The Forgotten Life Of Eva Gordon

"[A] touching debut. . . . MacKillop takes the pain of aging and regret and infuses it with soul and a touch of humor. This auspicious first outing tugs at the heartstrings."--Publishers Weekly Eva wants to run away from her life--if only she could remember how. Failing memory has forced Eva Gordon to move in with her granddaughter, Breezy. But Eva hates the bustle of Boston. All she wants to do is move back to her quiet, cozy Cape Cod home and be left alone. Then Breezy announces she's getting married, and they'll be moving to her new husband's rundown family farm, where he lives with an elderly uncle. They'll be one big family--but only Breezy and Brent think it'll be a happy one. It's all too much for Eva. Too much change, too much togetherness, too much of an over-crowded life she never wanted. But as her desire for privacy collides with her worsening memory, Eva may find herself in a pickle she can't get out of. "A big-hearted family saga, suffused with grace and kindness, featuring a cast of appealing characters who would be right at home in Jon Hassler's Staggerford or Richard Russo's Empire Falls."--Adrianne Harun, author of A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain "On par with Olive Kitteridge! But where Olive woos, Eva Gordon captures. . . .A poignant, utterly beautiful story of perspective and hope."--Cheryl Grey Bostrom, author of Sugar Birds "A novel full of life and transformation, as charming as a New England cottage by the sea. You can't help but fall in love with spunky, hard-edged Eva Gordon and the others connected to Try Again Farm."--Christine Kindberg, author of The Means That Make Us Strangers

They last spoke as teens . . . But on a country road twelve years later, a surprise encounter reunites ornithologist Celia Burke with veterinary surgeon Burnaby Hayes, and they plunge into the most unusual romance of her life. After a decade of marriage, Celia and Burnaby have found a unique and beautiful rhythm. Then tragedy strikes while Celia hunts for the nest of a research hawk near the Snake River. Reeling with grief, she's certain Burnaby won't understand her anguish or forgive the choice that initiated it. She flees to kindness at a remote farm in Washington's Palouse region, where a wild prairie and an alluring neighbor convince her to begin anew. But when unexplained accidents, cryptic sketches, and a mute little boy make her doubt her decision, only a red-tailed hawk and the endangered lives of those she loves can compel her to examine her past--and reconsider her future. A soaring tale of wonder, loss, redemption, and restoration from Cheryl Grey Bostrom, the award-winning author of Sugar Birds. A beautifully crafted story set in the Pacific Northwest that brings the setting to life. A compelling contemporary novel about love and loss. Explores the challenges of a marriage when one partner is on the autism spectrum. Includes discussion questions for book clubs

The author of numerous books on Geoffrey Chaucer, the nineteenth-century scholar, Mary Eliza Haweis, has been largely erased from general histories of Chaucer studies. In her critical biography, Mary Flowers Braswell traces Haweis’s career, bringing her out of obscurity and placing her contributions to Chaucer scholarship in the context of those of influential Chaucerians of the period such as Frederick James Furnivall, Walford Dakin Selby, and Walter Rye. Braswell draws on extensive archival research from a broad range of late-Victorian newspapers, journals, and society papers to weave a fascinating picture of Haweis’s own life and work, which in quantity and quality rivaled that of her contemporaries. Haweis, we discover, corrected assumptions related to the Chaucer seal and texts, bringing her findings to the attention of the public in works such as Chaucer for Schools, the first textbook on the poet. Braswell also sheds light on the ways in which fashion, society, culture, art, and leisure activities intermingled with scholarship, archival recovery, museum work, editing, writing, and publishing in the late-Victorian middle and upper classes. Concluding with a discussion of Haweis’s forgotten role as head of the Chaucer section for the National Home Reading Union, Braswell’s book makes a strong case both for Haweis’s influence as a Chaucer scholar and her importance as an educator in nineteenth-century Britain and the United States.

