by Lynn Freed (2002)
"Seventeen-year-old Thea lives a strange and sheltered life with her mother, Nalia, retired opera singer and Holocaust survivor. A virtual prisoner of her mother's obsessive love, Thea escapes with a mysterious and suave friend of her father's and is taken to the remote island on which he lives. "The rule is this," she says. "I am to pretend that my other life does not exist. And yet, pretending, it seems to be true."". "What Thea discovers on the island is that the house in which she grew up - with its gates and padlocks and dogs - has been replaced by a prison of a different kind. "All my life," she says, "I have noticed keys. I like to know where they fit, how they work. 'What do you need your own keys for?' my mother would shout. 'When you're old enough for keys, you'll be old enough to understand a lot of things.'""--BOOK JACKET.
Karen Robards
Thirty years ago a woman and her entire family went missing. When Lisa Grant is sent by her boss to organise the courthouse basement and finds the cold case she is horrified to discover the woman's photo looks just as she does now. Lisa is determined find out if there is a link but a series of catastrophes shatter everything she holds dear.
Marilynn Griffith
Once, twice, ten times a bridesmaid!I, Dana Rose, do solemnly swear to say "I won't" the next time someone asks me to be in their wedding party. My weak will has gained me a closet full of unflattering bridesmaids' dresses in various sizes to accommodate my ever-fluctuating waistline.As if that isn't enough, the past is paying me a most unwelcome visit (my prodigal brother, my back-stabbing sis). Then there's Mr. Practically Perfect, the ex who not only married someone else, but opened the business of our dreams—right across from my new shop! It's no wonder I've got problems! I'm thankful I've got my friends, the Sassy Sistahood, to rely on....
Anne Rivers Siddons
Set on the cusp of the country's great social movements - youth, women's, peace, and civil rights - in the year before the love turned to anger and the peace to militancy, Downtown is the story of Smoky O'Donnell, her career and her heart. When Smoky arrives in Atlanta in 1966, after an airless lifetime back in Savannah, she is at once thrilled and chastened by this dazzling, hectic young city on the move. Atlanta is one of the first cities to have its own magazine, called Downtown, for which Smoky has been specially chosen to work as a writer. In her heart she knows it is a job that will change her life. With breathtaking quickness it introduces her to many unforgettable people - not least among them the magazine's flamboyant and utterly charismatic editor, Matthew Comfort, who helps shape many careers, including hers. Smoky soon meets Bradley Hunt III, the charming and substantial scion of an aristocratic Southern family who invites her into a world more polished and remote than any she has known. As spring comes to Atlanta, she finds herself in the company of Lucas Geary, a gifted young photographer with a rebel's heart. Through the summer, their work takes them deep into the hot, restless streets, and he shows her another world she's never seen - a world populated by shuffling hopelessness, where she meets John Howard, an enigmatic young black man who is a lawyer, freedom fighter, and hero in the civil rights movement, standing at a great moral crossroads. The choices Smoky must face, and her ultimate decisions, create a tender, joyous, and powerful story of the end of innocence - both Smoky's and America's - at a time when traditional values are in question and the air is full of possibility. Full of the masterful characterizations, probing insight, and lyrical prose for which Anne Rivers Siddons is justly acclaimed, Downtown is another stunning achievement from an extraordinary writer.
Grace Livingston Hill
Marion Warren spent the past 5 years caring for first her mother, then her father before each passed away. Now she hopes to pick up life and continue her education with the goal of becoming a teacher. However, her brother and sister-in-law have other plans for her. They act almost immediately to sell the family home and move to a farm, with Marion being counted on to help with housework and raising her nieces and nephews. Marion, knowing that this life would stifle her, willingly surrenders her inheritance and makes plans of her own to stay in the city, where she'd have access to museums, libraries and other opportunities for learning and growth. Her family is outraged and moves, thinking that she'll soon come to her senses and come crawling back. Through her Sunday School superintendent, Marion has introductions to a potential employer and a gentleman who becomes a friend. In the meantime, Marion scrimps to buy a season ticket to her first symphony. A gorgeous crimson rose is left on her seat at the second and succeeding performances, giving her a feeling that Someone cares about her. Marion sees how God watches over her, especially when a jealous acquaintance carries out a dangerous plan to ruin Marion's reputation and a friend comes to her rescue. Marion's family is eventually reconciled and forgiven.