NEW TO the shelves of the Library this month are a collection of titles that take us from the swamps of Ohio to pre-war Paris, taking in Scotland along the way, as Tracy Chevalier, Clare Dyer, Kate Furnival and Jenny Colgan give us their take on family, love, secrets and redemption.
At The Edge of the Orchard
by Tracy Chevalier
IN THE INHOSPITABLE Black Swamp of Ohio, the Goodenough family are barely scratching out a living. Life there is harsh, tempered only by the apples they grow for eating and for the cider that dulls the pain.
Hot-headed Sadie and the buttoned-up James are a poor match, and Robert and his sister Martha can only watch helplessly as their parents tear each other apart. One particularly vicious fight sends Robert out alone across America, far from his sister, to seek his fortune among the redwoods and sequoias of the Gold Rush California.
But even across a continent, he can feel the pull of family loyalties.
The Last Day
by Clare Dyer
WHEN BOYD moves back into the family home with his now amicable estranged wife, Vita, he brings with him his impossibly beautiful 27-year-old girlfriend Honey. It seems the perfect solution: Boyd can get his finances back on track while he deals with his difficult ailing mother; Honey can keep herself safe from her secret, troubled past; and Vita can carry on painting portraits of pets she dislikes and telling herself she no longer minds her marriage is over.
But the house in Albert Terrace is small and full of memories and living together is unsettling. Love proves to be a surprising, dangerous thing. One day can change everything.
The Betrayal
by Kate Furnival
PARIS 1938: Romaine is a pilot, reckless and passionate, while her sister Florence is a socialite who enjoys power and privilege. Both have something to prove and something to hide. Their worlds clash while fear stalks the streets of Paris.
The drums of war are beating and France is poised ready to fall. Who will fall with her.
The Summer Season Kitchen
by Jenny Colgan
FLORA IS DEFINITELY, absolutely sure that escaping from the quiet Scottish village where she grew up to the noise and bustle of the big city was the right thing to do. Away from where she grew up, where no one will let her forget the past, she can be anonymous, ambitious and indulge her hopeless crush on her gorgeous boss, Joel.
When a new client demands Flora’s presence back on Mure, she is swept back into the past and her family. She indulges her new love of cooking while she comes to terms with her past mistakes and works out exactly where her future lies…
DVD Corner
Mount Pleasant
Series One – DS420
THE LAUGHTER, tears and hot-tubs of 30-something life in a northern suburb. Lisa (Sally Lindsay) has a pretty good life, a mostly-happy marriage to plumber Dan, a nice house, deliciously batty parents who call in everyday to do her housework and a job in a recruitment agency. But Lisa is never happy unless she has something to worry about.
While she is worrying about her top looking right or is Dan fancying her man-eater neighbour she is missing the thing she should be worrying about – Dan is being eyed-up by recently-widowed cafe owner Kate…
