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Margaret Carlyle is searching for an epic love as she heads to college in 1979 after the loss of her beloved mother to cancer. When a charismatic boy named Anders rapes her on their first date, she wants nothing more than to forget it ever happened. But as the years pass, each life decision she makes seems driven by what happened that night. When Anders becomes famous as an actor, Margaret can no longer ignore her past—and she must make choices that will affect everyone around her, most notably her husband, Douglas, and Fitz, the man who has loved her patiently since college. This deeply moving novel is a window into class and privilege, the mysteries of marriage, and the destructive power of secrets—and an examination of what happens when we try to bury the past, as well as the consequences of confronting it. Publication Date: July 20, 2021 Author: Susan Schoenberger -
In 1661 Madrid, Ana is still grieving the loss of her husband when her niece, sixteen-year-old Juliana, suddenly vanishes. Ana frantically searches the girl’s room and comes across a diary. Journeying to southern Spain in the hope of finding her, Ana immerses herself in her niece’s private thoughts. After a futile search in Seville, she comes to Juliana’s final entries, and, discovering the horrifying reason for the girl’s flight, abandons her search. In 1992 Missouri, in her deceased mother’s home, Rachel finds a packet of letters, and a diary written by a woman named Juliana. Rachel’s reserved mother has never mentioned these items, but Rachel recognizes the names Ana and Juliana: her mother uttered them on her deathbed. She soon becomes immersed in Juliana’s diary, which recounts the young woman’s journey to Mexico City and her life in a convent. As she learns the truth about Juliana’s tragic family history, Rachel seeks to understand her connection to the writings—hoping that in finding those answers, she will somehow heal the wounds caused by her mother’s lifelong reticence. Author: Rebecca D'Harlingue Publication Date: September 8, 2020 -
Early days of motherhood can be overwhelming. The initial weeks are fraught with a lack of confidence in parenting abilities, heightened by the absence of sleep. Once the multitude of visits die down, new mothers and their partners can slip into isolation, facing very real day-to-day problems of child rearing on their own. Parenting chat sites and blogs are becoming a popular source of information and community for some new parents. Yet, the plethora of information can inadvertently contribute to increases in stress. How, in this modern age, can new mothers and their partners nurture their own parenting confidence? The Little A–Z is here to help. This curated, wholistic treasure trove of parenting advice is organized alphabetically with a tab system so that information is literally at your fingertips. It assumes that medical issues confronting you and your baby are not to be treated in isolation to personal questions of well-being, relationships, and going back to work. You will find tips, tricks, and advice on issues ranging from diaper rash to travel to negotiating reentry with your boss. Compiled from the author’s own experience as a working mother, and complemented by input from friends across the globe, this book is a must-have for any new mother asking herself how to navigate childrearing, a career, and loving relationships in this busy, modern and highly digitized age of parenting. Author: Rachel Perks Publication Date: May 19, 2020 -
Sometimes, dreams do come true. There’s a lot of advice out there about how to pursue your goals, but sometimes all a dreamer needs to keep going is a true story of a dream becoming reality: proof that lows are a normal part of the process, and hope that all your hard work might still have a chance of paying off. The Little Book of Big Dreams is filled with true stories of dreamers just like you who dared to reach for the stars and actually go for the things they wanted most in life—but the most important story in this book is yours. Each uplifting tale in these pages is meant to inspire you along your dream journey, not only helping you keep going when things get hard but also reminding you that obstacles don’t mean you’re doing this wrong—they mean you’re on your way. The dreamers in this book include Oscar winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Disney producer Don Hahn, Pensole Lewis College founder D’Wayne Edwards, Hamilton cast member Seth Stewart, Black Girls Code founder Kimberly Bryant, actor and filmmaker Justin Baldoni, and more. Author: Isa Adney Pub Date: November 7, 2023 -
