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Women's Fiction Author Spotlight

Inspired by the growing number of Women's Fiction titles, this feature spotlights novels dealing with issues significant to women. We share stories of friendship, love and family. Our Women's Fiction authors will range from familiar favorites to debut writers who we love. The titles featured here will make you smile, laugh, frown and cry --- and are sure to inspire a lively conversation.

Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. the World

A brash, lovable immigrant businessman who built a cosmetics empire and made a fortune, Charles Wang has just been ruined by the financial crisis. Now all he wants is to get his kids safely stowed away so he can go to China and attempt to reclaim his family’s ancestral lands --- and his pride. Charles pulls Andrew, his aspiring comedian son, and Grace, his style-obsessed daughter, out of schools he can no longer afford. Together with their stepmother, Barbra, they embark on a cross-country road trip to the upstate New York hideout of the eldest daughter, disgraced art world it-girl Saina. But Charles may have to choose between the old world and the new, between keeping his family intact and finally fulfilling his dream of starting anew in China.

Sherryl Woods, author of Mending Fences

For 10 years, Emily Dobbs and Marcie Carter have been the closest of friends. They've raised their kids together, shared joy and heartache, and exchanged neighborhood gossip over tea. But when Marcie's son, now a college freshman sports star, is arrested for date rape, the bond between the families could be shattered forever. As the Carters try to deal with the unthinkable, Emily discovers her daughter has been hiding a terrible secret…a secret that threatens the futures of both families. Recently divorced, Emily struggles to keep it all together --- to support her terrified daughter, to maintain her friendship with Evan's mother, and to have faith in the detective who could change all of their lives.

Robyn Carr, author of The Life She Wants

In the aftermath of her financier husband’s suicide, Emma Shay Compton’s dream life is shattered. She bears the burden of Richard's crimes and is left with nothing. When a friend encourages her to come home to Sonoma County, Emma must decide if she can face Riley Kerrigan, her ex-best friend. It turns out she can’t escape her husband’s reputation and is forced to turn to the last person she thought she’d ever ask for help --- Riley. It’s an uneasy reunion as both women face the mistakes they’ve made over the years. Only if they find a way to forgive each other --- and themselves --- can each of them find the life she wants.

Beatriz Williams, author of A Certain Age

As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband. But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor.

Mary Kay Andrews, author of The Weekenders

Riley Griggs has a season of good times with friends and family ahead of her on the idyllic island of Belle Isle, North Carolina, when things take an unexpected turn. While waiting for her husband to arrive on the ferry one Friday afternoon, Riley is confronted by a process server who thrusts papers into her hand. And her husband is nowhere to be found. So she turns to her island friends for help and support, but it turns out that each of them has their own secrets. The clock is ticking as the mystery deepens...in a murderous way. Riley must find a way to investigate the secrets of Belle Island, the husband she might not really know, and the summer that could change everything.

Laura Barnett, author of The Versions of Us

The one thing that’s certain is they met on a Cambridge street by chance and felt a connection that would last a lifetime. But as for what happened next... They fell wildly in love, or went their separate ways. They kissed, or they thought better of it. They married soon after, or were together for a few weeks before splitting up. They grew distracted and disappointed with their daily lives together, or found solace together only after hard years spent apart.

Sally Hepworth, author of The Things We Keep

Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease at only 38 years old, resides in Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. There, she meets fellow resident Luke, and a relationship develops between the two. When Eve Bennett is suddenly thrust into the role of single mother, she finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind House. When she meets Anna and Luke, she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them.

Elizabeth Strout, author of My Name Is Lucy Barton

Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy’s life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage, her love for her two daughters. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable.

Katarina Bivald, author of The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

Broken Wheel, Iowa, has never seen anyone like Sara, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to meet her book-loving pen pal. When she arrives, however, she finds Amy's funeral guests just leaving. The residents of Broken Wheel are happy to look after their bewildered visitor --- not much else to do in a small town that's almost beyond repair. They just never imagined that she'd start a bookstore. Or that books could bring them together --- and change everything.

Susan Meissner, author of Stars Over Sunset Boulevard

Los Angeles, Present Day. When a hat worn by Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind ends up in Christine McAllister's vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie. Los Angeles, 1938. Violet Mayfield goes to Hollywood after her dream of having a family falls apart. There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star. Their adventures together among Hollywood's glitterati enthrall Violet...until each woman's deepest desires collide.