epub-bookshelf

A door slammed and the unmistakable sound of boots came crashing up the hall. Liese held her little daughter’s hand so tightly, the tiny fingers had turned purple. The SS officer’s hand was at Liese’s throat before she saw him move. ‘I can kill you easily, then I can kill your daughter.’ He relaxed his grip a little. ‘Or perhaps I could kill her first?’ England, forty years later. When Karen Cartwright is unexpectedly called home to nurse her ailing father, she goes with a heavy heart. The house she grew up in feels haunted by the memory her father’s closely guarded secrets about her beautiful mother Elizabeth’s tragic death years before. As she packs up the house, Karen discovers an old photograph and a stranger’s tattered love letter to her mother postmarked from Germany after the war. During her life, Karen struggled to understand her shy, fearful mother, but now she is realising there was so much more to Elizabeth than she knew. For one thing, her name wasn’t even Elizabeth, and her harrowing story begins long before Karen was born. It’s 1936 in Berlin, and a young woman called Liese is being forced to wear a yellow star… A beautiful and gripping wartime story about family secrets and impossible choices in the face of terrible hardship. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, We Were the Lucky Ones and The Alice Network. What readers are saying about Catherine Hokin: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘What an amazing read, well written emotional and very compelling… I was totally absorbed in the story and I would love to give it 10 stars. One of my best reads this year. I can't begin to say how much I loved this book, I couldn't put it down, absolutely brilliant.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Heartbreaking... I cried many, many times…This story showed just how important hope can be.... The historical detail Hokin poured into this book through her research was simply phenomenal. The Fortunate Ones is a must-read.’ Goodreads reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This was a wonderful story about romance, life, and survival. I could not put it down… heartbreaking.’ Crossroad Reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This story just swept me away… I was left speechless… just wow!!... I do recommend a box of tissues… This book will have you turning the pages.’ Red Headed Book Lady blog ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I stayed up all hours to finish this book. There were moments I could barely breathe. A fantastic and compelling read if you like suspense, WWII, and stories that aren’t always tied neatly with a bow.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Contained within a richly detailed narrative was a story that spoke of prevalence of the human spirit, both resilient and beatific, bowed but never broken by the unfathomable horrors of war. Captivating. Sobering. Unflinching. 5+ stars.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐‘The writing is deeply moving, so much detail is cleverly woven throughout to make this a vivid and entrancing read. Strong characters make this such a gripping read.’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘What an extraordinary, engaging story. It moved me to undiscovered heights of understanding and compassion. A novel that will stay in my mind forever.’ Goodreads reviewer

“A beautifully written and emotional wrenching journey into World War II tumult and tragedy…its dynamic characters present a timely truth we should all grasp and embrace: We must stand up against those who preach hate.” —Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author of The Queen's Secret For fans of The Nightingale and All the Light We Cannot See, a spellbinding story of impossible love set against the backdrop of the Nazi regime. She must choose between loyalty to her country or a love that could be her destruction… As the dutiful daughter of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Hetty Heinrich is keen to play her part in the glorious new Thousand Year Reich. But she never imagines that all she believes and knows about her world will come into stark conflict when she encounters Walter, a Jewish friend from the past, who stirs dangerous feelings in her. Confused and conflicted, Hetty doesn’t know whom she can trust and where she can turn to, especially when she discovers that someone has been watching her. Realizing she is taking a huge risk—but unable to resist the intense attraction she has for Walter—she embarks on a secret love affair with him. Together, they dream about when the war will be over and plan for their future. But as the rising tide of anti-Semitism threatens to engulf them, Hetty and Walter will be forced to take extreme measures. Will the steady march of dark forces destroy Hetty’s universe—or can love ultimately triumph…? Propulsive, deeply affecting, and inspired by the author’s family history, Daughter of the Reich is a mesmerizing page-turner filled with vivid characters and a meticulously researched portrait of Nazi Germany. In this riveting story of passion, courage and morality, Louise Fein introduces a bold young woman determined to tread the treacherous path of survival and freedom, showing readers the strength in the power of love and reminding us that the past must never be forgotten.

*Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2020 by Apple Books, Literary Hub, The Millions, and The Week An indelible novel of teenage alienation and adult complacency in an unraveling world.** Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet’s sublime new novel—her first since the National Book Award long-listed Sweet Lamb of Heaven—follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion. Contemptuous of their parents, who pass their days in a stupor of liquor, drugs, and sex, the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group’s ringleaders—including Eve, who narrates the story—decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside. As the scenes of devastation begin to mimic events in the dog-eared picture Bible carried around by her beloved little brother, Eve devotes herself to keeping him safe from harm. A Children’s Bible is a prophetic, heartbreaking story of generational divide—and a haunting vision of what awaits us on the far side of Revelation.

**“The Library of Legends is a gorgeous, poetic journey threaded with mist and magic about a group from a Chinese university who take to the road to escape the Japanese invasion of 1937 – only to discover that danger stalks them from within. Janie Chang pens pure enchantment!”****—**Kate Quinn, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Huntress From the author of Three Souls and Dragon Springs Road comes a captivating historical novel—the third in a loosely-connected trilogy—in which a young woman travels across China with a convoy of student refugees, fleeing the hostilities of a brutal war with Japan. “Myths are the darkest and brightest incarnations of who we are…” China, 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than a hundred students, faculty, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China’s western provinces, a journey marred by hunger, cold, and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure, a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends. Her family’s past has made Lian wary of forming attachments, but the students’ common duty to safeguard the Library of Legends forms unexpected bonds. Lian finds friendship and a cautious romance with the handsome and wealthy Liu Shaoming. But after one classmate is murdered and another arrested, Lian realizes she must escape from the convoy before a family secret puts her in danger. Accompanied by Shao and the enigmatic maidservant Sparrow, Lian makes her way to Shanghai, hoping to reunite with her mother. On the journey, Lian learns of the connection between her two companions and a tale from the Library of Legends, The Willow Star and the Prince. Learning Shao and Sparrow’s true identities compels Lian to confront her feelings for Shao. But there are broader consequences too, for as the ancient books travel across China, they awaken immortals and guardian spirits to embark on an exodus of their own, one that changes the country’s fate forever. Based on true events, rich in Chinese history and lore, The Library of Legends is both an illuminating exploration of China’s recent past and an evocative tale of love, sacrifice, and the extraordinary power of storytelling.

The best thing you can aspire to in this world, is company. Whether it's for pleasure or pain, a crowning or an execution: everything is better with company. You might say it all went to hell with Mrs. Thorkildsen, but you know what? It could have been worse, because Mrs. Thorkildsen had me to keep her company. And I had her. That's what we had in common, her and me, what bound us together. We were company. The Major, a World War II veteran, breathes his last. Watching over him are his wife and his faithful companion, Tassen, the story's narrator, who is, by his own admission, a couch potato and a one-man dog. After the Major is gone, Tassen and Mrs Thorkildsen settle into their new life surrounded by books and stories of the 1911 race between Norway's explorer Roald Amundsen and Britain's Captain Robert F. Scott to reach the South Pole first. Regular visits to the local library and the bar next door provide all types of enlightenment. However, when Mrs Thorkildsen becomes ill, Tassen's world begins to wobble. Beguiling, poignant, funny and thoughtful, this novel is destined to become a favourite.

A luminous narrative inspired by the fascinating real case of “the Blue People of Kentucky" that probes questions of identity, love, and family. In 1937, there are recesses in Appalachia no outsiders have ever explored. Two government-sponsored documentarians from Cincinnati, Ohio—a writer and photographer—are dispatched to penetrate this wilderness and record what they find for President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. For photographer Clay Havens, the assignment is his last chance to reboot his flagging career. So when he and his journalist partner are warned away from the remote Spooklight Holler outside of town, they set off eagerly in search of a headline story. What they see will haunt Clay into his old age: Jubilee Buford, a woman whose skin is a shocking and unmistakable shade of blue. From this happenstance meeting between a woman isolated from society and persecuted her whole life, and a man accustomed to keeping himself at lens distance from others, comes a mesmerizing story in which the dark shades of betrayal, prejudice, fear, and guilt, are refracted along with the incandescent hues of passion and courage. Panning across the rich rural aesthetic of eastern Kentucky, The Last Blue is a captivating love story and an intimate portrait of what it is like to be truly one of a kind.т

In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives. Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people… In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other. Plus don't miss Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X and With the Fire on High!

