Catherine's Picks
Before we were yours
Wingate, Lisa, author
2017
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge--until strangers arrive in force. Thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children find themselves at the mercy of the facility's cruel director. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all, but when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.
The Jane Austen society
Jenner, Natalie, author
2020
Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable. One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people-a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others-could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen.
The other Mrs.
Kubica, Mary, author
2020
Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbour, Morgan Baines, is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie, who is terrified by the thought of a killer in her very own backyard. As the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of Morgan's death. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.
The rain watcher
Rosnay, Tatiana de, 1961-, author
2018
As the Malegarde family gathers in Paris for their patriarch's seventieth birthday, a natural disaster causes the Seine to flood the city, revealing to young Linden Malegarde hidden fears and secrets that test the limits of family bonds.
