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Frank and Naomi Wolff were happily married in 1908. She was a Kansas farmgirl; he was a railroad engineer. She was excited to embark upon her role as wife and mother with a hardworking man, and in their early years together they made a life in thriving Ogden, Utah. Despite Frank’s almost-constant absence for his job riding the rails, which left pretty Naomi to raise their children virtually alone, their romantic relationship begat fourteen offspring in eighteen years. Like other lower-middle-class women, Naomi’s life was consumed with caring for her brood, who became helpers as soon as they could fold a diaper—and who, by and by, were required to attend the school of hard knocks as much as public schools. Affection and struggle endured within the family, crowded into a humble house. Despite the respite of occasional family train trips across the plains, the marriage ultimately faced exceptional challenges, just before the Depression era began. What scandals led Frank Wolff to abandon his younger children at an orphanage far from home? And why did his elder children keep this a secret for eighty years? Based on true family history, A Wolff in the Family is a gripping saga permeated with misogyny, prejudice, and passion . . . for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds. Author: Francine Falk-Allen Publication date: October 1, 2024 -
Meg thought giving up alcohol would lead her to a life of comfort, wisdom, and happiness. Years later, she still hasn’t gotten there. What is it that she’s missing?
When her father—a raging alcoholic himself—dies, Meg, an only child, has to fly to California from her home in New Zealand to clean up the mess that was his life. Once done, left with her father’s car and a few thousand dollars, she decides to take some time for herself—embark on a solo trip across the US that she dubs her Recovery Road Trip.
She has no idea that this one decision will change her world forever.
As Meg travels from state to state, making new friends and having meaningful encounters with strangers, she discovers the person she buried long ago, as well as the freedom and creativity she once found elusive—and finally begins to feel that sense of serenity and joy she’s been seeking. Part recovery journal, part travel log, and part woman’s search for self, Recovery Road Trip takes readers on an odyssey across America and into a recovering women’s exploration for meaning.
Author: Patti Clark Publication date: October 1, 2024 -
Twenty-seven-year-old climate journalist Ellie Stone has spent her life locked in an unending sibling rivalry with her brother, Josh—star athlete and golden boy–turned–drug addict. One night, after their parents have left her to “babysit” Josh, she and he have a blow-up and she abandons him. Soon after, the house is engulfed in fire—and Josh is burnt beyond recognition. Social media takes this on as a local cause célèbre, blaming Ellie since, years ago, she was involved in a blaze that scarred a teenage girl. Is history repeating itself?
In shock, Ellie can’t recall if she left a lit cigarette in her family home. But could this suspected arson have something to do with the unknown vehicle that was spotted nearby? The only people sympathetic to Ellie are her brother’s best pal—who quickly becomes her new romantic partner—and Josh’s girlfriend, who lets on that their relationship might not have been what it seemed. As she grows closer to her brother’s inner circle, Ellie discovers secrets that make her question whom to trust, how to stay out of danger, and how to save her future.
Author: Nicole Bokat Publication date: October 1, 2024 -
Jealous of her brilliant older sister, Ernestine longs for her father’s approval as a little girl but is never good enough. When she discovers a talent for the flute, she meets a charismatic teacher who gives her the encouragement she craves and becomes her surrogate father. After winning several competitions, she dreams of being a professional musician, but her stern father ridicules the idea and forces her to attend Emory University as a math major like her sister.
Ernestine doesn’t give up on her musical dreams, however, and halfway through college she wins the second flute chair in the Atlanta Symphony. There, she sits beside her former teacher, the principal flute. At first, she loves working with him, but after one successful season he turns on her and does everything in his power to get her fired. Devastated by her idol’s merciless harassment, she’s driven into a spiral of suicidal depression. As she tries to recover, her vulnerability is exploited, again and again, by the very men she turns to for help.
A harrowing account of one woman’s battle with twentieth-century misogyny, Countermelodies follows Ernestine as, through the darkness, she clings to her love for the flute and her unshakable dream of making it in the cutthroat world of classical music.
Author: Ernestine Whitman Publication date: September 24, 2024 -
Bridey is tethered to her mom’s addiction to dangerous men who park their Harley-Davidsons in the house and kick holes in all their doors. Raised to be her mother’s keeper, rescuer, and punching bag, Bridey gets used to stuffing her life into black trash bags, hauling them between Alaska and California, and changing schools every time her mom moves in a new monster or runs away from one.
Desperately seeking the normal life she’s observed in sitcoms and her friends’ families, Bridey earns her way into a fancy, private college, where she tries to forget who she is until her mom calls with a threat that drops Bridey to her knees. Watching doctors and police interrogate her mother at the hospital, Bridey realizes her mom has become a monster herself . . . and she doesn’t want to be saved.
