In novels, as in life, help and solace often come from family and friends. These books, available from the Lititz Public Library, feature characters who overcome adversity through personal strength, family bonds and the power of friendship.
Kind of Kin by Rilla Askew
Complications arise throughout his family when a churchgoing and respected community member is caught hiding migrant workers with no papers.
The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins
Exhausted after the birth of her daughter, a young woman returns to her childhood home in Queens and finds the diary of an ancestor that contains information about a murder in the family.
Heart Like Mine by Amy Hatvany
A thirty-six-year-old woman never longed for children until she meets a handsome, charismatic divorced restaurateur with a son and daughter.
The Smart One by Jennifer Close
A couple is perplexed by life pressures that cause their first daughter to move back into her childhood room, their second daughter to cancel her wedding and their son to become enmeshed in a disastrous relationship.
Palisades Park by Alan Brennert
Set in the 1930s near the legendary amusement park, a family of dreamers is challenged by the realities of the Great Depression, multiple wars and the park’s eventual closing in 1971.
Falling to Earth by Kate Southwood
After the Tri-State tornado of 1925, a family watches their community struggle to rebuild and miscalculates the growing resentment about the twist of fate that left their home and business untouched.
The Last Summer of the Camperdowns by Elizabeth Kelly
A twelve-year-old girl keeps silent after witnessing a crime near her home on Cape Cod during the summer of 1972, as her parents focus on running a political campaign.
The Widow Waltz by Sally Koslow
Left penniless and shattered by devastating secrets revealed in the aftermath of her husband’s sudden death, a woman rallies herself to support her daughters and pursue a new relationship.
Family Pictures by Jane Green
As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, two middle-aged women learn to forgive for the sake of their families.
Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman
Opening an antiques shop in Charleston, a woman struggles to come to terms with her splintered family after receiving news that her long-missing brother might still be alive.
Necessary Lies by Dian Chamberlain
Caring for her family on their mid-20th-century tobacco farm after the loss of her parents, a fifteen-year-old girl connects with a social worker to advocate against racial tensions and state-mandated sterilizations.
Longbourn by Jo Baker
A novel whose principal characters are the servants in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice proves that there is just as much romance, heartbreak and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs.
The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen
Twenty-five years into her marriage to a wealthy Saudi man, an American wife is crushed to find that her husband has taken another wife and worries about the effect this will have on their teenage children.
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Discovering a tattered letter that says she is to open it only in the event of her husband’s death, a woman is unable to resist reading the letter and discovers a secret that shatters her life.
Originally published on January 10, 2014 in the Lititz Record Express.