Jennifer Ryan
When new deputy librarian, Juliet Lansdown, finds that Bethnal Green Library isn’t the bustling hub she’s expecting, she becomes determined to breathe life back into it. But can she show the men in charge that a woman is up to the task of running it, especially when a confrontation with her past threatens to derail her?

Katie Upwood is thrilled to be working at the library, although she’s only there until she heads off to university in the fall. But after the death of her beau on the front line and amid tumultuous family strife, she finds herself harboring a life-changing secret with no one to turn to for help.

Sofie Baumann, a young Jewish refugee, came to London on a domestic service visa only to find herself working as a maid for a man who treats her abominably. She escapes to the library every chance she can, finding friendship in the literary community and aid in finding her sister, who is still trying to flee occupied Europe.

When a slew of bombs destroy the library, Juliet relocates the stacks to the local Underground station where the city’s residents shelter nightly, determined to lend out stories that will keep spirits up. But tragedy after tragedy threatens to unmoor the women and sever the ties of their community. Will Juliet, Kate, and Sofie be able to overcome their own troubles to save the library? Or will the beating heart of their neighborhood be lost forever?

Cathy Kelly
As the waves crash on to a wild Atlantic beach, Lou is at a crossroads. For the first time ever, just giving up seems like an option. In just one night, at her own 50th birthday, her world has imploded. Her mother has kept a secret hidden all her life. And it changes everything. Before Lou can take another step, she needs to get to the bottom of the shocking truth that alters who she really is.

Along with her sister, Toni, who is facing her own life crisis, the two women sets out on a life-changing journey – one that will take them through Ireland’s wildest coastline and to Sicily’s sun-baked rocky shores. It will also take Lou deep into her relationships with her mother, her sister and her daughter to figure out how to stop pleasing everyone else – and carve out who she really wants to be.

Lynda Holden
In 1970, Lynda was eighteen, unmarried and pregnant when she was forced to give her baby up for adoption. She was sent by a doctor to a Catholic girls’ home for unmarried mothers, and told she’d have no hope of keeping her child because she was Aboriginal.

After twenty-six years, Lynda was finally able to make contact with her lost son – but the much wished for reunion didn’t go well. When she looked into the adoption records, she found a web of lies – lies about her family, the baby’s father, her ‘consent’ for the adoption – and her Indigenous heritage had been completely erased.

So began a quest for justice: Lynda took on the Catholic Church in an attempt to right the wrongs of the past. In this incredibly powerful memoir, she sheds light on the lasting impacts of forced adoption on mothers, children and their families, and gives voice to the countless women who have been silenced for generations.

Rosie Batty
After tragedy, how do we find hope? A memoir about what it takes to get through the very worst of times from Rosie Batty – a singular woman who has experienced tragedy, who had lost all hope, yet now is intent on finding it again. On a warm summer’s evening in February 2014, eleven-year-old Luke Batty was killed by his father at cricket practice. It was a horrific act of family violence that shocked Australia.

The next morning, his mother Rosie bravely stood before the media. Her powerful and gut-wrenching words about family violence galvanised the nation and catapulted her into the spotlight. From that day on, Rosie Batty campaigned tirelessly to protect women and children, winning hearts and minds with her courage and compassion, singlehandedly changing the conversation around domestic violence in this country. Rosie’s remarkable efforts were recognised when she became the 2015 Australian of the Year and a year later she was named one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine. However, behind Rosie’s steely public resolve and seemingly unbreakable spirit, she was a mum grieving the loss of her adored son.

Sue Willliams
The remarkable true story of a family forced into hiding after leaking Russian secrets. What started out as a great adventure turned into a terrifying nightmare when Nick Stride and his family were forced to flee for their lives from one of the richest, most powerful men in the world.

Nick moved to Russia in 1998 to help build the British Embassy in Moscow, but ended up on the run with his wife and two children after leaking secrets from Vladimir Putin’s one-time deputy. Hiding off grid on Australia’s final frontier – remote beaches on the Dampier Peninsula on the far north Kimberley coast – the family faced crocodiles, sharks, snakes, raging bushfires and the devastating Cyclone Yvette, and survived only by catching fish and crabs and learning how to kill wild animals. It was a life-or-death move, but Nick felt he had no choice. Now, emerging from isolation, the family are finally ready to share their incredible story.