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Laraine Burrell gets the call to come back to England from the United States just in time to visit briefly with her father before he passes away. Following his death, she is overcome with grief, feeling that she has squandered the time she had with her father. Instead of staying close, she chose to travel the world and seek her own goals as a young woman, always thinking there would be time later on to tell her dad all the things she wanted to tell him—how much she loved him, and how he was her hero. Now, she realizes, it’s too late. Wanting to do something significant for her father to make up for her neglect, Burrell reflects on the fascinating life her father, a Royal Yachtsman, led—and decides that the one thing she can do for him is to tell his exceptional life story and make sure he is not forgotten. Our Grand Finale is the culmination of that effort—an exploration of both the author’s and her father’s unusual life experiences, and a reminder that “later” doesn’t always come. Author: Laraine Denny Burrell Publication Date: October 17, 2017 -
We all tell ourselves stories about who we are. Many of these stories are self-critical and disempowering. Through the practice of self-compassion, we can rewrite these stories and become more authentic and powerful versions of ourselves—transforming not only our own lives but also the lives of those around us. In short and personal pieces, Marianne Ingheim tells the story of how the practice of self-compassion have changed her life in ways big and small ways, helping her unlearn harsh self-criticism, survive multiple tragedies, and live more authentically. In the wake of a breast cancer diagnosis and her husband’s suicide, she discovers the power of self-compassionate storytelling and finds belonging within herself—and in doing so, she learns how to manage anxiety and stress, how to be authentic in relationships, and how to let go of comparison and be truly creative. Through stories and journaling prompts, Out of Love: Finding Your Way Back to Self-Compassion aims to inspire readers to unlearn the self-critical patterns holding them hostage—and begin to live a happier, more courageous life. Author: Marianne Ingheim Publication Date: May 26, 2020 -
Irene Sardanis was born into a Greek family in the Bronx in the 1940s in which fear and peril hovered. Her mother had come to New York for an arranged marriage. Her father drank, gambled, and enjoyed other women—and then, when Irene was eleven, abandoned her family altogether. Faced with their mother’s violent outbursts in the wake of this betrayal, Irene’s older siblings found a way out, but Irene was trapped, hostage to her mother’s rage and despair. When she finally escaped her mother as a young adult, she married a neighbor, also Greek, who controlled and dominated her just like her mother always had. But Irene wasn’t ready to let her story end there. With therapy, she eventually found the courage to leave her husband and pursue her own dreams. Out of the Bronx is her story of coming to terms with the mother and past that terrified and paralyzed her for far too long—and of how she went on to create a new life free of those fears. Author: Irene Sardanis Publication Date: May 14, 2019 -
WINNER: 2015 International Book Awards, Best Multicultural Nonfiction FINALIST: 2015 IndieFab in Travel FINALIST: 2015 International Book Awards, Best New Nonfiction Fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants mom Jennifer Magnuson knew her spoiled suburban brood needed a wake-up call—she just couldn’t find the time to fit one in. But when her husband was offered a position in India, she saw it for what it was: the perfect opportunity for her family to unplug from their over-scheduled and pampered lives in Nashville and gain some much-needed perspective. What she didn’t realize was how much their time in India would transform her as well. Peanut Butter and Naan is Magnuson’s hilarious look at the chaos of parenting against a backdrop of malaria, extreme poverty, and no conveniences of any kind—and her story of rediscovering herself and revitalizing her connection with those she loves the most. Hers is a story about motherhood that will not only make you laugh and nod with recognition—it will inspire you to fall in love with your own family all over again Author: Jennifer Hillman-Magnuson Publication Date: November 11, 2014 -
