THE BOOK THIEF - SECOND HAND

A work of dazzling imagination that takes as its theme the price the true scientist or artist must pay for his calling in terms of his own humanity, his ability to live fully.

Written with beauty and grace, award-winning author Shelley Bates pens the compelling story about the unstoppable force of the emergent self.

Dinah Traynell is trapped in a life that is not her own. Raised in a toxic church, she is forced to surrender mentally and physically to her sociopathic pastor’s every demand. Even while mourning the loss of her father, Dinah must hold strong to this role she’s reluctantly played all her life. And though she dreams of escape, this is the only world she’s ever known. When Dr. Matthew Nicholas appears on Dinah’s doorstep in the dark of night, he’s burdened with troubles of his own. Leaving behind his university position, Matthew has been traveling to escape the trauma of his old life--that is, until he’s robbed of what means he has left for his journey. Stranded, penniless, and still ill-at-ease with his life’s turn of events, he’d rather lend a helping hand on a stranger’s ranch than go home. Instantly drawn to Dinah, Matthew is torn between his desire to help her and the fear of getting too involved. But as Dinah struggles with the realization that the faith she grew up believing in is not real, and an abandoned baby is unexpectedly dropped into their lives, they must learn to open up and trust one another--if either ever hopes to break free of the past.

Brunonia Barry, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lace Reader, offers an emotionally compelling novel about finding your true place in the world.

Zee Finch has come a long way from a motherless childhood spent stealing boats—a talent that earned her the nickname Trouble. She's now a respected psychotherapist working with the world-famous Dr. Liz Mattei. She's also about to marry one of Boston's most eligible bachelors. But the suicide of Zee's patient Lilly Braedon throws Zee into emotional chaos and takes her back to places she thought she'd left behind.

What starts as a brief visit home to Salem after Lilly's funeral becomes the beginning of a larger journey for Zee. Her father, Finch, long ago diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, has been hiding how sick he really is. His longtime companion, Melville, has moved out, and it now falls to Zee to help her father through this difficult time. Their relationship, marked by half-truths and the untimely death of her mother, is strained and awkward.

Overwhelmed by her new role, and uncertain about her future, Zee destroys the existing map of her life and begins a new journey, one that will take her not only into her future but into her past as well. Like the sailors of old Salem who navigated by looking at the stars, Zee has to learn to find her way through uncharted waters to the place she will ultimately call home.