But Bridey does.
Bright Eyes is about the indomitable spirit of a young girl forced to be brave, required to be resilient, and conditioned to be optimistic, and how she ultimately uses the same traits that helped her to survive her mother’s chaos to create her own happily-ever-after.
Author: Bridey Thelen-Heidel Publication date: September 24, 2024 -
It’s 1938, and twenty-five-year-old secretary Frances Healey is ready for a fresh start. Hoping to forget her painful past, she takes a job working for Hollywood producer Lawrence Merrill. She quickly becomes absorbed in Titan Studios’ biggest project: a movie about Kitty Ridley, the legendary stage actress who disappeared from the public eye in 1895. The movie will be the making of Belinda Vail, a beautiful ingenue hungry for a breakout role (who also happens to be Mr. Merrill’s love interest).
But the real Miss Ridley has other ideas. Now ninety years old, she writes a scathing letter insisting the studio halt production of the film. Hoping to change her mind, Frances and Mr. Merrill embark on a trip to find the actress—only to land in a Victorian farmhouse in the Napa Valley. But as she learns the truth of Miss Ridley’s life, Frances finds herself confronting the very past she’s been trying to forget. And with the arrival of the ambitious Belinda, loyalties will be tested, bonds will be forged, and Frances will learn where true happiness lies. Set in Hollywood and the sun-drenched Napa countryside, A Golden Life explores friendship, forgiveness, and the power of honoring your own story.
Author: Ginny Kubitz Moyer Publication date: September 24, 2024 -
Immersion is a memoir that takes the reader on a captivating emotional and physical journey through Linda Murphy Marshall’s life: from the longstanding, crippling impact of family members’ low expectations and abuse, to her discovery as a young adult that she possesses special skills in foreign languages.
Linda is taught from an early age that she has little of value to offer the world. But her love of and affinity for languages enables her to create a new life—to separate herself from her toxic environment and to build a successful, decades-long career as a professional multilinguist. It’s a rewarding vocation, but a challenging one: her assignments with the US federal government take her on some hair-raisingly dangerous journeys, some to countries with unstable governments and even active war zones. But these sometimes-harrowing experiences teach her how to open the “windows” around her, unearth her true self, and develop a healthy sense of self-worth—and ultimately, paradoxically, her work and travel so far from home allow her to come home to herself.
Author: Linda Murphy Marshall Publication date: September 24, 2024 -
When Lee Metoyer is hired to be the new housekeeper, she has no idea that she’s about to become the anchor to a family in an abusive patriarch's home, setting a mystery in motion that will take decades to uncover. At the age of seventy-two, Lee falls ill and on her deathbed asks Sandy to write her story. The only problem is, Sandy doesn’t know the story. Embarking on a quest to honor Lee’s final wishes, Sandy takes an emotional and thrilling journey, unveiling shocking truths not only about her beloved housekeeper but also her own upbringing. As she digs further, she learns that Lee came to her family’s sprawling estate in Barrington, IL, harboring a secret past. For decades, she’s been in hiding. But Lee is not the only one with secrets; Sandy’s quest forces her to grapple with her own family history as well, and to finally confront the effects of the psychological abuse she suffered as a child. Both a chilling and exciting personal tale of love and survival, The Housekeeper’s Secret is a gripping saga that illuminates the resilience of the human spirit. Author: Sandra Schakenburg Publication Date: December 3, 2024 -
Relocated with her family to Cold War–era West Germany, Army Brat and middle sister of three Mary grapples with the torment exacted by her older sister, the high moral expectations of her military father, and societal pressure to conform to traditional gender roles during the rise of the feminism movement. Through the transformative power of place, travel, and the people she encounters, Mary embarks on a journey of self-discovery, learning about social justice and finding her voice in a world still shaped by male dominance. Rich with historical context, Out of Place is a poignant and compelling exploration of identity, personal growth, and the enduring strength that comes from embracing one’s purpose. Author: Mary McKnight Publication Date: December 3, 2024 -
Thirteen-year-old Mary Agnes Coyne, forced from her home in rural Ireland in 1886 after being accused of incest, endures a treacherous voyage across the vast Atlantic alone to an unknown life in America. From the tenements of New York to the rough alleys of Chicago, Mary Agnes suffers the bitter taste of prejudice for the crime of being poor and Irish. Marriage at age sixteen takes her west to Colorado Springs, where her young husband chases a phantom cure for tuberculosis. When tragedy strikes, Mary Agnes finds herself alone again, dreams shattered. But she is determined to forge her own path, and after securing work as a chuckwagon cook at a rugged Colorado ranch, she discovers a newfound sense of purpose and identity. Torn between desire for her ranch boss—who is neither Irish nor Catholic—and propriety, Mary Agnes returns to Chicago, her future uncertain. There, resilience and resolve become her constant companions as she faces yet another tragedy: her family, newly arrived from Ireland, disowns her. Digging deep within, Mary Agnes discovers strength and worth as she redefines what it means to belong while grappling with the clash of heritage, religion, and matters of the heart. Author: Ashley E. Sweeney Publication Date: December 10, 2024 -
