The Godmother and Other Stories
The Godmother and Other Stories

Author: Janice Shinebourne

Publisher: Peepal Tree Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13:

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Covering more than four decades in the lives of Guyanese at home or in Britain and Canada, these stories focuss on a character at a point of crisis. Harold is celebrating the victory of the political party he supports whilst confronting a sense of his own powerlessness; Jacob has been sent back to Guyana from Britain after suffering a mental breakdown; Chuni, a worker at the university, is confused by the climate of revolutionary sloganizing which masks the true situation: the rise of a new middle class, elevated by their loyalty to the ruling party. This class, as the maid, Vera, recognises, are simply the old masters with new Black faces. The stories in the second half of the collection echo the experience of many thousands who fled from the political repression, corruption and social collapse of the 70s and 80s. The awareness of the characters is shot through with Guyanese images, voices and unanswered questions.

The Godmothers
The Godmothers

Author: Camille Aubray

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2021-06-15

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 0062983717

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“A group of deeply complex and beautifully written women . . . Aubray marries history, suspense and womanhood in a story perfect for devouring.”—Newsweek For readers of Naomi Krupitsky's The Family! An irresistible, suspenseful novel about four women who marry into an elegant, prosperous Italian family, and then must take charge of the family’s business when their husbands are forced to leave them during the war. Meet the Godmothers: Filomena is a clever and resourceful war refugee with a childhood secret. Amie, a beautiful and dreamy French girl from upstate New York, escapes an abusive husband for a new life. Lucy, a tough-as-nails Irish lass, runs away from a strict girls’ home to become a nurse. And the glamorous Petrina, the family’s only daughter, graduates with honors from Barnard College despite a past trauma that nearly caused a family scandal. All four women become godmothers to one another’s children, finding hope and shelter in this prosperous family and their sumptuous Greenwich Village home. But the women’s secret pasts lead to unforeseen consequences and betrayals that threaten to unravel all their carefully laid plans. And when they must unexpectedly contend with notorious gangsters like Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano, the four Godmothers learn to put aside their differences so that they can work together to protect their loved ones and find their own unique paths to the futures they’ve always dreamed of.