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Daughters in Law

By Joanna Trollope

Anthony Brinkley and his wife, Rachel, have brought up their three sons in Suffolk. The novel tells of various minor crises in each of these marriages. Its most interesting plot is that of Rachel’s struggle to cope when her sons move away, which leads her to alienate everyone – even gentle Anthony. When confronted with an empty nest, it is easier to engage with the fragility of bird bones than human emotions.

Daughters-in-Law is most successful in its set-pieces. The vicar’s sermon at Luke’s wedding to Charlotte at the beginning of the book is perfectly judged, as is Ralph’s resignation from his merchant bank in Singapore. At these moments, Trollope uses her keen sense of melding plots with poetic backdrops.

The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

Writing, for Julia Cameron, is neither solely vocation nor avocation: it is a way of life. It comes first thing in the morning, while the horses are waiting to be fed; it happens at the kitchen counter, while the onions are sautéing and many more places. The more than 40 brief personal essays that make up the book are an unyielding affirmation of the writing life and a reality of all that gets in the way: busy schedules, procrastination, insecurity, lack of writing space, a day job–you get the point. Cameron’s common sense advice is liberating to anyone who has felt hampered by making a big deal out of writing. My favorite piece of advice: Steal time!

Hand Me Down by Melanie Thorne

Never has a book hit home of my own teenage life. This story follows fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Reid who has spent her life protecting her sister, Jaime, from their parent’s destructive choices. Jaime lives with their dad and Liz with their mother and stepfather who happens to be an ex-con.

Because of her mother’s husband’s parole conditions Liz is forced to bed hop between two states in search of a stable home. All the while trying to protect her sister from the alcoholic abusive father.

Through fear and shame she stays up at night dreaming of breaking free.

On sale April 12,2012.

18/50!!!!

Diving into Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg. Can’t wait!!!

The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman

Hope Edelman was a woman questioning her life. Feeling vulnerable she was in tuned for change. Dodo, her three-year-old daughter Maya’s disruptive imaginary friend appeared and did not leave. Worried about how to handle Dodo’s strong hold on their daughter, Edelman and her husband made the unlikely choice to take her to Maya healers in Belize, hoping that a shaman might help them banish Dodo. Author of Motherless Daughters and Motherless Mothers writes this beautiful memoir about her family’s journey into the jungle and what they discovered.

Christmas at Tiffany’s by Karen Swan

Three cities in three seasons and one chance to find the life that fits. Cassie settled down too young, marrying her first serious boyfriend. Ten years later, she is betrayed and broken. With her marriage in shambles and no career or home of her own, she needs to work out where she belongs in the world and who she really is. So begins a year-long trial as Cassie leaves her sheltered life in rural Scotland to stay with each of her best friends in the most glamorous cities in the world: New York, Paris and London. Cassie tries on each city for size as she attempts to track down the life she was supposed to have been leading, and with it, the man who was supposed to love her all along.