Controversial filmmaker Jean Mercier is shooting a film on location in Sweden. While spending the summer creating his latest work of cinematic art, he lives in a nearby inn with his lead actors: Albie Hughes, British veteran of stage and screen; Charlotte Reed, British indie film queen; Michael Hennesey, American TV heartthrob; Willow Barnes, fallen former teen star looking to make a comeback; and Finn Forrester, legendary Hollywood movie star. Mercier invites his friend Ella Sinclair—a beautiful, bohemian-spirited American philosopher known for her provocative writing—to stay with them for the summer. When Ella arrives, Finn is instantly enchanted by her, and soon they fall madly in love. Finn wants to plan a life together, but Ella harbors fears and convinces him to wait until the film wraps to decide their future. In a case of life imitating art, the film they are creating explores “the big questions” and prompts the stars to reflect on the crossroads they face in their own lives. How will their experiences on location affect them when they return home? The answers won’t come until months later, when the cast and crew reconvene on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival—but their revelation will make for one unforgettable night. Author: Patricia Leavy Pub Date: October 10, 2023 -
Brenda Lockhart’s family has been living well beyond their means for too long when Brenda’s husband leaves them—for an older and less attractive woman than Brenda, no less. Brenda’s never worked outside the home, and the family’s economic situation quickly declines. Oldest daughter Peggy is certain she’s heading off to a university, until her father offers her a job sorting mail while she attends community college instead. Younger daughter Allison, a high school senior, can’t believe her luck that California golden boy Kevin has fallen in love with her. Meanwhile, the chatter about the O. J. Simpson murder investigations is always on in the background, a media frenzy that underscores domestic violence against women and race and class divisions in Southern California. Brenda, increasingly obsessed with the case, is convinced O. J. is innocent and has been framed by the LAPD. Both daughters are more interested in their own lives—that is, until Peggy starts noticing bruises Allison can’t explain. For a while, it feels to everyone as if the family is falling apart; but in the end, they all come together again in unexpected ways. Publication Date: June 1, 2021 Author: Mary Camarillo -
Winner of the Gold Medal in the 2016 Living Now Book Awards 2016 Best Book Award Finalist in Social Change 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner in Motivational In the course of their lifetime, one out of two men and one out of three women will be diagnosed with cancer. Many of us watch in desperation as our friends and loved ones fight for their lives. But after seeing several of her patients and her dearest aunt engage in a battle with cancer, Dr. Christine Meyer decided to embark on a quest for hope—and through happenstance and love, a team of runners emerged that empowered a community to make a difference, not only in the lives of cancer patients, but in one another’s lives. Along the way, Meyer learned that the true measure of a doctor’s success is not the number of lives saved but the number of lives touched. Author: Christine Meyer Publication Date: April 12, 2017 -
As a naive freshman, Catherine meets Walter, a senior and Big Man on Campus whose sophistication, confidence, and wealth both intimidate and excite her. A three-year absentee courtship follows, during which time the idea of Walt tethers Catherine to safety. She was programmed to marry someone like him, so she ignores the warning signs that they might not be a good match. Hoping to please her mother and seeking refuge from her fraught childhood, she marries and has children with him—but the marriage doesn’t last. Once divorced, Catherine finds herself in a war with Walt over money, and then over access to her children—and suddenly, she can no longer ignore her childhood trauma. The high stakes of her battle with her ex-husband forge her like steel, finding every vulnerability where she needs to heal. Gradually, she develops a backbone, relinquishes her trauma-induced, people-pleasing ways, and steps into her own power. Honest and unflinching, The Longest War reminds us that there’s always a way through when we access the courage within ourselves. No matter how painful life’s difficulties, they offer us the opportunity to heal ourselves and evolve into more open, loving, compassionate people. The choice is ours. Author: Catherine Harrington. PhD Publication Date: July 2, 2024 -
