The Cracks that Let the Light In


Book Description

'A powerful, moving and inspiring story - it opens up a whole new world of understanding.' Esther Freud 'This is wonderful. I urge you to read it. It is life enhancing and I defy you not to fall in love with Ben!' Natasha Poliszczuk, Books Editor, You Magazine 'An honest and unflinching account of Jessica's journey as the mother of a child born with complex needs. Essential reading... and a source of solace for those who may find themselves on a similar path' Leah Hazard, author of Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story 'Jessica's beautiful words gave me a deeper understanding about embracing disability. I am inspired and will be recommending this book to parents as a testament to following your parenting instincts.' Arabella Carter-Johnson, author of Iris Grace 'A courageous, heartrending story of grief, love and ultimately hope.' The Sun, 5 star review *** Jessica Moxham thought she was prepared for the experience of motherhood. Armed with advice from friends and family, parenting books and antenatal classes, she felt ready. After giving birth, she found herself facing a different, more uncertain reality. Her son, Ben, was fighting to stay alive. When Jessica could finally take him home from hospital, the challenges were far from over. In this hopeful memoir, Jessica shares her journey in raising Ben. His disability means he will never be able to move or communicate without assistance. Jessica has to learn how to feed Ben when he can't eat, wrestle with red tape to secure his education and defend his basic rights in the face of discrimination. As Ben begins to thrive, alongside his two younger siblings, Jessica finds that caring for a child with unique needs teaches her about appreciating difference and doing things your own way. This uplifting story is about the power of family love, finding inner strength and, above all, hope.




Iris Grace


Book Description

Iris Grace is a beautiful little girl who, from a very young age, barely communicated, avoided social interaction with other people, and rarely smiled. From both before her diagnosis of autism and after, she seemed trapped in her own world, unable to connect with those around her. One day, her mother brought home a Maine Coon kitten for Iris, even though cats aren’t typically thought of as therapy pets. Thula, named after one of Iris’s favorite African lullabies and meaning “peace” in Zulu, immediately bonded with Iris. Thula knew right away how to assuage Iris when she became overstimulated; when to intervene when Iris became overwhelmed; and how to provide distraction when Iris started heading toward a meltdown. Whether exploring, playing, sleeping, or taking a bath with Iris or accompanying the family on a bike ride, Thula became so much more than a therapy cat. With Thula’s safe companionship, Iris began to talk and interact with her family. This heartwarming story is illustrated with sixty of Iris’s gorgeous impressionistic paintings, works of art that have allowed her to express herself since the age of three. A gifted artist, Iris sees the natural world in a profoundly vivid and visceral way. With Thula by her side, she’ll sit and paint for hours, and the results are stunning. Inspiring and touching, Iris Grace follows the struggles and triumphs of a family—and a miracle cat—as they learn to connect with an amazing child.




Where the Light Gets In


Book Description

“The relationship between a mother and daughter is one of the most complicated and meaningful there is. Kimberly Williams-Paisley writes about her own with grace, truth, and beauty as she shares her journey back to her mother in the wake of a devastating illness.” —Brooke Shields Many know Kimberly Williams-Paisley as the bride in the popular Steve Martin remakes of the Father of the Bride movies, the calculating Peggy Kenter on Nashville, or the wife of country music artist, Brad Paisley. But behind the scenes, Kim was dealing with a tragic secret: her mother, Linda, was suffering from a rare form of dementia that slowly crippled her ability to talk, write and eventually recognize people in her own family. Where the Light Gets In tells the full story of Linda’s illness—called primary progressive aphasia—from her early-onset diagnosis at the age of 62 through the present day. Kim draws a candid picture of the ways her family reacted for better and worse, and how she, her father and two siblings educated themselves, tried to let go of shame and secrecy, made mistakes, and found unexpected humor and grace in the midst of suffering. Ultimately the bonds of family were strengthened, and Kim learned ways to love and accept the woman her mother became. With a moving foreword by actor and advocate Michael J. Fox, Where the Light Gets In is a heartwarming tribute to the often fragile yet unbreakable relationships we have with our mothers.




