Barbara Delinsky – författare

A loving family, a child on the way, and a secret concealed generations ago that will tear their lives apart… ‘The Family Tree’ is issue-led women’s fiction perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult.Dana Clarke has it all – a husband, Hugh, who she adores, a beautiful home in a wealthy area, and a baby on the way. But, when her daughter, Lizzie, is born, what should be the happiest day of her life turns out to be the moment that her world falls apart.Lizzie is beautiful, healthy, and black… Born from two white parents, there are only two possibilities: that a distant relative was of African descent, or that Dana has had an affair.As the Clarke family reel from the shock, accusations are thrown and soon the trust that Dana and Hugh had prided themselves on is slipping away. So begins a poignant journey to uncover the truth about their past, to discover what legacy their ancestors left them. And, as the stability of the Clarke family is torn apart, the reader is forced to ask how much any one of us really knows about our own identity.

One lie sends a family into turmoil in a heart-rending new novel from a worldwide bestselling author, perfect for fans of Jodi PicoultWhen Deborah Monroe’s car hits and kills a man on a deserted road on a dark and rainy night, questions of who is to blame muddy the already complicated life of a woman who is newly divorced and struggling with emotions that are rampant in a house with two vulnerable children.Deborah’s daughter, 16-year old, Grace, was behind the wheel but, desperate to protect her daughter, Deborah covers for her and takes responsibility for the death of the man.But, when it seems that the victim may or may not have been suicidal, issues of guilt and responsibility, truth and honesty, are all brought into sharp focus.

Issue led women’s fiction in the bestselling vein of Jodi Picoult.When a woman in her early thirties, oldest of three siblings and an avid runner, has a heart attack that leaves her brain-dead and on life support her family has to make the painful decision of when to pull the plug.Her mother Kathryn is devasted. An excellent runner herself she had sacrificed her career to marry and have a family, and lived vicariously through Robin her favourite child. She cannot accept the truth of Robin’s condition.Molly, Robin’s little sister has grown up in her shadow. But as the family starts to disintigrate she becomes Robin’s voice and in doing so finds her own.Jonathan, Robin’s brother is a scientist. Emotionally disconnected and wedded to the facts, he is the first to call for the machines to be switched off. But his marriage is in crisis, and the issues raised around Robin’s life or death may bring the emotional breakthrough he needs to save his relationship.Robin’s father lives for his family, and defers to them rather than voicing his own opinion. More than anyone he stuggles with the definition of ‘brain-dead’ and the religious and moral issues of the right to life.

A pregnancy pact between three teenaged girls puts their mothers' love to the ultimate test in this explosive new novel from Barbara DelinskyWhen Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and herself.Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lily's best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school, she has always been held up as a role model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughter's pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-fought-for dreams are all at risk.The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother?

AN UPLIFTING, HEART-WRENCHING STORY OF THE UNBREAKABLE TIES BETWEEN A MOTHER AND HER DAUGHTER FROM NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR BARBARA DELINSKY'Fans of Jodie Picoult will love this.' Daily Express'Warm, rich, textured and impossible to put down.' Nora RobertsOn paper, Jamie MacAfee's life is perfect. She loves her fiancée, she's happy with her plans for the future and she gets to work alongside her beloved mother, Caroline, on their family home renovation show. In reality, she can't seem to make herself set a wedding date and an ageist, sexist decision by their TV network has thrown both her job and her relationship with Caroline into jeopardy. Meanwhile Caroline, who has been painfully putting herself back together after a difficult divorce, is watching the plans she's built her life around go up in flames.As loyalties shift and new relationships tempt, Jamie and Caroline will be tested as never before. Yet when all is said and done, there's nothing quite like the bond of family.'A poignant family story.' Daily Express'Compelling reading' The Sun'Delinsky's writing is fluid and makes for a hard-to-put-down book.' Glamour

