In this year’s Christmas list, I’m sharing eight incredible books from the authors I’ve interviewed throughout the year representing a diverse range of genres. From historical romance to women’s fiction, from political thriller to memoir, there’s something here for everyone!
Women’s Fiction
Author: Lisa Darcy
Lisa’s Should You Keep a Secret? provides a moral quandary that will make you wonder what you would do if you were in the character’s shoes.
Title: Should You Keep a Secret?
Age group: adult
Interview: Lisa Darcy Asks Should You Keep a Secret?
Blurb: Two women have learned something shocking about their friend’s husband—and revealing it could either save her or destroy her…
During a night out, Stella and Carly accept an invitation to a local party, but the scene they find there is not what they expected. It’s a swingers’ event—and their friend Jesse’s husband is there among the swingers.
The two women aren’t sure what to do. Stella is inclined to keep quiet, while Carly is determined to tell Jesse the truth.
Meanwhile, angry threats from Jesse’s husband warning them to keep their mouths shut only make the situation worse.
As dark secrets about Jesse’s situation are revealed, Stella and Carly will make some life-changing discoveries of their own.
Historical Fiction
Author: Sarah Hawthorn
Sarah has followed up her debut thriller A Voice in the Night with a stunning piece of historical fiction, The Dilemma.
Title: The Dilemma
Age group: adult
Interview: Sarah Hawthorn on The Dilemma
Blurb: 1958. Esme, a novelist, finds a potential new literary project. A housemaid named Clara was convicted of murder, perhaps unjustly, amid the ending of World War II and the liberation of Guernsey from Nazi occupation. Esme’s trip to Guernsey is an opportunity not only to research the case, but to learn more about her mother’s family—as well as to heal from the heartbreak inflicted on her by the man she loved…
1915: A teenager marries her childhood sweetheart before he heads off to fight in the Great War. But he doesn’t come back, and Jane, presumed a widow, flees Guernsey—devastated by her loss. In London, Jane finds a new life and a new husband—but her past isn’t done with her yet.
This absorbing novel follows the parallel paths of two generations of women, and as each is faced with painful decisions and shocking discoveries, a question emerges: Can a lie be forgiven when the truth seems too much to bear?
Historical Romance
Author: Sara Adrien
Sara’s trilogy of Georgian Jewish romances gives insight to the culture and religion of the times. With a family of jewellers at the centre, the lead up to a royal jewellery competition adds tension.
Title: Margins of Love
Age group: adult
Interview: Sara Adrien on Her Debut Historical Jewish Romance
Blurb: Elusive haute-couture jeweller, Fave Pearler, must put his beloved Greek mythology aside to face an arranged marriage suiting his family’s dynasty while all of London is on the quest for the biggest, rarest gems for the king’s jewellery competition. Meanwhile, his mother’s meddlesome frenemy threatens to reveal their secret and her blackmail is driving good-natured Fave mad. But when the evil gossip catches him with Rachel Newman, he has to fight for the love of his life and the family’s business…
Rachel Newman only wants one season before resigning herself to a wedding her father has arranged, and golden boy Fave is off-limits. When he rattles her principles, she’s determined to protect her family’s true identity—but she cannot resist Fave’s kisses. How can Rachel reconcile romance and family loyalty?
Title: The Pearl of All Brides
Age group: adult
Interview: Sara Adrien on Falling in Love With Your Characters
Blurb: Arnold’s Story
This time the handsome jeweller Arnold Ehrlich has gone too far. He has not just kissed the Rabbi’s daughter—he was caught! Custom dictates that he has to marry her now, but there is no room for a bride in his life amidst the competition for the crown jewels. And yet, he finds himself looking after her—and unable to keep his hands off the beautiful and witty girl.
Contrary to popular belief, Hannah Solomon, is quite sure that her community newspaper can inspire the orthodox Jews to get out of their rut. She is determined to spend her life caring for her younger siblings but fears that she is missing out on the excitement that life beyond London’s Jewish quarters may hold. And when Arnold’s lips touch hers, she’s suddenly unable to resist the temptation of her life.