Join Carole Bumpus, her husband, Winston, and their friends in Book Four of Savoring the Olde Ways, her culinary-travel series. Following in the footsteps of writer Peter Mayle, Bumpus is on a quest to find the real Provençe. On three separate excursions—from Nice to Nîmes, Moustiers to Marseilles, and San Tropez to San Remy—and while sailing along the Côte d’Azur, she invites you to join her in uncovering the mysteries of Provençe. Are they hidden within their myths, festivals, or traditions? Is it possible they’re veiled in the sheer beauty of the land and sea? Could they be concealed in Roman arenas in Arles, Orange, or Glanum? Or, perhaps, within the ancient methods of traditional cooking or winemaking? Maybe they are hidden in plain sight among the locals who open their hearts, their bistros, and homes to strangers. Yes, you may find it in chefs while cooking in ancient kitchens, in the smile of the shy barmaid who speaks no English, in the giggle of the Pizza Wagon baby, in the agreeable village baker, or in the patient waiter and harbor master—but you will most especially experience it through friends who fling open their doors to share their families’ recipes. Traveling alongside Bumpus, that is where you’ll discover the real Provençe. Author: Carole Bumpus Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
At nine years old, Lynette Charity looked on, frozen in place, as her father hit her mother so hard that she flipped over their front porch railing and fell into the hedges below. That night, young Lynette hatched a plan: she would escape this life, no matter what it took. And a month later, after watching the first episode of a new show called Ben Casey, she decided that becoming a doctor was her way out. At some point, Lynette noticed that all the real doctors and nurses who took care of her were Black and all the make-believe doctors and nurses on TV were white. Did it make a difference? Not to her. Over the next decade-plus, she focused on her studies. At a time when segregation was still alive and well in Virginia, she forged her mother’s signature on transfer papers so she could go to a better-resourced white school on the other side of town. Upon finishing high school, she got a full ride to Pittsburgh’s Chatham College. And after graduating Chatham with honors, she became a member of Tufts University School of Medicine's Class of 1978, one of seven Black women in her class. Raw, candid, and inspiring, Escape Plan is the remarkable story of how, through perseverance and single-minded determination, a Black girl from the 1960s South faced down adversity, exceeded everyone’s expectations, and fulfilled her dreams. Author: Lynette D. Charity, MD Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
More than a year has elapsed since the ghetto gates were destroyed and Ancona’s Jewish community liberated by Napoleon’s troops. Yet Mirelle is ostracized—by the community, her erstwhile best friend, and even her mother—and labeled a “ruined woman.” As her efforts to nurture her family’s legacy are thwarted, she realizes she might have lost her last chance at love. Meanwhile, Daniel, now a lieutenant in the French army, and Christophe, the man responsible for Mirelle’s disgrace, set sail to an unknown destination with General Bonaparte’s forces. There, Napoleon and his men face a harsh and unforgiving landscape and new, implacable enemies, and Daniel’s faith in and loyalty to the commander he once worshiped are put to the test. Epic and rich with well-researched detail, Napoleon’s Mirage is a novel of misguided ambition leading to brutal warfare, failures of cultural appropriation, and a military defeat that just may have changed the course of history. Author: Michelle Cameron Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
Jessica Fischer wants nothing more than to build her law practice in small-town Ashton, Georgia. She’s well on her way when the local town hero, football coach Frank “Tripp” Wishingham III, hires her to represent him in a paternity suit. Coach is everything Jessica despises—arrogant, sexist, entitled—but it’s her job to make him look good in public. This is made doubly difficult when her burgeoning relationship with a local reporter gets in the way of telling the truth. Are things as black and white as Jessica thinks? And can she find a way to succeed without compromising her own personal values—or her personal life? Author: Lori B. Duff Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
