Category: motherhood
+ child abuse, childhood, family, fiction, friendship, grief, loss, love, motherhood, murder, photographs, review, secrets, thriller
The Foster Daughter by Sonya Bateman
My daughter was murdered by my husband. Now I have a new little girl to look after. I have no idea who she is. It’s been five years since my daughter was killed. It still hurts every day. I’ll never be over it but I am finally moving on with my life. It’s pitch black when I wake up. I hear a child screaming … Read More The Foster Daughter by Sonya Bateman
+ fiction, Ghost story, grief, haunting, loss, love, Magical realism, motherhood, mythology, review, Scotland, Scottish Highlands, supernatural, superstition
Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato
She came to write, but the island has its own story . . . Off the windswept coast of Scotland lies Finish Island, rugged and remote. Once a home, it now stands abandoned, a place of dark history and deep memory, a place that holds its stories close. Unable to write since her daughter’s death, it’s here that Seren comes to work, hoping that … Read More Ghost Story by Elisa Lodato
+ fiction, Ghost story, haunting, horror, lies, motherhood, podcast, review, secrets
The House on Devil’s Lane by Sandra Ireland
THE HOUSE ON DEVIL’S LANE is a chilling tale of psychological terror and things that go bump in the night… What if the home of your dreams turns into your worst nightmare? Young mum Kat Riley has reasons for wanting to escape her family. When taxi driver Steve Burns comes into her life in the most unusual of circumstances, she sees a way out. With … Read More The House on Devil’s Lane by Sandra Ireland
+ family, fiction, forgiveness, grief, India, jealousy, loss, love, motherhood, murder, review, secrets, sisters
Missy by Raghav Rao
Madras, India: The orphaned girls of St Ursula’s convent are destined to be nuns or servants but seventeen-year-old Savi dreams of escape. Responsible and good with languages, she’s taken on as governess for the wealthy Nandiyar family at their country estate. The horrific events of a single night force Savi and her love, Ananda, into a dangerous journey, re-emerging in America under new identities, … Read More Missy by Raghav Rao
+ alcoholism, childhood, dark humour, domestic noir, family, fiction, forgiveness, haunting, lies, loss, love, mental illness, motherhood, psychiatrist, review
The Guests by Charlotte Stevenson
They weren’t invited. But they refuse to leave… Tamsin is being haunted by unwelcome visitors in her house she calls The Guests. Nobody knows about their presence but her. After confiding in her husband, he left, and she won’t make that mistake again. Genre: ThrillerPublisher: Bloodhound But now her relationship with her teenage daughter Summer is starting to suffer. As each day passes, the … Read More The Guests by Charlotte Stevenson
+ adoption, charity, female friendship, fiction, friendship, Historical fiction, loss, love, memory, motherhood, rape, review, secrets, Victorian Britain
The House of Hope by Joanne Clague
In the dead of night, a young woman is found on the doorstep of the House of Help for Friendless Girls… Winter 1885. Matron Hetty Barlow suspects Hope is lying when she claims to be suffering from amnesia. The girl is taken in, but it isn’t long before her pregnancy is discovered, which could put the future of the house – a new experiment in dealing … Read More The House of Hope by Joanne Clague
+ 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
The Paintress by Jane Anderson
Dual timeline around the life of a forgotten artist. The joys and traumas of love, ambition, and motherhood. Anna grew up hearing stories from her grandmother of an ancestor artist’s adventures in St. Petersburg. Now, in the, adult Anna stands in front of Christina Robertson’s gorgeous life-sized portraits of the Romanovs and she hopes the legend is true. Her research into the painter becomes a … Read More The Paintress by Jane Anderson
+ 1970s, adoption, Catholic Church, family, female friendship, fiction, friendship, grief, Historical fiction, Ireland, loss, motherhood, rape, religion, review, secrets, seventies
The Walk by Emma Marns
‘The two girls sat in the back of the car, their destination unknown and their crimes worse than murder.’ In November 1979, Ailbe and Maire disappear from their rural village in Ireland, never to return. Pregnant out of wedlock, they are now outcasts from society. Genre: Historical fiction / Literary fiction / ContemporaryPublisher: Cranthorpe Millner Publishers Believing they will at least have each other, the girls … Read More The Walk by Emma Marns
+ audio book, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, fifties, friendship, gay, grief, List, loneliness, loss, love, marriage, motherhood, relationships, review, sixties
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson
The list he left had just one item on it. Or, at least, it did at first… Mabel Beaumont’s husband Arthur loved lists. He’d leave them for her everywhere. ‘Remember: eggs, butter, sugar’. ‘I love you: today, tomorrow, always’. But now Arthur is gone. He died: softly, gently, not making a fuss. But he’s still left her a list. This one has just one … Read More The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson
+ childhood, community, family, feel-good, female friendship, fiction, friendship, healing, journalist, motherhood, retreat, review
Garden of Her Heart by Zoë Richards
An uplifting story of healing and recovery that will warm your soul…and get you into the garden. Eleanor Oliphant meets The Authenticity Project on a well-being retreat in this story of one loner, two secrets and three weeks at Pinewoods Retreat. When Holly Bush (yes, she still hasn’t forgiven her mother for that combination) is made redundant with gardening leave, after a brutal attack, … Read More Garden of Her Heart by Zoë Richards
+ alcoholism, domestic noir, family, fiction, grief, Historical fiction, history, loss, love, marriage, motherhood, photography, relationships, review, war, World War Two, WW2
Hungry Ghosts by C J Barker
The lives of Vic Woods and Ruth Wolfe, working-class teenagers from Liverpool and London, are profoundly disrupted by the arrival of World War II. Ruth’s journey leads her to aerial photographic interpretation, though her aspirations for advancement are denied, while Vic’s wartime experiences with bomber command haunt him long after the war is over. Their post-war marriage and tumultuous relationship with their son, James, … Read More Hungry Ghosts by C J Barker
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