Family secrets aren’t always intentionally planned. The expectations of each generation often determine what’s spoken and what’s left unsaid. Uncannily, my fiction has revealed what’s been left unspoken in my family - not deep dark secrets, but the more ordinary ego and generationally-driven variety. In my writing there’s an unconscious precognition that occurs, pointing to mysteries in my own life.My work explores themes of family and longing, revealing the undercurrents of life that can be sensed but never grasped. In fact, after writing Bird with the Heart of a Mountain I discovered my own secret - that my Eastern European ancestry contained Romani blood!
Set during the Spanish Civil War, sixteen-year-old Drina yearns to dance flamenco. When she dances, she forgets what seems to be her legacy: I am nothing. I belong nowhere. Why does her mother forbid her to dance? She wonders about the dark family secrets her mother keeps that somehow hold them prisoner.
From her Gypsy campagna to the estate of a paternal grandmother she’s never known, Drina fights to discover who she is and where she belongs. She must carve out an identity all her own and discover what it means to be a “bird with the heart of a mountain.” Full of mystery, loss, and longing, this novel captures Drina’s quest to learn where she came from and to determine her own destiny.
Alice Hoffman’s Magic Lessons is the last in her Practical Magic series that chronicles 200 years of dark secrets that each generation of the Owens family must grapple with. We follow protagonist Maria Owens from her childhood in England to the Caribbean, Massachusetts, and finally New York, carrying her legacy with her. The complexity of mother-daughter relationships, generational wounds, family secrets, plus a good dose of witchcraft and magic holds the tension throughout not only this book, but across the entire series. Part historical fiction, part magical realism, part family saga – Hoffman shows us that, in the end, it’s really all about love.
The extraordinary novel tracing a centuries-old curse back to its beginning from the author of PRACTICAL MAGIC and THE DOVEKEEPERS
We first met the Owens in the glorious novel Practical Magic. We discovered the tragedy of the Owens siblings in Rules of Magic. Now we learn how it all began... with a baby abandoned in a snowy English field in the 1600s. Under the care of gentle Hannah Owens, little Maria learns about the 'Unnamed Arts'. Maria has a gift for them - a gift that may well prove her undoing.
The Dutch House is a novel about assumptions, misunderstandings, loss, and the secrets that shadow the lives of the Conroy family. Following WWII, Cyril Conroy purchases the extravagant Dutch House estate for his wife and two children, a place where he imagines their perfect, privileged lives would unfold. Told through the point of view of Cyril’s son Danny, we learn of the mysterious disappearance of his mother and watch as Cyril’s subsequent marriage and blended family leaves Danny and his sister Maeve outcasts in their own home. The Dutch House itself becomes a tragic symbol, a dark and foreboding backdrop for the unspoken questions and hidden wounds that dominate Danny and Maeve’s adult lives. Beautifully written, and powerfully narrated on audio by Tom Hanks, this is a must-read!
Lose yourself in the story of a lifetime - the unforgettable Sunday Times bestseller
'Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature' Guardian
Nominated for the Women's Prize 2020
A STORY OF TWO SIBLINGS, THEIR CHILDHOOD HOME, AND A PAST THAT THEY CAN'T LET GO.
Like swallows, like salmon, we were the helpless captives of our migratory patterns. We pretended that what we had lost was the house, not our mother, not our father. We pretended that what we had lost had been taken from us by the person who still lived inside.
In the…
In Rachel Joyce’s Miss Benson’s Beetle we see, very clearly, how hazy half-formed memories and closely guarded family secrets can overshadow and drive a life. Surprisingly, prim, plain Margery Benson abruptly leaves her teaching position to set out on an expedition to New Caledonia as an amateur entomologist in search of a rare or possibly fictional golden beetle. With no training or practical experience Miss Benson hires an equally unqualified assistant. Together they head into this uncharted territory, meeting every imaginable obstacle. Through struggle and loss Miss Benson eventually unravels the mystery surrounding her beloved father’s death and reconciles this with the life she’s chosen. As always, Joyce’s unique quirky characters capture the heart and leave the reader believing in the power of healing.
WINNER OF THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE | BEST PUBLISHED NOVEL WOMAN & HOME BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'The perfect escape novel for our troubled times.' PATRICK GALE
It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist. Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in…
Brilliant, feisty, and intrepid Ana, raised in privilege and wealth in ancient Israel, is the heroine of this painstakingly researched historical fiction novel. Her mother discourages Ana’s intellectual curiousity, forbidding Ana’s writings about the secrets of repressed, abused women of her day. Her adopted brother Judas is part of the resistance against the Roman occupation, and her father plans on marrying Ana to a rich older man. Amidst this complexity, Ana defies him and marries far beneath her station. Her groom? Jesus of Nazareth. After the crucifixion, Ana goes to her Aunt Yaltha in Alexandria where she helps Yaltha locate her long-lost daughter. The Book of Longings chronicles Ana’s challenge to overcome the family secrets and cultural repression meant to silence and subdue her. Compelling, intriguing, and powerful! A must-read!
"An extraordinary novel . . . a triumph of insight and storytelling." -Associated Press
"A true masterpiece." -Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed
An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings
In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties…
This historical fiction novel opens in 1739 as sixteen-year-old Eliza Lucas is left in charge of her father’s plantations when he mysteriously leaves to pursue his military ambitions. Boyd uses historical documents as the basis for Eliza’s story that unfolds amidst family drama, near financial ruin, political tensions, and unrest among the slave population. In an attempt to prevent bankruptcy, Eliza decides to grow indigo and sell it to the lucrative dye-making market. With little familial support, Eliza negotiates with a reticent slave to teach her the secret process of growing indigo in exchange for unlawfully teaching slaves to read. As is often the case, Eliza continues to weave the web of family secrets in order to survive – and ultimately, to thrive.
In this incredible story of ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice, an extraordinary sixteen-year-old girl in Colonial South Carolina defies all expectations to achieve her dream.
An incredible story of dangerous and hidden friendships, ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.
The year is 1739. Eliza Lucas is sixteen years old when her father leaves her in charge of their family's three plantations in rural South Carolina and then proceeds to bleed the estates dry in pursuit of his military ambitions. Tensions with the British, and with the Spanish in Florida, just a short way down the coast, are rising, and slaves are starting to…
Me and The Times offers a fresh perspective on those pre-internet days when the Sunday sections of The New York Times shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation. Starting in 1967, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections over 30 years, innovating and troublemaking all the way.
His memoir is rich in anecdotes and admissions. At The Times, Jan Morris threw a manuscript at him, he shared an embarrassing moment with Jacqueline Kennedy, and he got the paper sued for $1 million. Along the way, Rod Laver challenged Stock to a tennis match, he played a clarinet duet with superstar Richard Stoltzman, and he shared a Mafia-spiced brunch with Jerry Orbach.
Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)
An intimate, unvarnished look at the making of the Sunday sections of The New York Times in their pre-internet heyday, back when they shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation.
Over 30 years, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections, innovating, and troublemaking all the way – getting the paper sued for $1 million, locking horns with legendary editors Abe Rosenthal and Max Frankel, and publishing articles that sent the publisher Punch Sulzberger up the wall.
On one level, his memoir tracks Stock’s amazing career from his elevator job at Bonwit Teller to his accidental entry into journalism to his…
Interested in
family secrets,
explorers,
and
slaves?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
Browse their picks for the best books about
family secrets,
explorers,
and
slaves.