The Nutcracker Chronicles, a modern twist on the beloved holiday ballet, intertwines the story of Clara and her nutcracker prince with the true-life stories that unfold backstage. The curtain rises on Ballet El Paso’s production of The Nutcracker, where young Janine Kovac is cast as Fritz, the boy who breaks the nutcracker. Her director is Ingeborg Heuser, a German woman who once performed for Hitler and who peppers her teaching with insults like, “Why can’t you just dance like a pretty girl?” At least it’s better than “You look like a cow on ice skates,” which is what the other girls hear daily. Onstage, Janine wins the battle and embarks on a voyage through a snowy forest to the Land of the Sweets, where she serves as spectator to a beautiful dance. She also travels offstage, leaving El Paso to study at San Francisco Ballet before landing a job in Iceland and returning to California, where she rises through the ranks from soldier to snowflake to candy soloist. Eventually, however, she is relegated to watching other people dance—her husband, her children, her students—and her claim to the spotlight is replaced by the quest to find joy in her new roles. Author: Janine Kovac Publication Date: November 12, 2024 -
If there’s one thing Rebecca Galli knows, it’s the importance of staying fueled—daily. She’s had a lot to power through: Her seventeen-year-old brother’s death. Two children with special needs that include autism and epilepsy. Divorce. And her own paralysis. Galli has lived a life filled with unexpected loss—and learning. Infused with wisdom from Galli’s deep-thinking pastor father, her ever-optimistic, hostess-with-the-mostest mother, and other memorable family members and friends, Morning Fuel offers stories designed to inspire, encourage, or make you think. Sprinkled throughout are quotes from some of the greatest thinkers of our time—words that have bolstered Galli’s resolve to power through her darkest valleys. Each entry ends with questions that invite personal application and provoke further pondering. How you start your morning sets the tone for your whole day. Let the wisdom of Morning Fuel help you make that tone a positive one. Author: Rebecca Faye Smith Galli Publication Date: October 29, 2024 -
When Mamie Morrow, a fledgling Charleston journalist, is offered an assignment covering the Grand Bohemian Lodge in Greenville, South Carolina, at Christmastime, she jumps at the chance. Her grandfather recently passed away and left her a mysterious box of objects from the time she spent with him in New Mexico when she was three. Mamie has zero recollection of her time with her grandfather, but she now knows that he was Navajo—and as the majestic Grand Bohemian is filled with Native American art, she hopes being there will help her regain those memories. Robert Fitzpatrick is an upstart photographer from South Boston. Through equal parts inspiration and perspiration, he’s managed to compile a stunning portfolio, and he’s just relocated to slower-paced Charleston for its lush beauty and creative community. He’s also looking for the one—a girl to whom he can give his whole heart forever. But he harbors family secrets of his own. Rob is smitten with Mamie’s energy and pluck, but to Mamie, career comes first. As Christmas Day approaches, the two grapple with the complications that arise when dreams confront reality—and witness the Christmas magic that can happen when you put your faith in love. Author: Elizabeth Sumner Wafler Publication Date: October 29, 2024 -
In the last years of the British Raj, an American missionary family stays on in Midnapore, India. Though the Hintons enjoy white privileges, they have never been accepted by British society and instead run a boarding house on the outskirts of town where wayward native Indians come to find relief. Young Gene Hinton can’t get out from under the thumb of his three older brothers, and the only person he can really relate to is Arthur, his family’s Indian servant. But when Uncle Ellis, a high-ranking British judge, suddenly arrives and announces he’ll be staying indefinitely in their humble house, far from his prestigious post in Himalayan foothills, life as Gene knows it is interrupted. While his brothers are excited at the judge’s arrival, he is skeptical as to why this important man is hiding out with them in the backwaters of Bengal. Also skeptical is Arthur. Then an Indian woman appears on their doorstep—and, after growing close to her, he learns the sinister truth about the judge. Torn between a family that has provided him shelter, work, and purpose his whole life and the escalating outrage of his countrymen, Arthur must decide where his loyalties lie—and the Hintons must decide if they can still call India home. Author: Joanne Howard Publication Date: October 22, 2024 -
At sixteen, Caroline longed to meet the man who owned the apartment she was hanging out at with her teenage friends. The one they said was a stripper—a fact that intrigued her. From the moment she finally saw Gary Richard, she craved his attention; and once their eyes met, he was all she wanted. Months later, she was dismayed to discover that she was pregnant. But she had Gary Richard, she reassured herself, and he was all she needed to be okay. A belief that didn’t change even when she held their week-old son in court, watching her boyfriend face charges for stolen property. This was her family, her life—so when Gary Richard’s lawyer suggested a ploy to show the judge he was a changed man, she married him. At seventeen years old, she became a wife. Over the next nine years, Caroline’s identity and dreams of a fairy-tale life became twisted by adultery, betrayal, poverty, court cases, and lies. And then, one evening, the reality of her marriage finally became clear to her after a sergeant revealed she was the victim of one of her husband’s crimes—statutory rape—and her son’s DNA was the evidence the prosecution needed to convict him. Author: Brandi Dredge Publication Date: October 22, 2024 -
