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The Henna Artist A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK‘This vivid story is so rich and complex...reading about Lakshmi's journey from escaping an abusive marriage to becoming one of the most sought-after henna artists in Jaipur captivated me from the first chapter to the final page.’ Reese WitherspoonEscaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist-and confidante-to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own...Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow-a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.

Set against the wild backdrop of an intense heatwave in Europe, this is a story about sibling relationships - what holds a family together and what might fracture it forever. Family is everything, even when it falls apart.  There is a heatwave across Europe. Goose and his three sisters gather at the family's house by Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy. Their father, a famous artist, has recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his masterpiece. Now he is dead and there is no sign of a painting.  Alhough the siblings have always been close, as they search for answers over that summer, the things they learn - about themselves, their father and their new stepmother - will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father's legacy truly is. Extraordinarily compelling, at heart this is a novel about sibling relationships and those hairline cracks that can appear within a family- what what happens when they splinter, and what it would take to mend them.

An epic, kaleidoscopic story of four women connected across time and place by an invisible thread and their determination to shape their own stories, from the acclaimed author of The Mother Fault.Shortlisted for the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2024 Longlisted for the Stella Prize and Indie Book Awards 2024Sydney Morning Herald Best Reads of the Year for 2023 One of the lucky few with a job during the Depression, Peggy’s just starting out in life. She’s a bagging girl at the Angliss meatworks in Footscray, a place buzzing with life as well as death, where the gun slaughterman Jack has caught her eye – and she his. How is her life connected to Hilda’s, almost a hundred years later, locked inside during a plague, or La’s, further on again, a singer working shifts in a warehouse as her eggs are frozen and her voice is used by AI bots? Let alone Maz, far removed in time, diving for remnants of a past that must be destroyed? Is it by the river that runs through their stories, eternal yet constantly changing – or by the mysterious Hummingbird Project, and the great question of whether the march of progress can ever be reversed? Propulsive, tender and engrossing, this genre-bending novel is a feast for the heart as well as the mind and senses. For fans of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas, Michelle de Kretser’s The Life to Come and Jennifer Egan’s The Candy House, it confirms Mildenhall as one of the most ambitious and dynamic writers in the country. 'Kate Mildenhall is such an exciting writer to read … This generous, playful novel speaks to themes of climate change, survival and holding space for each other, as well as the enduring power of female friendship.' The Guardian ‘Spellbinding, genre-defying, and powerful in its vision of the future … The Hummingbird Effect is a devastating novel that exposes the ways the future is seeded in the past.’ Australian Book Review

Liane Moriarty is the author of nine bestselling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist's Love Story, The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall - the No. 1 selling title in Australia in 2021. Her books have been read by millions of eager readers worldwide. Liane Moriarty is also the author of the Nicola Berry series for children. She lives in Sydney with her husband, son and daughter. You can find out more about Liane's books at her website www.lianemoriarty.com

The tender, sensual and moving new novel from the award-winning and bestselling author ofThe SlapandDamascus. A compelling contemporary love story between two middle-aged men, told with grace, heart and wisdom.

THE INHERITANCEWhat if everyone in your family was given a DNA test at Christmas: would there be any surprise results? For two women the answers are shocking, and dangerous. Perfect for readers of Liane Moriarty and Sally Hepworth.Families lie. DNA doesn't.Isobel Ashworth breezes through life, blissfully accustomed to the privilege which comes with her family name. But that changes when she arrives in the exclusive town of Hartwell. Sent there by her father to complete a controversial property development - and prove herself a serious player in the succession plan - her perfect life is unravelling. Isobel's fiance is telling lies, the project is a disaster and the locals hate her; could her father be setting her up to fail?Buzzing with the promise of a big story, journalist Meg Hunter arrives in Hartwell to expose the Ashworth family dealings, and transform her faltering career. As she follows the trail of corruption, she uncovers clues about her mother's mysterious past.When the next-gen Ashworths each receive an anonymous Christmas gift of a DNA testing kit, Isobel questions everything she knows about her family. Isobel is drawn to Meg and her pursuit of the truth ... but someone out there will stop at nothing to hide the secrets of both families.PRAISE:"The Inheritance is a smart debut tackling the seductive issues of wealth, succession and family secrets. Taut, propulsive and with enticing Succession-meets-Jane Harper vibes, this novel is perfect for suburban noir superfans. I whizzed through it." - Ali Lowe, author of The School Run"Secrets, power and corruption - The Inheritance is an intriguing mystery and family drama." -Vanessa McCausland, author of The Last Illusion of Paige White"Books about families are my catnip and The Inheritance didn't disappoint. Take one establishment family with the money to hide anything then throw in a DNA test that never lies and sit back and enjoy the ride that Kate Horan takes you on. A fabulous debut!" - Fiona Lowe, author of The Accident"The Inheritance is an incredibly strong debut from Kate Horan, full of all the things I love in a novel - family secrets, small-town intrigue and rich people behaving badly. I ripped through it faster than you can say the words 'DNA test'." - Cassie Hamer, author of The Truth About Faking It"A gripping story about wealth, entitlement, corruption and, most of all, family. Kate Horan's debut novel is sophisticated and un-put-down-able." - B.M. Carroll, author of One of Us is Missing

