Erin Bartels (Revell)
In a story that time-hops between the “then” and “now” of protagonist Robin Windsor and her high school love, Peter Flynt, Bartels traces the fragile but compelling relationship between two teenagers drawn together by loss and then pulled apart by secrets. If the adult Peter and Robin are to find each other again, both will have to muster the courage for a leap of faith. At its core, The Words Between Us is about trust and forgiveness: How much of either can any of us give, and how can we ever know in the moment if our gifts will be treasured or shattered?
Elizabeth Byler Younts (Thomas Nelson)
From the first page, Brighton Friedrich lets the reader know that she somehow made it through the harrowing childhood she is about to recount. But as you journey back through her memories, you will doubt continually whether anyone could survive this with soul intact. Born and raised in an insane asylum during the dark ages of mental health care, Brighton can’t imagine any future for herself, even as she hopes for one. Though it will break your heart to keep watching as Brighton and her only childhood friend, Angel, struggle for survival, Younts’s powerful writing will draw you back in, time and again.
Ann Patchett (Harper)
Even those of us who prefer paper books will happily turn to Audible when Tom Hanks is the performer. It’s hard to say which is more irresistible—Patchett’s story of the lifelong bond between a brother and sister, or Hanks’s reading of it. Born into the grandest house in their Philadelphia suburb, Maeve and Danny Conroy are abandoned by both parents, lose their money and their home, and spend years feeling misunderstood (except by each other). As the years pass, they return to the Dutch House and park outside, struggling together to make sense of their thwarted longings for home and family. (Note: This is not an inspirational novel, and it contains profanity—though, to be fair, it’s not used gratuitously or excessively and is true to character and situation.)
