An epic account of one remarkable woman's quest for justice from the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow of the South and A Separate Country. In the years following the Civil War, Mariah Reddick, former slave to Carrie McGavock--the "Widow of the South"--has quietly built a new life for herself as a midwife to the women of Franklin, Tennessee. But when her ambitious, politically minded grown son, Theopolis, is murdered, Mariah--no stranger to loss--finds her world once more breaking apart. How could this happen? Who wanted him dead? Mariah's journey to uncover the truth leads her to unexpected people--including George Tole, a recent arrival to town, fleeing a difficult past of his own--and forces her to confront the truths of her own past. Brimming with the vivid prose and historical research that has won Robert Hicks recognition as a "master storyteller" (San Francisco Chronicle)./DIV
“Heartbreaking… Had me in tears so many times… Sure to tug at your heartstrings over and over again. I devoured this book in one sitting… Completely unputdownable… Absolutely heartbreaking.” Pageturners ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1945, the German-Polish border: A mother and her little boy are torn apart, and with the Nazis on one side and Soviet forces approaching on the other, so begins an unforgettable tale of courage, heartbreak and motherhood in wartime. In the icy grip of winter, Emma is about to face the most impossible decision—stay to search for her missing son, or get her daughter to safety. In the last days of the Nazis, she’s desperately trying to escape Poland, with her two young children and little more than the clothes on their backs. With the Russian Red Army advancing, she knows their safety relies on them crossing the border, even if it’s into the Nazi warzone. She swears to herself that she’ll do whatever it takes to keep their family together. But before they can reach the border, her little boy Jacob falls ill, his once-sparkling blue eyes getting dimmer with each moment that passes. And Emma knows she has to get him to a hospital, where she hands him to a kind nurse, saying to him “If we are separated, Jacob, know that I’ll come looking for you. And I’ll always find you.” She feels sure they will be reunited the next day. But then the bombing starts. And when she reaches the hospital again, she finds it deserted, her darling son gone. Though her heart tells her she has to stay and find him, she faces an impossible choice. She would risk her own life for Jacob in a heartbeat, but as her daughter Sophie’s tiny, frozen hand slips into her own, Emma is forced to make a heartbreaking decision. Unable to find any trace of her beloved son, she knows she must at least get her daughter to safety. But she can never forget the promise she made to her little boy. That if they were ever separated, she’d come looking for him. That she’d always find him. Whatever the danger, whatever the risk. She knows what she has to do. Because there is nothing stronger than a mother’s love… An utterly unforgettable and devastating story, perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Stolen from her Mother and Sold on a Monday. Readers are loving The Orphan’s Mother: “Heart-wrenching… Tugged at the heart strings like nothing I have read… Intense and emotional… Profoundly touching.” @Fiction_Books ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I was so consumed… that I read it in a day (and believe me… that is something I don’t think I have ever done before)… Heart-wrenching… I really couldn’t put it down… Unforgettable.” Novel Delights ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “My heart broke and I could deeply feel the agony both the children and mothers were experiencing. Grab tissues before you read… Spectacular… A unique slice of WW2 history.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A heart-wrenching book that shows the effects of war on families and what happens when those families are ripped apart. A truly heartbreaking read that made me cry many times.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A heart-rending story of how war tears families apart, the lengths a mother will go to to protect her children, this book was beautifully written and descriptive, couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “A heartbreaking and emotional book that will tear you up… Memorable… Very touching… This book will take you on a journey that will make you emotional and heartbroken at the same time. Worth five stars!” Tropicalgirlreadsbooks ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Will tug at your heartstrings… Marion Kummerow is a born storyteller… Loved this.” NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Based on a true story, this debut Civil War novel follows a Southern plantation woman's journey of transforming her home into a hospital for the war. This debut novel is based on the true story of Carrie McGavock. During the Civil War's Battle of Franklin, a five-hour bloodbath with 9,200 casualties, McGavock's home was turned into a field hospital where four generals died. For 40 years she tended the private cemetery on her property where more than 1,000 were laid to rest.