The beautiful novel of female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger. Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epic set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wetsuits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives. ‘For centuries, women on Korea’s Jeju island have been free-diving into the sea, a practice explored through this fictionalized story of two friends who struggle to stay close amid war, family rivalries, and a shifting cultural landscape. It’s riveting, historical, and heartbreaking all at once’ Marie Claire ‘Lisa See excels at mining the intersection of family, friendship and history... This novel spans wars and generations, but at its heart is a beautifully rendered story of two women whose individual choices become inextricably tangled’ Jodi Picoult, author of A Spark of Light ‘I was spellbound the moment I entered the vivid and little-known world of the diving women of Jeju… No one writes about female friendship… with more insight and depth than Lisa See’ Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees

The morning after the Edevane's exclusive Midsummer Eve party in Cornwall in 1933, their youngest child, Theo, is nowhere to be found. After months of futile searching, the family pack up and leave their beautiful country home, never to return. Until, in 2003, a young female police officer stumbles into the lost gardens surrounding the abandoned house and determines to find out what happened.

Liane Moriarty is the author of nine bestselling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist's Love Story, The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall - the No. 1 selling title in Australia in 2021. Her books have been read by millions of eager readers worldwide. Liane Moriarty is also the author of the Nicola Berry series for children. She lives in Sydney with her husband, son and daughter. You can find out more about Liane's books at her website www.lianemoriarty.com

From the fields of Provence to the streets of wartime Paris, The Lavender Keeper is an extraordinary, moving story of action and adventure, heartbreak and passion, devotion and treachery from an internationally bestselling author.MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR'An enthralling, evocative read' WOMAN'S DAY'Fast-paced, beautifully haunting' WEST AUSTRALIANLavender farmer Luc Bonet is raised by a wealthy Jewish family in the foothills of the French Alps. When the Second World War breaks out, he joins the French Resistance, leaving behind his family's fortune, their home overrun by soldiers, their lavender fields in disarray.English spy Lisette Forestier is on a mission of her own- to work her way into the heart of a senior German officer - and to bring down the Reich in any way she can. What Luc and Lisette hadn't counted on was meeting each other.When they come together at the height of the Paris occupation, German traitors are plotting to change the course of history. But who, if anyone, can be trusted? As Luc and Lisette's emotions threaten to betray them, their love may prove the greatest risk of all.

From the deserts of Egypt to the rolling hills of South Australia, The Limestone Road is a captivating novel about one soldier's courageous journey 'home'. In the summer of 1944 returning soldiers Canning Christie and his father Michael arrive in South Australia from the desert sands of North Africa.  Canning carries the trauma of war and a fractured memory of a terrible event, while charismatic Michael resumes his womanising ways, intent on concealing his own secret wound.  Inexplicably drawn to a vineyard on their land, Canning dreams of producing his own wine. And a chance meeting with Grace Huntley, daughter of the local landowner, offers him hope for that future.  But dormant memories keep rising up- his childhood with his mother, the years traversing the interior with his father and his time at the front. Soon, viniculture becomes an obsession - one he suspects lies in a hazy recollection of a night in battle. To move forward Canning must reconcile the past, even if that means working with Italian POWs and accepting help from an immigrant German . . . . . . And ultimately taking a stand against his own father, whose increasingly reckless behaviour is threatening to destroy their new life.  'Bears all the hallmarks of a modern Australian classic.' Christine Wells, author of Sisters of the Resistance 'Stirring and authentic. Heartbreaking and uplifting.' Tania Blanchard, author of An Undeniable Voice 'Nicole Alexander's exquisite prose made this book a joy to read.' Lauren Chater, author of The Beauties