Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly Book Review
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date April 5th, 2016 New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France. An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences. For…
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield Book Review
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date December 4, 2018 A dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the Thames. The regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open on an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a little child. Hours later the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can it be explained by science? Replete with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Darwinian age, Once Upon a River is as richly atmospheric as Setterfield’s…
The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister Book Review
The Long Way Home by Kevin Bannister Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date September 12th, 2016 Set in the turbulent times of the War of Independence, ‘The Long Way Home’ follows the lives of Thomas Peters and Murphy Steele who are friends, former slaves, fellows-in-arms and leaders of the Black Brigade. Their real-life story is an epic adventure tale as they battle bounty hunters, racism, poverty and epidemic in their adopted country after the war. ‘The Long Way Home’ has resonated with readers around the world as an unforgettable account of courage, hope and determination triumphing over despair and injustice. Thomas Peters, thoughtful and charismatic, and Murphy Steele,…
The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos Book Review
The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos Book Review Publication Date October 9, 2018 The lowdown from Goodreads On a freezing night in January 1941, a little Jewish girl is found on the steps of an apartment building in Bucharest. With Romania recently allied with the Nazis, the Jewish population is in grave danger, undergoing increasingly violent persecution. The girl is placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted by a wealthy childless couple who name her Natalia. As she assimilates into her new life, she all but forgets the parents who were forced to leave her behind. They are even further from her mind when Romania falls under Soviet…
Girls on the Line by Aimie K. Runyan Book Review
Girls on the Line by Aimie K. Runyan Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date November 7, 2018 December 1917. As World War I rages in Europe, twenty-four-year-old Ruby Wagner, the jewel in a prominent Philadelphia family, prepares for her upcoming wedding to a society scion. Like her life so far, it’s all been carefully arranged. But when her beloved older brother is killed in combat, Ruby follows her heart and answers the Army Signal Corps’ call for women operators to help overseas. As one of the trailblazing “Hello Girls” deployed to war-torn France, Ruby must find her place in the military strata, fight for authority and respect among the…
The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay Book Review
The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date October 23, 2018 The Rain Watcher is a powerful family drama set in Paris as the Malegarde family gathers to celebrate the father’s 70th birthday. Their hidden fears and secrets are slowly unraveled as the City of Light undergoes a stunning natural disaster. Seen through the eyes of charismatic photographer Linden Malegarde, the youngest son, all members of the family will have to fight to keep their unity against tragic circumstances. In this profound and intense novel of love and redemption, De Rosnay demonstrates all of her writer’s skills both as an incredible storyteller but also…
The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain Book Review
The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date October 2, 2018 When Caroline Sears receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970 and there seems to be little that can be done. But her brother-in-law, a physicist, tells her that perhaps there is. Hunter appeared in their lives just a few years before—and his appearance was as mysterious as his past. With no family, no friends, and a background shrouded in secrets, Hunter embraced the Sears family and never looked back. Now, Hunter is telling her that something can be done about her baby’s heart.…
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan Book Review
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date October 2, 2018 From New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan comes an exquisite novel of Joy Davidman, the woman C. S. Lewis called “my whole world.” When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis—known as Jack—she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn’t holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford don and the beloved writer of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters. Embarking on the adventure of her life, Joy traveled from America to England and…
The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox Book Review
The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date October 2, 2018 Two centuries after the Salem witch trials, there’s still one witch left in Massachusetts. But she doesn’t even know it. New Oldbury, 1821 In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia, and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall. The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline. All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who…
The Heart of War: Misadventures in the Pentagon by Kathleen McInnis Book Review
The Heart of War: Misadventures in the Pentagon by Kathleen McInnis Book Review The lowdown from Goodreads Publication Date September 25, 2018 The Devil Wears Prada meets Catch-22; a novel about a young woman’s journey into the heart of Washington’s war machine. Dr. Heather Reilly has been an anti-war activist since her brother died fighting the Taliban. But her crushing student loans drive her to take a job working on a peace plan for Afghanistan, in the last place on Earth she ever thought she’d be employed: the Pentagon. On her first day, however, her position is eliminated and she’s shuffled to a war-fighting office focused on combating Russian aggression. Unfortunately, she knows…
Let's Be Friends
Receive our newsletter filled with recs to find your next pop culture obsession.