2015 International Book Awards: Finalist, Management and Leadership Do you find yourself and your employees less engaged and less productive in the workplace than you would like? According to a Gallup poll, more than 70 percent of the American workforce today is “unengaged”—which means that most of the people in your organization are only showing up to work to go through the motions and collect their paycheck. But there’s something you can do to change that. In People Leadership, Gina Folk covers thirty proven techniques that she learned and utilized during a twenty-five-year career managing people at a Fortune 500 company. Unlike many of the leadership theories you’ll find out there, Folk’s teachings have been implemented and shown to work with real people in real situations. Using Folk’s practices, any individual charged with managing or supervising others at any level can learn to re-engage their employees and improve their company’s productivity—and become the boss they’ve always wanted to be. Author: Gina Folk Publication Date: April 21, 2015 -
2017-18 Reader Views Literary Award, Adult Fiction: Finalist 2017 Winner of the National Indie Excellence Award for Regional Fiction: Northeast 2017 Distinguished Favorite in Literary Fiction by Independent Press Awards 2017 International Book Awards Finalist for Literary Fiction Have you ever wondered what the impetus was to start a certain painting? Why the artist chose to immortalize a particular subject? What if you suddenly discovered that the painting in question, your painting, was valuable? In Peregrine Island, the Peregrine family’s lives are turned upside-down one summer when so-called “art experts” appear on the doorstep of their Connecticut island home to appraise a favorite heirloom painting. When incriminating papers—and other paintings—are discovered behind the painting in question, the appraisal turns into a full-fledged investigation. Flattered at first by the art museum’s unanticipated interest, the family members quickly change their attitudes with the arrival of detectives on their terrace and the illusory but repeated appearance of a stranger reported to be concealed in a cove. The now-antagonistic family—grandmother, mother, and child—consequently begin to suspect one another, as well as the shady newcomers in their midst. As the summer progresses and the investigation reveals facts about the Peregrines’ past that even they didn’t know, they learn that people are not always who they appear to be—themselves not excluded—and art is often a reflection of their own lives. More important, in uncovering the secret of the painting they come to realize that the love each unconsciously sought has been right in front of them all along. Though Peregrine Island is driven by a mystery, it is as much characterized by its ever-present sense of spiritualism, accentuated by the symbolism of the Sound, the soul of relationships, and the wisdom of the very young and the very old. Author: Diane B. Saxton Publication Date: August 2, 2016 -
2017 Silver Medalist, IPPY in Memoir/Personal Struggles 2017 International Book Awards, Finalist Autbiography/Memoir 2016 Best Book Awards, Finalist Women's Issues In 1994, Lizbeth Meredith said good-bye to her four- and six year-old daughters for a visit with their non-custodial father—only to learn days later that they had been kidnapped and taken to their father’s home country of Greece. Twenty-nine and just on the verge of making her dreams of financial independence for her and her daughters come true, Lizbeth now faced a $100,000 problem on a $10 an hour budget. For the next two years—fueled by memories of her own childhood kidnapping—Lizbeth traded in her small life for a life more public, traveling to the White House and Greece, and becoming a local media sensation in order to garner interest in her efforts. The generous community of Anchorage becomes Lizbeth’s makeshift family—one that is replicated by a growing number of Greeks and expats overseas who help Lizbeth navigate the turbulent path leading back to her daughters. Author: Lizbeth Meredith Publication Date: September 20, 2016 -
A 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? Author: Barbara Linn Probst Publication Date: April 7, 2020 -
Quest for Eternal Sunshine chronicles the triumphant, true story of Mendek Rubin, a brilliant inventor who overcame both the trauma of the Holocaust and decades of unrelenting depression to live a life of deep peace and boundless joy. Born into a Hassidic Jewish family in Poland in 1924, Mendek grew up surrounded by extreme anti-Semitism. Armed with an ingenious mind, he survived three horrific years in Nazi slave-labor concentration camps while virtually his entire family was murdered in Auschwitz. After arriving in America in 1946—despite having no money or professional skills—his inventions helped revolutionize both the jewelry and packaged-salad industries. Remarkably, Mendek also applied his ingenuity to his own psyche, developing innovative ways to heal his heart and end his emotional suffering. After Mendek died in 2012, his daughter, Myra Goodman, found an unfinished manuscript in which he’d revealed the intimate details of his healing journey. Quest for Eternal Sunshine—the extraordinary result of a posthumous father-daughter collaboration—tells Mendek’s whole story and is filled with eye-opening revelations, effective self-healing techniques, and profound wisdom that have the power to transform the way we live our lives. Authors: Mendek Rubin & Myra Goodman Publication Date: April 14, 2020 -