2016 Best Book Award Winner in Fiction: New Age Depression has haunted twenty-five-year-old Max Dorigan her entire life. After years of unsuccessful treatment and a failed suicide attempt, Max agrees to join “The Lucidity Project,” a program at a mysterious health and wellness resort in the Caribbean—where, she soon finds, the people are just as troubled as she is, only in a different way. They claim to have psychic powers. They claim they can see ghosts. They claim Max is one of them. Max refuses to pay much attention until Dr. Micah McMoneagle, the charismatic head of the project, reveals he’s found a way to allow people to enter each other’s dreams. Now, instead of discussing their issues in talk therapy, Max and her new gifted friends can symbolically work through their problems on the astral plane. Together they embark on a magical, transformational journey through dreamtime to reveal the causes of the things that are holding them back—an adventure that ultimately awakens them to who they really are, and what they came to earth to do. Author: Abbey Campbell Cook Publication Date: May 31, 2016 -
The Magic of Memoir is a memoirist’s companion for when the going gets tough. Editors Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner have taught and coached hundreds of memoirists to the completion of their memoirs, and they know that the journey is fraught with belittling messages from both the inner critic and naysayers, voices that make it hard to stay on course with the writing and completion of a book. In The Magic of Memoir, 38 writers share their hard-won wisdom, stories, and writing tips. Included are Myers’s and Warner’s interviews with best-selling and widely renown memoirists Mary Karr, Elizabeth Gilbert, Dr. Azar Nafisi, Dani Shapiro, Margo Jefferson, Raquel Cepeda, Jessica Valenti, Daisy Hernández, Mark Matousek, and Sue William Silverman. This collection has something for anyone who’s on the journey or about to embark on it. If you’re looking for inspiration, The Magic of Memoir will be a valuable companion. Author: Brooke Warner Publication Date: November 15, 2016 -
In 1660, Amsterdam is the trading and map-printing capital of the world. Anneke van Brug is one of the colorists paid to enhance black-and-white maps for a growing number of collectors. Her artistic talent brings her to the attention of the Blaeu printing house, and she begins to color for a rich merchant, Willem de Groot. But Anneke is not content to simply embellish the work of others; she longs to create maps of her own. Cartography, however, is the domain of men—so it is in secret that she borrows the notes her father made on a trip to Africa in 1642 and sets about designing a new map. Anneke hopes to convince the charismatic de Groot to use his influence to persuade Blaeu to include her map in the Atlas Maior, which will be the largest and most expensive publication of the century. But family secrets, infidelity, and murder endanger her dream. Will her map withstand these threats, or will it be forever lost? Author: Rebecca D'harlingue Pub Date: September 19, 2023 -
Featured as a Goodreads Most Popular Book of May 2023 and Top 6 Jewish Books This Year, The Jewish Chronicle Casey Cohen, a Middle Eastern Jew, is a sixteen-year-old in New Orleans in the 1970s when she starts hanging out with the wrong crowd. Then she gets in trouble and her parents turn her whole world upside down by deciding to return to their roots, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn. In this new and foreign world, families gather weekly for Shabbat dinner; parties are extravagant events at the Museum of Natural History; and the Marriage Box is a real place, a pool deck designated for teenage girls to put themselves on display for potential husbands. Casey is at first shocked by this unfamiliar culture, but after she meets Michael, she’s enticed by it. Looking for love and a place to belong, she marries him at eighteen, believing she can adjust to Syrian ways. But she begins to question her decision when she discovers that Michael doesn’t want her to go to college; he wants her to have a baby instead. Can Casey integrate these two opposing worlds, or will she have to leave one behind in order to find her way? Author: Corie Adjmi Publication Date: August 2, 2022 -
