A young woman in 1960's North Carolina resents the moonshining operation her family has conducted for generations, blaming it for her mother's death. When her father insists that moonshining is in her veins, Jessie devises a plan to destroy the stills. Her scheme escalates an old rivalry and reveals long-held grudges.

When Meri Beckley looks at the peaceful Chicago streets, she feels pride in the era of unprecedented hope and prosperity over which the governor presides. But when her mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one else seems to be asking. And when she tries to uncover her mother's state of mind in her last weeks, she finds herself drawn into a secret world with a history she didn't know existed. Faced with a choice between accepting the...

A 28-year-old recluse with a unique allergy to physical contact with other people is forced to reenter the world after her mother's death, finding friendship with a 10-year-old troubled boy and love with his adoptive father.

"When tragedy shakes young Samuel Chamber's family, his search for answers entangles him in the midst of an ancient conflict and leads him on an unexpected journey to find the Tree of Life"

"In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past--a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake. In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with...

"1629: A newly orphaned young girl named Mayken is bound for the Dutch East Indies on the Batavia, one of the greatest ships of the Dutch Golden Age. Curious and mischievous, Mayken spends the long journey going on misadventures above and below the deck, searching for a mythical monster. But the true monsters might be closer than she thinks. 1989: A lonely boy named Gil is sent to live off the coast of Western Australia among the seasonal fishing...

Olivia Morrison left the wealth and prestige of her Louisiana family years before when she ran off with a cowboy. Now she returns with her eight-year-old daughter in tow to encounter her handsome stepcousin Seth and the terrible memories of her mother's death by drowning.

"Miriam Lapp, who left the Amish community in Pennsylvania three years ago, is heart-broken when her sister calls to say that her mother has dies suddenly. Traveling home, she is forced to face the heartache from her past, including the rift with her family and her broken engagement with Timothyh Kauffman. The wounds are reopened when her father disowns her and she finds the out that Timothy has proposed to his new girlfriend. Miriam returns to Indiana...

"In 1972, on Mudas Summers' seventeenth birthday, her beloved Mama, Ella, is found hanging from the rafters of their home. Most people in Peckinpaw, Kentucky, assume that Ella's no-good husband did the deed. Others think Ella grew tired of his abuse and did it herself. Muddy is determined to find out for sure either way, especially once she finds strange papers hidden amongst her mama's possessions. But Peckinpaw keeps its secrets buried deep. Muddy's...