"Mother of Orphans is the compelling true story of Alice, an Irish-American woman who defied rigid social structures to form a family with a black man in Ohio in 1899. Alice and her husband had three children together, but after his death in 1912, Alice mysteriously surrendered her children to an orphanage. One hundred years later, her great-grand daughter, Dedria Humphries Barker, went in search of the reasons behind this mysterious abandonment, hoping in the process to resolve aspects of her own conflicts with American racial segregation and conflict. This book is the fruit of Barker's quest. In it, she turns to memoir, biography, historical research, and photographs to unearth the fascinating history of a multiracial community in the Ohio River Valley during the early twentieth century.... Part personal journey, part cultural biography, Mother of Orphans examines a little-known piece of this country's past: interracial families that survived and prevailed despite Jim Crow laws, including those prohibiting mixed-race marriage."--Amazon.com, viewed April 17, 2020.
The son of a singer mother whose career forcibly separated her from her family and an influential father who runs an orphan work camp, Pak Jun Do rises to prominence using instinctive talents and eventually becomes a professional kidnapper and romantic rival to Kim Jong Il. By the author of Parasites Like Us.
"Mystical, magical, and wildly original...If Alice Hoffman and Sara Addison Allen had a witchy love child, she would be Paige Crutcher. Do not miss this beautifully realized debut!"--- JT Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of Her Dark Lies on The Orphan Witch. A deeper magic. A stronger curse. A family lost...and found. Persephone May has been alone her entire life. Abandoned as an infant and dragged through the foster care system, she wants nothing more than to belong somewhere. To someone. However, Persephone is as strange as she is lonely. Unexplainable things happen when she’s around—changes in weather, inanimate objects taking flight—and those who seek to bring her into their family quickly cast her out. To cope, she never gets attached, never makes friends. And she certainly never dates. Working odd jobs and always keeping her suitcases half-packed, Persephone is used to moving around, leaving one town for another when curiosity over her eccentric behavior inevitably draws unwanted attention. After an accidental and very public display of power, Persephone knows it’s time to move on once again. It’s lucky, then, when she receives an email from the one friend she’s managed to keep, inviting her to the elusive Wile Isle. The timing couldn’t be more perfect. However, upon arrival, Persephone quickly discovers that Wile is no ordinary island. In fact, it just might hold the very things she’s been searching for her entire life. Answers. Family. Home. And some things she did not want. Like 100-year-old curses and an even older family feud. With the clock running out, love might be the magic that saves them all.
A lyrical and thought provoking novel perfect for book clubs, The Orphan Sister by Gwendolyn Gross questions the intricacies of nature and nurture, and the exact shape of sisterly love… Clementine Lord is not an orphan. She just feels like one sometimes. One of triplets, a quirk of nature left her the odd one out. Odette and Olivia are identical; Clementine is a singleton. Biologically speaking, she came from her own egg. Practically speaking, she never quite left it. Then Clementine’s father—a pediatric neurologist who is an expert on children’s brains, but clueless when it comes to his own daughters—disappears, and his choices, both past and present, force the family dynamics to change at last. As the three sisters struggle to make sense of it, their mother must emerge from the greenhouse and leave the flowers that have long been the focus of her warmth and nurturing. For Clementine, the next step means retracing the winding route that led her to this very moment: to understand her father’s betrayal, the tragedy of her first lost love, her family’s divisions, and her best friend Eli’s sudden romantic interest. Most of all, she may finally have found the voice with which to share the inside story of being the odd sister out...
Set in New Orleans in the years after the Civil War, A Separate Country is based on the incredible life of John Bell Hood, arguably one of the most controversial generals of the Confederate Army--and one of its most tragic figures. Robert E. Lee promoted him to major general after the Battle of Antietam. But the Civil War would mark him forever. At Gettysburg, he lost the use of his left arm. At the Battle of Chickamauga, his right leg was amputated. Starting fresh after the war, he married Anna Marie Hennen and fathered 11 children with her, including three sets of twins. But fate had other plans. Crippled by his war wounds and defeat, ravaged by financial misfortune, Hood had one last foe to battle: Yellow Fever. A Separate Country is the heartrending story of a decent and good man who struggled with his inability to admit his failures-and the story of those who taught him to love, and to be loved, and transformed him.
Through the diary of 10-year-old Victoria Cope, we learn about the arrival of ragged Mary Anna, one of the thousands of impoverished British children who were sent to Canada at the beginning of the century. Mary Anna joins the Cope family as a servant and is treated well, but she has to cope with the initial apprehension of the family members and the loss of her brother, Jasper, who was placed with another family. Victoria vows to help Mary Anna find her brother, so they can be a family once again.