THE BRAND NEW NOVEL FROMNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR BARBARA DELINSKY'Fans of Jodi Picoult will love this.' Daily Express'If you're a fan of Jodi Picoult you'll love this thoughtful read.' Woman's Way'Warm, rich, textured and impossible to put down.' Nora Roberts'A compelling, emotional read about love, loss, and becoming someone new.' Sadie Pearse, author of This Child of Ours***************************************************Mackenzie Cooper took her eyes off the road for just a moment, but the resulting collision was enough to rob her of her life as she knew it. Forced to start again, she moved to a small town under a new name - Maggie Reid - and her only goal is to stay under the radar. She's thankful for the few friends she's made, although she can't risk telling them too much about her previous life.But Maggie isn't the only one in this peaceful town with secrets. When a friend's teenage son is thrust into the national spotlight, Maggie is torn between protecting herself or stepping into the glare to be at their side. Will she find the courage to face the world again? Praise for Barbara Delinsky:'Fans of Jodi Picoult will love this . . . a poignant family story.' Daily Express'Compelling reading' The Sun'Delinsky's writing is fluid and makes for a hard-to-put-down book.' Glamour

THE BRAND NEW NOVEL FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR'Fans of Jodi Picoult will love this' Daily Express'Warm, rich, textured and impossible to put down' Nora Roberts'If you're a fan of Jodi Picoult you'll love this thoughtful read' Woman's WayONE FAMILY. SEVEN DAYS. A LIFE-CHANGING DISCOVERY . . .It's been twenty years since Mallory left home, running from the scandal that tore her family apart and ended her relationship with her first love. But now her father is sick, and Mallory, along with her estranged sisters, must return to the lives they left behind . . .Soon after her arrival, Mallory bumps into Jack, the only man she's ever loved and the reason she left town. Jack is different now, no longer the rebel she once knew, but as much as the pair wish to reconnect, the secrets that tore them apart decades ago continue to divide them.While caring for her father and trying to repair her rocky relationship with her sisters, Mallory, with Jack's help, chases down answers about the scandal that separated them. Could it be that the truth they're seeking lies much closer to home?PRAISE FOR BARBARA DELINSKY:'A poignant family story' Daily Express'Delinsky is an expert at portraying strong women characters' Booklist'A compelling, emotional read' Sadie Pearse, author of This Child of Ours

Casey Ellis has arrived at a lonely place in her life. Her mother remains in a comatose state several years after a terrible accident - and now her father has died. Although Casey didn't really know him, she learns that he has left her his beautiful townhouse in Boston. She is of half a mind to sell it, but then she visits the townhouse and finds it enchanting. Yet always in Casey's mind is the question of why her father chose to acknowledge her in this way. Sensing that he had an ulterior motive, she searches the house and finds the first part of a manuscript. Convinced the story is true - even more, that her father has left this manuscript as a message for her - Casey sets out to find the rest of the pages and to finally come to understand her father's past.

What comes after the moment that changes your life forever? This is the question that haunts Julia Bechtel, Noah Prine, and Kim Collela, the only survivors of a horrific boating accident off the coast of Maine. Julia, a forty-year-old wife and mother, has always done exactly what other expect of her. Pigeonholed by her controlling family and distant husband as 'loyal' and 'obedient', she realises in the aftermath of her brush with death that there is more to her - and to the world - than she ever imagined. Feeling strangely connected to Noah, the divorced, taciturn lobsterman who helped save her life, and Kim, a twenty-one-year old whose role in the accident - and subsequent muteness - are a mystery, Julia begins to explore the unique possibilities offered by the quiet island of Big Sawyer. With each passing moment, each new discovery, she grows every more sure that after coming face to face with death, she must have more from life. Set in a beautifully rendered Maine, where lobstermen leave with the tides each morning to hoist their traps and neighbours gather each night to feat on the catch of the day, THE SUMMER I DARED is a deeply moving story of the risky but rewarding search for self. Barbara Delinsky's latest work is ultimately a story of survival, of the irrepressible ability of the human spirit to rebound from disaster and make life anew.

While researching background on the lives of Maine lobster fishermen's families for her recent novel The Summer I Dared, best-selling novelist Barbara Delinsky was captivated by all the interesting, amusing, and surprising information she turned up. She collected much of it in this little book, arranged in an entertaining question and answer format. She will be donating her proceeds to the Barbara Delinsky Charitable Foundation for Breast Cancer Research.