Coming Away

From the bestselling author of Tides of Honour and Promises to Keep comes a poignant novel about a young couple caught on opposite sides of the Second World War. In the fall of 1939, Grace Baker’s three brothers, sharp and proud in their uniforms, board Canadian ships headed for a faraway war. Grace stays behind, tending to the homefront and the general store that helps keep her small Nova Scotian community running. The war, everyone says, will be over before it starts. But three years later, the fighting rages on and rumours swirl about “wolf packs” of German U-Boats lurking in the deep waters along the shores of East Jeddore, a stone’s throw from Grace’s window. As the harsh realities of war come closer to home, Grace buries herself in her work at the store. Then, one day, a handsome stranger ventures into the store. He claims to be a trapper come from away, and as Grace gets to know him, she becomes enamoured by his gentle smile and thoughtful ways. But after several weeks, she discovers that Rudi, her mysterious visitor, is not the lonely outsider he appears to be. He is someone else entirely—someone not to be trusted. When a shocking truth about her family forces Grace to question everything she has so strongly believed, she realizes that she and Rudi have more in common than she had thought. And if Grace is to have a chance at love, she must not only choose a side, but take a stand. Come from Away is a mesmerizing story of love, shifting allegiances, and second chances, set against the tumultuous years of the Second World War.

Explore the crucial issues facing the GLBT population in their struggle for acceptance in contemporary America! Sexual Minorities: Discrimination, Challenges, and Development in America examines the stumbling blocks that prevent gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trangenders from living wholesome, healthy lives. This book concentrates on the effects of outside influences on the homosexual psyche from adolescence to mid-life and programs and services that need to be developed to improve quality of life. While some outside influences can make positive changes—such as Internet-based outreach to educate men in chat rooms about HIV—sexual minority groups face negativity from society in the forms of homophobia and heterosexism. Sexual Minorities uses statistics, charts, graphs, and surveys to reveal a remarkable trend correlating how contemporary American society treats sexual minorities and how it affects their psychological and psychosocial health. This book also reveals how—when internalized— this hurtful discrimination can cause self-hatred and depression. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the GLBT population, including: the history of homophobia and intolerance toward homosexuals with its basis in cultural, religious, and sociological views an in-depth survey utilizing Erikson’s psychosocial model to determine the lifespan development of seven “out” gay males who discuss their coming-out period, their roles in society, their legacies, and later-life issues the lack of federal legislation protecting GLBT employees in the workplace and recommendations for creating a sense of security for these employees a case study revealing the high incidence rate of heterosexism amongst social workers and the repercussions this could have among homosexual clientele surveys and statistics investigating the rate of abusive behavior in lesbian relationships three chapters involving specific issues of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents, such as coming out, risk and protective factors, and being homosexual in a rural environment as opposed to a city Sexual Minorities is an important tool for everyone in today’s society—from students and practitioners of social work, health care, human sexuality, psychology, and sociology, to legislators, lawyers, activists, and business owners. This book is also vital for every parent, relative, or friend of a man or woman labeled as a sexual minority.