Download or read book When the Cypress Whispers written by Yvette Manessis Corporon and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A rich, emotionally-nuanced story about a woman’s deeply held connection to her family and her past. With an evocative setting and finely-drawn characters, Corporon creates a beautiful world you won’t soon forget.” — Emily Giffin, New York Times bestselling author On a beautiful Greek island, myths, magic, and a colorful cast of characters come together in When the Cypress Whispers, Yvette Manessis Corporon’s lushly atmospheric story about past and present, family and fate, love and dreams that poignantly captures the deep bond between an American woman and her Greek grandmother. The daughter of Greek immigrants, Daphne aspires to the American Dream, yet feels as if she’s been sleepwalking through life. Caught between her family’s old-world traditions and the demands of a modern career, she cannot seem to find her place. Only her beloved grandmother on Erikousa, a magical island off the coast of Greece, knows her heart. Daphne’s fondest memories are of times spent in the kitchen with Yia-yia, cooking and learning about the ancient myths. It was the thought of Yia-yia that consoled Daphne in the wake of her husband’s unexpected death. After years of struggling to raise her child and pay the bills, Daphne now has a successful restaurant, a growing reputation as a chef, and a wealthy fiancé—everything she’s ever wanted. But across the ocean, Yia-yia can see through the storybook perfection of Daphne’s new life— and now she is calling her back to Erikousa. She has secrets about the past to share with her granddaughter— stories from the war, of loyalty and bravery in the face of death. She also has one last lesson to teach her: that security is not love, and that her life can be filled with meaning again.
Download or read book Something Beautiful Happened written by Yvette Manessis Corporon and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Yvette Manessis Corporon grew up listening to her grandmother's stories about how the people of the small Greek island Erikousa hid a Jewish family -- a tailor named Savvas and his daughters -- from the Nazis during World War II. Nearly 2,000 Jews from that area died in the concentration camps, but even though everyone on Erikousa knew Savvas and his family were hiding on the island, no one ever gave them up, and the family survived the war. Years later, Yvette couldn't get the story of the Jewish tailor out of her head. She decided to track down the man's descendants -- and eventually found them in Israel. Their tearful reunion was proof to her that evil doesn't always win. But just days after she made the connection, her cousin's child was gunned down in a parking lot in Kansas, a victim of a Neo-Nazi out to inflict as much harm as he could. Despite her best hopes, she was forced to confront the fact that seventy years after the Nazis were defeated, it was still happening today. As Yvette and her family wrestled with the tragedy in their own lives, the lessons she learned from the survivors of the Holocaust helped her confront and make sense of the present.
Download or read book Where the Wandering Ends written by Yvette Manessis Corporon and published by Harper Muse. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They wondered if they would ever find their way back—back to the village, back to a life of meaning, back to each other. Corfu, 1946—In a poor Greek community, ten-year-old Marco is perhaps the poorest of them all. But it wasn’t always that way. His grandmother once worked for the royal family where Marco’s mother played alongside young Prince Phillip himself. Now Greece is on the brink of civil war, and Marco’s mother still clings to the desperate hope that somehow the royal family will save her own. As the war turns deadlier, Greece’s Queen Frederica takes a defiant stand against the communists, announcing that she will save her country’s most innocent by opening children’s villages. When the communist partisans erect camps of their own, children are ripped from their mothers’ arms; entire villages are emptied. Young Katerina has been best friends with Marco for as long as she can remember, cementing their bond by stealing scraps from her family’s table to sneak to him. But when the communists reach their village, loyalties are tested as devastating secrets threaten to emerge. Katerina and Marco are separated just before her family flees on foot. At their final goodbye, Katerina and Marco promise to find their way back to the village, and to each other. This haunting childhood vow launches events that will take decades to unravel. Set among Corfu’s picturesque lanes, hamlets, and villas where kings, villagers, and saints all walk the same cobblestone paths, Where the Wandering Ends reminds us of the tenacity of those who have lost everything and the enduring power of home. “[A] magically crafted story combining history and mythology.” —Heather Morris, New York Times bestselling author A heart-wrenching yet hopeful story that spans decades: from post-World War II to early 2000s Stand-alone novel Book length: approximately 112,000 words Includes discussion questions for book clubs
Download or read book The List written by Tara Ison and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-03-06 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The List is an irreverent, sophisticated take on the classic breakup story. In fierce and exquisite prose, Tara Ison has written an astonishing story of love and hate. Isabel is finishing medical school and destined to become a brilliant heart surgeon. Al is a video store clerk, a one-hit-wonder director whose first and only film became a cult classic. Their electric, passionate, and deeply maddening relationship can't possibly work. Tired of endlessly coming together and breaking up, they make a list of ten things to do before they finally say good-bye. But after a few perfect dates the list takes a dark turn, and their plan spirals out of control as they realize they would rather destroy each other than let go.
