In 1965, in the Scottish Borderlands, Pearl finds herself pregnant and unmarried, so her parents send her to Lichen Hall, a strange, crumbling mansion on the edge of a wood in the middle of nowhere. She is one of a string of mothers who have been sent there to give birth in secret and have …
When Grace moves back to the small town in the UK where she grew up, she has a young daughter in tow and an absent husband, and she's hoping to rekindle her friendship with Anna, who has a child the same age. As children, they were inseparable, but Anna is part of a clique of …
Set in a resort town called Baxter's Beach in Barbados, this book centers largely on a girl called Lala, who is pregnant and in an abusive relationship. When her labour starts, she goes looking for help, and ends up knocking on the door of a wealthy home where her husband, co-incidentally, is robbing the owners. …
Continue reading How The One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones
The Need by Helen Phillips Molly is a scientist and a mother of two who recently found some strange things on the site where she and her colleagues are digging up plant fossils. The objects seem everyday, but each has a slight impossible difference and none of them should be where they were found. As …
Penned by the author of the bestselling The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, this book is the story of another Victorian crime which was notorious in it's time, The Plaistow Tragedy of 1895. Two boys, 12 and 13 years old, told neighbors and friends that their mother had gone to Liverpool and proceeded to attend cricket …
Continue reading The Wicked Boy: An Infamous Murder in Victorian London by Kate Summerscale
In this book, Patricia Volk writes about her mother and about what she taught her about being a woman. But Patricia felt liberated when she read a biography about Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, and the way she approached womanhood, feeling like she was being opened up to another way of being. It's partly a …
Ruby Lennox narrates this story of her life and her family. Funny, startling and often sad, she is the child of a woman who doesn't want kids, and a father who cheats. The book also slips backwards in time to take in the lives of her ancestors and the events that shaped their lives. The …
Continue reading Behind The Scenes At The Museum by Kate Atkinson
At the opening of this story by best selling author Liane Moriarty, we are told that one parent has been killed at a primary school event. The book moves back to show events leading up to the murder, and all the secrets that are hidden behind the facade of suburban life. When 24 year old …
Opening in 1807, Rachel grows up on the island of St Thomas, a child beloved by her father, who makes sure that she's well educated, and a mother who is cold and bitter. In her family there is also Adele, who is their servant, and her daughter, Jestine, who is like a sister to Rachel. …
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