Books with strong female characters
THE WICKED COMETH by Laura Carlin, Hachette
The year is 1831 and 12-year-old parson’s daughter Hester White is recently orphaned and taken into the home of her parents’ gardener and his wife. Her happy life in rural Lincolnshire is now replaced with the squalor of a one-room hovel in a London slum. Desperate to escape her greatly reduced circumstances, during a time when people are mysteriously disappearing without a trace, fate hands her an opportunity when she is accidentally run over by a horsedrawn carriage and injures her leg. The occupant, young physician Calder Brock, inexplicably takes her into his home to convalesce. Believing her to be the poor urchin she appears to be, he arranges for Hester to be tutored by his sister Rebekah, who is initially a reluctant teacher. A tentative relationship gradually blossoms between the two girls, and they set out to discover what happened to the missing people. What they uncover is more depraved and evil than they could ever have imagined. Fans of historical fiction will enjoy the twists and turns taken in this surprising, sometimes grim, wicked Gothic melodrama.
THE BREAK by Katherena Vermette, Allen & Unwin
A rainy weekend was the perfect opportunity to read this book from cover to cover. Set in a Canadian winter when snow makes a bleak landscape beautiful and new falls cover up evidence of horror, it tells the story of a family of Métis women – the Métis being people of First Nations and European descent – and the unspeakable assault inflicted on one of their children. They’re tough women, living in a tough environment, but there is a huge heart to this family, one that draws them together and gives them strength in the most vulnerable of circumstances. The criminal assault forms the thread throughout, but it is also a portrayal of finding your place in life, somewhere to belong, and what can happen when belonging is denied. So, too, is it a story of love and loss, of transient relationships and, ultimately, finding a way towards healing. The winner of multiple awards in Canada, this powerful debut will reach into your soul.
THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah, Macmillan
The latest saga from the author of best-seller The Nightingale takes us to Alaska in the 1970s. Ernt Allbright is a traumatised Vietnam veteran, a man unable to settle, until he discovers his Vietnam buddy has bequeathed him property in Alaska. He moves devoted wife Cora and daughter Leni to this unknown place, the family woefully unprepared for the remote lifestyle that awaits them. With the help of the local community, they learn how to survive, and form a deep connection with the unforgiving land. But the scars of war are also deep and, left unattended, they fester and rupture. As Leni develops through her teenage years, finding friendship and love, she sees the reality of her dysfunctional home life and realises the survival skills she has learnt must be applied to more than the wilderness beyond their cabin door. After a slowish start, The Great Alone soon hits its stride and is a gripping story of emotional and physical resilience.