Download or read book Angels on Earth written by Laura Schroff and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "From the #1 New York Times and international bestselling authors of An Invisible Thread comes a heartwarming and inspiring book about the incredible impact that acts of kindness from strangers can have on the world around us. One day in 1986, Laura Schroff, a busy ad sales executive, passed an eleven-year-old boy panhandling on the street. She stopped and offered to take him to McDonald's for lunch. Twenty years later, at Laura's fiftieth birthday party, Maurice Mazyck gave a toast, thanking Laura for her act of kindness, which ended up changing the course of his life. In that toast, Maurice said that when Laura stopped on that busy street corner all those years ago, God had sent him an angel. Laura's invisible thread journey has deepened her belief that angels--divine and otherwise--are all around us. After An Invisible Thread was published in 2011, readers from around the country and world began sharing with Laura their own stories about how chance encounters with strangers have changed their lives.From a woman who saved a life simply by buying someone a book, to a financier who gave a stranger the greatest gift of all, to a teacher who chose a hug over discipline and changed a lost boy's future--Angels on Earth will introduce a series of remarkable people whose invisible thread stories will move, surprise, and inspire readers. Angels on Earth sheds light on how each of us can live happier, more purposeful lives through sharing acts of kindness"--
Download or read book When We Were Young written by Jaclyn Goldis and published by Forever. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Three generations of women come together in this page-turning debut full of family secrets, heart-wrenching drama, and the promise of second chances. Corfu, 1942: To sixteen-year-old Sarah Batis, the Nazis are a distant danger—of far greater threat is the opposing needs of her heart and her people. Tradition demands that Sarah marry a Jewish man. Only Sarah has fallen in love with a fisherman outside their community. And when the Nazis invade, Sarah must watch from afar as her family is taken away. . . Corfu, 2004: Sarah's daughter, Bea, has built a happy life with a steadfast husband and two independent daughters. Their summers on the Greek island with the Winn family appear idyllic, especially the love that blossoms between Bea's daughter Joey and Leo Winn. But there is a secret threatening their beach paradise. Florida, 2019:Joey is only days away from marrying the nice Jewish man her family adores. The arrival of Leo, Joey's first love, sends her reeling. Even after fifteen years, the attraction between them burns bright—but Leo isn't looking for a happy reunion. He's there to reveal why he really broke up with her during their last summer together. Weddings have a way of bringing out the best—and worst—in those you love the most. And as the revelations of her family flood to the surface, what Joey learns will either bring them closer together . . . or tear them apart forever.
Download or read book When the Cypress Whispers written by Yvette Manessis Corporon and published by Harper. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On a beautiful Greek island, myths, magic, and a colorful cast of mortals come together in a lushly atmospheric debut celebrating the powerful bond between an American woman and her Greek grandmother. The daughter of Greek immigrants, Daphne has been brought up to believe in the American dream. When her husband dies in a car accident, leaving her with an inconsolable baby and stacks of bills, she channels everything she has into opening her own Greek restaurant. Now an acclaimed chef and restaurateur, she has also found a second chance at love with her wealthy, handsome fiancé. Although American by birth, Daphne spent many blissful childhood summers on the magical Greek island of Erikousa, which her grandmother still calls home. At her Yia-yia's side, she discovered her passion for cooking and absorbed the vibrant rhythms of island life, infused with ancient myths and legends lovingly passed down through generations. Somehow her beloved grandmother could always read her deepest thoughts, and despite the miles between them Daphne knows Yia-yia is the one person who can look beyond Daphne's storybook life of seeming perfection to help her stay grounded. With her wedding day fast approaching, Daphne returns to Erikousa and to Yia-yia's embrace. The past and the present beautifully entwine in this glorious, heartfelt story about a woman trapped between the siren call of old-world traditions and the demands of a modern career and relationship. When Daphne arrives on Erikousa with her daughter, Evie, in tow, nothing is the way she recalls it, and she worries that her elderly Yia-yia is losing her grip on reality. But as the two of them spend time together on the magical island once again, her grandmother opens up to share remarkable memories of her life there—including moving stories of bravery and loyalty in the face of death during World War II—and Daphne remembers why she returned. Yia-yia has more than one lesson to teach her: that security is not the same as love, that her life can be filled with meaning again, and that the most important magic to believe in is the magic of herself.
