New Books for Some Weekend Reading

Sammy, I love You
By Sally Nielsen The very personal diaries of Sally Nielsen, whose fiancé suffered a catastrophic stroke at only 23-years-old, providing the complete and inspirational true story of devotion, as first seen on ABC TV’s Australian Story. Sally Nielsen is a wedding planner whose own wedding plans were turned upside down when her fiancé suffered eight catastrophic strokes, leaving him completely dependent on her and his family for all his needs. An incredible true tale of courage and determination, Sally and Sam’s love story moved the nation when it was shown on Australian Story in June 2011. Sam was the love of her life, and she was going to stand by him regardless. With searing honesty, Sally recorded in her diaries the highs of each small step in Sam’s recovery – including the discovery that the sleeping aid Stillnox could bring her fiancé out of his coma for a few hours each day - as well as the plummeting lows of her depression and loneliness.

Sammy, I Love You is the result of those diaries.

Written with beautiful simplicity, Sammy I Love You is a complete record of Sally and Sam’s everyday life since the stroke. ‘I came to write my diaries in my darkest hours,’ says Sally. ‘While heart wrenching to write, I wanted to record the honest truth of how I felt at every step of our journey.’ A modern day love story to cherish, Sammy, I Love You is overwhelmingly a hopeful book. ‘Sure, life was a lot easier before the strokes,’ says Sally, ‘but I didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now. Every day I feel so thankful that I have Sam with me and we can still be together, and that’s what is most important.’ Sally is still waiting to have the wedding she and Sam planned. She lives in Brisbane.



IOU
By Helen Warner Published By Simon and Shuster $29.99

Amy has enjoyed a charmed life, shopping and lunching while the nanny looks after her children. Until her world is thrown into disarray when husband Ben's business collapses overnight, taking their house and savings with it. Suddenly Amy finds herself the breadwinner. Can she rise to the challenge? Will her marriage survive such an upheaval? Or is it a case of 'Till Debt Do Us Part'?

Kate has always had to struggle by, juggling her job with two children and a husband, though she wouldn't have it any other way. But her safe little world is rocked when she meets enigmatic Jack in a chance encounter. Feeling increasingly estranged from husband Miles, Kate wonders if Jack can offer her a fresh start. But there's something about Jack that Kate doesn't know. . .

Jennifer is only just beginning to recover from the death of her own husband. When Jennifer makes contact with old flame Hugh she unlocks a dangerous Pandora's box. She is desperate to find the answer to a question that has tormented her for decades. But will she be able to cope with the truth?



The Mistake
By Wendy James Published By Penguin Group RRP $29.95

We all have secrets . . . Jodie Garrow is a teenager from the wrong side of the tracks when she falls pregnant. Scared, alone and desperate to make something of her life, she adopts out the baby illegally – and tells nobody.

Twenty-five years on, Jodie has built a new life and a new family. But when a chance meeting brings the adoption to the notice of the authorities, Jodie becomes caught in a nationwide police investigation, and the centre of a media witch hunt. What happened to Jodie's baby? And where is she now? The fallout from Jodie's past puts her whole family under the microscope, and her husband and daughter must re-examine everything they believed to be true.

Potent, provocative and compulsively readable, The Mistake is the story of a mother and the media's powerful role in shaping our opinions. With astonishing insight, it cuts to the heart of what makes a family, and asks us whether we can ever truly know another person.



Purple Roads
By Fleur McDonald Published by Allen and Unwin RRP $29.99

When Anna and Matt finally buy their dream farm, their struggles aren't quite over. First it's patchy rain and poor crops, then Matt has an accident ... and even when the heavens finally open all might yet be lost. Purple Roads is an exciting new novel full of romance and mystery from the author of the bestselling Red Dust and Blue Skies.

Anna and Matt Butler were childhood sweethearts with a dream of owning their own land, a dream they achieved through hard work and determination. But as the seasons conspire against them and Matt is involved in a terrible accident, the couple face financial ruin and the loss of their farm. As they fight for everything they hold dear, they suddenly find themselves caught up in events much bigger and more dangerous than they could ever have imagined.

Purple Roads is a story about maintaining faith in yourself, staying true to your ideals and, most of all, the belief that some things are worth fighting for.



Read something you could not put down lately?