DISCUSSION GUIDES

Summary: Through linked stories of an ambitious 1920’s chorus girl and a grieving modern-day film student, award-winning author and journalist Denny S. Bryce brings jazz age Chicago’s Black Renaissance to vibrant life in this stirring, impeccably researched novel about loss, forgiveness, and the limitations—and surprises—of love.

Summary: A sweeping debut about a daughter's fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born. Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia is a powerful novel from an incredible new talent.

Summary: An Oprah's Book Club pick and #1 New York Times bestseller, Hidden Valley Road is the true medical detective story of an American family who became science's greatest hope in the quest to understand schizophrenia.

Summary: Set during and after the Civil War, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s masterful second novel follows Libertie Sampson, the daughter of a Black female physician, and explores what “freedom” actually means for Black women. Beautifully written and rich with historical detail, Libertie is an immersive, revelatory read, perfect for fans of Yaa Gyasi and Brit Bennett.

Summary: Queenie Jenkins can't cut a break. Well, apart from one from her long term boyfriend, Tom. That's definitely just a break though. Definitely not a break up. Stuck between a boss who doesn't seem to see her, a family who don't seem to listen (if it's not Jesus or water rates, they're not interested), and trying to fit in two worlds that don't really understand her, it's no wonder she's struggling. She was named to be queen of everything. So why is she finding it so hard to rule her own life?

Summary: America’s First Lady of Frontier Romance, the iconic Janet Dailey, invites readers on an exciting new journey beginning in the late-1800’s, as a cowboy named Joe Dollarhide sets out on one of the first cattle drives from Texas to Montana in hopes of claiming his own piece of the open range.

Summary: From acclaimed author V.S. Alexander comes an absorbing, immersive novel set during World War I, as a talented and ambitious artist finds an unusual calling.

May 1917: The elegant streets of Boston are thousands of miles away from the carnage of the Western Front. Yet even here, amid the clatter of horse-drawn carriages and automobiles, it is impossible to ignore the war raging across Europe. Emma Lewis Swan's husband, Tom, has gone to France, eager to do his duty as a surgeon. Emma, a sculptress, has stayed behind, pursuing her art despite being dismissed by male critics. On the bustling sidewalk she spies a returned soldier. His brutally scarred face inspires first pity, and then something more--a determination to use her skill to make masks for disfigured soldiers.

Leaving Boston for France also means leaving behind Linton Bower, a fiery, gifted artist determined to win her. Emma's union with Tom has been steady yet passionless, marred by guilt over a choice she made long ago. In Paris, she crafts intricate, lifelike masks to restore these wounded men to the world. But in the course of her new career she will encounter one man who compels her to confront the secret she's never revealed, not even to Tom. Only by casting off the façade she has worn for so long can she pursue a path through heartbreak and turmoil toward her own unexpected future...

Summary: A rich family story, a personal look at the legacy of war in the Middle East, and an indelible rendering of how we hold on to the people and places we call home.

Summary: Three Ordinary Girls by award-winning historian Tim Brady is the astonishing true story of three fearless teenage resisters during WWII whose youth and innocence belied their extraordinary daring in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.