Long story short: my mom (an avid reader) is in a shit show of a marriage, recently underwent more medical issues in a year than most do in 10, and she’s done.
She’s coming to visit me for a month to unwind, and I want to have some books here for her. She normally reads thrillers / crime / “someone murdered a girl by a lighthouse, and here’s a disturbed detective” stories; combined with Jojo Moyes, stuff like that.
What I’m looking for are pure feel good books. A novel that beams with joy for life / optimism / etc; and I’m hoping this amazing community can help out.
Thanks a ton advance.
by ValiumBlues
4 Comments
A book that radiates “woman power” and takes you right away is “Mists of Avalon” by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It’s a revisiting of the Arthurian legend from a female-centric perspective, so an utterly restful and inspiring change from crime and death and tough marriage.
Others will not approve of my suggestion, because it came out long after the book was published, that the author and her husband were paedophilic. They are both dead now and do not stand to benefit in any way from you acquiring the book. There is nothing like that in there. I think if she starts to read it she will be gripped and find it uplifting.
It really is a gem of a book that has fallen from favour.
Anything by Anne Tyler
You can find a lot of short stories like that on Story Sanctum.
The Pocket Wife, by Susan Crawford
A woman goes off her meds to solve a mystery in the suburbs. Best depiction of living with mental illness I have ever read.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
A commuter sees a “perfect” couple through their window every day, then something nefarious happens to them.