How the Light Gets In


Book Description

He came back to me 16 minutes and 59 seconds into Beethoven’s Symphony no. 7. We parted amid tragedy, so it seemed poetic. Dylan O’Dea, my childhood sweetheart, had once meant everything to me. Now we were strangers, and honestly, after eight years I never thought I’d see him again. I lived in the world of the average, of getting paid by the hour and budgeting to make ends meet. But Dylan, he lived in the world of wealth and success. He’d achieved the great things I always suspected he would. The dissatisfaction he’d felt as a teenager had obviously been an excellent motivator. He started a business from scratch, pioneered a brand, and created perfumes adored by women across the globe. I was just one of the people who’d been there before. Now he was living his best life in the after. And me, well, I’d been in a dark place for a while. Slowly but surely, I was letting the light back in, but there was something missing. I was an unfinished sentence with an ellipsis at the end. And maybe, if I was brave enough to take the chance, Dylan could be my happy ending. ***How the Light Gets In is Book #2 and the concluding instalment in L.H. Cosway’s Cracks duet.***




How the Light Gets In


Book Description

How the Light Gets In is the ninth Chief Inspector Gamache Novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny. "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." —Leonard Cohen Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it's a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn't spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him. When Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people not just in North America, but in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo. As events come to a head, Gamache is drawn ever deeper into the world of Three Pines. Increasingly, he is not only investigating the disappearance of Myrna's friend but also seeking a safe place for himself and his still-loyal colleagues. Is there peace to be found even in Three Pines, and at what cost to Gamache and the people he holds dear? One of Publishers Weekly's Best Mystery/Thriller Books of 2013 One of The Washington Post's Top 10 Books of the Year An NPR Best Book of 2013




This Tender Land


Book Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! “If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, you’ll love This Tender Land...This story is as big-hearted as they come.” —Parade The unforgettable story of four orphans who travel the Mississippi River on a life-changing odyssey during the Great Depression. In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River, Odie O’Banion is an orphan confined to the Lincoln Indian Training School, a pitiless place where his lively nature earns him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee after committing a terrible crime, he and his brother, Albert, their best friend, Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own. Over the course of one summer, these four orphans journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.




Running on the Cracks


Book Description

"Run. Keep running. You're doing the right thing. Lay low. Head down. Don't look back. Just keep running. And whatever you do, don't tread on the cracks..." Leo's world has been turned upside down. Her parents are gone and her bird-loving uncle is getting too close for comfort. She is only sure of one thing...she must get out. In a desperate bid to find the grandparents she never knew, Leo jumps on a train to Glasgow, penniless and stealing food to survive. A nationwide hunt for her begins. Will she track down her grandparents, or will her uncle get to her first?




Gold in the Cracks


Book Description

In this inspiring book, award-winning designer and international bestselling author Rani St. Pucchi draws from the wisdom gained from having helped more than 20,000 women in her 30-year career as well as from her own life experiences.




Cracks in the Cone


Book Description

Allie must find a balance between being a boss and being a friend in this second delicious book in the Sprinkle Sundays series from the author of the Cupcake Diaries series! Now that the girls all work at the ice cream shop on Sundays, Allie sees her friends’ jobs through a different lens. If they mess up the cash register by a few dollars Tamiko simply shrugs, but Allie knows that by the end of the week all those little misses can add up. She doesn’t want to be their boss, but somehow she needs to figure out a way to make sure she’s part of a team that can see things from her perspective, too. She just has to do it before the cracks in the cone melt their friendship.




Weathering Cracks


Book Description

The early pioneers of the land that became the United States of America were a hardy lot, none more so than the women, the unsung heroines in our history. "Legacy" tells the stories of the women in one family, whose incredible fortitude carried them beyond impossible challenges to productive lives in early California. There is Ann, the Quaker, who travels with her husband and five children across Nicaragua. And Sarah, a lapsed Irish Catholic, at seventeen and alone, who walks across Panama. Both are on their way to San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush. They survive the horror of the death ships and arrive at their destination just three months apart. Their children will later marry and Sarah's daughter, Emma will continue the family history of courage. This true life historical novel follows the lives of these women over a hundred year period, as one becomes a dynamic leader in the temperance and suffrage movement, another a pioneer in early Santa Barbara, and later yet, another, a real estate developer and oil well owner in the booming Los Angeles basin. "Legacy" stands as a tribute to this family of courageous women.