•FOR FANS OF FEMINIST WORKS: Mesa's work calls to mind recent successes that blend a gothic sensibility with a strong social message, such as in the books of Samanta Schweblin, Han Kang, and more classic writers like Shirley Jackson and Angela Carter. •CAPTURES THE ANXIETY OF OUR AGE: Just in time for the election comes this book exploring abuses of power, about a world designed to benefit only a handful, and socio-economic unease. It reads like a classic gothic novel, in which something secret and sinister is unveiled at an elite boarding school. •WORLDWIDE MOMENT FOR MESA: In 2020, her works will be published in more than ten countries around the world, ensuring that her books will be discussed by a broad reading public. •INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM: Over her relatively short career, Mesa has won almost every Spanish award available, including the prestigious Ojo Critico. With each publication (especially Cara de Pan in late 2018), her reputation as a major figure continues to grow.

“Like All the Light We Cannot See, The Paris Hours explores the brutality of war and its lingering effects with cinematic intensity. The ending will leave you breathless.” —Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train and A Piece of the World One day in the City of Light. One night in search of lost time. Paris between the wars teems with artists, writers, and musicians, a glittering crucible of genius. But amidst the dazzling creativity of the city’s most famous citizens, four regular people are each searching for something they’ve lost. Camille was the maid of Marcel Proust, and she has a secret: when she was asked to burn her employer’s notebooks, she saved one for herself. Now she is desperate to find it before her betrayal is revealed. Souren, an Armenian refugee, performs puppet shows for children that are nothing like the fairy tales they expect. Lovesick artist Guillaume is down on his luck and running from a debt he cannot repay—but when Gertrude Stein walks into his studio, he wonders if this is the day everything could change. And Jean-Paul is a journalist who tells other people’s stories, because his own is too painful to tell. When the quartet’s paths finally cross in an unforgettable climax, each discovers if they will find what they are looking for. Told over the course of a single day in 1927, The Paris Hours takes four ordinary people whose stories, told together, are as extraordinary as the glorious city they inhabit.

Based on an unexplored slice of World War II history, Exile Music is the captivating story of a young Jewish girl whose family flees refined and urbane Vienna for safe harbor in the mountains of Bolivia As a young girl growing up in Vienna in the 1930s, Orly has an idyllic childhood filled with music. Her father plays the viola in the Philharmonic, her mother is a well-regarded opera singer, her beloved and charismatic older brother holds the neighborhood in his thrall, and most of her eccentric and wonderful extended family live nearby. Only vaguely aware of Hitler's rise or how her Jewish heritage will define her family's identity, Orly spends her days immersed in play with her best friend and upstairs neighbor, Anneliese. Together they dream up vivid and elaborate worlds, where they can escape the growing tensions around them. But in 1938, Orly's peaceful life is shattered when the Germans arrive. Her older brother flees Vienna first, and soon Orly, her father, and her mother procure refugee visas for La Paz, a city high up in the Bolivian Andes. Even as the number of Jewish refugees in the small community grows, her family is haunted by the music that can no longer be their livelihood, and by the family and friends they left behind. While Orly and her father find their footing in the mountains, Orly's mother grows even more distant, harboring a secret that could put their family at risk again. Years pass, the war ends, and Orly must decide: Is the love and adventure she has found in La Paz what defines home, or is the pull of her past in Eur

Demetra Brodsky's Last Girls is a twisting, suspenseful YA thriller about sisterhood, survival, and family secrets set in the world of doomsday prepping. No one knows how the world will end. On a secret compound in the Washington wilderness, Honey Juniper and her sisters are training to hunt, homestead, and protect their own. Prepare for every situation. But when danger strikes from within, putting her sisters at risk, training becomes real life, and only one thing is certain: Nowhere is safe.

