This historical debut novel is about a young woman in turn-of-the century England who finds independence and love when she leaves London and journeys to a seaside resort for employment.  Betsey Dobson boards a train from London with nothing other than her battered valise and bruised ego.  After trying to make it in a male-dominated world, she is finally able to find herself--and a man whom she can love--in this idyllic setting.  Not all goes smoothly but, of course, in the end she is better for it.  An enjoyable read! 

Hazel has resigned herself to being sick for a long time and then dying; That's just what happens when you have terminal cancer. But when she meets Augustus, a survivor in remission, at her usually uneventful cancer support group, her life radically changes, and so does his.

In this epic, illustrated love story, two young slaves who come to find one another against the harsh landscape of the Middle East, must struggle against overwhelming obstacles to be together. A mix of religious stories, mysticism and contemporary social commentary, Craig Thompson (author of Blankets) beautifully renders how a nine year-old Dodola and infant Zam escape slavery, grow into adulthood on an abandoned ship in the desert, and then are forced apart once more just as they begin to feel passion for one another as adults.