Title: A Kiss After Tea
Age group: adult
Interview: Sara Adrien on The Jewellery Competition
Blurb: Lizzie’s Story
Caleb Klonimus has been on the verge of proposing to his best friend’s little sister since he was eight. But the beautiful and accomplished Lizzie Pearler barely notices him – until he returns changed from a quest for jewels. As for Lizzie, she doesn’t think he’s marriage material.
But as Lizzie and Caleb join forces and work together toward the finals of the king’s competition for the crown jewels, sparks fly. Maybe it’s his gorgeous smile, or his muscular body – or Lizzie’s jealousy every time Caleb trains with his kung fu master, the young Jing … but somehow, they must overcome the near-impossible obstacles in the lead-up to the competition and make sense of love.
Memoir
Author: Patti Miller
Patti’s latest memoir, True Friends, explores the joys and pitfalls of friendship through the lens of her own experience.
Title: True Friends
Age group: adult
Interview: Patti Miller on True Friends
Blurb: A revealing and powerful memoir about the making and unmaking of friendships.
‘It’s hard to know exactly when the friendship with Gina ended. It could have been when the sudden text message from her arrived, or it could have been a slow slide out of favour that I willed myself not to see. What matters is that it did end, and I don’t know why.’
Friendships are among the most important relationships in our lives, often outlasting love affairs, marriages, even, at times, family connections. The loss of a friend can be one of life’s most disturbing events, yet these ‘friend break-ups’ are little acknowledged in our culture.
In True Friends, acclaimed author Patti Miller recounts the joyful making and then painful ending of a long, close friendship. It is a deep and influential relationship in her life, but when it inexplicably unravels, Patti is left searching for answers. As she tries to make sense of this ending, Patti considers other important friendships throughout her life, questioning who we are drawn to, what we really know of each other and why some friendships endure while others end.
Evocative and intimate, this engaging book brings together the personal and the universal and reminds us of the centrality of friendships in our lives.
Political Thriller
Author: Bob Van Laerhoven
Alejandro’s Lie is set in a fictional South American country in the eighties. It is a literary warning against autocracies and explores Alejandro’s conflict in choosing between escape and love.
Title: Alejandro’s Lie
Age group: adult
Interview: Bob Van Laerhoven on Alejandro’s Lie
Blurb: Terreno, 1983, Latin America. After a dictatorship of ten years, the brutal junta, led by General Pelarón, seems to waver.
Alejandro Juron, the guitarist of the famous poet and folk singer Victor Pérez who’s been executed by the junta, is released from the infamous prison The Last Supper. The underground resistance wants Alejandro to participate in its fight again. But Alejandro has changed.
Consumed by guilt over the death of his friend Victor, whom he betrayed to his tormentors, Alejandro becomes the unintended center of a web of intrigue that culminates in a catastrophic insurrection and must choose between love and escape.
A love story, a thriller, and an analysis of the mechanisms that govern a dictatorship, Alejandro’s Lie is a gripping novel about violence, betrayal, resistance, corruption, guilt, and love.
Children’s Picture Books
Author: Raolee
Rao Lee used her own experience to write Tanwa, a picture book about living with sickle cell.
Title: Tanwa
Age group: 5-8 year-olds and ‘early readers’ and adults
Interview: Raolee on Writing About Sickle Cell
Blurb: Tanwa is a five-year-old girl living with an inherited blood disorder called sickle cell disease. Tanwa is fun and intelligent, and she narrates how sickle cell affects her. She is the middle child with four brothers and many cousins. Like every five-year-old, she wants to play and have fun but sometimes she is limited by her condition. Tanwa learns to pray to God for strength and healing, and she understands that she needs to stay hydrated to help her body not go into a sickle cell crisis.
Tanwa’s mother encourages her to have fun and find reasons to laugh because laughter is the best medicine.
Best of luck with your Christmas shopping. I hope you can find something here for your book-lover friends.
Here’s last year’s list: Christmas Book List 2021
Here’s next year’s list: Christmas Book List 2023
Next time: A deeply personal interview with Caitlin Avery on Life of Cyn and the #MeToo Movement
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