April’s book selection
Mystery permeates April’s book selection which includes the story of a mysterious woman washed ashore on a remote island, the true tale of a seemingly happy husband of 20 years leaving his wife for reasons unknown, and a book about a highly skilled and renowned Army combat surgeon whose patient disappears.
Find out about each one below and remember to email your choice.
Wild Dark Shore
by Charlotte McConaghy
A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A storm gathering force.
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, 18 and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, 17, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; 9-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back towards the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.
Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realises Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late-and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.
A novel of heartstopping twists, dizzying beauty and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is a story about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us is ending.
Sutherland Library: Paperback 18 copies; BorrowBox eBook
Amazon: Kindle $15.99; Paperback $18.00
Kmart: Doesn’t Stock
Big W: $18.00
Strangers
by Belle Burden
How do we go on when a loved one betrays us?
On a chilly day in March of 2020, in the early days of the pandemic, Belle Burden’s husband of twenty years announced, with no prior warning, that he was leaving her.
His decision shocked Belle to her core- she believed he was a happy man, a committed partner, and a devoted father to their three children. She thought he was a man who had settled into the life he had always wanted- a successful career, summers spent at their beloved home on Martha’s Vineyard, lots of tennis.
Overnight, he transformed from her steady companion into a stranger.
As she pieces her life together in the wake of a loss she had never imagined coming, she finds she is much stronger than she ever expected. Belle reflects on her transformation from a shy, quiet girl, nicknamed ‘Belle the Good’ to a powerful, brave, determined woman. A woman who has learned to use her voice to expose the patriarchal structures that have forced women to be discreet and compliant for far too long.
Based on Belle’s popular ‘Modern Love’ essay, Was I Married to a Stranger?, this is the emotional and empowering memoir of self-discovery and what it means to finally be heard.
Sutherland Library: 3 copies (more due soon)
Amazon: Kindle $19.99; Paperback $29.99
Kmart: Doesn’t stock
Big W: Doesn’t stock
Gone Before Goodbye
by Harlan Coben & Reese Witherspoon
Maggie McCabe is teetering on the brink. A highly skilled and renowned Army combat surgeon, she has always lived life at the edge, where she could make the most impact. And it was all going to plan … until it wasn’t.
Upside down after a devastating series of tragedies leads to her medical license being revoked, Maggie has lost her purpose, but not her nerve or her passion. At her lowest point, she is thrown a lifeline by a former colleague, an elite plastic surgeon whose anonymous clientele demand the best care money can buy, as well as absolute discretion.
Halfway across the globe, sequestered in the lap of luxury and cutting-edge technology, one of the world’s most mysterious men requires unconventional medical assistance. Desperate, and one of the few surgeons in the world skilled enough to take this job, Maggie enters his realm of unspeakable opulence and fulfills her end of the agreement. But when the patient suddenly disappears while still under her care, Maggie must become a fugitive herself—or she will be the next one who is … Gone Before Goodbye.
Sutherland Library: Paperback 22 copies; eBook & eAudiobook
Amazon: Kindle $12.99; Paperback $18.00
Kmart: Doesn’t stock
Big W: Paperback $18.00