From the award-winning bestselling author of books about autistic and learning-disabled children, Mary MacCracken, comes an engaging memoir of love, marriage—and Alzheimer’s. Braving divorce to be together, Cal and Mary help each other overcome setbacks in their work. Cal’s inventions are increasingly successful; Mary’s first book is published to much acclaim, followed by three more. It seems nothing can stop them. Then Alzheimer’s strikes. Always a fighter, Cal vows to beat his disease, while Mary finds ways to sustain their loving life together, devising ways to help Cal as he falters. She herself is helped by good doctors, social workers, and many friends—a whole community of care. Still, all the support in the world can’t stop Cal’s decline. He goes missing at night, flees his daycare program repeatedly, and must finally go to a memory unit. But even then, he and Mary share bits of happiness. In the end, they fail to beat Alzheimer’s. Yet their story is also one of triumph, as their love persists all through and beyond their battle. Poignant and inspiring, The Memory of All That is a beautifully written love story that offers guidance and comfort to those dealing with dementia, or any of life’s challenges. Author: Mary MacCracken Pub Date: July 26, 2022 -
In 1998, fiery Eleanor “Els” Gordon thought the new century would find her married to her childhood soul mate, rejuvenating her family’s Scottish Highlands estate, and finally earning a managing director title at her investment bank. Maybe she’d even have the courage to discover why her estranged mother ran home to Italy thirty years earlier. But when 2000 dawns, Els is mourning her fiancé and her father, and she’s unemployed, broke, and sharing an antique plantation house on the Caribbean island of Nevis with the ghost—or “jumbie”—of Jack Griggs, the former owner. Jack’s jumbie wangles Els’s help in making amends for wrongs committed during his Casanova life, and in exchange he appoints himself Cupid on behalf of a charter captain who’s as skittish about vulnerability as Els. Meanwhile, Els lures her mother to Nevis in hopes of unraveling the family secrets—but will the shocking truth set her free, or pull her fragile new happiness apart? A moving and lyrical novel that transports readers from lush tropics to rugged highlands and back again, The Moon Always Rising explores how the power of forgiveness can help even the most damaged person fix whatever is broken. Author: Alice C. Early Publication Date: April 21, 2020 -
For fans of Joan Didion and anyone fascinated by true crime, a daughter’s raw and unflinching account of California’s infamous murder trial of her mother, Lucille Miller—and the decades of emotional wreckage it left in its wake. On October 7, 1964, Debra Miller’s life turns upside down when her mother is arrested for the murder of her father. At only fourteen years old, Debra becomes a ward of the court, grappling with the unfathomable trauma of watching her mother’s trial and conviction—a devastation that is only amplified when her family’s tragedy is splashed across headlines nationwide and featured in Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Desperate to escape the notoriety of her family and utterly ill equipped to face the world, Debra spends her young adulthood sinking into mental illness, toxic relationships, and substance abuse. Meanwhile, her unrepentant mother, Lucille, uses Debra to supply contraband in prison. When Lucille is released, twentysomething Debra, seeking the love and support she so desperately desires, moves in with her—only to find herself constantly manipulated and dragged into her mother’s illegal activities. Torn between love and survival, Debra spends years trying to escape her mother’s vortex even as she battles her own demons. Ultimately, it’s only when Lucille passes away that Debra finally frees herself from her grip—and realizes she needs to change her life. In this raw and poignant memoir, Debra Miller bares the scars of an adolescence and adulthood shaped by the impact of a destructive mother and demonstrates that healing is always possible—even in the face of a past that just won’t let go. Author: Debra Miller Publication Date: March 24, 2026 -
In the blink of an eye life can become a reminder of the dreams and goals you let go of. When Betsy Armstrong’s mother unexpectedly dies, she makes the choice to be better than the mistakes of her family’s past and build anew in the life she wants and dreams of. What is legacy, and how will I leave one? Betsy Armstrong asks herself this question after her forty-six-year-old mother dies with a list of regrets and her stepfather completely disinherits her. Alone, Betsy sets about building a life of no regrets: becoming a marathon runner and Ironman triathlete, quitting a cushy corporate job to lead a life of service, and overcoming a crippling fear of commitment to marry. Still, she’s always running from the grief she can’t escape. As Betsy’s forty-seventh birthday approaches, she finally confronts her losses and begins reflecting on the one thing she’d never considered: children. Inspired by a friend’s adoption, Betsy and her husband, Doug, choose that path but face daunting obstacles—a failed adoption, a Russian courtroom drama, and a medical crisis in a tiny Russian town seven time zones away from Moscow. As the outcome of the adoption waxes and wanes, Betsy is forced to make the biggest decision of her life: How far will she go to become a mother? Author: Betsy Armstrong Publication Date: May 6, 2025 -