Download or read book Land of My Fathers written by Vamba Sherif and published by HopeRoad Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19th century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa. Once back ‘home’, however, these AmericoLiberians had to integrate with the resident tribes – who did not want or welcome them. Against a background of French and British colonialists busily carving up Mother Africa, while local tribes were still unashamedly trading in slaves . . . the vulnerable newcomers felt trapped and out of place. Where men should have stood shoulder to shoulder, they turned on each other instead. THE LAND OF MY FATHERS plunges us into this world. But in the midst of turmoil, there is friendship. Edward Richard, a man born into slavery and a preacher by profession, is convinced that the future of Liberia lies in bringing peace amongst the tribes. His mission takes him to the far north, where he meets an extraordinary man, Halay. Edward’s new and dearest friend is ready to sacrifice his own life to protect his country; for the Liberians believe that with Halay’s death, no war will ever threaten their land. A century later, this belief is crushed when war engulfs the land, bearing away with it the descendants of both Edward and Halay.
Download or read book Where They Wait written by Scott Carson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “mesmerizing” (Stephen King) supernatural novel about a sinister mindfulness app with fatal consequences from the New York Times bestselling author of The Chill. In this “taut, creepy techno-chiller” (Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts), recently laid-off newspaper reporter Nick Bishop takes a humbling job: writing a profile of a new mindfulness app called Clarity. The app itself seems like a retread of old ideas—relaxing white noise and guided meditations. But then there are the “Sleep Songs.” A woman’s hauntingly beautiful voice sings a ballad that is anything but soothing—it’s disturbing, and more of a warning than a relaxation—but it works. Deep, refreshing sleep follows. So do the nightmares. Vivid and chilling, they feature a dead woman who calls Nick by name and whispers guidance—or are they threats? And her voice follows him long after the song is done. As the effects of the nightmares begin to permeate his waking life, Nick makes a terrifying discovery: no one involved with Clarity has any interest in his article. Their interest is in him.
Download or read book Under Your Skin written by Sabine Durrant and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-04-28 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you loved Gone Girl, then make this page-turning debut next on your reading list: “Sabine Durrant offers more twists than a rollercoaster in her thriller Under Your Skin, which proves you can trust no one” (Good Housekeeping). Gaby Mortimer is the woman who has it all. But everything changes when she finds a body near her home. She’s shaken and haunted by the image of the lifeless young woman, and frightened that the killer, still at large, could strike again. Before long, the police have a lead. The evidence points to a very clear suspect. One Gaby never saw coming… Full of brilliant twists and turns, Under Your Skin is a dark and suspenseful psychological thriller that will make you second guess everything. Because you can never be too sure about anything, especially when it comes to murder.
