My book club read The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright in July. Wright introduced us to a number of characters who struggle with being outside the lines of normal. Characters with autism, mental illness, and epilepsy were handled in a sensitive and thoughtful manner. If you haven’t read this dual timeline novel, I recommend it. If you have here are some other books you may enjoy.
House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson
They vowed, as children, to be silent…
When her father orchestrates a surprise trip to the summer house of her childhood, Bailee Cooper is unprepared for what follows. What is intended to be a happy reunion for Bailee and her sisters quickly becomes shrouded by memories from the past.
Together again, the three sisters sift through their recollections of fifteen years ago…of an ill mother, and of their father making a desperate choice. One sister believes their silence must end and the truth be revealed. But they soon come to wonder if they can trust their memories.
Mark Delahunt arrives in the wake of this emotional turmoil. Determined to win Bailee’s affection, Mark becomes a strong fortress for her in this time of confusion, and what was once a tentative promise begins to take root and grow. Caught between the past and an uncertain future, can Bailee let God guide her to healing . . . or will she risk losing the chance to embrace love?
Jimmy by Robert Whitlow
Jimmy knows he’s different from the other teenagers in Piney Grove, Georgia. He’s what people call “slow”, which means he doesn’t always understand what he sees and hears. But Jimmy sees and hears a lot, even the occasional angel. And Jimmy remembers it all with uncanny accuracy, which is why his lawyer father asks him to testify in a trial. Jimmy’s testimony saves the man from jail but has far-reaching consequences for himself and the people he loves.
Peopled with a cast of Southern folk at once familiar and unexpected, Jimmy is an extraordinary tale about growing up in the midst of real struggle. Like Mark Twain and Harper Lee, Robert Whitlow uses an innocent’s limited viewpoint to illuminate complex human realities, and to touch the heart. From the first encounter with Jimmy to that last bittersweet goodbye, Jimmy will enthrall and delight.
The Painted Table by Suzanne Field
The Norwegian table, a century-old heirloom ingrained with family memory, has become a totem of a life Saffee would rather forget—a childhood disrupted by her mother’s mental illness.
Saffee does not want the table. By the time she inherits the object of her mother’s obsession, the surface is thick with haphazard layers of paint and heavy with unsettling memories.
After a childhood spent watching her mother slide steadily into insanity, painting and re-painting the ancient table, Saffee has come to fear that seeds of psychosis may lie dormant within her. She must confront her mother’s torment if she wants to defend herself against it.
Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor by Melanie Dobson
When Heather Toulson returns to her parents’ cottage in the English countryside, she uncovers long-hidden secrets about her family history and stumbles onto the truth about a sixty-year-old murder.
Libby, a free spirit who can’t be tamed by her parents, finds solace with her neighbor Oliver, the son of Lord Croft of Ladenbrooke Manor. Libby finds herself pregnant and alone when her father kicks her out and Oliver mysteriously drowns in a nearby river. Though theories spread across the English countryside, no one is ever held responsible for Oliver’s death.
Sixty years later, Heather Toulson, returning to her family’s cottage in the shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor, is filled with mixed emotions. She’s mourning her father’s passing but can’t let go of the anger and resentment over their strained relationship. Adding to her confusion, Heather has an uneasy reunion with her first love, all while sorting through her family’s belongings left behind in the cottage. What she uncovers will change everything she thought she knew about her family’s history.
Award-winning author Melanie Dobson seamlessly weaves the past and present together, fluidly unraveling the decades-old mystery and reveals how the characters are connected in shocking ways.
Set in a charming world of thatched cottages, lush gardens, and lovely summer evenings, this romantic and historical mystery brings to light the secrets and heartaches that have divided a family for generations.
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