A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson

  I enjoyed this book very much. A man newly separated from a partner of many years quits his job and moves to a small rural town in Northern Canada to a home he has inherited from a woman he barely remembers. A seven year old girl secretly continues taking care of the old woman's cat as the man remains unaware he shares the home with a cat. Soon, however, the new homeowner although he appears to want to just be left alone, finds himself "adopted" by the little girl and caught up in the mystery of both his inheritance and the disappearance of a teenager. This is an uplifting story that makes the ordinary seem special as individuals interact with one another.

Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck

 This historical fiction provides a descriptive and poignant story that focuses on two women who participated in the WW2 resistance effort in France. Their courage despite ever present danger to move among the Nazi occupiers and rescue downed Allied pilots, or deliver and collect important information for the Allied leadership enabled them to participate in a vital part of the struggle to defeat the Germans. The two main characters come alive in this skillfully balanced portrayal of their lives that highlights their resistance work but also places them in the context of family life with all its competing responsibilities. 

Forever Young by Hayley Mills

 A poignant memoir by this actress whose father was a famous actor, and mother was a playwright, and she was signed by Walt Disney to a multi-film contract at age twelve. She describes both an exciting life filled with celebrity and celebrities but also haunted with the anguish and typical insecurities of an adolescence spent alternating between intense months of film making and then returning to a boarding school where she was often behind academically and out of sync with her schoolmates. This memoir is also filled with generous and admiring portrayals of many of the accomplished people she worked with, or met at parties and events she attended. Her peripatetic life sounded glamorous but was clearly also exhausting for a young girl who enjoyed spending alone time riding her pony in the English countryside. Her iconic film, The Parent Trap with its infectious song, let's Get Together, yeah, yeah, yeah remains a pleasant memory from my childhood, and I enjoyed reading this memoir.