Head of Zeus

Everyone remembers the day the girls went missing. May Day 1912, a day that haunts Missensham. The day two girls disappeared. The day the girls were murdered. Iris Caldwell and Nell Ryland were never meant to be friends. From two very different backgrounds, one the heir to the Caldwell estate, the other a humble vicar's daughter. Both have their secrets, both have their pasts, but they each find solace with one another and soon their futures become irrevocably intertwined. Now, many years later, old footage has emerged which shows that Iris Caldwell may not have died on that spring morning. The village must work out what happened the day the girls went missing...

Inspired by the true story of a daring deception that plunges a courageous young woman deep into the horrors of a Nazi POW camp to be with the man she loves. In the dead of night, a Czech farm girl and a British soldier travel through the countryside. Izabela and prisoner of war Bill have secretly married and are on the run, with Izzy dressed as a man. The young husband and wife evade capture for as long as possible—until they are cornered by Nazi soldiers with tracking dogs. Izzy's disguise works. The couple are assumed to be escaped British soldiers and transported to a POW camp. However, their ordeal has just begun, as they face appalling living conditions and the constant fear of Izzy's exposure. But in the midst of danger and deprivation comes hope, for the young couple are befriended by a small group of fellow prisoners. These men become their new family, willing to jeopardize their lives to save Izzy from being discovered and shot. The Prisoner's Wife tells of an incredible risk, and of how our deepest bonds are tested in desperate times. Bill and Izzy's story is one of love and survival against the darkest odds.

After growing up in an austere spiritual compound, two teenagers, Simrin and Arjun, escape and go their separate ways. Years later, Simrin receives an email from Arjun. As they reconnect, Simrin learns that he has become the charismatic leader of Meadowlark, a commune in the Nevada desert that allows children to discover their “gifts.” In spite of their fractured relationship, Simrin, a photojournalist, agrees to visit Meadowlark to document its story. She arrives at the commune with her five-year-old daughter in tow and soon realizes there is something disturbing about Arjun’s beliefs concerning children and their unusual abilities. When she discovers that the commune is in the midst of a criminal investigation, her unease grows deeper still. As tensions with police heighten, Arjun’s wife begins to make plans of her own, fearing the exposure the investigation might bring for her and her children. Both mothers find themselves caught in a desperate situation, and as the conflict escalates, everyone involved must make painful—and potentially tragic—choices that could change their worlds forever. Gripping and beautifully crafted, Meadowlark explores the power and danger of being extraordinary and what it means to see and be seen.

Bookouture

It’s a photograph of two little girls, the camera catching the cold whiteness of their legs, the pretty lines of their dresses, the smooth surface of the lake. I know at once it’s my mother and Aunty Barbara, I’ve always known it somehow. But I also know that the camera doesn’t tell the whole story. It can’t. London, 1943. German bombs rain down on London, but Elaine Parker knows her job transcribing letters from far-away prisoners of war is more important than her own safety. But at home, Elaine’s life isn’t so simple – as the main breadwinner for her struggling family, she doesn’t have much time to consider her own future hopes and dreams. And then Elaine meets dark-haired and passionate Bobby – a wartime photographer on the dangerous front line – and her world shifts. Will Elaine be forced to choose between her family and her growing passion for Bobby? And how do you let yourself love someone with your whole heart when each moment could be their last? Present day. Even the kiss of warm sunshine and the musical call of birds at her family’s countryside villa can’t make Jen forget the heartbreak she’s left behind. That is, until she begins to investigate the origins of a tattered family photograph: two sweet little girls gazing out across a sparkling bay, their eyes clear and hopeful – looking for all the world as if England hadn’t just suffered the most terrible war imaginable. What is the story behind the picture, and could it finally be the key to mending the cracks in Jen’s own past? A heartbreaking World War Two novel – emotional and unforgettable. Perfect for fans of Orphan Train, Sold on a Monday and Before We Were Yours. What readers are saying about The Forgotten Girls: ‘Twists and turns that keep you turning the page… I must read one more chapter before I turn out the light for the night… fans who enjoyed The Nightingale or Sold on a Monday will love this book as much as me. Authentic, heart-tugging and soul-stirring. Be sure to have tissues nearby.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘A heartbreaking tale of life in 1943 living through the war… One of the best historical fiction books I have read in a long while.’ Sean’s Book Reviews, 5 stars ‘It not only brought tears to my eyes when the connection between the two women was revealed, but it pulled on my heartstrings all the way through the book. A story of love and loss, family and friendships, this book will keep you gripped until the very last page. Would definitely recommend.’ Stardust Book Reviews ‘I came to really love the blossoming romance between Robert and Elaine… A beautiful novel, and one I highly recommend.’ Emily Claire Writes ‘A captivating story.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘I absolutely loved The Forgotten Girls. It is a beautiful, compelling read… Lizzie Page writes like a dream… I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘I really fell in love with this book… Beautifully done, the imagery is well written and I found myself picturing the scenes and living them out in my mind's eye. Well done!’ Goodreads reviewer ‘Oh, how I loved this book! I smiled, cried, my heart raced and I marvelled at the storytelling… Wonderful!’ Angela Petch, author of The Tuscan Girl, 5 stars ‘I just love the deft and thrilling blend of fact and fiction, and the way Lizzie Page brings characters from the past back to life. I am such a huge fan of her work.’ Bestselling author Jill Mansell

