Other books that might interest you

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  We That Are Left

  Clare Clark

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  It is 1910. Jessica and Phyllis Melville have grown up at Ellinghurst, their family estate. A headstrong beauty, Jessica longs for London-the glitter and glamor of debutante life- while bookish Phyllis dreams in vain of attending the university. Neither girl questions that it is Theo, their adored brother, whom their mother loves best. Theo eclipses everyone around him, including the diffident Oskar Grunewald, who is a frequent visitor to Ellinghurst. Fascinated by the house but alternately tormented and ignored by the Melville children, Oskar seeks refuge in Ellinghurst's enormous library.  Over the next decade, as the Great War devastates and reshapes their world, the sisters come of age in a country unrecognizable from the idylls of their youth. As they struggle to forge new paths in a world that no longer plays by the old rules, Oskar's life becomes entwined with theirs once again, in ways that will change all of their futures forever.

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  Family of Women

  Annie Murray

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  1950 - Seven year old Carol Martin lies encased in an iron lung, struck down by the killer disease, polio. Distraught at her side, her mother, Violet, wonders if this is her punishment - for Carol is the love child who should not have been born . . . 
  Family of Women is the story of three generations of women read by actress Annie Aldington: 
  Bessie, scarred by a childhood of poverty in the slums of Victorian Birmingham and left a young widow with four children, is a hard, bullying woman who will go to disturbing lengths to keep her family under her thumb. 
  Violet, one of Bessie's four children, marries young to escape, into the arms of a man whose life will be broken by war. 
  Linda grows up on a large housing estate in the 1950s with older sister Joyce and her beloved young sister Carol. Intelligent and energetic, she craves education and something more than the life she sees around her. Torn from her longed for place at the grammar school, she gives up hoping for anything better. It takes a tragic love affair to make her question the limitations of her life and the secrets which haunt her family. 
  Spanning more than half of the last century, Family of Women by Annie Murray is a story of one family - and of the joys, struggles and changes in women's lives.

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  The Mayor Of Casterbridge

  Thomas Hardy

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  "The Mayor of Casterbridge" is one of Thomas Hardy's most compelling novels, originally published in 1886. Set in the fictitious town of Casterbridge, the story is a tragedy of character, exploring the life of Michael Henchard, a man of strong will and at times, self-destructive tendencies. After impulsively selling his wife and daughter at a fair while under the influence of alcohol, Henchard tries to amend his ways and eventually becomes the mayor of Casterbridge. However, the shadows of his past actions loom large, affecting his relationships and leading to a series of heartrending events. The narrative delves deep into themes of fate, personal responsibility, and the immutable character of a man.

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  Warpath

  Stanley Vestal

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  On June 25, 1876 five troops of the U. S. Seventh Cavalry under command of General George Armstrong Custer rode into the valley of the Little Big Horn River expecting to rout the Indian encampment there. Instead they were met by the gathered strength of the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, who did not run but turned to battle the soldiers. White Bull charged again and again, leading a war party until the last soldier lay dead. The battle became known as Custer's Last Stand, and Chief White Bull as the warrior who killed Custer. In 1932 White Bull told his own side of the story to Stanley Vestal. "All that I have told is straight and true," said White Bull. His story is a matchless telling of the life of a Sioux warrior.

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  Hard Passage North

  Martin Hicks

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  HARD PASSAGE NORTH continues the story of Irish immigrant Daniel Ryan, who has left his adopted Georgia home to serve in Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. It is the summer of 1862 and, following the campaign to save their capital city of Richmond, Lee and his men are moving north to confront the threat posed by the Union army of General John Pope. The story follows the experiences of Ryan and his Ogeechee Volunteer Rifles as the campaign of Second Manassas follows its course, leading to the first invasion of Maryland and culminating in the war's bloodiest day on the banks of Antietam Creek. Ryan and his comrades experience shortage, hardship, hunger and disease as the campaign follows its course, testing the bonds of their loyalty and friendship to their farthest limits as General Lee bids for final victory.

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  Jude and Diana

  Sharon Robart-Johnson

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  The only mention of Jude in Nova Scotia’s official history relates to her death: a slave-owning family was brought to trial for her murder in 1801. They were acquitted despite overwhelming evidence that they were guilty. Sharon Robart-Johnson pays tribute to such archival glimpses of enslaved people by re-creating the fullness of sisters Jude and Diana’s survival, emphasizing their joys alongside their hardship. She stories their movements through the U.S. to Nova Scotia, Canada, with the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists in 1783. As a child, Jude is sold away and then, by a lucky turn of fate, reunited with her fiercely loving family. Jude’s experiences harden her into a rebel who resists injustice without heeding consequences, and after her death, Diana is left alone to deal with racist and sexual violence.
  		 
  Through Robart-Johnson’s research, we experience nineteenth-century Nova Scotia, when political debates about abolishing slavery were just beginning to emerge. Through Robart-Johnson’s creativity, we enter the historical fiction of Jude and Diana and their strong familial bonds, each character developed with nuance and care. While chronicling the cruelty they endured, Robart-Johnson’s storytelling powerfully honours their humour, strength, and shining dignity.

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