The Last Will of Moira Leahy by Therese WalshA LOST SHADOW
Moira Leahy struggled growing up in her prodigious twin’s shadow; Maeve was always more talented, more daring, more fun. In the autumn of the girls’ sixteenth year, a secret love tempted Moira, allowing her to have her own taste of adventure, but it also damaged the intimate, intuitive relationship she’d always shared with her sister. Though Moira’s adolescent struggles came to a tragic end nearly a decade ago, her brief flirtation with independence will haunt her sister for years to come.
A LONE WOMAN
When Maeve Leahy lost her twin, she left home and buried her fun-loving spirit to become a workaholic professor of languages at a small college in upstate New York. She lives a solitary life now, controlling what she can and ignoring the rest—the recurring nightmares, hallucinations about a child with red hair, the unquiet sounds in her mind, her reflection in the mirror. It doesn’t help that her mother avoids her, her best friend questions her sanity, and her not-quite boyfriend has left the country. But at least her life is ordered. Exactly how she wants it.
A SHARED PAST
Until one night at an auction when Maeve wins a keris, a Javanese dagger that reminds her of her lost youth, and happier days playing pirates with Moira in their father’s boat. Days later, a book on weaponry is nailed to her office door, followed by anonymous notes, including one that invites her to Rome to learn more about the blade and its legendary properties. Opening her heart and mind to possibility, Maeve accepts the invitation, and with it, a window into her past. Ultimately she will revisit the tragic November night that shaped her and Moira’s destinies, and learn that nothing can be taken at face value, as one sister emerges whole and the other’s score is finally settled. (from www.theresewalsh.com)
The Professors' Wives' Club by Joanne Rendell
With its shady maple trees, elegant iron gate, and high fence laced with honeysuckle, Manhattan U's garden offers faculty wives Mary, Sofia, Ashleigh, and Hannah a much-needed refuge. For Mary, the garden is an escape from
abuse. For Sofia, it offers solace as she considers trading in her diaper bag for a briefcase. Then there's Ashleigh, who wonders whether she should tell her conservative father something that might well give him another heart attack. And last is Hannah, who rues jeopardizing her lukewarm marriage...for one passionate
night.
As Mary's husband, the power-hungry dean, makes plans to demolish the beloved garden, these four women will discover a surprising secret about a lost Edgar Allan Poe manuscript...and realize they must find the courage to stand up for their passions, dreams, and desires. (book jacket)
My Abandonment by Peter Rock
A Thirteen-year-old girl and her father live in Forest Park, the enormous nature preserve in Portland, Oregon. There they inhabit an elaborate cave shelter, bathe in a
nearby creek, store perishables at the water's edge, use a makeshift septic system, tend a garden, even keep a library of sorts. Once a week they go to the city to buy
groceries and otherwise merge with the civilized world. But one small mistake allows a backcountry jogger to discover them, which derails their entire existence,
ultimately provoking a deeper flight.
Inspired by a true story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of its young narrator, Caroline, "My Abandonment" is a riveting journey into lives lived at
the margins and a mesmerizing tale of survival and hope. (book jacket)
The Last Will of Moira Leahy
Publisher/Publication Date: Shaye Areheart Books, Oct 13, 2009
ISBN: 978-0307461575
304 pages
The Professors' Wives' Club
Publisher/Publication Date: NAL Trade, Sept 2008
ISBN: 978-0451224910
352 pages
My Abandonment
Publisher/Publication Date: Houghton Miflin Harcourt, March 2009
ISBN: 978-0151014149
240 pages