Hero. Soldier. Spy. Leader. Her name is Nancy Wake. The international bestseller -- a "thrilling debut" and "cinematic treat" -- inspired by the true story of World War II's greatest heroine (Publishers Weekly). To the Allies, she was a fearless freedom fighter, a special operations legend, a woman ahead of her time. To the Gestapo, she was a ghost, a shadow, the most wanted person in the world. But at first, Nancy Wake was just another young woman living in Marseilles and recently engaged to a man she loved. Then France fell to the Nazi blitzkrieg. With her appetite for danger, Nancy quickly finds herself drawn into the underground Resistance standing up to Nazi rule. Gaining notoriety as the White Mouse, with a 5-million-franc bounty hanging over her head, Wake rises to the top of the Nazi's Most Wanted list -- only to find her husband arrested for treasonous activity under suspicion of being the White Mouse himself. Narrowly escaping to Britain, Wake joins the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and parachutes into the Auvergne, where she must fight for the respect of some of the toughest Resistance fighters in France. As she and her maquisards battle the Nazis, their every engagement brings the end of the war closer -- but also places her husband in deeper peril. A riveting, richly imagined historical thriller, LIBERATION brings to life one of World War II's most fascinating unsung heroines in all her fierce power and complexity. This is the story of one of the one of the war's most decorated women, told like never before.

A single father gets an unexpected second chance at love in the heartwarming new novel from the author of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper It’s summer in the city and passions are soaring along with the temperature—for everyone but Mitchell Fisher, who hates all things romance. He relishes his job cutting off the padlocks that couples fasten to the famous “love story” bridge. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his prickly veneer, Mitchell still grieves the loss of her mother. Then one hot day, everything changes when Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river. He’s surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her, but she disappears before he can ask her name. Desperate to find out her identity, Mitchell is shocked to learn she’s been missing for almost a year. He teams up with her spirited sister, Liza, on a quest to find her again. However, she’s left only one clue behind—a message on the padlock she hung on the bridge. Brimming with Phaedra Patrick’s signature charm and a sparkling cast of characters, The Secrets of Love Story Bridge follows one man’s journey to unlock his heart and discover new beginnings in the unlikeliest places.

In her inimitable style, Viola Shipman explores the unlikely relationship between two very different women brought together by the pain of war, but bonded by hope, purpose…and flowers. Iris Maynard lost her husband in World War II, her daughter to illness and, finally, her reason to live. Walled off from the world for decades behind the towering fence surrounding her home, Iris has built a new family…of flowers. Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to a garden filled with the heirloom starts that keep the memories of her loved ones alive. When Abby Peterson moves next door with her family—a husband traumatized by his service in the Iraq War and a young daughter searching for stability—Iris is reluctantly yet inevitably drawn into her boisterous neighbor’s life, where, united by loss and a love of flowers, she and Abby tentatively unearth their secrets, and help each other discover how much life they have yet to live. With delightful illustrations and fascinating detail, Viola Shipman’s heartwarming story will charm readers while resonating with issues that are so relevant today.