The train taking nineteen-year-old teacher Christy Huddleston from her home in Asheville, North Carolina, might as well be transporting her to another world. The Smoky Mountain community of Cutter Gap feels suspended in time, trapped by poverty, superstitions, and century-old traditions. But as Christy struggles to find acceptance in her new home, some see her — and her one-room school — as a threat to their way of life. Her faith is challenged and her heart is torn between two strong men with conflicting views about how to care for the families of the Cove. Yearning to make a difference, will Christy’s determination and devotion be enough?

Cassie George is barely staying above water as she works to get her doctorate and raise her daughter. But she stubbornly keeps swimming to prove a few bad decisions haven't ruined her forever. Plus, it's all a great excuse to stay away from the small Oregon town she fled in shame years prior. But when she receives a call that the aunt who raised her has had a major health crisis, she knows it's time to return. Cassie is surprised to be more welcomed by the quirky seaside community than she expected, even if there's still tension between her and her former classmate Nora Milford. But she still can't help feeling unsettled and is mystified by a mysterious package that appears, full of typed pages that tell the story of an anonymous woman's life. As her curiosity sends her on a journey toward truth, Cassie will discover that who she thought she was and what she wants for her life are both about to change. Praise for Christina Suzann Nelson "Nelson's beautifully written tale . . . will have readers considering complex questions long after closing the cover."--LISA WINGATE on The Way It Should Be "Recommended for libraries where Karen Kingsbury and Robin Lee Hatcher are popular."--LIBRARY JOURNAL on The Way It Should Be "Nelson offers pictures of grace, glimpses of beauty, and the hope of redemption."--LAUREN K. DENTON on The Way It Should Be "Readers will be quickly drawn into this powerful novel that is, in turns, both heartbreaking and uplifting."--BOOKLIST starred review on More Than We Remember

Her Majesty’s Witch, a member of the secret society of the Grigori, and married to Emmet, a former angel with the capability to transform into a golem, Bayla’s life is complex, to say the least. As if her life was not complicated enough, Bayla’s beloved husband is plagued with becoming a golem without notice while unconscious. A trip to visit Herr Doctor Sigmund Freud becomes necessary to get to the root of Emmet’s spontaneous golemness. Add in a greedy archaeologist, an awakened malevolent Egyptian mummy, and an uninvited trip to the Ottoman Empire’s harem, and matters are complicated to the point of having global consequences. Can Bayla and the Golem defeat an evil Egyptian Priest and his horde of flesh eating revenants before he turns Her Majesty’s Empire into the Nile Valley?

In Because of Eva, an American Jewish woman travels to Eastern Europe and Israel to solve mysteries in her family’s past by delving into World War II and Holocaust history. What began as a seemingly simple search for "Eva," the elderly relative who had signed Gordon's grandfather's death certificate in New York long ago, became a journey of discovery when Gordon found her in Tel Aviv. There, she heard Eva’s stories of survival during the Holocaust, especially in Nazi-occupied Budapest. Eventually, Gordon would retrace Eva’s steps in Budapest and visit ancestral towns in Ukraine to bear witness to the slaughter of entire populations of Jews. Amid remnants of loss and destruction in the small town where her grandfather was born, Gordon also uncovered details of her family’s world before relatives immigrated to America. Gordon’s journey into her past provided the deep sense of connection and belonging she needed as an adult child of divorce and abuse. Gaining insight about her family’s history, Gordon reconciles issues of betrayal and loyalty, and finally finds her place in Judaism. Part memoir, part detective story, Because of Eva is an intimate tale of one woman’s history within the epic sweep of world events in the twentieth century.

Aidyn Kelley is talented, ambitious, and ready for a more serious assignment than the fluff pieces she's been getting as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star. In her eagerness, she pushes too hard, earning herself the menial task of writing an obituary for an unremarkable woman who's just entered hospice care. But there's more to Clara Kip than meets the eye. The spirited septuagenarian may be dying, but she's not quite ready to cash it in yet. Never one to shy away from an assignment herself, she can see that God brought the young reporter into her life for a reason. And if it's a story Aidyn Kelley wants, that's just what Mrs. Kip will give her--but she's going to have to work for it. Debut author Sara Brunsvold delights with this emotional multigenerational story that shows that the very best life is made up of thousands of little deaths to self. You'll want to be just like Mrs. Kip when you grow up!