Jojo Moyes (Pamela Dorman Books)
In Depression-era America, hardscrabble, isolated mountain lives are transformed through the wonders of books thanks to the bold and determined work of a team of traveling librarians. Braving the elements on steep and solitary trails, knowing they risk dangers from both men and beasts, these heroic young women are threatened, and their work obstructed, by powerful businessmen who fear that educating the locals will change the status quo. In this enthralling, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes humorous read, Moyes weaves rich and complex characters with questions of singleness, marriage, childbirth, domestic violence, disability, racial prejudice, low wages, and the abusive power of big business.
Joanne Bischof (Thomas Nelson)
Hoping to heal his heart and rebuild his broken family after his wife’s abandonment, a young father throws himself into restoring a century-old house in Kentucky. He never expects the letters he discovers in an aged trunk—from a young mother whose husband disappeared after the local gold mine failed decades prior—to parallel the tragedy of his own life or to accompany him on the rocky journey to greater faith amid loss. Engraved with powerful life lessons, images, and memorable lines, The Gold in These Hills addresses the pain of real-life issues and the persevering road to faith and wholeness.
Lauren Willig (William Morrow)
Armed with good intentions, a group of young women from Smith College sets sail for war-torn France amid the Great War. But nothing is as they imagined—not their decimated lodgings, not the desperate state of the civilians they’re meant to aid, and not the British bureaucracy that would happily send them home. With only two doctors and minimal training, the group rallies to overcome fear and personal jealousies, banding together to learn essential nursing, surgical, and survival skills; to drive supply trucks running on a wing and a prayer; and to creatively lift the morale of an abused populace.
