Other books that might interest you

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  Madame Sorel's Lodger

  Tracy Wise

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  A tormented artist arrives in a village in southern France to begin painting again. He stands before a house with blue shutters, hoping the change of scenery and brilliant colors of the countryside will calm the buzzing in his mind. 
  Madame Sorel, a formidable widow, runs a respectable and orderly boarding house. She finds this artist puzzling. Weighed down with canvas, easel, and a sailcloth bag filled with brushes and paints, he hurries out in his shabby clothing each morning, leaving a trace of footprints on the dusty street. His presence stirs something in her, something held back for many years. 
  Others in the village befriend the Artist, including Gretchen, the young housekeeper guided by her tender feelings for the painter, and Luc, the salt-of-the-earth farmer who hides his demons behind amiability and hard work. No one understands the Artist--what he sees, how he paints, or why he stays--and their confusion increases as he becomes increasing erratic, plagued by forces growing out of his control. As his time in the village hurtles toward a stunning, fateful end, all those touched by his visions are altered forever. 
  A bold exploration of the encompassing drive of creativity, the power of art, and the bonds of community and friendship, MADAME SOREL'S LODGER explores what it means to follow or hide your heart and how these choices, in the end, are what make us human.

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  Sustaining Faith (When Hope...

  Janette Oke, Laurel Oke Logan

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  So much has been accomplished. Lillian Walsh has stepped out courageously beyond what she'd ever dreamed of being able to achieve. She and her newly rediscovered sister, Grace, have settled three children from England into new Canadian homes and are prepared to place two more just after the New Year, when it happens--another painful disruption.  
   
  A white lie the sisters used to protect some orphans has resulted in an official complaint and a letter revoking the sisters' permission to manage their little children's home. And unexpectedly, Walter, the young man who has won Lillian's heart, departs for a job in the oil industry without leaving any hope for their future, making her confused and lonely. 
   
  With more children on their way from England needing caring homes, Lillian and Grace must use every ounce of gumption to keep their mission alive. But when startling information about the past surfaces and a new arrival comes via suspicious circumstances, they'll have to decide what is worth fighting for and what is better left in God's hands. 

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  The Cornish Rebel - Cornish...

  Nicola Pryce

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  Cornwall, 1801. 
   
  In the wake of her mother's death, Pandora Woodville is desperate to escape her domineering father and finally return to Cornwall. Posing as a widow, she safely makes it across the Atlantic, bright with the dream of working at her Aunt Harriet's school for young women. But as Pandora is soon to learn, the school is facing imminent closure after a series of sinister events threatened its reputation. 
   
  Acclaimed chemist Benedict Aubyn has also recently returned to Cornwall, to take up a new role as Turnpike Trust Surveyor. Pandora's arrival has been a strange one, so she is grateful when he shows her kindness. As news of the school's ruin spreads around town, everyone seems to be after her aunt's estate. Now, Pandora and Aunt Harriet must do everything in their power to save the school, or risk losing everything. 
   
  However, Pandora has another problem. She's falling for Benedict. But can she trust him, or is he simply looking after his own interests?

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  The Secret Garden

  Frances Hodgson Burnett

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  "The Secret Garden," written by Frances Hodgson Burnett in the late 19th century, tells the story of Mary Lennox, a spoiled and unhappy child who becomes orphaned and is sent to live with her reclusive uncle at the mysterious Misselthwaite Manor. As Mary explores the manor's enchanting yet neglected gardens, including a hidden garden that has been locked away for years, she begins a journey of self-discovery, healing, and friendship. 
  At the beginning of the book, we meet Mary Lennox, who is left alone in a foreign land after a cholera outbreak claims her parents' lives. Sent to England to live with her uncle, Mary soon realizes she is largely forgotten and left to her own devices. The opening chapters illustrate her initial experiences with the manor, highlighting her disdain for her new environment and her feelings of loneliness. This sets the stage for her growth and the adventures that lie ahead as she uncovers the garden's hidden beauty and forms connections with others, ultimately transforming her character and outlook on life.

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  Yell Sam If You Still Can - Le...

  Maylis Besserie

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  This novel by Maylis Besserie, the first of her Irish trilogy, shows us Samuel Beckett at the end of his life in 1989, living in Le Tiers-Temps retirement home. It is as if Beckett has come to live in one of his own stage productions, peopled with strange, unhinged individuals, waiting for the end of days.
  Yell, Sam, If You Still Can is filled with voices. From diary notes to clinical reports to daily menus, cool medical voices provide a counterpoint to Beckett himself, who reflects on his increasingly fragile existence. He remains playful, rueful, and aware of the dramatic irony that has brought him to live in the room next door to Winnie, surrounded by grotesques like Hamm or Lucky, abandoned by his wife Suzanne who died before him.
  Besserie delights in Beckett's bilingualism and plays back and forth between the francophone and anglophone properties of language, summoning James Joyce as Beckett reminisces about evenings the two spent together singing, talking and drinking. Largely written in the library of the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Besserie has kept the hum of Irish voices throughout this work.
  Yell, Sam, If You Still Can won the "Goncourt du premier roman", the prestigious French literary prize for first time novelists, just before the country went into lockdown. Besserie is now planning a further two novels that will explore the links between Ireland and France and is touted as the new star of the French literary world.
  
  Financial Times Book of the Year 2022

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  The Mad Wife

  Meagan Church

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  From bestselling author Meagan Church comes a haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations that will leave you questioning the lives we build—and the lies we live. 
   
  They called it hysteria. She called it survival. 
   
  Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife. Despite the tragic memories that haunt her and the weight of exhausting expectations, she keeps her husband happy, her household running, and her gelatin salads the talk of the neighborhood. But after she gives birth to her second child, Lulu's carefully crafted life begins to unravel. 
   
  When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman's constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew—and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept? 
   
  In the vein of The Bell Jar and The Hours, The Mad Wife weaves domestic drama with psychological suspense, so poignant and immersive, you won't want to stop listening.

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