Inspirational

When her husband's unexpected death bestows his fortune on a male heir, Sylvia tries to marry her daughter off to a wealthy husband to maintain their lifestyle, but is stopped by her mother-in-law, who wants more for her granddaughter.

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"Shaken by her parents' divorce and discouraged by the growing chasm between herself and her serious boyfriend, Nikki Werner seeks solace at her uncle's farm in a small Missouri hamlet. She'll spend the summer there, picking up the pieces of her shattered present so she can plan a better future. But what awaits her at the ancestral farm is a past she barely knows. Among her late grandmother's belongings, Nikki finds an old notebook filled with handwritten German recipes and wise sayings pulled from the book of Proverbs. With each recipe she makes, she invites locals to the family table to hear their stories about the town's history, her ancestors -- and her estranged father. What started as a cathartic way to connect to her heritage soon becomes the means through which she learns how the women before her endured -- with the help of their cooking prowess. Nikki realizes how a delicious streusel with a healthy dollop of faith can serve as a guide to heal wounds of the past."-- Provided by publisher

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"Esther Markstrom and her artist mother have always been proud of their ancestor, painter Francisco Vella. They even run a small museum and gallery dedicated to raising awareness of his scandalously underappreciated work. But when Esther reconnects with her former art history professor, she finds her once-solid family history on shaky ground as questions arise about Vella's greatest work -- a portrait entitled The Lady with the Dark Hair. In 1879, Catalan orphan-turned-fugitive Viviana Torrens has found sanctuary serving in the home of an aging artist in Southern France. It is in his studio that she meets Francisco Vella, a Gibraltarian merchant who sells artists' pigments. When her past catches up to her, she is compelled to pose as Vella's sister and join him on his travels or be deported back to Spain to stand trial. Along the way she will discover that the many parts she has been playing in order to hide her identity have far-reaching implications she never could have foreseen."-- Provided by publisher

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