Cathy Gohlke – författare

Michael Dunnagan was never supposed to sail on the Titanic, nor would he have survived if not for the courage of Owen Allen. Determined to carry out his promise to care for Owen’s relatives in America and his younger sister, Annie, in England, Michael works hard to strengthen the family’s New Jersey garden and landscaping business.Annie Allen doesn’t care what Michael promised Owen. She only knows that her brother is gone—like their mother and father—and the grief is enough to swallow her whole. As Annie struggles to navigate life without Owen, Michael reaches out to her through letters. In time, as Annie begins to lay aside her anger that Michael lived when Owen did not, a tentative friendship takes root and blossoms into something neither expected. Just as Michael saves enough money to bring Annie to America, WWI erupts in Europe. When Annie’s letters mysteriously stop, Michael risks everything to fulfill his promise—and find the woman he’s grown to love—before she’s lost forever.

Maureen O’Reilly and her younger sister flee Ireland in hope of claiming the life promised to their father over twenty years before. After surviving the rigors of Ellis Island, Maureen learns that their benefactor, Colonel Wakefield, has died. His family, refusing to own his Civil War debt, casts her out. Alone, impoverished, and in danger of deportation, Maureen connives to obtain employment in a prominent department store. But she soon discovers that the elegant facade hides a secret that threatens every vulnerable woman in the city.Despite her family’s disapproval, Olivia Wakefield determines to honor her father’s debt but can’t find Maureen. Unexpected help comes from a local businessman, whom Olivia begins to see as more than an ally, even as she fears the secrets he’s hiding. As women begin disappearing from the store, Olivia rallies influential ladies in her circle to help Maureen take a stand against injustice and fight for the lives of their growing band of sisters. But can either woman open her heart to divine leading or the love it might bring?

2015 Carol award finalist!Increasingly wary of her father’s genetic research, Rachel Kramer has determined that this trip with him to Germany—in the summer of 1939—will be her last. But a cryptic letter from her estranged friend, begging Rachel for help, changes everything. Married to SS officer Gerhardt Schlick, Kristine sees the dark tides turning and fears her husband views their daughter, Amelie, deaf since birth, as a blight on his Aryan bloodline.Once courted by Schlick, Rachel knows he’s as dangerous as the swastikas that hang like ebony spiders from every government building in Berlin. She fears her father’s files may hold answers about Hitler’s plans for others, like Amelie, whom the regime deems “unworthy of life.” She risks searching his classified documents only to uncover shocking secrets about her own history and a family she’s never known.Now hunted by the SS, Rachel turns to Jason Young—a driven, disarming American journalist and unlikely ally—who connects her to the resistance and to controversial theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Forced into hiding, Rachel’s every ideal is challenged as she and Jason walk a knife’s edge, risking their lives—and asking others to do the same—for those they barely know but come to love.

2016 Christy Award Winner! (Historical novel category)2016 Carol Award Winner! (Historical category)All her life, Hannah Sterling longed for a close relationship with her estranged mother. Following Lieselotte’s death, Hannah determines to unlock the secrets of her mother’s mysterious past and is shocked to discover a grandfather living in Germany.Thirty years earlier, Lieselotte’s father is quickly ascending the ranks of the Nazi party, and a proper marriage for his daughter could help advance his career. Lieselotte is in love—but her beloved Lukas is far from an ideal match, as he secretly works against the Reich. Yet Lieselotte never imagined how far her father would go to ensure her cooperation.Both Hannah’s and Lieselotte’s stories unfold as Hannah travels to Germany to meet her grandfather, who is hiding wartimes secrets of his own. Longing for connection, yet shaken by all she uncovers, Hannah must decide if she can atone for her family’s tragic past and how their legacy will shape her future.

From award-winning author Cathy Gohlke, whose novels have been called “haunting” (Library Journal on Saving Amelie) and “page-turning” (Francine Rivers on Secrets She Kept), comes a historical fiction story of courage and transformation set in rural Appalachia on the eve of WWII.When Lilliana Swope’s beloved mother dies, Lilliana gathers her last ounce of courage and flees her abusive husband for the home of her only living relative in the foothills of No Creek, North Carolina. Though Hyacinth Belvidere hasn’t seen Lilliana since she was five, she offers her cherished great-niece a safe harbor. Their joyful reunion inspires plans to revive Aunt Hyacinth’s estate and open a public library where everyone is welcome, no matter the color of their skin.Slowly Lilliana finds revival and friendship in No Creek—with precocious eleven-year-old Celia Percy, with kindhearted Reverend Jesse Willard, and with Ruby Lynne Wishon, a young woman whose secrets could destroy both them and the town. When the plans for the library also incite the wrath of the Klan, the dangers of Lilliana’s past and present threaten to topple her before she’s learned to stand.With war brewing for the nation and for her newfound community, Lilliana must overcome a hard truth voiced by her young friend Celia: Wishing comes easy. Change don’t.

In wars eighty years apart, two young women living on the same Appalachian estate determine to aid soldiers dear to them and fight for justice, no matter the cost.1944. When a violent storm rips through the Belvidere attic in No Creek, North Carolina, exposing a hidden room and trunk long forgotten, secrets dating back to the Civil War are revealed. Celia Percy, whose family lives and works in the home, suspects the truth could transform the future for her friend Marshall, now fighting overseas, whose ancestors were once enslaved by the Belvidere family. When Marshall’s Army friend, Joe, returns to No Creek with shocking news for Marshall’s family, Celia determines to right a long-standing wrong, whether or not the town is ready for it.1861. After her mother’s death, Minnie Belvidere works desperately to keep her household running and her family together as North Carolina secedes. Her beloved older brother clings to his Union loyalties, despite grave danger, while her hotheaded younger brother entangles himself and the family’s finances within the Confederacy. As the country and her own home are torn in two, Minnie risks her life and her future in a desperate fight to gain liberty and land for those her parents intended to free, before it’s too late.With depictions of a small Southern town “reminiscent of writings by Lisa Wingate” (Booklist on Night Bird Calling), Cathy Gohlke delivers a gripping, emotive story about friendship and the enduring promise of justice.

