I deeply related to the themes of Patti Callahan Henry's gorgeous novel: familial love, loss, and hope against impossible odds.
The storytakes us to WWII when London children were sent to safer locales in the English countryside. Hazel Linden is forever guilt-ridden after her little sister disappears during her watch, last seen near the town's rushing river where she would make up tales about Whisperwood, the secret land that Hazel that hadad created to comfort Flora Lea.
Now, she has a clue that may lead her to uncover the mystery of her sister's disappearance and gives her hope that she may be alive. An American author has penned a story of Whisperwood. How might this lead her to find Flora Lea?
Callahan Henry's beautiful storytelling is a masterclass in fiction writing.
When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.
In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that…
I couldn't love this book more. The reasons are many. The characters. The prose. The hero's arc.
Demon Copperhead is a wiry redhead born into dire circumstances. On day one, we're introduced to him as a blue infant, struggling in his mother's sac, splayed on the floor of their bathroom. His mom gives up drugs and stays clean for a while until a tumultuous marriage drives her back to drinking.
Along his journey from chaotic childhood to adulthood, his friends are the colorfully depicted Maggot, Swap-Out, Fast Forward, and Angus. His dilemma is so authentically told readers can't help but root for Demon's safety.
This is a story for an eternity, one that heralds a child hero and reminds us of the sheer joy and art of literature.
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…
Helen Zia has penned four incredible tales of the tumultuous time, from the 1937 Japanese invasion of China to the change of power from Chiang-Kai Shek's Nationalist Party to Mao's Communist Party.
This book is deeply personal for me, as my family fled Shanghai during this period to Taiwan and Hong Kong before coming to the US. I learned so much about the hardship that my family doesn't readily discuss. The well-detailed facts filled in the blanks in my own family's story.
Helen reveals her own personal connection to the character Bing whose adoption was kept secret even from her own children until she was 74 years old.
This is an incredible piece of history, resulting from years of research and interviews. Don't miss Last Boat out of Shanghai!
The dramatic real life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China’s 1949 Communist revolution—a heartrending precursor to the struggles faced by emigrants today.
“A true page-turner . . . [Helen] Zia has proven once again that history is something that happens to real people.”—New York Times bestselling author Lisa See
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR • FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY
Shanghai has historically been China’s jewel, its richest, most modern and westernized city.…
Phoenix Walker will never be the same. Nine months after a heroic act leaves him forever changed, he refuses to hurt Orchid Paige ever again.
Orchid is ready to forgive. Convincing her guy she still loves him, no matter his injuries, she works to rebuild their intimacy. But their move to her family's ancestral country unveils China's superstitions against people with disabilities. Worse, their friend's life has been upended by those prejudices.
Will Phoenix and Orchid find a way to beat the odds and turn discrimination into acceptance?