In present-day Los Angeles, Caroline Martin has everything but the thing her soul craves most: a daughter. When she undergoes what is supposed to be a routine hysterectomy, she unwittingly aborts the little girl she’s always longed for, leaving the unborn baby’s soul in limbo. Sharing a hospital room with Caroline is a pregnant woman who’s just been shot by her boyfriend. Her unborn child is barely hanging on—and the soul of Caroline’s hovering baby cannot resist the overwhelming urge to rebirth via this unclaimed fetus. In the aftermath of these events, two engaging heavenly guides, working together through sensitive humans, struggle to find an alternate way to help Caroline and her would-be daughter forge the link that was always meant to be between them—before the child’s brutal father makes good on his vow to steal the girl and disappear with her forever. By turns comic and tragic, Rachael’s Return explores the concept of soul mates, the afterlife, reincarnation, and relationships that never die, even as it offers readers a glimpse of the mysteries that exist within the ordinary and challenges assumptions about the true nature of reality. Author: Janet Rebhan Publication Date: June 16, 2020 -
“[Boucher] demonstrates that alcoholism is a disease that doesn’t discriminate by income level, education, or gender. Contrary to the thinking that women have to lose it all before making changes, she hopes that, by reading her book, women can recognize and deal with their potential alcoholism early on. Highly recommended.” ―Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW) Do you worry that your drinking may have unintended consequences to your health, your family, your relationships, your profession? We live in a boozy culture, and the idea of women and wine going hand in hand has become entrenched. Is your book club really a “wine club”? Do you drink to “cope” with anxiety, parenthood, the pressures of being a mom, a wife, a professional? In Raising the Bottom, mothers, daughters, health professionals, and young women share their stories of why they drank, how they stopped, and the joys and rewards of being present in their lives once they kicked alcohol to the curb. In these pages, women share their drinking stories of hitting emotional bottoms —so you don’t ever have to. Author: Lisa Boucher Publication Date: June 20, 2017 -
"In her brave and transparent book, Bella Mahaya Carter reveals how she took her healing into her own hands, overcoming obstacles we can all relate to: fear, shame, worth. Her story will inspire readers to allow themselves to be seen while bringing their gifts and voices to the world." —Nancy Levin, bestselling author of Worthy “Bella gracefully limns the tale of how a raw food diet launched her into understanding and coming to terms with anxiety; in a world awash with foodbased memoirs, this is juicy, fresh fruit.” —Lisa Kotin, author of My ConfectionRaw is the story of one woman’s quest for health and happiness, which dragged her kicking and screaming into spiritual adulthood. Anxiety and a desire to heal it holistically—even before she knew what it was—is at the heart of this story, which reveals Carter’s struggles to face her fears, release perfectionism, surrender things beyond her control, and find validation within for her life and work. The book is divided into three sections—body, mind, and spirit—and it begins with Carter’s efforts to holistically cure chronic stomach problems. Toward that end, she adopted a 100 percent raw, vegan diet, which eased her symptoms and produced impressive, unexpected perks, but didn’t completely heal her. She then looked to her mind for answers and discovered that unconscious negative thoughts combined with a stressful, hectic-paced life sabotaged her well-being. Finally, a few mystical experiences brought her “home” to a visceral understanding of who she really is. Author: Bella Mahaya Carter Publication Date: May 22, 2018 -