Download or read book Sky Without Stars written by Jessica Brody and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Not to be missed!” —Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles “An explosion of emotion, intrigue, romance, and revolution.” —Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series In the tradition of The Lunar Chronicles, this sweeping reimagining of Les Misérables tells the story of three teens from very different backgrounds who are thrown together amidst the looming threat of revolution on the French planet of Laterre. A thief. An officer. A guardian. Three strangers, one shared destiny… When the Last Days came, the planet of Laterre promised hope. A new life for a wealthy French family and their descendants. But five hundred years later, it’s now a place where an extravagant elite class reigns supreme; where the clouds hide the stars and the poor starve in the streets; where a rebel group, long thought dead, is resurfacing. Whispers of revolution have begun—a revolution that hinges on three unlikely heroes… Chatine is a street-savvy thief who will do anything to escape the brutal Regime, including spy on Marcellus, the grandson of the most powerful man on the planet. Marcellus is an officer—and the son of an infamous traitor. In training to take command of the military, Marcellus begins to doubt the government he’s vowed to serve when his father dies and leaves behind a cryptic message that only one person can read: a girl named Alouette. Alouette is living in an underground refuge, where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet. But a shocking murder will bring Alouette to the surface for the first time in twelve years…and plunge Laterre into chaos. All three have a role to play in a dangerous game of revolution—and together they will shape the future of a planet.
Download or read book The Island of Missing Trees written by Elif Shafak and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK Winner of the 2022 BookTube Silver Medal in Fiction * Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction "A wise novel of love and grief, roots and branches, displacement and home, faith and belief. Balm for our bruised times." -David Mitchell, author of Utopia Avenue A rich, magical new novel on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he's searching for lost love. Years later a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited--- her only connection to her family's troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world. A moving, beautifully written, and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history, and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak's best work yet.
Download or read book Reign of the Fallen written by Sarah Glenn Marsh and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-01-08 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This edgy fantasy doesn't just blur boundaries of genre, of gender, of past and present, life and death--it explodes them." --Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times bestselling author of the Seven Realms series and the Shattered Realms series. Without the dead, she'd be no one. Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their soul from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised: the Dead must remain shrouded. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, a grotesque transformation begins, turning the Dead into terrifying, bloodthirsty Shades. A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears around the kingdom. Soon, a crushing loss of one of her closest companions leaves Odessa shattered, and reveals a disturbing conspiracy in Karthia: Someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead--and training them to attack. Odessa is forced to contemplate a terrifying question: What if her magic is the weapon that brings the kingdom to its knees? Fighting alongside her fellow mages--and a powerful girl as enthralling as she is infuriating--Odessa must untangle the gruesome plot to destroy Karthia before the Shades take everything she loves. Perfect for fans of Three Dark Crowns and Red Queen, Reign of the Fallen is a gutsy, unpredictable read with a surprising and breathtaking LGBT romance at its core.
Download or read book The Clover House written by Henriette Lazaridis Power and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2013-04-02 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perfect for fans of Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key, this stunning debut novel brings to life World War II-era and modern-day Greece—and tells the story of a vibrant family and the tragic secret kept hidden for generations. Boston, 2000: Calliope Notaris Brown receives a shocking phone call. Her beloved uncle Nestor has passed away, and now Callie must fly to Patras, Greece, to claim her inheritance. Callie’s mother, Clio—with whom Callie has always had a difficult relationship—tries to convince her not to make the trip. Unsettled by her mother’s strange behavior, and uneasy about her own recent engagement, Callie decides to escape Boston for the city of her childhood summers. After arriving at the heady peak of Carnival, Callie begins to piece together what her mother has been trying to hide. Among Nestor’s belongings, she uncovers clues to a long-kept secret that will alter everything she knows about her mother’s past and about her own future. Greece, 1940: Growing up in Patras in a prosperous family, Clio Notaris and her siblings feel immune to the oncoming effects of World War II, yet the Italian occupation throws their privileged lives into turmoil. Summers in the country once spent idling in the clover fields are marked by air-raid drills; the celebration of Carnival, with its elaborate masquerade parties, is observed at home with costumes made from soldiers’ leftover silk parachutes. And as the war escalates, the events of one fateful evening will upend Clio’s future forever. A moving novel of the search for identity, the challenges of love, and the shared history that defines a family, The Clover House is a powerful debut from a distinctive and talented new writer. Praise for The Clover House “The Clover House is a gripping, tender story that spans continents and generations as it delves into the secrets of a Greek American family altered by a long-ago tragedy in World War II. Told with quiet power and authenticity, it’s a reader’s treat.”