European Women

Elvira Carr believes in rules. She also strongly believes in crisp schedules, clear guidelines, and taking people at face value. Not that the 27-year-old sees many people. After several unfortunate incidents, her overbearing mother keeps her at home. But when her mother has a stroke, Elvira is suddenly on her own. To help her navigate a world that is often puzzling, she draws up seven ironclad rules. Armed with these, a notebook full of questions, and guidance from a helpful neighbor, she takes charge of herself.

Editor Eleanor Brown presents a collection of personal essays from 18 different authors about their experiences in the City of Light.

In mid-nineteenth-century Ireland, charming Kathleen and dashing Michael harbor secrets and dreams. Imagining a life beyond the kitchen and fields of the wealthy family they both work for, they plot to leave their homeland, marry, and raise the child Kathleen is secretly carrying. The luck of the Irish, however, is not on their side. Soon, they find themselves swept up in circumstances they never could have fathomed. Kathleen is forced to marry against her will and immigrate to New Zealand.

When they married Emperors Franz Joseph and Napoleon III, respectively, Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France became two of the most famous women on the planet. Not only were they both young and beautiful—becoming cultural and fashion icons of their time—but they played a pivotal role in ruling their realms during a tempestuous era characterized by unprecedented political and technological change. Fearless, adventurous, and independent, Elisabeth and Eugénie represented a new kind of empress—one who rebelled against tradition and anticipated and embraced modern values.

À Édimbourg dans les années trente, Mademoiselle Brodie enseigne dans une des écoles de filles les plus huppées d'Écosse. Ses méthodes d'éducation très personnelles et son charisme lui valent l'admiration de ses élèves les plus brillantes, un petit groupe de jeunes filles qu'elle nomme le "clan Brodie". Face à elle se dresse la presque intégralité de ses collègues, choqués par son enseignement d'avant-garde qui jure tant avec la rigueur historique observée dans l'école.

When London Rose, 33, is proposed to by her longtime boyfriend, she realizes she is facing a stable, predictable, predetermined (and passionless) life. She freaks out and runs the other way, accepting instead a job across the Atlantic, as a tour-guide on a high-end European cruise line that travels through a country a day. London and her crew sail into the beautiful northern city of Oslo, admiring its gorgeous archipelago of islands and its local architecture and cuisine. It is the perfect stop - until, on a fishing outing, London reels in not the local cod, but a dead body.

La muerte sorprende a los padres de Denise Baudu, dejando a ella y a sus dos hermanos huérfanos y sin recursos. La joven decide trasladarse a París con la esperanza de poder trabajar en el comercio de su tío, pero la realidad en la capital es desalentadora: la tienda está en declive tras la apertura de unos grandes almacenes, "El paraíso de las damas", dirigidos por Octavio Mouret. Necesitada de dinero, Denise acaba encontrando trabajo en dichos almacenes para gran disgusto de su familia.

When London Rose, 33, is proposed to by her longtime boyfriend, she realizes she is facing a stable, predictable, predetermined (and passionless) life. She freaks out and runs the other way - accepting instead a job across the Atlantic, as a tour guide on a high-end European cruise line that travels through a country a day. London is searching for a more romantic, unscripted, and exciting life that she feels sure exists out there somewhere.

Rosie Maldonne thought she hit it big when she stumbled upon an envelope of cash in Queen of the Trailer Park. But with a nasty flu keeping her laid out, school fees due, and Christmas on the way, she finds herself back in the red. Time to find a real job. After weeks of searching, Rosie is losing hope when the man of her dreams happens to post a new position: cleaning for an elderly person. Perfect! She lands the job, but the new role brings more than the promise of romance.

Things are finally looking up for Rosie: she's debt-free, or at least almost, her trailer is in great condition, and she even has time to take her three kids on a Christmas vacation. But she knows the smooth sailing can't last. Rosie is always there for a friend in need, and before she knows it, she has her hands full. Again. To cover for her best friend, Véro, she fills in as housekeeper for a renowned psychoanalyst.

