Recommendations based on "French Braid"

A professor of German history begins a long journey back into a past she has pushed aside, returning to Germany to reopen the wounds of her own life--as well as that of her mother--as a child living in Nazi Germany. 20,000 first printing.

During a summer party at the family farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson has escaped to her childhood tree house and is happily dreaming of the future. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and watches as her mother speaks to him. Before the afternoon is over, Laurel will witness a shocking crime. A crime that challenges everything she knows about her family and especially her mother, Dorothy—her vivacious, loving, nearly perfect mother.Now, fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress living in London. The family is gathering at Greenacres farm for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this may be her last chance, Laurel searches for answers to the questions that still haunt her from that long-ago day, answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past.Dorothy’s story takes the reader from pre–WWII England through the blitz, to the ’60s and beyond. It is the secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—who meet by chance in wartime London and whose lives are forever entwined. The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometimes bring. It is an unforgettable story of lovers and friends, deception and passion that is told—in Morton’s signature style—against a backdrop of events that changed the world.

“I loved this novel truly, madly, deeply.” ―Nina George, bestselling author of The Book of Dreams and The Little Paris BookshopIn this international bestseller by the award-winning novelist Mariana Leky, a heartwarming story unfolds about a small town, a grandmother whose dreams foretell a coming death, and the young woman forever changed by these losses and her loving, endearingly oddball communityOn a beautiful spring day, a small village wakes up to an omen: Selma has dreamed of an okapi. Someone is about to die.Luisa, Selma’s ten-year-old granddaughter, looks on as the predictable characters of her small world begin acting strangely. Though they claim not to be superstitious, each of her neighbors newly grapples with buried secrets and deferred decisions that have become urgent in the face of death.Luisa’s mother struggles to decide whether to end her marriage. An old family friend, known only as the optician, tries to find the courage to tell Selma he loves her. Only sad Marlies remains unchanged, still moping around her house and cooking terrible food. But when the prophesied death finally comes, the circumstances fall outside anyone’s expectations. The loss forever changes Luisa and shapes her for years to come, as she encounters life’s great questions alongside her devoted friends, young and old.A story about the absurdity of life and death, a bittersweet portrait of small towns and the wider world that beckons beyond, this charmer of a novel is also a thoughtful meditation on the way loss and love shape not just a person but a community. Mariana Leky’s What You Can See from Here is a moving tale of grief, first love, reluctant love, late love, and finding one’s place in the world, even if that place is right where you started.

Meet Isobel, Jen and Zelda.Three women whose bodies and minds are not their own.They belong to the Church.Life and death decisions are taken by others on their behalf.Who they might marry.Whether they start a family.Isobel and Jen know nothing of the world.But when Isobel's husband leaves her and Jen challenges those in charge, the Church turns its back on them.Zelda - never one for doing what is expected - dares to find hope on the outside.Meet Isobel, Jen and Zelda.Three women desperate to find a life to call their own . . .This is a novel about what it is like to live inside a prison of the mind and how to break out of it - if you can.____________Praise for Jodie Chapman:'Beautifully written...I couldn't put it down' EMMA GANNON'An astounding debut about sibling grief, religion and sliding doors love' PANDORA SYKES'Deep, rich, thoughtful' GILLIAN MCALLISTER'This beautiful tale of love, loss and sacrifice will break your heart . . . With echoes of David Nicholls' One Day and Sally Rooney's novels, it perfectly captures the agony of falling in love and the razor-sharp reality of pain and loss' DAILY MAIL

In the rubble of a broken continent, a girl must solve a mystery whose answers could rebuild her family—or break her completely, in this New York Times bestselling, critically acclaimed tour de force historical novel from Monica Hesse, author of Girl in the Blue Coat.Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp say the war is over, but nothing feels over to eighteen-year-old Zofia Lederman. Her body has barely begun to heal, her mind feels broken. And her life is completely shattered: Three years ago, she and her younger brother, Abek, were the only members of their family to be sent to the right, away from the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone else—her parents, her grandmother, radiant Aunt Maja—they went left.Zofia's last words to her brother were a promise: Abek to Zofia, A to Z. When I find you again, we will fill our alphabet. Now her journey to fulfill that vow takes her through Poland and Germany, into a displaced persons camp where everyone she meets is trying to piece together a future from a painful past: Miriam, desperately searching for the twin she was separated from after they survived medical experimentation. Breine, a former heiress, who now longs only for a simple wedding with her new fiancé. And Josef, who guards his past behind a wall of secrets, and is beautiful and strange and magnetic all at once.But the deeper Zofia digs, the more impossible her search seems. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing?