2016 International Book Award Finalist in Cookbooks: International 2016 Best book Award Finalist in Cookbooks: International Recipes for Redemption: A Companion Cookbook for A Cup of Redemption provides the promised recipes—both French and American—culled from the pages, the times, and the regional influences found in the historical novel A Cup of Redemption. Told through the voices of the three main characters—Marcelle, Sophie and Kate—the recipes are carefully taught in the way these women learned them: at the knees of their mothers or grandmothers. Whether “cuisine pauvre” (peasant cooking), “war food” from WWII, American fare, or simply a family favorite, each recipe is carefully described and footnoted with interesting, often amusing culinary notes. Flavored with witty repartee and slathered with common sense, this cookbook is filled with heart, soul, humor, and delectable delight. Author: Carole Bumpus Publication Date: August 18, 2015 -
Set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, Redlined exposes the racist lending rules that refuse mortgages to anyone in areas with even one black resident. As blacks move deeper into Chicago’s West Side during the 1960s, whites flee by the thousands. But Linda Gartz’s parents, Fred and Lil, choose to stay in their integrating neighborhood, overcoming previous prejudices as they meet and form friendships with their African American neighbors. The community sinks into increasing poverty and crime after two race riots destroy its once vibrant business district, but Fred and Lil continue to nurture their three apartment buildings and tenants for the next twenty years in a devastated landscape—even as their own relationship cracks and withers. After her parents’ deaths, Gartz discovers long-hidden letters, diaries, documents, and photos stashed in the attic of her former home. Determined to learn what forces shattered her parents’ marriage and undermined her community, she searches through the family archives and immerses herself in books on racial change in American neighborhoods. Told through the lens of Gartz’s discoveries of the personal and political, Redlined delivers a riveting story of a community fractured by racial turmoil, an unraveling and conflicted marriage, a daughter’s fight for sexual independence, and an up-close, intimate view of the racial and social upheavals of the 1960s. Author: Linda Gartz Publication Date: April 3, 2018 -
2017 Indie Excellence Book Award: Self-Help: General Finalist 2016 USA Best Book Awards: Self-Help: Relationships Finalist 2016 Best Indie Book Awards: Self Help: Relationships - Finalist Designed to help caregivers understand how to cope with and overcome the overwhelming challenges that arise while caregiving for a loved one—especially an aging parent—Role Reversal is a comprehensive guide to navigating the enormous daily challenges faced by caregivers. In these pages, Waichler blends her personal experience caring for her beloved father with her forty years of expertise as a patient advocate and clinical social worker. The result is a book offering invaluable information on topics ranging from estate planning to grief and anger to building a support network and finding the right level of care for your elderly parent. Author: Iris Waichler Publication Date: August 16, 2016 -
Most honeymoons, Mary knows, do not start this way. Lying outside on the sloping attic roof in Edinburgh, listening to the soft snores of her groom, she realizes that Rudy’s number one rule, “adapt," once again reigns. Rudy’s Rules for Travel takes you across the twentieth-century globe with intrepid, frugal Rudy and his spouse Mary, a catastrophic thinker seeking comfort. Whether stalled in a Spanish car tunnel, stranded atop a runaway elephant, or held at rifle-point at a Soviet border, Rudy has a rule for every occasion—for example, “Relax, some kind stranger will appear.” Mary, meanwhile, has her deep breathing and her own commandment: “Expect the worst.” The two are a picture of contrast. As Mary was being born, Rudy was a new American citizen flying US Air Force missions over his homeland, Germany. His father was a seaman, hers an accountant. And when this marriage of opposites goes traveling, their stories combine laugh-out-loud humor with poignant lessons from the odyssey of a World War II veteran. So start packing—you’ll want to join these two. Author: Mary K. Jensen Publication Date: April 10, 2018 -