After two young women’s deep bond is torn apart, what will it take to bring them together again? In The Ladies of the Lake, the beloved author of Saving Amelie and Night Bird Calling returns with a transformative new historical novel about the wonder and complexities of friendship, love, and belonging.When she is forced to leave her beloved Prince Edward Island to attend Lakeside Ladies Academy after the death of her parents, the last thing Adelaide Rose MacNeill expects to find is three kindred spirits. The “Ladies of the Lake,” as the four girls call themselves, quickly bond like sisters, vowing that wherever life takes them, they will always be there for each other. But that is before: Before love and jealousy come between Adelaide and Dorothy, the closest of the friends. Before the dawn of World War I upends their world and casts baseless suspicion onto the German American man they both love. Before a terrible explosion in Halifax Harbor rips the sisterhood irrevocably apart.Seventeen years later, Rosaline Murray receives an unsuspecting telephone call from Dorothy, now headmistress of Lakeside, inviting her to attend the graduation of a new generation of girls, including Rosaline’s beloved daughter. With that call, Rosaline is drawn into a past she’d determined to put behind her. To memories of a man she once loved . . . of a sisterhood she abandoned . . . and of the day she stopped being Adelaide MacNeill.Written by a four-time Christy award–winning author!Ideal for book clubs—contains helpful discussion questions at the end!Perfect for fans of L. M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, and Lauren Willig’s Band of Sisters.

When she ran away as a young war bride, she was cut off from her family forever . . . or so she believed. Decades later, maybe the only way to move on is to go home.Ginny Pickering Boyden can't wait for her last day of work, when she'll be free to pursue a lifelong ambition through a master gardener apprenticeship. But an unexpected letter brings shocking news: Ginny has inherited her family's Christmas tree farm, a dream she'd long ago given up.Facing a past laced with memories and lies she's tried hard to bury, a furious nephew who thought the land would be his, and a failing farm with a mountain of debt, Ginny returns to New Scrivelsby, Virginia, determined to sell. But when her younger nephew, a Vietnam vet, appears with demons of his own and three young children in tow, Ginny isn't sure what to do. Too much of their story reminds Ginny of her own. She has little hope, however, that three generations of warring Pickerings can set aside their differences to restore all that's broken, both on the land and in their hearts.Set against the beautiful and rugged landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains, This Promised Land is the story of a daughter's longing to make sense of the past and of the unbreakable bonds that bring prodigals home.A modern take on the prodigal son story, written by a four-time Christy award-winning authorContains discussion questions ideal for book clubs"e;History buffs looking for deep writing and character development will want to add Gohlke to their lists. Recommend to fans of Lisa Wingate, Amanda Dykes, and Valerie Fraser Luesse."e; Library Journal, on Ladies of the Lake

America, 1970s: Hannah struggles with forgiveness after her mother, Lieselotte's, death. Germany, 1930s: Lieselotte's father quickly ascends the Nazi Party ranks, and Lieselotte's in love - with the wrong man. As their stories unfold, Hannah must decide if she can atone for her family's tragic past and help reshape the future.

Warschau 1939. Die Stadt liegt in Trümmern. Rosa and Itzhak hätten nie damit gerechnet, dass jemals irgendetwas ihre kleine Familie entzweien könnte. Aber die junge Mutter muss sich bald mit der furchtbaren Realität abfinden: Um das Leben ihrer Tochter zu retten, trifft sie die schwerste Entscheidung ihres Lebens und schickt sie fort. All ihre Hoffnung, sie nach dem Krieg wiederzufinden, hängt an der Medaillonhälfte, die sie ihr um den Hals legt.Eine bewegende Geschichte, inspiriert von Polens dunkelsten Tagen.

Ihr ganzes Leben lang sehnt sich Hannah Sterling nach einer engen Beziehung zu ihrer distanzierten Mutter Liselotte. Als diese stirbt, hinterlässt sie Briefe, die Hannah stutzig machen. Wer war ihre Mutter wirklich? Auf zwei Zeitebenen entfalten sich die Ereignisse der Vergangenheit. Zutiefst erschüttert muss Hannah schließlich entscheiden, wie sie mit der dunklen Geschichte ihrer Familie umgeht und wie dieses Erbe ihre Zukunft prägen wird.Ein zutiefst bewegender Roman über das Loslösen von Schuld und die befreiende Kunst des Vergebens.

Adelaide hätte nie gedacht, drei Freundinnen in ihrer neuen Heimat in Kanada zu finden, die wie Schwestern für sie sind. Sie versprechen sich, für immer zusammenzuhalten – doch dann hebt der Erste Weltkrieg ihre Welt aus den Angeln und der deutsch-amerikanische Mann, den Adelaide und Dorothy lieben, wird unbegründet verdächtigt. Eine schreckliche Explosion reißt die Schwesternschaft schließlich unwiderruflich auseinander.Jahre später erhält Rosaline einen Anruf von Dorothy, der Erinnerungen wachruft, die sie vergessen wollte. Erinnerungen an einen Mann, den sie einst liebte, an eine Schwesternschaft, die sie im Stich ließ, und an den Tag, an dem sie aufhörte Adelaide zu sein.Ein Roman über den Wert von echten Freundschaften – und wie Vergebung und Ehrlichkeit diese retten können.