In this original Outlander novella, Diana Gabaldon reveals what really happened to Roger MacKenzie Wakefield’s parents. Orphaned during World War II, Roger believed that his mother died during the London Blitz, and that his father, an RAF pilot, was killed in combat. But in An Echo in the Bone, Roger discovers that this may not be the whole story. Now, in “A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows,” readers learn the truth.   Praise for Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series   “All you’ve come to expect from Gabaldon . . . adventure, history, romance, fantasy.”—The Arizona Republic, on An Echo in the Bone   “A grand adventure written on a canvas that probes the heart, weighs the soul and measures the human spirit across ten generations.”—CNN, on The Fiery Cross   “Escapist historical fiction at its best.”—San Antonio Express-News, on Drums of Autumn   “A feast for ravenous readers of eighteenth-century Scottish history, heroism and romance.”—Kirkus Reviews, on Outlander

NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY BESTSELLER#1 GLOBE AND MAIL HISTORICAL FICTION BESTSELLEROne of NPR's Best Books of the Year!One of Bookbub's Biggest Historical Fiction Books of the Year!Reese Witherspoon Book Club Summer Reading Pick!A Girly Book Club Book of the Year!A Summer Book Pick from Good Housekeeping, Parade, Library Journal, Goodreads, Liz and Lisa, and BookBubIn an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.“Both funny and heartbreaking, this epic journey of two courageous women is an unforgettable tale of little-known wartime glory and sacrifice. Quinn knocks it out of the park with this spectacular book!”—Stephanie Dray, New York Times bestselling author of America's First Daughter

***A USA Today Bestseller.***The heart-wrenching and unforgettable tale of a world on the brink of war from the internationally bestselling author of The German Midwife.Berlin, 1938: It’s the height of summer, and Germany is on the brink of war. When fledgling reporter Georgie Young is posted to Berlin, alongside fellow Londoner Max Spender, she knows they are entering the eye of the storm.Arriving to a city swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis, Georgie feels helpless, witnessing innocent people being torn from their homes. As tensions rise, she realises she and Max have to act – even if it means putting their lives on the line.But when she digs deeper, Georgie begins to uncover the unspeakable truth about Hitler’s Germany – and the pair are pulled into a world darker than she could ever have imagined…From the bestselling author of The German Midwife comes the heart-wrenching story of a country on the brink of war, a woman who puts herself in the line of fire, and a world about to be forever changed.Readers love The Berlin Girl:‘A gripping read, filled with tension and suspense’ Fiona Valpy, author of The Dressmaker’s Gift‘You'll gasp aloud and shed a few tears […] insightful, bold, fast-paced’ Kristin Harmel, author of The Book of Lost Names‘An absorbing and fascinating read’ Janet MacLeod Trotter, author of The Tea Planter’s Daughter‘Mandy has captured a chilling sense of tension and fear, knowing what was on the horizon’ Suzanne Goldring, author of My Name is Eva‘What a story! I couldn’t put this down.’ Real Reader Review‘Powerful, engaging and emotional.’ Real Reader Review‘Mandy Robotham never disappoints. Her best yet.’ Real Reader Review‘This book will stay with me for a long time.’ Real Reader Review‘This book is a beautifully done glimpse in to a changing Berlin, and is one of the best historic fictions set in this era that I've had the pleasure to read.’ Real Reader Review

'a Wonderful Debut. Actually, A Tour De Force' -- Sarah Winman, Author Of Still Life 'utterly Captivating... Written With Great Heart, Humour And Humanity, It's The Kind Of Book You Want To Escape Normal Life To Read At Every Available Opportunity.' -- Elizabeth Day, Author Of Magpie 'this Is A Book That Will Be Loved Unreasonably And Life-long, I Believe, Like I Capture The Castle.' -- Francis Spufford, Author Of 'light Perpetual' 'maudie, Why Are All The Best Characters Men?' Maudie Closes The Book With A Clllump. 'we Haven't Read All The Books Yet, Miss Cristabel. I Can't Believe That Every Story Is The Same' Cristabel Seagrave Has Always Wanted Her Life To Be A Story, But There Are No Girls In The Books In Her Dusty Family Library. For An Unwanted Orphan Who Grows Into An Unmarriageable Young Woman, There Is No Place At All For Her In A Traditional English Manor. But From The Day That A Whale Washes Up On The Beach At The Chilcombe Estate In Dorset, And Twelve-year-old Cristabel Plants Her Flag And Claims It As Her Own, She Is Determined To Do Things Differently. With Her Step-parents Blithely Distracted By Their Endless Party Guests, Cristabel And Her Siblings, Flossie And Digby, Scratch Together An Education From The Plays They Read In Their Freezing Attic, Drunken Conversations Eavesdropped Through Oak-panelled Doors, And The Esoteric Lessons Of Maudie Their Maid. But As The Children Grow To Adulthood And War Approaches, Jolting Their Lives On To Very Different Tracks, It Becomes Clear That The Roles They Are Expected To Play Are No Longer Those They Want. As They Find Themselves Drawn Into The Conflict, They Must Each Find A Way To Write Their Own Story...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner about a daughter’s search for her mother, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.Throughout her blockbuster career, Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in Leaving Time, she has delivered a book unlike anything she’s written before.For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish.Praise for Leaving Time“Piercing and uplifting . . . a smart, accessible yarn with a suspenseful puzzle at its core.”—The Boston Globe“Poignant . . . an entertaining tale about parental love, friendship, loss.”—The Washington Post“A riveting drama.”—Us Weekly“[A] moving tale.”—People“A fast-paced, surprise-ending mystery.”—USA Today“In Jenna, [Jodi] Picoult has created an unforgettable character who will easily endear herself to each and every reader. . . . Leaving Time may be her finest work yet.”—Bookreporter“[A] captivating and emotional story.”—BookPage