This wonderful novel describes a rarely seen time in history. It is the 1300’s, and the plague comes to Avignon. Eleanore’s mother was a locally famous healer, and Eleanore has taken over her healing duties after her mother’s death. Women who healed were considered to be witches, but a famous physician takes Eleanore under his wing. Together they try to heal those afflicted with the plague. Several characters in the book are real historical people, including this physician. Very highly recommended!

I enjoyed this book taking place in the south, nearing the end of the Civil War. A southern woman, her precocious niece, a freed slave who works for her and a wounded Union soldier leads to an intriguing story.

I did not particularly like the book. Terry was weak and allowed herself to be taken advantage of. even Chris abused her I understand she allowed it in order to get her son back. she gave up Gabe because she was not able to raise him. I haven't read the earlier books so not sure how Chris and Terry came to know decker and Rina but thank god for them still I'm sorry the Terry was killed and Chris took the easy way out and committed suicide leaving Gabe without a father as if it wasn't bad enough he lost his mother

A true crime writer is investigating two deaths that took place years apart at a Vermont Orphanage. She has been hired to be a ghostwriter for an author writing a story about the abuse at the orphanage, and is researching background. At the orphanage, in 1968 a young boy was found drowned, at the lake. Fifty years later his murder has never been solved, and a new victim has been discovered in the same spot at the same lake. Is there a connection? Kept me guessing. I love me a good mystery.

Loved this new novel by one of my favorite authors. It has a determined, very independent heroine, Sloan Cooper, with a very supportive family. After a traumatic incident, she returns home where she recovers. Meets Nash, who has recently bought a house near her parents and has traumas of his own from childhood. There is a lot of suspense as Sloan tracks a duo of serial killers. Spoiler alert: happy ending!

I really enjoyed this short (170 pages) collection of humorous essays by Nora Ephron, screenwriter of When Harry Met Sally. She deals with topics such as aging, body maintenance, and parenting in a witty, relatable way. Her essay "I Hate My Purse" made me laugh out loud several times as I recognized myself.

A mystery in reverse, a book written backwards, starting with the end of the story, and tracing the situation backwards. Layer by layer we understand how the couple got to the place they are today, and what has kept them bound them together, while tearing them apart. It was quite fascination learning how they their story started. An interesting read, once you get the pattern realizing that you are sort of reading backwards.

Laurel Applebaum gets a call from the hospital that her husband Doug was in an accident and imagines he had died. She is surprised to feel relief as she imagines a carefree life without him. Lots of twists and turns as Laurel learns to assert her own needs and resist her habit of being subservient to Doug. She had been maintaining the peace and losing her autonomy as a person.

Theo quits law school in Australia and moves to stay with her brother, Gus, in the US. While pursuing her new writing career, she meets another author, older and famous, and falls in love. One day when he doesn’t show up for their daily meeting, Theo goes to his house to find him brutally murdered. With no other clues, the police investigate Theo and Gus as the main suspects. To protect Gus, Theo signs up with a publishing company that will promise a new identity and protection if she continues to write as the alias and disappears. Gus tries to find Theo for years and then a book is published that is exactly what Theo was working on before her disappearance. Can Gus find his sister and can Theo escape the confines of the publishing company? This book was a quick read and kept you interested. I recommend The Mystery Writer a try.

Another book in the Shana Merchant series. Another good one!