Beth, her husband Frank, and Frank’s younger brother Jimmy, run a sheep farm in 1960s rural Dorset. A recent family tragedy has created a strain on their marriage which is heightened when Beth’s former boyfriend Gabriel returns to the village with his son. Beth befriends the young boy, believing he will provide the healing she … More Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Cea is born after her 15 year old mother gets pregnant by a young college boy, marries and quickly divorces him. At 18 months, she and her mother move with her grandparents, aunts and uncle to live in the wilds of Alberta. For toddler Cea, this counter-culture lifestyle involves living in a tipi with no … More North of Normal (A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both) by Cea Sunshine Person
This is a personal account of Gagne’s struggle to understand and label her emotions and behaviour. The author realised early in life that she made others feel uncomfortable. Emotions such as empathy, guilt and fear were simply inaccessible to her and she had no fear of consequences. To avoid the stress and anxiety that would … More Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne
Set in the 19th-century, this story follows the illegitimate daughter of a former nun and a Chilean aristocrat. Emilia grows up in San Francisco, where she begins publishing successful dime store novels under a male pseudonym. However, she longs to become a journalist and finds work at a local newspaper where she refuses to write … More My Name is Emilia Del Valle by Isabel Allende
This novel is loosely based on the author’s mother’s experiences as an immigrant in Quebec working for a Nutrisystem hotline. Muna Heddad has recently moved from Beirut to Montreal with her eight year old son Omar and is struggling to stay afloat. The excellent French and teaching qualifications that helped facilitate her immigration application are … More Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah
This 2017 memoir by author, professor and editor Roxane Gay addresses the emotional, physical, and psychological effects of sexual assault – and how they affect self-image. While Gay’s memoir largely centres on her body, food, and self-esteem, she also confronts society’s fatphobia – the world’s unwillingness to accept fat people due to assumptions about health … More Hunger – A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxanne Gay
This book is an historical fiction novel about a real person – Belle da Costa Greene, who was the personal librarian to J.P. Morgan in Gilded Age New York City. Although she was only in her twenties, Belle was hired to curate a collection of rare books and art for the newly constructed Pierpoint Morgan … More The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Between 1995 and 2001, French art thief Stéphane Breitwieser and his accomplice, Anne-Catherine Kleinklaus stole 239 precious objects from European art galleries and museums. These thefts took place during opening hours and with full security present. The couple would dress in thrifted designer clothes, blend in with the regular visitors, snatch the object they desired … More The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
Marcellus McSquiddles is a remarkably bright creature (according to the description on his tank in the Sowell Bay Aquarium) and an aging giant Pacific octopus with a habit of jailbreaking every evening and snacking on the other exhibits. Tova Sullivan is a hard-working 70 year old cleaner at the aquarium – who never recovered from … More Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
In her gripping memoir that reads like fiction – Waite is suddenly widowed when her husband Sean dies of a massive heart attack on a business trip. While coming to terms with her grief and loss and protecting her nine year old son, Waite also uncovers evidence of her husband’s double life. She finds a … More The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards by Jessica Waite
