Focusing on the city of Worcester, Massachusetts the author takes the reader to the saloons, the amusement parks, and the movie houses where American industrial workers spent their leisure hours, to explore the nature of working-class culture and class relations during this era.

ONE OF THE BEST FEEL-GOOD BOOKS OF 2021 BY THE WASHINGTON POST “I read Eight Perfect Hours in one sitting, in four perfect hours, because I couldn’t bear to put it down without knowing the ending.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author In this romantic and heartwarming novel, two strangers meet in chance circumstances during a blizzard and spend one perfect evening together, thinking they’ll never see each other again. But fate seems to have different plans. From the acclaimed author of the “swoon-worthy…rom-com” (The Washington Post) Dear Emmie Blue. On a snowy evening in March, thirty-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence. With plenty of charming twists and turns and Lia Louis’s “bold, standout voice” (Gillian McAllister, author of The Good Sister), Eight Perfect Hours is a gorgeously crafted novel that will make you believe in the power of fate.

Sergeant Bill Smithe was going to die. He knew it. The madman who kidnapped his baby granddaughter knew it. He just hoped he could save six-month-old Claire before it happened. Bill hadn’t known when he locked Tom Lockman up for murder all those years ago that his crazy brother would eventually try to get revenge. It wasn’t just that Charles wanted Tom released. No. They both knew Charles’ real goal was to kill Bill. If he simply wanted Tom released, he would have given Bill more than eight hours to do it. As if Charles’ short timeline wasn’t enough, Claire has diabetes, and won’t make it through the eight hours without her insulin shot. Bill must call in his entire police force to search the town and keep the rest of his family safe. The only silver lining is a frail woman named Jenny, Tom’s wife. She’s with Charles, but Bill has a feeling she’s not there willingly, and may be the only thing keeping Claire safe. During Bill’s hourly phone calls with Charles, Jenny is able to secretly provide him with information about their whereabouts. The problem is the information is cryptic, and Bill doesn’t know if he’ll find them in time.

"A man's relationship with his father: every boy, every man lucky enough to have a father in his life has to figure that out. My own father? I thought I knew him- even though he seldom talked about himself. And what I knew I hated - really, really hated. Cold, ill-tempered, thin-skinned, my father always seemed on the brink of erupting. Scared to death of him, I kept telling myself to find the courage to 'stand up to him.' When I was fifteen, I did. We did not speak to each other for ten years. And then we did- for eight hours. 'Dear Father, Dear Son' takes a journey of American history through the eyes of a father- from his dirt-poor Jim Crow Southern childhood, to the segregated Marine Corps of World War II, to a janitor turned California business man. Hard memories. One man discovered a son he never really knew. And the son found a man, a friend, a father who had really been there all along."--p.[4] of dust jacket.

Autumn 1943. Realising his feelings for his sweetheart are not reciprocated, Major John Overton accepts a posting behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Albania. Arriving to find the situation in disarray, Overton attempts to overcome geographical challenges and political intrigues to set up a new camp in teh mountains overlooking the Adriatic. As he struggles to complete his mission amidst a chaotic backdrop, Overton is left to ruminate on loyalty, comradship and the futility of war.