—Kate Alcott, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker “[A] stunning debut novel.”—USA Today “[An] insightful examination of memory and the stories that hold us together—or perhaps tear us apart.”—The Boston Globe “A rare treat: an elegantly written debut about a family mystery set during wartime, the slipperiness of memory, and the challenges of forgiveness. Plus, we get to go to Greece! What more could you want from a novel? Read it, read it!”—Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us “A powerful story of family, betrayal, and forgiveness . . . In her first novel, Power melds the stories of mother and daughter into an absorbing tale that deserves to rank high on the list of women’s fiction.”—Booklist “Layered and complex, The Clover House is a provocative examination of family secrets and the things we inherit, a powerful search for self that feels both unique and universal. Henriette Lazaridis Power immerses the reader in a world of tradition and resilience, creating characters who linger long beyond their final pages. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.”—Brunonia Barry, New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
Download or read book There I Am written by Ruthie Lindsey and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brain on Fire meets Carry On, Warrior in this inspirational memoir and “testament to the things that break us, heal us, and make us who we are” (Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author) that explores one woman’s journey from chronic pain and hopelessness to finding joy, redemption, and healing. At seventeen years old, Ruthie Lindsey is hit by an ambulance near her home in rural Louisiana. She’s given a five percent chance of survival and one percent chance of walking again. One month later after a spinal fusion surgery, Ruthie defies the odds, leaving the hospital on her own two feet. Just a few years later, newly married and living in Nashville, Ruthie begins to experience debilitating pain. Her case confounds doctors and after numerous rounds of testing, imaging, and treatment, they prescribe narcotic painkillers—lots of them. Ruthie has become bedridden, dependent on painkillers, and hopeless, when an X-ray reveals that the wire used to fuse her spine is piercing her brain stem. Without another staggeringly expensive experimental surgery, she could well become paralyzed, but in many ways, she already is. Ruthie goes into the hospital in chronic pain, dependent on prescription painkillers, and leaves the same way. She can still walk but has no idea where she’s going. As her life unravels, Ruthie returns home to Louisiana and sets out on a journey to learn joy again. She trades fentanyl for sunsets and morphine for wildflowers, weaning herself off of the drugs and beginning the process of healing—of coming home to her body. Raw and redemptive, There I Am is not just about the magic of optimism, but the work of it. Ruthie’s extraordinary memoir “like going on a walk with a best friend and listening to a life-changing speech at the same time: it’s equal parts familiar and profound, warm and insightful, comforting and challenging, relatable and unlike anything you’ve read before” (Mari Andrew, New York Times bestselling author).
Download or read book Betsey Brown written by Ntozake Shange and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2010-09-28 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praised as "exuberantly engaging" by the Los Angeles Times and a "beautiful, beautiful piece of writing" by the Houston Post, acclaimed artist Ntozake Shange brings to life the story of a young girl's awakening amidst her country's seismic growing pains in Betsey Brown. Set in St. Louis in 1957, the year of the Little Rock Nine, Shange's story reveals the prismatic effect of racism on an American child and her family. Seamlessly woven into this masterful portrait of an extended family is the story of Betsey's adolescence, the rush of first romance, and the sobering responsibilities of approaching adulthood.
Download or read book The Cypress House written by Michael Koryta and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2011-01-24 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A journey to Florida's coast becomes an inescapable nightmare in the newest supernatural thriller from international bestseller Michael Koryta. Arlen Wagner has seen it in men before--a trace of smoke in their eyes that promises imminent death. He is never wrong. When Arlen awakens on a train one hot Florida night and sees death's telltale sign in the eyes of his fellow passengers, he tries to warn them. Only 19-year-old Paul Brickhill believes him, and the two abandon the train, hoping to escape certain death. They continue south, but soon are stranded at the Cypress House--an isolated Gulf Coast boarding house run by the beautiful Rebecca Cady--directly in the path of an approaching hurricane. The storm isn't the only approaching danger, though. A much deadlier force controls the county and everyone living in it, and Arlen wants out--fast. But Paul refuses to abandon Rebecca to face the threats alone, even though Arlen's eerie gift warns that if they stay too long they may never leave. From its chilling beginning to terrifying end, The Cypress House is a story of relentless suspense from "one of the best of the best" (Michael Connelly).
