World War II Lieutenant Karl Hagan earned his wings the hard way. But when his plane is shot down behind enemy lines, he’s forced to make the hardest decision of his life: trusting the enemy. Oberleutnant Wilhelm Albrecht wore his Iron Cross with pride. But when his U-boat is attacked in a devastating air raid, he abandons ship and finds an unlikely ally: the pilot who bombed him. From the smoke-filled skies over Europe to the fire-blasted waters of a Nazi naval base to the battle-scarred German countryside, the American and the German must form an uneasy truce if they hope to survive. It is November of 1944. The tides of war have turned. Allies have taken back France, and German troops have retreated. But for Karl and Wilhelm, the war is far from over. Each must be prepared to lie for the other, fight for the other, or die with the other. But their short-lived alliance won’t truly be put to the test until they reach the end of the line—inside a POW camp…
Archives
The Orphan Collector
With vivid writing, immediately absorbing characters, and surprisingly timely issues, Ellen Marie Wiseman weaves a powerful tale of upheaval, resilience and hope amidst the tragic 1918 influenza: the seemingly apocalyptic illness that went on to infect one-third of the world’s population: In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish flu. Funeral crepe and quarantine signs appear on doors as victims drop dead in the streets and desperate survivors wear white masks to ward off illness. When food runs out in the cramped tenement she calls home, Pia must venture alone into the quarantined city in search of supplies, leaving her baby brothers behind. On the same street, Bernice Groves has become lost in grief and bitterness since her baby died from the Spanish flu. Watching Pia leave her brothers alone, Bernice makes a shocking, life-altering decision that leads her on a sinister mission to transform the city’s orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are “true Americans”: Waking in a makeshift hospital days after collapsing in the street, Pia is frantic to return home. Instead, she is taken to St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum: the first step in a long and arduous journey to find her way back to her remaining family. As Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost in the months and years that follow, Pia must confront her own shame and fear, ultimately risking everything to see justice: and love: triumph at last.
The Sunday Potluck Club
From USA Today bestselling author Melissa Storm, the first in an uplifting new series about four independent, spirited women brought together in tragedy and nourished by friendship…New friends can be found in unexpected places. For Bridget and Amy, that place was the cancer ward of an Anchorage hospital, where they first meet while helping loved ones through treatments and the anxiety of a ticking clock while leaning on one another for support and understanding. When the time comes for them to get back to their real lives – Bridget to veterinarian school, Amy to teaching second grade – they find they need each other more than ever before. And so the Sunday Potluck Club is born – a way for Bridget, Amy, and other women who have lost a loved one to find solace and understanding. Savoring favorite dishes while sharing memories and the comfort of connection, the members of the Sunday Potluck Club nourish body and soul. As weeks go by and the group grows in unforeseen ways, both Bridget and Amy are inspired to find greater purpose. Amy reaches out to a student whose father bravely faces his own struggle. Bridget volunteers at the local animal shelter, rehabilitating dogs whose unconditional love will bring others a chance to heal. And with the help of two special men, Bridget and Amy are realizing that there’s always room at the table for love and rekindled joy.
Love Lettering
Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing beautiful custom journals for New York City’s elite. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Like the time she sat across from Reid Sutherland and his gorgeous fiancée, and knew their upcoming marriage was doomed to fail. Weaving a secret word into their wedding program was a little unprofessional, but she was sure no one else would spot it.
A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out—before he leaves New York for good—how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline, a fractured friendship, and a bad case of creative block, Meg doesn’t have time for Reid’s questions—unless he can help her find her missing inspiration. As they gradually open up to each other about their lives, work, and regrets, both try to ignore the fact that their unlikely connection is growing deeper. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late . . .
The Blacksmith Queen
When a prophecy brings war to the Hill Lands, Keeley Smythe must join forces with a clan of mountain warriors in a thrilling new fantasy romance series from New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken. With the demise of the Old King, there’s a prophecy that a queen will ascend to the throne of the Black Hills. Bad news for the king’s sons, who are prepared to defend their birthright against all comers. But for blacksmith Keeley Smythe, war is great for business. Until it looks like the chosen queen will be Beatrix, her younger sister. Now it’s all Keeley can do to protect her family from the enraged royals. Luckily, Keeley doesn’t have to fight alone. Because thundering to her aid comes a clan of kilt-wearing mountain warriors called the Amichais. Not the most socially adept group, but soldiers have never bothered Keeley, and rough, gruff Caid actually seems to respect her. A good thing because the fierce warrior will be by her side for a much longer ride than any prophecy ever envisioned . . .