In this debut collection of poetry, The Mother Self guides readers along the raw and transformative path of early motherhood. The Mother Self is a collection of poetry that poignantly unveils the journey of a new mother navigating the complexities of early motherhood. Accessible and engaging, each poem captures a mother's delicate dance as she embraces her new identity and grieves her past self, all while finding solace in the sacred bond with her son. Readers are invited to explore the beauty and challenges of this period of life with grace and authenticity and to linger in the quiet spaces of a mother’s heart, where love and loss intertwine and a meaningful journey of growth unfolds. This collection weaves the universal themes of presence, nature, loss, and transformation. It guides readers on a path of healing and empowerment and offers a comforting hand through the transformative power of words. More than a collection of poems, it is a companion for new and seasoned mothers as they turn each page, nodding in recognition. Above all, this book is a poetic testimony to every incomparable and holy step of motherhood. Author: Talia Gutin Publication Date: May 6, 2025 -
For fans of Eat Pray Love and Untamed, a soulful memoir of motherhood, mysticism, and plant medicine that chronicles one woman’s journey of healing and transformation in the lush wilds of Kauai. What if your greatest teachers weren’t shamans in the jungle but the people you eat breakfast with every morning? The Mother Vine is a raw, often funny, and deeply human story of one woman’s awakening through plant medicine—and the winding road that leads her there. After walking away from a high-powered TV career and a picture-perfect life in Canada, Shannon moves her family to the jungled slopes of Kauai in search of a more laid-back existence. But instead of fresh mangoes and good surf, she finds herself swept into a tide of unexpected revelations.? In the crucible of motherhood, Shannon’s two sons and husband become unlikely teachers, reflecting her forgotten pieces with unrelenting love and occasional ferocity. Their struggles crack her open in ways no self-help book ever could. When deep-seated heartache has her seeking transformation, an invitation to drink ayahuasca becomes a lifeline. Guided by ancient wisdom and insatiable curiosity, Shannon begins the journey of remembering who she truly was—and still is. More than a memoir of healing, The Mother Vine is a love letter to the mess of motherhood, the mystery of the medicine path, and the sacred power of being fully alive. If you’ve ever longed for something deeper, this book is for you. Author: Shannon Nering Publication Date: April 21, 2026 -
Just before taking her vows, Sister Gilda, along with Lord Justin, King Louis’s counselor, is given a task: investigate grounds for the annulment of a marriage between Count Cedric and Lady Mariel. Together, they discover that Mariel believes she actually married Cedric’s younger half-brother Phillip—Cedric’s surrogate—at the marriage ceremony, and that Cedric plans to marry Lady Emma as soon as the annulment is granted. Emma and Phillip, meanwhile, have declared their love for each other. Gilda and Justin must find a fair and just solution that will satisfy the principals, the archbishop, and the king—and at the same time deal with the distracting passion developing between the two of them. As they work together to unravel the mysterious circumstances of the count’s marriage, their attraction grows—threatening Gilda’s freedom and Justin’s reputation. Set in ninth-century France, The Nun’s Betrothal is a suspenseful, romantic tale of court intrigue and forbidden love. Author: Ida Curtis Publication Date: July 7, 2020 -
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 -