A parent should never outlive their own child, yet this is the position Janice Jensen found herself in after the drowning of her nine-year-old son. In the aftermath of this tragedy, Janice dedicated herself to her roles as mother to her surviving daughter and wife to her devastated husband even as she grappled with her grief. As a non-swimmer, Janice experienced water’s unforgiving power through the loss of her son, but as time went on, she also learned to appreciate its redemptive and healing properties. She sculled symbolic and real rivers, taking the necessary side channels to find waves that soaked peace and happiness into her body, mind, and heart. She learned to sail. And she fell in love with ballroom dancing, a passion that eventually led her back to the very place where she lost her son. A poignant, heartfelt story that takes readers through the everyday ups and downs of life after a tragedy and highlights the need to view each person’s grief journey and timeline as unique. One Ripple at a Time comforts readers and, through decades of the author’s personal quest, imparts a crucial message: The best of you is just around the bend. Author: Janice Jensen Publication Date: October 15, 2024 -
Accused of dressing as a boy to study in the prestigious galleries of eighteenth-century Italy, child prodigy Angelica Kauffman has set high goals for herself. She is determined to become a history painter, a career off-limits to women. To ensure her success, she has vowed never to marry. When a new patron invites her to London, Angelica befriends famous artists, paints portraits of Queen Charlotte and other royalty, and becomes a founding member of the Royal Academy. While still in London, an alluring but mysterious Swedish count makes her an offer that may be too tempting to resist. Then, upon returning to Italy, she meets Wolfgang von Goethe. Time and time again, Angelica faces the insurmountable obstacles and great personal sacrifices that come with being an independent woman. The vows she makes, big and small, are repeatedly challenged. Will she break free from the traditional male/female binary and the many oppressive social dictates of her time and learn to “paint with her soul” . . . or is a vow of a different sort necessary if she is to answer the deepest call of her heart? Author: Jude Berman Publication Date: October 15, 2024 -
Inspired by a gripping true story, Lookin’ for Love begins in 1963, when Ava, nineteen and pregnant, marries a violent alcoholic and is disowned by her abusive mother. She bears two sons, leaves her husband, and turns to go-go dancing to provide for her children, using alcohol and drugs to numb herself to the degrading work. Then she meets Mike, a charismatic drug dealer who promises to give her “a beautiful life.” They move to Florida and begin working for The Crew, one of the largest drug smuggling organizations in the country. The Crew sends Ava and Mike to Kenya to find farmers to grow marijuana—but while they’re there, their home is raided, they’re charged with international drug smuggling, and Ava is sentenced to serve time in a Kenyan prison. After her release, Ava struggles with sobriety but soon returns to dancing, alcohol, and drugs. Eventually, she hits bottom and surrenders her will to God. Once sober, she learns the power of forgiveness, faith, and love. Author: Susen Edwards Publication Date: October 15, 2024 -
Billie Campbell, a Massachusetts adoption specialist grappling with fertility issues, dreams of adopting a baby, but not just any baby—her pregnant client’s baby. While her longing threatens to send her down a dark path, her husband, Tyler, is keeping secrets: he’s full of doubts about becoming a father, and he’s also trying to figure out who is sending him upsetting anonymous texts and photos. On the other side of town, Anne, a woman scarred by childhood abuse, obsesses with a second chance at becoming a family with the two people she regrets ever having let go of: the baby she gave up for adoption twenty years ago and the man of her dreams. Their lives become entangled when the client’s newborn is abducted, and Billie becomes a prime suspect. Amid the chaos unleashed by the abduction, Tyler uncovers a link between the person tormenting him and the abduction—but now Billie has disappeared too. The race to find both her and the baby is on; but will they find them before it’s too late? Author: Zelly Ruskin Publication Date: October 8, 2024 -
When a young girl feels complicit in her own abuse, how does that thwart her attempts to build a happy life as an adult woman? When disturbing memories begin to surface, Marti returns to the small Vermont town she ran away from thirty years ago to face her demons. She drags her unwitting teenage daughter along on the journey—heightening already existing tension between mother and daughter. But Marti is determined to achieve what she’s returned home for: forgiveness for lies told, and revenge for secrets held. Exploring the vast social changes that took place between 1970 and 2000 and turning a critical eye on times before language such as #MeToo helped give voice to these all-too-common occurrences, What Was Lost is a raw, powerful tale of one woman confronting the ghosts of her past. Author: Melissa Connelly Publication Date: October 8, 2024