142 Ostriches
For lovers of stark beauty, April Dávila’s debut novel explores the muddled love of a desert ranch family long-mired in disconnection and denial. When her grandmother dies under questionable circumstances, a young woman desperate to escape life on her family’s ostrich farm in the Mojave Desert finds herself as the sole heir to the ranch – just as the birds mysteriously stop laying eggs during the peak laying season…
When Tallulah Jones was thirteen, her grandmother plucked her from the dank Oakland apartment she shared with her unreliable mom and brought her to the family ostrich ranch in the Mojave Desert. After eleven years caring for the curious, graceful birds, Tallulah accepts a job in Montana and prepares to leave home. But when Grandma Helen dies under strange circumstances, Tallulah inherits everything—just days before the birds inexplicably stop laying eggs.
Guarding the secret of the suddenly barren birds, Tallulah endeavors to force through a sale of the ranch, a task that is complicated by the arrival of her extended family. Their designs on the property, and deeply rooted dysfunction, threaten Tallulah’s ambitions and eventually her life. With no options left, Tallulah must pull her head out of the sand and face the fifty-year legacy of a family in turmoil: the reality of her grandmother’s death, her mother’s alcoholism, her uncle’s covetous anger, and the 142 ostriches whose lives are in her hands.
Gone at Midnight
A true crime memoir exposing the real story behind one of the most compelling but least understood cases of the century, Gone at Midnight examines an enigmatic tragedy that’s become a cultural obsession and internet phenomenon. The book chronicles the final weeks of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Chinese-Canadian student who vanished from the notorious Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles under mysterious circumstances, and explores the unsolved mystery of shocking death.
999: THE EXTRAORDINARY YOUNG WOMEN OF THE FIRST OFFICIAL TRANSPORT TO AUSCHWITZ
On March 25, 1942, nearly a thousand young, unmarried Jewish women boarded a train in Poprad, Slovakia. Filled with a sense of adventure and national pride, they left their parents’ homes wearing their best clothes and confidently waving good-bye. Believing they were going to work in a factory for a few months, they were eager to report for government service. Instead, the young women—many of them teenagers—were sent to Auschwitz. Their government paid 500 Reich Marks (about $200) apiece for the Nazis to take them as slave labor. Of those 999 innocent deportees, only a few would survive. The facts of the first official Jewish transport to Auschwitz are little known, yet profoundly relevant today. These were not resistance fighters or prisoners of war. There were no men among them. Sent to almost certain death, the young women were powerless and insignificant not only because they were Jewish—but also because they were female. Now acclaimed author Heather Dune Macadam reveals their poignant stories, drawing on extensive interviews with survivors, and consulting with historians, witnesses, and relatives of those first deportees to create an important addition to Holocaust literature and women’s history.
All the Forgivenesses
All The Forgivenesses tells the story of what happens to an impoverished rural family when the mother dies young and an adolescent daughter is left to fill her shoes. Bertie is a wounded child who is grieved and then embittered by her burdens despite her closeness to her siblings, and she isn’t given what she needs to learn to process grief, anger, guilt—or even love. When she cannot hold the family together, she assumes a burden of shame already heavy from a childhood tragedy and from her unquestioning acceptance of her mother’s punitive brand of Calvinism. Ever pragmatic, Bertie marries young and considers herself lucky to have found a gentle and creative, albeit restless, husband. But she discovers that marriage cannot resolve her inner struggles, and more losses loom in her attempt to gain fulfillment in motherhood. Only when confronted with the deep spiritual and physical needs of three damaged children does Bertie face her fears and learn how uncomplicated it can be to deserve, and give, unfettered love.
The Long Flight Home
Set among the London Blitz of World War II, when British Services enlisted the aid of over 200,000 homing pigeons to carry messages across enemy lines, The Long Flight Home is a bittersweet tale of courage, soulmates and sacrifice. It’s the story of an almost-love affair between two orphans brought together, then driven apart by war: Susan, a young woman who trains homing pigeons in England and believes that her extraordinary birds can help save Britain; and Ollie, a crop-duster from Maine, who disregards US neutrality and travels to Britain in a quest to join the Royal Air Force.
It is also a story based on true historical events related to Britain’s enlistment of homing pigeons for Operation Columba during WWII. And it is a story inspired by an astonishing news report in 2012, when a man renovating an old house in Surrey, England discovered the remains of a homing pigeon along with a tiny capsule containing a vital coded message – one that has yet to be deciphered by code breakers around the world even today. With compassionate insight, beautiful detail and meticulous research, Alan Hlad illuminates mostly-forgotten corners of WWII history, conjuring an inspiring and deeply moving wartime experience from a time when hope truly was the thing with feathers.