When London Rose, 33, is proposed to by her longtime boyfriend, she realizes she is facing a stable, predictable, pre-determined (and passionless) life. She freaks out and runs the other way - accepting instead a job across the Atlantic, as a tour-guide on a high-end European cruise line that travels through a country a day. London is searching for a more romantic, unscripted, and exciting life that she feels sure exists out there somewhere.

In book three, Crime (and Lager), the cruise takes them into Germany, into its historic towns and fabled beer festivals. But when a festival goer - a loud, arrogant local - turns up dead from drinking too much beer, suspicion falls on the touring passengers. The death is quickly ruled a murder, and London realizes her future - and that of the ship - hinges on her solving the crime.

In Book 2, Death (and Apple Strudel), the cruise takes London Rose and friends into Vienna and Salzburg, home of Mozart and the birthplace of music, and all seems picture-perfect. Until, that is, their tour guide turns up dead after giving the passengers a tour of Mozart’s theatre. Suspicion falls on them. Who could have killed her? And why?

1943: Europe is at war - but neutral Ireland is isolated from the storm. In a sleepy coastal village south of Dublin, eighteen-year-old Aileen Sweeney meets soldier Niall O’Rourke at a dance, and the spark between them soon ignites a powerful love. But when Niall makes a life-changing and contentious decision, Aileen’s hopes and dreams fall apart. In an instant Niall is transformed from dashing suitor to social outcast, and the fallout leaves each of them navigating the consequences alone. Putting her innocence behind her, Aileen must make her own tough choices.

As a widowed mother of three, new love seems impossible for Freya - until she meets Duncan, and suddenly she feels alive again. While Freya’s older children are less than welcoming, six-year-old Sophie helps Duncan find his place in the family - but even Sophie harbours fears that threaten to overshadow any chance of a new start. The past is hard to leave behind when pictures of Freya’s idolised late husband hang in every room, and the more Duncan tries to find the source of Sophie’s anxiety, the more he is convinced that Reuben was not the perfect husband and father Freya remembers.

This astonishing memoir was hailed as an instant classic when first published in Colombia in 2012, nearly a decade after the death of its author, who was encouraged in her writing by Gabriel García Márquez. Comprised of letters written over the course of 30 years, and translated and introduced by acclaimed writer Daniel Alarcón, it describes in vivid, painterly detail the remarkable courage and limitless imagination of a young girl growing up with nothing.

Smita sofre todos os tipos de preconceito na sociedade indiana. Seu grande sonho é ver a filha escapar da condição miserável em que vivem e ter acesso à educação formal em uma escola. Na Sicília, Giulia trabalha como ajudante na oficina do pai. Mas, quando ele sofre um acidente, ela se vê obrigada a assumir o comando e logo percebe que o negócio da família está à beira da ruína.

Becky’s father is not just absent: he’s a total mystery, a hole in her life. He died before she was born and for her mother, Laura, the subject is strictly off-limits. When Laura books a spontaneous trip to Greece, Becky decides to join her, determined to get closer to her mother - and to the truth. But as they make their way to the island of Santorini, it becomes clear that this holiday is not as impulsive as Becky thought. Laura’s hiding something from her daughter - and she’s been hiding it for Becky’s whole life.

When Rachel Croft wakes up on her family’s boat in Bermuda, it’s to sunshine and yet another perfect day…until she goes to wake her seven-year-old son, Oscar. Because the worst thing imaginable has happened. He isn’t there. In the dark and desperate days that follow, Rachel struggles to navigate her grief. And while her husband, James, wants them to face the tragedy together, Rachel feels that the life they once shared is over.

A grievously mutilated young woman arrives at the hospital in Espoo, Finland - only to vanish without a trace. Though the victim refused to identify herself, Violent Crimes Unit Commander Maria Kallio suspects she's connected to the city's sex-worker underworld. The next day her suspicions grow when celebrity call girl Lulu Nightingale is murdered during a live television broadcast. The victim's clients included some of the top names in Finnish society, but the list of suspects is longer: her infatuated bodyguard, a suicidal TV producer, and a talk-show host with political aspirations.