Researching the storylines for my family drama novels gives me the opportunity to speak to many different people about huge events and dilemmas in their families and lives. Through their honesty and generosity, I have gained a huge respect for the way in which people can cope with tragedy and also a fascination with how they deal with it. For me, reading – and writing – about these topics is immensely cathartic and makes me remember to grasp life with both hands. I’m a sucker for a happy ending, though, so I always look for the hope at the end of any story.
I sobbed my way through this one! I was a few chapters in when I discovered that it was a sequel to The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes, but I was so invested by then that I couldn’t stop and go back.
Anna McPartlin has the enviable skill of combining comedy and tragedy to great effect. The Hayes family are a mess of grief and confusion and misplaced blame, but their love for one another, and their wonderful humour, meant that I took them to my heart immediately.
A book that makes me laugh out loud one minute and blub like a baby the next is always a winner for me. I would read anything that this author chose to write. (I read Rabbit Hayes immediately afterwards and loved that, too!
'Brilliant, funny and immensely moving' Catherine Isaac, author of You, Me, Everything
'Well, that was a tearjerker! Anna McPartlin's Below the Big Blue Sky is a MORE than worthy follow-up to The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes' Marian Keyes
***
There's no family quite like the Hayes, and yet they're just like any other - they love each other, they look out for each other and they drive each other mad. When their youngest, Rabbit, dies tragically at just forty, the Hayes are almost torn apart by their grief.
Without her beloved mum, twelve-year-old Bunny is adrift; without Rabbit, there…
Mother and daughter relationships are a theme that I love to read – and write! – about and Joanna Glen does this brilliantly in All My Mothers.
From childhood, Eva had a complex relationship with her own mother and is convinced that there is more to her story than she’s been told. Glen uses a children’s picture book as a motif to explore the many kinds of mothers that Eva meets in her life and it affected me quite profoundly.
What kind of mother am I? What kind of mother do children most need? The relationship that made me most emotional was that between Eva and her best friend. Many tears were shed onto my kindle!
The Herd presents the experiences of two mothers – friends – on the subject of childhood immunisation.
The dual narrative takes you inside their thoughts and feelings and I love the fact that the author doesn’t guide you to pick a side. Through the characterisation, and the clever use of other voices, you are presented with all the facets of a complex debate.
At times, their reactions to the circumstances in this story are heartbreaking. It reminded me that there are always two sides to an argument and that it’s important that both sides are heard.
'It is hard to imagine a more timely novel. A fascinating exploration of all sides of a particularly knotty, politicized issue.' Jodi Picoult
'Will have book clubs across the country in hot debate! Brilliant.' Clare Mackintosh
****
You should never judge how someone chooses to raise their child.
Elizabeth and Bryony are polar opposites but their unexpected friendship has always worked. They're the best of friends, and godmothers to each other's daughters - because they trust that the safety of their children is both of their top priority.
But what if their choice could harm your own child?
As I come from a small family, I am always fascinated by families with lots of siblings and the dynamics between them.
In I’ll Leave You With This, Kylie Ladd gives us four very different sisters grieving the loss of their only brother. Each of their voices was very distinct and made me think about how we all have our ‘role’ in the family. Do eldest daughters always take control? Do youngest siblings always feel overlooked?
As they find their way towards each other and through a way to navigate their tragic loss, they all pulled at my heartstrings in different ways.
A totally heartbreaking but uplifting story about family, loss and second chances.
Three years after Daniel was killed by a senseless act of violence, all his sisters have left of him are their memories - and responsibility for Daniel's mischievous dachshund John Thomas. Daniel donated his organs, his death facilitating life-saving miracles for other families, while his own loved ones struggle to come to terms with their devastating loss, each at a crossroads of her own.
It's been twelve years since film director Bridie had a hit, and while she's still invited to glitzy media events, nowadays it is as…
Ask Again, Yes is a drama about two generations of two families and the tragedy within the book centres on the events of one fateful day.
Mary Beth Keane’s prose is a real pleasure to read and the story itself brings home how often lives are changed irrevocably in a moment. What I also loved about this book was that it takes the central characters from childhood to adulthood and we see how this makes them view events differently.
It’s one of the reasons I enjoy books with multiple narrators – being able to see the way they can justify their own decisions while judging the actions of others. A terrific read.
The triumphant New York Times Bestseller *The Tonight Show Summer Reads Pick*
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by People, Vogue, Parade, NPR, and Elle
"A gem of a book." —Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
How much can a family forgive?
Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, rookie NYPD cops, are neighbors in the suburbs. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne, sets the stage for the explosive events to come.
In Mary Beth Keane's extraordinary novel, a lifelong…
I know she will be better off without me. But as I leave my baby behind that dark night, I wonder, will I ever see my her again? Will I have the chance to explain to little Erin why I had to go? Even if I do find the strength to return, what will my mother have told her?
Only one person really knows what happened, and why I had to do what I did. I know the truth will come out some day. I don’t expect forgiveness. The only thing I hope is that my family can survive the fallout…
I’ve become passionate about telling parents how to raise happy, resilient, creative, confident, entrepreneurial children who are doing something that gives them joy. So many young people are unhappy; parents don’t understand how to help. They think their children should follow their path, but that no longer works for many. For the last 10 years, I’ve been speaking to parent groups; I was an Advisor to EQ Generation, an after-school program that gives children the skills to succeed; on the Advisory Board of MUSE School, preparing young people with passion-based learning; and on the Board of Spark the Journey, mentoring low-income high school students to achieve college and career success.
This book shakes longstanding assumptions of parenting.
Through 99 stories of people who are now changing the world, it shows how to raise creative, confident, resilient children who are filled with joy and purpose. Based on interviews with top entrepreneurs and their parents, it guides you to help your children identify their passion and figure out how they can spend their professional lives doing something they love.
Parents' well-intentioned efforts often boomerang. By ignoring their children’s skills and interests, parents can inadvertently create pressure and anxiety, thwarting their children's ability to excel and find happiness. Too often, following your heart…
Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams - 99 Stories from Families Who Did
Learn how successful entrepreneurs were raised! Could your children start a company that disrupts existing industries? Or a non-profit that helps people around the world? Or follow their passion as an artist or activist? And most important, lead a life of joy and purpose, to be happy and fulfilled? Margot Machol Bisnow, mother of two thriving entrepreneurs, reveals how to raise creative, confident, resilient, fearless kids who achieve their dreams, through 99 stories of families who did it.
Read stories from 70 families who raised true game changers. See family photos of these thriving entrepreneurs, both when they were young…
