Category: coming-of-age
+ 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, coming-of-age, fiction, literature, love, marriage, music, obsession, relationships, review, seventies, sisters, therapy
The Enlightenment Club by Chris West
It’s 1975. Bright, dissatisfied teenager Stella Tranter wants to learn about big things: philosophy, great art, love. Her quest leads her to the select ‘Enlightenment Cub’ and the charismatic Dr Stanislas Licht. And to trouble. Thrown out of college, she continues her search in London. Is she really cut out for being a part-time roadie for a punk band, fronted by her outrageous sister? … Read More The Enlightenment Club by Chris West
+ alcoholism, childhood, coming-of-age, family, family drama, fiction, grief, loss, love, motherhood, relationships, review, secrets, WW2
Junction of Earth and Sky by Susan Buttenwieser
A sweeping and emotional debut from a dazzling new voice – for fans of The Paper Palace, The Dutch House and Betty. Coming of age in 1940s England, Alice’s life is thrown into chaos under the shadow of the war. Forced to let go of her hopes and dreams, she finds herself uprooted to America and a life she never could have imagined. Decades later, it is … Read More Junction of Earth and Sky by Susan Buttenwieser
+ coming-of-age, fifties, grief, loss, love, murder mystery, secrets, sixties
Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
For years, rumors of the ‘Marsh Girl’ haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her. But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning … Read More Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
One Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz, translated by Rachel Ward Cover Reveal
Sixteen-year-old Frieder’s plans for the summer are shattered when he fails two subjects. To be able to move up to the next year in the Autumn, he needs to resit his exams. So instead of going on holiday with his family, he now faces the daunting and boring prospect of staying at his grandparents’ house, studying with his strict and formal step-grandfather. Published by … Read More One Grand Summer by Ewald Arenz, translated by Rachel Ward Cover Reveal
+ coming-of-age, out now, YA
Winter Light by Martha Engber Out Now
Fifteen-year-old Mary Donahue of suburban Chicago is a kid on the cusp of failure during the brutal blizzard winter of 1978-79, the end of a hard luck, hard rock era sunk in the cynical aftermath of the Vietnam War. Though a smart, beautiful kid, she’s a motherless girl raised by an uneducated, alcoholic father within an extended family of alcoholics and addicts. Aware that … Read More Winter Light by Martha Engber Out Now
+ childhood, coming-of-age, dementia, family, grief, lies, loss, psychologist, secrets
Surviving Him by Jo Johnson
When Daisy reaches eighteen, she enters a highly selective club. In this club, you get a test that decides if you live or die. To the casual observer Daisy is a vile bully with a drug habit. She’s been expelled from school and frightens her family. Realising the disease that devoured her father is after her, Daisy has given up. Her one remaining cheerleader … Read More Surviving Him by Jo Johnson
+ coming-of-age, Dogs, family, fiction, friendship, grief, literature, loss, love
Reflections On The Boulevard by LJ Ambrosio (Reflections of Michael Trilogy Book 2)
Michael’s story continues from A Reservoir Man (2022) where we find him teaching at a university ready to retire. He unexpectedly meets a young man named Ron who becomes his protégé and journeys with him in a haphazard adventure throughout America and Europe. In Michael’s final journey in life, each twist and turn of the road brings unexpected adventures. The journey taken is one … Read More Reflections On The Boulevard by LJ Ambrosio (Reflections of Michael Trilogy Book 2)
+ adventure, child abuse, childhood, coming-of-age, fiction, friendship, healing, Historical fiction, kidnapping, literature, loss, love, Native American, review, slavery, superstition
The East Indian by Brinda Charry
Inspired by a historical figure, an exhilarating debut novel about the first native of the Indian subcontinent to arrive in Colonial America—for readers of Esi Edugyan and Yaa Gyasi. Meet Tony: insatiably curious, deeply compassionate, with a unique perspective on every scene he encounters. Kidnapped and transported to the New World after traveling from the British East India Company’s outpost on the Coromandel Coast … Read More The East Indian by Brinda Charry
+ abuse, coming-of-age, depression, diary, family, fiction, grief, jealousy, lies, literature, loss, love, marriage, memoir, mental illness, murder, narcissist, obsession, psychiatric hospital, Psychological fiction, relationships, revenge, review, secrets
Killing The Girl by Elizabeth Hill
A perfect life, a perfect love – and a perfect murder. Loving Frankie was easy but teenage Carol wasn’t the only woman Frankie charmed. Tired of Frankie’s cheating ways, Carol kills him and buries him in her orchard. Forty years later Frankie’s grave will be found and Carol’s guilt revealed. As she writes her confession before they arrest her, she discovers other friends lied. … Read More Killing The Girl by Elizabeth Hill
+ art, coming-of-age, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, literature, loss, love, Magical realism, memory, psychiatric hospital, relationships, review, secrets, Thirties, whimsical, World War Two, WW2
Vita And The Birds by Polly Crosby
1938: Lady Vita Goldsborough lives in the shadow of her controlling older brother, Aubrey. Trapped and isolated on the East Anglian coast, Vita takes solace in watching the birds that fly over the marshes. But then she meets local artist Dodie Blakeney. The two women form a close bond, and Vita finally glimpses a chance to escape Aubrey’s grasp and be as free as … Read More Vita And The Birds by Polly Crosby
+ autism, childhood, coming-of-age, family, fiction, literature, love, motherhood, relationships, review
All The Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards. Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of … Read More All The Little Bird-Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
A Reservoir Man by LJ Ambrosio (Reflections of Michael Trilogy Book 1)
Everywhere Michael turns he sees a Reservoir Man. Michael’s endless trials of survival include sexual assault, The Vietnam War, an arrest in Spain, Hollywood scandal, the AIDS outbreak, 9/11 and beyond. If only Michael could find the one thing he values most, his freedom. Michael’s coming-of-age is tarnished by many but the courage to live his truth may just keep Michael one step ahead…or will he … Read More A Reservoir Man by LJ Ambrosio (Reflections of Michael Trilogy Book 1)
Bookchatter@Cookiebiscuit 