Alice S Daughter

"'My story is not about blame. It's about sharing history that belongs to all of Australia. I needed a push, but I am happy to finally give little Rhonda a voice, so that my words will live on after I leave this world.' In 1954, aged three, Rhonda Collard-Spratt was taken from her Aboriginal family and placed on Carnarvon Native Mission, Western Australia. Growing up in the white world of chores and aprons, religious teachings and cruel beatings, Rhonda drew strength and healing from her mission brothers and sisters, her art, music and poetry, and her unbreakable bond with the Dreaming. Alice's Daughter is the story of Rhonda's search for culture and family as she faces violence, racism, foster families, and her father's death in custody; one of the first deaths investigated as part of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Written in Rhonda's distinctive voice, Alice's Daughter is fearless, compelling and intimate reading. Coupled with her vibrant and powerful paintings and poetry, Rhonda's is a journey of sadness, humour, resilience and ultimately survival."--Publisher's description.

Alice in Wonderland (also known as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), from 1865, is the peculiar and imaginative tale of a girl who falls down a rabbit-hole into a bizarre world of eccentric and unusual creatures. Lewis Carroll's prominent example of the genre of "literary nonsense" has endured in popularity with its clever way of playing with logic and a narrative structure that has influence generations of fiction writing.

Sheila Munro is the daughter of one of the world's most admired fiction writers: Alice Munro, three-time winner of Canada's prestigious Governor General's Award. In Lives of Mothers and Daughters, she reveals what it was like to grow up with a mother of such tremendous renown. At the core of the book lies a loving and intimate biography of Alice, presented as only a daughter can. Sheila traces the story back to her ancestors, who left Scotland in the early 19th century, before telling of Alice's birth in 1931, her youth growing up on an Ontario farm, and her two marriages, and two grandchildren--Sheila's own children. Sheila has a tale to tell that's her own as well, involving her writerly aspirations and her efforts to forge a unique path while following in her mother's footsteps. And so, from her perspective as both an author and a mother, Sheila writes frankly about her mother and her mother's writing. The legions of devoted Alice Munro fans will glimpse real-life settings, situations and characters that have worked their way into her fiction as Sheila offers a behind-the-scenes tour (replete with Munro family snapshots) of the inspirations for the tales Munro fans know and love.

An “intimate, lovely novel, most of whose concerns swirl about the pain and joys of motherhood,” from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Rules of Magic (People). Rae Perry has been in love with Jessup since high school. Two weeks before her eighteenth birthday, they ran away from Boston together and have been moving ever since—five states in seven years. Now they are in Southern California in what they call “earthquake weather,” a time when anything can happen, and Jessup is restless again. This time, Rae fears, he plans to leave without her. Lila Grey is a fortune-teller. More than a quarter century ago, on a cold and icy night in New York City, she gave birth to a daughter she never saw again. Lila is determined to find her lost child, even if it means an end to her happy life with Richard, the loving husband she refuses to let into her past. It is Lila who tells Rae she is pregnant—but the other symbol she reads in Rae’s tea leaves, she refuses to reveal. From that moment forward, their fates are inextricably linked. While Rae searches for the strength to navigate an uncertain future alone, Lila sets out to resolve her history once and for all. This luminous novel, a New York Times Notable Book, is an enthralling tribute to the profound mysteries of motherhood and childbirth from a writer who, in the words of Amy Tan, “takes seemingly ordinary lives and lets us see and feel extraordinary things.”

1980: Josephine escapes her home in Ireland, hoping never to return. She starts a new, exciting life in London, but as much as she tries, she can't quite leave the trauma of her childhood behind. Seventeen years and two children later, Josephine gets a call from her sister to tell her that their mother is dying and wants to see her - a summons she can't refuse. 1997: Ten-year-old Clare is counting down to the summer holidays, when she is going to meet her grandparents in Ireland for the first time. She hopes this trip will be 'just what the doctor ordered' and cheer her mum up. But family secrets can't stay buried forever and following revelations in Ireland Josephine and her family unravel, perhaps to the point of no return.

Inheriting her late father's exclusive club in 1945, Wren plans on avoiding its illicit former activities of prostitution and illegal gambling in spite of her mother's concerns that Wren is more like her father than she realizes.