Author Julia Kelly takes us on a journey to Liverpool in 1935, where we meet 18-year-old Viv Byrne, who was raised in a strict Catholic home. She finds herself in a difficult situation when she becomes pregnant after a one-night stand with a Jewish saxophonist Joshua Levinson. To avoid the shame of being an unwed mother, Viv and Joshua hastily tie the knot. But Viv’s overbearing mother offers Joshua a large amount of money to disappear on their wedding day, knowing the child will now be born in wedlock. He agrees and heads off to New York City to chase his dreams of jazz stardom. Five years later, Viv has […]
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Take My Hand
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is a powerful and eye-opening novel that addresses a disturbing piece of history. Set in 1973, it follows Civil Townsend, a newly graduated nurse who returns home to work at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. Her supervisor assigns her to give the Depo-Provera birth control shot to India and Erica Williams, who are only 11 and 13 years old. The girls have not yet reached puberty and are not sexually active, which leads Civil to question the motives behind her assignment. When Civil later learns the girls have been sterilized without their consent, she embarks on a legal battle against the clinic. The courtroom […]
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Burning Ground
Burning Ground by D.A. Galloway begins in 1971. It is the story of Graham Davidson, a young man grappling with survivor’s guilt after losing three siblings. Estranged from his father and searching for purpose, he stumbles upon the concept of vision quests from a Crow Indian. Graham lands seasonal work in Yellowstone National Park, which sets the stage for a spiritual journey that takes a rather unexpected turn. During a full moon at a sacred thermal area, something extraordinary happens—he finds himself transported back in time one hundred years. There he joins the Hayden Geological Survey, which explored the region that one year later became Yellowstone National Park. A menacing […]
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Zuleikha
Zuleikha takes readers on a journey through a lesser-known chapter of history. The story is set during Vladimir Lenin’s dekulakization campaign in 1930, a time when millions of kulaks found themselves in the crosshairs of political repression. The tale opens in a Tatar village near Kazan. Zuleikha, a strong peasant woman, sees her husband murdered by communists. Her life takes a harrowing turn as she’s forced into exile, enduring a grueling train journey to a remote Siberian outpost. The camp’s conditions are brutal, claiming the lives of many during the unforgiving winter. As Zuleikha gradually adapts to her new reality, she forms a motley crew of companions, including her husband’s […]
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Miss Aldridge Regrets
In 1936 London, Lena Aldridge, a talented mixed-race singer and actress, dreams of performing on grand stages. Yet, her reality finds her stuck in the dimly lit confines of a shabby basement jazz club in Soho. Life takes a cruel turn as her beloved single father passes away, her married boyfriend walks out on her, and her best friend involves her in a murder. Just when it seems like all hope is lost, a mysterious stranger extends an irresistible offer: a starring role on Broadway and a luxurious voyage aboard the RMS Queen Mary. Lena jumps at the chance to skip town. So what if the offer is too good […]
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Black Cake
Eleanor Bennett left a puzzling inheritance for her children, Byron and Benny. It includes a note, a USB drive with an audio recording, and a traditional black cake from a family recipe found in the freezer. In her message, Eleanor shares the story of her life. In 1965, a young woman fleeing an arranged marriage and suspicion of murder disappears into the surf. Cutting all ties, she crosses oceans, reinvents herself, and makes heartbreaking choices to take control of her life hoping to reunite with her first love. Byron and Benny haven’t seen each other in years. Can they set aside their differences to deal with their mother’s hidden past? […]
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Sisters of Night and Fog
“Like the devil, the Nazis know that to divide is to control and conquer.” ― Erika Robuck, Sisters of Night and Fog. Told in alternating chapters, Sisters of Night and Fog follows two very different women as they risk it all for the French Resistance. American Virginia d’Albert-Lake lives in France during the German occupation. She, her French husband, Philippe, and others work to save Allied pilots. Meanwhile, nineteen-year-old Englishwoman Violette Bushell marries French Legionnaire Étienne Szabo. When he leaves to fight the Germans in Egypt, she joins Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive and goes undercover in France. The two women meet when they are arrested and taken to Fresnes Prison near […]
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The Codebreaker’s Secret
This historical novel unfolds across two different time periods, 1943 Honolulu and 1965 Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, blending codebreaking secrets, murder, and romance. It follows two women: Isabel Cooper, a skilled cryptanalyst working to defeat the Japanese Army after her brother’s death during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and Lu Freitas, a rookie journalist for Sunset magazine. Isabel’s concerns heighten when her fellow female codebreaker, Gloria, vanishes from Station Hypo. Meanwhile, in 1965, Lu is assigned to cover the highly anticipated opening of Rockefeller’s Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. When singer Joni Diaz disappears, she teams up with a veteran photograph to investigate. As a fan of books featuring strong […]
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The Metal Heart
Identical twins Dorothy and Constance are haunted by their parents’ mysterious disappearance near Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. To start anew, they settle on the neighboring island of Selkie Holm in the autumn of 1941. Against the backdrop of World War II, a German U-boat sinks the British battleship HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. Eight hundred and thirty-four men lost their lives, prompting Winston Churchill to order the construction of defensive barricades between the islands. Italian prisoners of war, captured in North Africa, are transported to Selkie Holm to quarry stone and build the barriers. Many of the islanders are hostile towards the prisoners, but the twenty-three-year-old sisters see […]
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Signal Fires
In the summer of 1985, tragedy strikes when three teenagers, under the influence of alcohol, experience a catastrophic car crash that claims the life of one of them. The collision shatters the lives of those involved, including Ben Wilf, a young doctor who arrives at the scene. Years later, the Shenkmans move into the neighborhood. During a snowstorm, Ben saves their newborn’s life when the mother goes into labor at home during a snowstorm. Waldo, the Shenkmans’ intellectually gifted yet solitary son, forms a strong connection with Dr. Wilf, who is now retired and grappling with his wife’s dementia. Opinions on this book diverge significantly among readers. While some found […]
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