“Devilishly sharp… a masterful balance of psychological excavation and sumptuous description.” —Kirkus Reviews An only child, Deborah Burns grew up in prim 1950s America in the shadow of her beautiful, unconventional, rule-breaking mother, Dorothy—a red-haired beauty who looked like Rita Hayworth and skirted norms with a style and flare that made her the darling of men and women alike. Married to the son of a renowned Italian family with ties to the underworld, Dorothy fervently eschewed motherhood and domesticity, turning Deborah over to her spinster aunts to raise while she was the star of a vibrant social life. As a child, Deborah revered her charismatic mother, but Dorothy was a woman full of secrets with a troubled past—a mistress of illusion whose love seemed just out of her daughter’s grasp. In vivid, lyrical prose, Saturday’s Child tells the story of Deborah’s eccentric upbringing and her quest in midlife, long after her parents’ death, to uncover the truth about her mother and their complex relationship. No longer under the spell of her maternal goddess, but still caught in a wrenching cycle of love and longing, Deborah must finally confront the reality of her mother’s legacy—and finally claim her own. Author: Deborah Burns Publication Date: April 9, 2019 -
“…strikingly personal and lyrically told…. engrossing….A heartfelt, inspiring, and deeply moving chronology of substance abuse and enduring, unconditional familial love.” —Kirkus Reviews “I am sitting on the back porch of our condo bawling. I just finished Saving Bobby and I am filled with a belief that this 349-page book is the bravest thing I have ever seen in print. As Renée Hodges made it so clear in the end and was so apparent in each page, this is her story and maybe her eventual salvation. This process has brought Hodges to her darkest places and she found her salvation there. This sounds simple but I know how really hard that is. No one wants to do that. But she did.” —Dr. William H. Davis, Orthopedic Surgeon When Renée Hodges invited her nephew, Bobby, to come stay with her for a few weeks so he could visit a doctor about his back pain, she knew he was recovering from an addiction to prescription painkillers. She believed that if he could address his back problems, he would have a better chance of staying clean—but she had no idea what a roller coaster ride she was getting on. Unlike other books about addiction, Saving Bobby begins after rehab is over. Told in part through journal entries, e-mails, and personal recollections, this raw, honest, deeply moving memoir—begun to keep the family accountable—describes the sixteen months that Hodges, her husband, and their community struggled alongside Bobby as he attempted to successfully re-enter the day-to-day world. Using a holistic and open approach, the shame and stigma associated with addiction was lessened—and ultimately, Bobby learned he had to save himself. Author: Renee Hodges Publication Date: May 1, 2018 -
“A timely critique, and needed story. Masculinity’s measure by money is not only ludicrous, it’s getting downright dangerous.” —Nomi Prins, former managing director, Goldman Sachs, and author of All the Presidents’ Bankers: The Hidden Alliances that Drive American Power The personal is not only political, it’s also economic and sexual: as a society, we’re encouraged to view economics as objective science far removed from us—when in reality it has concrete and far-reaching effects on our everyday lives. In Screwnomics, Rickey Gard Diamond shares personal stories, cartoons, and easy-to-understand economic definitions in her quest to explain the unspoken assumptions of 300 years of EconoMansplaining—the economic theory that women should always work for less, or better for free. It unpacks economic definitions, turns a men-only history on its head, and highlights female experiences and solutions. encouraging female readers to think about their own economic memoir and confront our system’s hyper-masculine identity. In the past fifty years, the US has witnessed a major shift in economic theory, and yet few women can identify or talk about its influence in their own lives. Accessible and inspiring, Screwnomics offers female readers hope for a better, more inclusive future—and the tools to make that hope a reality. Author: Rickey Gard Diamond Publication Date: April 3, 2018 -
In this wry memoir, a Harvard-educated CPA with debilitating chemical intolerance digs deep in her family history to uncover the childhood trigger for her illness. Tackling themes of truth, loss, acceptance, and empowerment, Pookie Sekmet interweaves her personal story with timely guidance on the importance of avoiding toxic chemicals in cars, consumer products, and indoor environments; overcomes family trauma and mysterious chronic health struggles with determination and humor; builds an unconventional new life; and, finally, becomes a whistleblower within a corrupt and patriarchal corporate culture―and achieves righteous justice. Think Titus Andronicus, but with a slight woman in her mid-fifties with defiantly bad hair―wearing worn overalls and a home-sewn hemp jersey top―standing tall among the corpses. Our society has become polarized by leaders seeking to consolidate exploitative power through the imposition of magical thinking and untruths. Through the story of her struggles and ultimate triumph, Sekmet lays bare the underlying selfishness, heedlessness, and lies of many of our political, societal, and business structures and offers a reality-based and practical path to self-protection―and even empowerment. Author: Pookie Sekmet Publication Date: October 8, 2019 -
