Family Tree Fiction

Great Uncle Bulgaria loves telling the ancient and revered history of the Womble clans to the younger Wombles. But to his great sadness he notices that the young Wombles are not nearly as interested in the history as he is. So Great Uncle Bulgaria decides to take action and show these young Wombles how wonderful - and international - the history of the Wombles is. Tobermory invents some very eco-friendly clockwork air balloons to travel in and Orinoco, Bungo, Tomsk and Wellington are sent variously to America, Tibet and Australia.

This coming of age story rides the ups and downs of Lucy's rollercoaster of emotions resulting from too many secrets and rules. Lucy has just turned 14 and is starting the eighth grade. She lives with her mom and grandmother, both free thinkers.

Benny Alexander is anxious to get home to Summer County, South Carolina, to be with his baby daughter, Whitney Ivy, but being at home reminds him of the woman he lost many years ago - Whitney’s mother, Stacy Greene. Is it time for him to give up hope that she will ever return to him and their daughter? Unlike Benny, Cecile Jordon is reluctant to journey to Summer County with her best friend, Janice Atterly. Still, she promised Benny and Janice she would come for a July Fourth celebration.

James Dixon and Janice Atterly are making a go of their long-distance relationship. He visited her in San Diego, California, and now he’s invited her to come to his home in Summer County, South Carolina. James’ twin brother, Donald, is also interested in Janice’s best friend and condo mate, Dr. Cecile Jordon, but she’s not nearly as amenable as Janice. Of the women Donald has encountered, none were as difficult to get close to or half as intriguing as Cecile.

Family is everything to the Alexanders and the Montgomerys. Although they both come from farm backgrounds, they didn’t know each other or the histories involved. However, these two divergent clans would come together and change the lives of so many - and, maybe, even the world. As their lives play out and intertwine in surprising ways, they face a challenging future and marshal their forces to work for the better good of all.

At the age of 21, Sydney Grey returns to her quaint hometown of Stoney Creek and begins renovations on her childhood farm. When she discovers a set of journals written by her mother - presumed to have abandoned her family 20 years ago - a long-hidden mystery is uncovered, leading Sydney to fear that her mother’s disappearance was the result of foul play.

Thirty years ago, Martin Owenby came to New York City with dreams of becoming a writer. Now his existence revolves around cheap Scotch and weekend flings with equally damaged men. When he learns that his older brother, Leon, has gone missing, he must return to the Owenby farm in Solace Fork, North Carolina, to assist in the search. But that means facing a past filled with regrets, the family that never understood him, the girl whose heart he broke, and the best friend who has faithfully kept the home fires burning.

When Pearl’s grandmother Nell dies unexpectedly, she and her family - mother Diana, sister Lucy - return to Kangaroo Island to mourn and say farewell to her. Each of them knew Nell intimately but differently, and each woman must reckon with Nell’s passing in her own way. But Nell had secrets, too; and as Pearl, Diana and Lucy reflect on their feelings about the island, Pearl starts to pull together the scraps Nell left behind - her stories, poems, paintings - and unearths a connection to the island’s early history.

When her favourite beech tree is felled in a storm, Ann feels as if someone has died. But when long-hidden seed packets are found inside the trunk, Ann realizes there are more memories than her own lurking within the ancient tree. A century earlier, head gardener William Hatherwick and Hester Mordaunt, mistress of Beechgrave, share a love for the mighty estate - and an undeclared love for each other. But when war breaks out, William is sent to the battlefields of France, and as the conflict rages on, Hester grieves beneath the tree.

Renie, the youngest sister, is living with the newly married Nell, happy in her waitressing job at the King’s Head Hotel. But a shadow falls over her the day Mr Judson arrives as assistant manager. Feeling increasingly harassed by him and also eager to escape from Nell’s unpleasant husband, Renie is delighted when she is offered a new job in London.

Fourteen-year-old March Wong knows everything there is to know about trees. They are his passion and his obsession, even after his recent falls - and despite the state's threat to take him away from his mother if she can't keep him from getting hurt. But the young autistic boy cannot resist the captivating pull of the Pacific Northwest's lush forests just outside his back door.

In the small town of Larksville, the Pike family is hopelessly out of step with the daily rhythms of life. Mrs. Pike seldom speaks, while Mr. Pike maintains a forced stoicism. Only their 10-year-old, Simon, seems able to acknowledge that their world has changed. He just doesn't understand why. The Pikes may choose to stand still, to hide from an unnamable past, but the strange shroud over their home cannot be contained.

Consie is home for a funeral when she stumbles upon a family letter sent from Germany in 1945, which contains staggering news: Consie's great-uncle Hermann, who was transported to Auschwitz with his wife and three daughters, might have escaped. This seems improbable to Consie. Did people escape from Auschwitz? Could her great-uncle have been among them? What happened to Hermann? Did anyone know? These questions are at the root of Consie's excavation of her family's history as she seeks, 70 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, to discover what happened to Hermann.

Life hasn't gotten any easier for Judah Cannon. He may have survived the fiery showdown between his father, the tyrannical Pentecostal preacher Sister Tulah, and the Scorpions outlaw motorcycle club, but now Judah and Ramey, the love-of-his-life-turned-partner-in-crime, are facing new and more dangerous adversaries. It will take all of their cunning and courage, their faith in one another, and some unexpected help to give them even a shot of making it out alive.

A house. A mess. A mystery. Amongst the scattered papers and photographs, intriguing questions lay unanswered in the Anderson family lineage, hidden for decades. When a stash of ancient coins is found and a gifted stranger moves in next door, windows are opened to incredible possibilities that transcend imagination, transporting Tora throughout her family’s generations.

The Town Around the Christmas Tree: Jacob’s Message is book five of the Twisted Family Holiday series. It brings the series full circle with the heroine Hailey Jade and her cousin Isaiah having another Christmas adventure. This story takes the two out of their grandfather’s home, on a walk, and finding mayhem that needs to be addressed before they can enjoy their Christmas Eve celebration.

It happened under a tamarind tree! An entire family that lived, loved, and was wiped out by a single dreaded disease! An old house that tells its own stories, in its own unique style! A 'curse' that wields power over generations! A young woman who visits her ancestral home, looking for answers to the questions left behind by her mother. Does she find them? Are certain questions better left unasked?

The owl tree is not like any tree Joe has ever seen. It’s huge and leafy and shivers at times like a person; it even seems to speak. Granny Diamond once saw an owl perched among its branches and she has loved the tree ever since. It means the world to her. But her neighbour, Mr Rock, wants to cut it down. Why does he dislike the owl tree so much? Does the tree have a secret to tell Joe? And how can he, a boy too scared even to climb the tree, be the one to save it?

When Troy and his family are forced to move, they take a spot on an old deserted farmhouse. The field out back is barren except The Tree that is in the middle of the field. Strange things start to happen and the family is forced to find out the macabre history of The Tree.

Julia Falconer is an artist married to a successful winemaker in the coastal hinterland of southern Victoria. From the outside, it looks like Julia and Michael have it all, but things are never as they seem. A storm has destroyed a major crop. Michael is devastated and is taking it out on Julia. And Julia retreats into herself, taking solace in her work, wine, and the comfort of her friend Christopher.