelling and inspirational novel. It applauds perseverance, connection and compassion over trauma, separation, and change. Details have a way of creating potency, and the beautiful descriptions in Ms. Kraut's novel brings every character alive. Her images and painterly descriptions inspired me to write about my own family. When stories inspire readers' creativity, you are in the hands of a empathic and evocative writer. I could not put this book down.”—June Gould, PhD, author of The Writer in All of Us and IWWG Writing Workshop Leader“A novel about family itself—how to exist after unimaginable pain, acts of courage, secrets buried and revealed. . . . Emotionally honest, rich, and deeply empathetic, this is a book for all of us nurtured in the tumult and soil of family.”—Marlena Maduro Baraf, author of At the Narrow Waist of the World“Florence Reiss Kraut has crafted a literary miracle . . . Her experience as a family therapist is evident throughout the book, especially in her depiction of Ruby, who struggles with psychosis. The impact on family is as close a rendering of this particular challenge as any I have read—brilliant.”—Jill Edelman Barberie, MSW, LCSW, author of This Crazy Quilt: Parenting Adult Special Needs One Day at a Time“The years this author worked as an MSW social worker and clinician are particularly evident in the thought processes of Bessie’s oldest daughter Ruby, who suffers from schizophrenia. I worked for many years as a psychiatric nurse and I’ve never read a better character description of the trauma and tribulations that this disease can cause to individuals and families. This novel will appeal to anyone interested in family epics with unexpected plot twists and unforgettable characters. It demonstrates the power of family love, forgiveness, and resiliency.”—Story Circle Book Reviews
£12.34
She Writes Press Queen of the Owls: A Novel
Book SynopsisA chance meeting with a charismatic photographer will forever change Elizabeth’s life. Until she met Richard, Elizabeth's relationship with Georgia O’Keeffe and her little-known Hawaii paintings was purely academic. Now it’s personal. Richard tells Elizabeth that the only way she can truly understand O’Keeffe isn’t with her mind—it’s by getting into O’Keeffe’s skin and reenacting her famous nude photos. In the intimacy of Richard’s studio, Elizabeth experiences a new, intoxicating abandon and fullness. It never occurs to her that the photographs might be made public, especially without her consent. Desperate to avoid exposure—she’s a rising star in the academic world and the mother of young children—Elizabeth demands that Richard dismantle the exhibit. But he refuses. The pictures are his art. His property, not hers. As word of the photos spreads, Elizabeth unwittingly becomes a feminist heroine to her students, who misunderstand her motives in posing. To the university, however, her actions are a public scandal. To her husband, they’re a public humiliation. Yet Richard has reawakened an awareness that’s haunted Elizabeth since she was a child—the truth that cerebral knowledge will never be enough. Now she must face the question: How much is she willing to risk to be truly seen and known?
£12.99
Restless Books The City of Good Death
Book Synopsis
£13.29
Restless Books Bug: A Novel
Book SynopsisFinalist for the 2022 Philip K. Dick AwardWith the wicked humor and imagination that made readers fall in love with his novel I Am God, Giacomo Sartori brings us a madcap story of family dysfunction, (dis)ability, intelligent robots, bees, and a family of misfit savants living outside the bounds.In the singular world of the young, deaf narrator of Bug, there are just a handful of people who try to understand him when he gets into trouble at school. His father, a data analyst for Nutella whose real job is to pinpoint terrorists, is clueless about humans in real life. His brilliant brother, called IQ in public and Robin Hood in the hackersphere, has his back but is ever busier training his robot. His grandfather, a retired anarchist-guerilla-turned-nematologist, chides him for misbehaving when he takes him hunting for worms. Meanwhile, his Buddhist beekeeper mother, ordinarily his closest confidante, has been in a coma ever since a terrible car accident.Just when the family's survival in their converted chicken coop seems most precarious, someoneor somethingnew enters his life: Bug. This self-declared "fast friend" seems to know all about his family and has some creative, if not strictly legal, ideas about how to help....
£12.34
Easton Studio Press September Remember
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£11.99
Ig Publishing Stay Gone Days
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£16.16
Bloomsbury Publishing USA We Shall Not All Sleep: A Novel
Book SynopsisAn utterly compelling novel from a brilliant new voice. --M. L. Stedman, author of The Light Between Oceans For generations they've shared the small Maine island of Seven, but the Hillsingers and the Quicks have always kept apart, even since before Jim Hillsinger and Billy Quick married sisters. When Jim is ousted from the CIA under suspicion of treason, he begins to suspect that he has been betrayed--by his brother-in-law, Billy, and also by his own wife, Lila. In retaliation, he decides to carry out an old threat: to send their twelve-year-old son, Catta, to a neighboring island to test his survival skills.Set over three summer days in 1964, Estep Nagy''s debut novel moves among the communities of Seven--the families, the servants, and the childrenas longstanding tensions become tactical face-offs in which love, loss, and long-held secrets become brutal ammunition. Vividly capturing the rift between the cold warriors of Jim''s generation and the rebellious seekers of Catta''s, We Shall Not All Sleep is a richly told story of American class, family, and manipulation, and a compelling portrait of a unique and privileged enclave on the brink of dissolution.
£9.49
Proving Press Becoming Nora
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£17.96
Bold Strokes Books Counting for Thunder
£12.82
Bold Strokes Books London Undone
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£12.82
Bloomsbury Publishing Light from Other Stars
Book SynopsisA Long Island Reads 2020 Selection * A Real Simple Best Book of 2019 From the bestselling author of The Book of Speculation, a ?tender and ambitious? (Vulture) novel about time, loss, and the wonders of the universe.Eleven-year-old Nedda Papas is obsessed with becoming an astronaut. In 1986 in Easter, a small Florida Space Coast town, her dreams seem almost within reach--if she can just grow up fast enough. Theo, the scientist father she idolizes, is consumed by his own obsessions. Laid off from his job at NASA and still reeling from the loss of Nedda''s newborn brother several years before, Theo turns to the dangerous dream of extending his daughter''s childhood just a little longer. The result is an invention that alters the fabric of time.Decades later, Nedda has achieved her long-held dream and is traveling aboard the space ship Chawla, part of a small group hoping to colonize a distant planet. But as she floats in zero gravity, far from earth, she and her crewmates face a serious crisis. Nedda may hold the key to the solution, if she can come to terms with her past and the future that awaits her. For fans of The Age of Miracles and The Immortalists, Erika Swyler?s Light from Other Stars is a masterful and ambitious novel about fathers and daughters, women and the forces that hold them back, and the true meaning of progress.
£14.24
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