When the last of members of a secretive Druid cult are forced to abandon their hidden sanctuary, they send the youngest of their remaining priests in search of Annwr, their chief priestess’s sister, who was abducted by a Saxon war band fifteen years ago. With only a rudimentary grasp of English and the ambiguous guidance of an oracle’s prophecy, Caelym manages to find Annwr living in a hut on the grounds of a Christian convent. Annwr has spent her years of captivity caring for the timid Aleswina, an orphaned Saxon princess who was consigned to the cloistered convent by her cousin, King Gilberth, after he assumed her father’s throne. Just as Caelym and Annwr are about leave together, Aleswina learns that Gilberth, a tyrant known for his cruelty and vicious temper, means to take her out of the convent and marry her. Terrified, she flees with the two Druids—beginning a heart-pounding adventure that unfolds in ways none of them could have anticipated. Publication Date: June 15, 2021 Author: A.M. Linden -
“The Odyssey and Dr. Novak is a profound, poignant, and important journey through history, lands, and times too powerful to forget. A Sensory delight.” —Kim Chinquee. Professor of Creative Writing, SUNY College at Buffalo. Author of Oh Baby and Pistol and Veer. One summer afternoon in northern England in 1946, when Ann Colley was a child, she met a man from Czechoslovakia named Dr. Novak. This encounter launched her lifelong fascination with Central and Eastern Europe, one that resulted in her spending two years, in 1995 and 2000, teaching at universities in Poland and Ukraine. In The Odyssey and Dr. Novak, Colley records personal experiences, interactions with colleagues, and descriptions of the landscape, creating a composite portrait of these countries at a time when each is struggling to chart its course after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. She recalls moments that are disturbing, absurd, discordant, frustrating, humorous, and endearing—a missing parrot flying in through the window; a robber on a train threatening her life; clouds of smoke from Chernobyl hanging over Kiev. Colley’s journey ends with her return to the figure of Dr. Novak when she searches in the archives of the Harvard Divinity School Library for letters sent from Prague in 1945—letters which, just like her memoir, speak of a past that pursues the present. Author: Ann C. Colley Publication Date: May 22, 2018 -
2017-18 Reader Views Literary Award, Novel: Finalist “Overall, this is a deftly constructed coming-of-age story with well-drawn characters and the narrative momentum of a thriller. Gschwandtner (Carla’s Secret, 2013, etc.) is a gifted storyteller who ably balances the past and present throughout the novel and never puts a foot wrong. A potent exploration of youth, innocence, and the abuse of authority. ―Kirkus Reviews During her first week at coed Quaker prep Foxhall School, sassy Susannah Greenwood, one of two girls who’ve entered as sophomores, gets pulled into the cool girls’ clique. While the school is instructing her in the moral and ethical tenets of the Quaker faith, the cool girls allow her to enter their world beyond the rule book—but in trying to find a balance between idealistic faith and the reality of a competitive system, Susannah runs afoul of the school’s most authoritarian dean and befriends the only other new sophomore, a brainy, socially inept outcast. Then her new friend runs away after being shamed by the dean, and Susannah finds herself caught between the two forces of loyalty and authority: Should she cooperate with the unforgiving, and now vulnerable, dean, who, with her job on the line, is pleading for information from her about her runaway friend? Or should she keep the secret she’s sworn to protect? Author: LB Gschwandtner Publication Date: September 26, 2017 -
The day after her eighteenth birthday, Julia Reeves checks herself into a psychiatric facility, longing to find a way out of the grief and guilt that have engulfed her since her father’s untimely death. What she finds is fellow suicide attempt survivor Sam Lorenzo, a brilliant twenty-three-year-old photographer. Sam brings beauty and light back into Julia’s life, so when he asks her to escape with him on a cross-country odyssey, she agrees. Before Julia can process what she’s done, the two young lovers are on the run. When Julia’s mother, Laura, learns Julia has disappeared and authorities will do nothing to help find her, Laura forms an uneasy alliance with the sole person who has as much to lose as she does: Sam’s mother, Arabella. Armed with only a handful of clues, the two mothers embark on a journey of their own, desperately hoping to save their children before they are lost forever. A moving exploration of family, friendship, and how far we are willing to go for the ones we love, The Other Side of Nothing is a powerful read about loss, self-determination, and second chances. Author: Anastasia Zadeik Publication Date: May 28, 2024