A schoolteacher escapes an abusive marriage and finds love on a blind date. Mary Jane’s new man, sure that riding a Harley will restore her confidence, ends up following the white lines with her through fifteen years of marriage. Traveling together, they learn to be partners, both on and off the road, until Dwayne is diagnosed with cancer. After losing her husband, Mary Jane once again must learn to live on her own―but she’ll never be the same again. Author: Mary Jane Black Publication Date: October 1, 2019 -
2016 Indie Excellence Winner in Literary Fiction “A sensitively told exploration of layers of loss, isolation, motherhood, and marriage. Diamond knows there are no easy answers and her portrait of Sarah is drawn by a skillful, compassionate hand.” —Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and An Invisible Sign of My Own Since the death of her infant daughter, lawyer-turned-stay-at-home mom Sarah Shaw has struggled to keep it together for her two young sons and law professor husband. With her husband burying himself in his career and her friendships all having withered, she is lost in a private world of grief. Then one day walking in L.A., Sarah’s heart catches at the sight of a young homeless woman pushing a baby in a stroller—and saving them becomes her mission. An unlikely bond grows between Sarah and the mother, Josie, whose pride and strained relationship with her own mother prevent her from going home to Oakland. Through her friendship with Josie, Sarah slowly learns that those we love are never far, even in death—and that sometimes it is the people we set out to save who save us. Shelter Us speaks to the quiet joys and anxieties of parenthood, and illuminates the place all parents know: that shadowy space between unconditional love and fear of unbearable loss. Author: Laura Diamond Publication Date: June 8, 2015 -
It's Berkeley in the 1960s, and all Martha Goldenthal wants is to do well at Berkeley High and plan for college. But her home life is a cauldron of kooky ideas, impossible demands, and explosive physical violence. Her father, Jules, is an iconoclast who hates academia and can’t control his fists. Her mother, Willa, has made a career of victimhood and expects Martha and her siblings, Hildy and Drew, to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, Jules’s classical record store, located directly across the street from the U.C. Berkeley campus, is ground zero for riots and tear gas. Martha perseveres with the help of her best friend, who offers laughter, advice about boys, and hospitality. But when Willa and Jules divorce and Jules loses his store and livelihood, Willa goes entirely off the rails. A heartless boarding school placement, eviction from the family home, and an unlikely custody case wind up putting Martha and Drew in Jules's care. Can Martha stand up to her father to do the one thing she knows she must—go to college? With its running "soundtrack" of classical recordings and rock music and its vivid scenes of Berkeley at its most turbulent, Shrug is the absorbing, harrowing, and ultimately uplifting story of one young woman’s journey toward independence. Author: Lisa Braver Moss Publication Date: August 13, 2019 -
ForeWord Reviews’ IndieFab Book of the Year “Editor’s Choice Award” Independent Publisher Awards Bronze “Best Regional Fiction South” Winner of International Book Awards in “Religious Fiction” Category Set in 1940s Germantown, Tennessee, South of Everything is a magical coming-of-age story about the daughter of a plantation-owning family, who, despite her privileged background, finds more in common with “the help” than her own family. Sara develops a special kinship with her parents’ servant Old Thomas, who introduces her to the mysterious Lolololo Tree—a magical, mystical tree with healing powers that she discovers is wiser than any teacher or parent or pries—and, in doing so, opens her eyes to the religious and racial prejudice of her surroundings. A universal coming-of-age tale about questioning the world around us and finding our own truth, South of Everything will appeal to anyone who’s ever dreamed of stepping beyond the safe boundaries of the world they know. Author: Audrey Taylor Gonzalez Publication Date: September 15, 2015
