A novel set during The Great Depression might at first seem
like a downer. However, this thoughtful, moving, and beautifully told story is
definitely worth escaping with.
I love an emotional story, rich in setting,
where characters leap from the page to face challenges head on while striving
for a better life. This novel, with its socially dreary backdrop, serves to
highlight what is truly important in the lives of four children and those they
encounter along the way.
Family, acceptance, forgiveness, and perseverance are
at the heart of this novel and the reason This Tender Land has stayed
with me long after I closed the book. I was so invested in the characters and
immersed in the setting that I read into the wee hours. A definite must read!
1932, Minnesota-the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent's wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will fly into the unknown and cross paths with others…
When a novel unfolds in my mind’s eye like a
movie, I know I have found gold!
Kerry Chaput’s Chasing Eleanor is the hopeful
tale of newly orphaned Magnolia Parker who took me by the hand and walked me
through hardship, friendship, love, and what it means to do your best in a
world gone astray. As Magnolia and friends traveled from state to state
searching for Eleanor, I felt as though I was tagging along and seeing it all
through my own eyes.
Bursting with words of wisdom from none other than Eleanor
Roosevelt, herself, this beautifully told, emotion filled, coming-of-age story reminds
us that love doesn't always come from the places we expect but if we open our
hearts, love will surely find us anyway.
Newly orphaned Magnolia Parker must protect her sick little brothers, but when the authorities send the boys to an unknown orphan asylum, Magnolia calls on her unwavering grit to bring them home. She's lost everything but still has a secret weapon—a promise from Eleanor Roosevelt, the most famous woman in America. Setting out on a cross country quest, she befriends two unlikely travelers: Hop, a migrant worker with a big heart, and Red, a young girl traumatized into silence. Hunger and dust storms aren't the only dangers this found family faces on the rails. After an assault, they're forced to…
If I could, I would have popped into The Peacock
Emporium for a spot of tea and to be a fly on the wall as the neighborhood
gathers in the newest shop on the block and soon become intertwined in one
another’s lives.
This dual timeline novel lured me in with its luxurious
descriptions of historical homes, parties, and secrets while its present-day
storyline showcased how the perception of a difference in class and societal standing
can put a wedge between even the wealthiest of families.
Love, loss,
forgiveness, family, and coming to terms with who you are and what you want in
life are the cornerstones this novel was built on. An especially good read for
a rainy afternoon.
In the Sixties, Athene Forster is the most glamorous girl of her generation. Nicknamed the Last Deb, she is also beautiful, spoilt and out of control. When she agrees to marry dashing young heir Douglas Fairley-Hulme her parents breathe a sigh of relief. But within two years rumours have begun to circulate about Athene's affair with a young salesman. Thirty five years on, Suzanna Peacock is struggling with her glamorous mother's legacy. At odds with her father and his second wife, struggling in a stalled marriage, she returns to the place of her birth to find that the ghost of…
Vancouver, Canada, 1927. The Roaring Twenties
are anything but extravagant for seventeen-year-old Clara Wilson. With her
family struggling to make ends meet and under the threat of eviction, she
applies for a job at the soon-to-be-opened Hotel Hamilton. But with her
impulsive, adventure-seeking sister quick on her heels, she may find herself
battling more than she anticipated.
Feeling the intense burden of responsibility
and doing her best to navigate the opulent hotel's rigorous training program,
her hopes for survival crumble when she encounters rivalry from an out-of-place
socialite. And as both women strive to win the coveted position, Clara fears
she could be losing the only way to keep her family afloat.
