Cirrus@Austlit

'2019 Life changed beyond recognition for Alice when her son, Eddie, was born with autism spectrum disorder. She must do everything to support him, but at what cost to her family? When her cherished grandmother is hospitalised, a hidden box of mementoes reveals a tattered photo of a young man, a tiny leather shoe and a letter. Her grandmother begs Alice to return to Poland to see what became of those she held dearest.

'WWII Alina and Tomasz are childhood sweethearts. The night before he leaves for college, Tomasz proposes marriage. But when their village falls to the Nazis, Alina doesn't know if Tomasz is alive or dead.

'2019 In Poland, separated from her family, Alice begins to uncover the story her grandmother is so desperate to tell, and discovers a love that bloomed in the winter of 1942. As a painful family history comes to light, will the struggles of the past and present finally reach a heartbreaking resolution?

'Inspired by the author's own family history, The Things We Cannot Say unearths a tragic love story and a family secret whose far-reaching effects will alter lives forever.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'1910 and Mattie Willitt is faced with an agonizing choice: marry the man her stepfather has chosen, or flee from Swindon. She and her sisters all choose to leave and go their own ways.

'But Mattie gets lost in a thunderstorm, collapsing from exhaustion, sure she’s about to die. Widower John Kemble goes to investigate his son’s news that there’s a dead body in the lane, and brings the stranger home. She’s young and attractive, suffering from pneumonia and with his wife dead, there’s only him to tend her.

'This leads to choices and opportunities Mattie could never have imagined. Will she have the courage to take the chance on a very different future?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'What happens when ambition trumps the truth?

'A town reeling in the wake of tragedy

'An arsonist is on the loose in Colmstock, Australia, most recently burning down the town's courthouse and killing a young boy who was trapped inside.

'An aspiring journalist desperate for a story

'The clock is ticking for Rose Blakey. With nothing but rejections from newspapers piling up, her job pulling beers for cops at the local tavern isn't nearly enough to cover rent. Rose needs a story—a big one.

'Little dolls full of secrets

'In the weeks after the courthouse fire, precise porcelain replicas of Colmstock's daughters begin turning up on doorsteps, terrifying parents and testing the limits of the town's already fractured police force.

'Rose may have finally found her story. But as her articles gain traction and the boundaries of her investigation blur, Colmstock is seized by a seething paranoia. Soon, no one is safe from suspicion. And when Rose's attention turns to the mysterious stranger living in the rooms behind the tavern, neighbor turns on neighbor and the darkest side of self-preservation is revealed.' (Publication Summary)