Bøger af Lisa Michelle Odgaard

Maren Bradigan is just sixteen years old when she is taken under false pretenses from her comfortable life on her family farm. Concerned at the level of intimacy developing between Maren and the boy who helps her father with his farm work, the village priest takes it upon himself to remove her from school and bring her to one of the convent laundries, where he delivers her into the care of the nuns. Now, alongside many other "Magdalens" - named for Mary Magdalen - Maren must spend her days washing dirty linens, symbolically cleansing herself of her sins while repeating endless penance to a God that she soon comes to feel is no longer listening to her. Only the presence of Ceara, a young pregnant girl who befriends her inside the institution, gives Maren strength to continue through abuse, humiliation, beatings and near-starvation. Set in Ireland in 1961, The Magdalen Laundries is based on the true stories from one of the most shameful chapters in Ireland's history, and tells of the redemptive power of faith, friendship and forgiveness.

"Nyssa Lakin," he stammered, "will you marry me?" Nyssa Lakin is twenty years old when her boyfriend, Reese, proposes marriage, and she finds herself unable to give him an immediate answer. She loves him, but at this stage in her life, with so many unanswered questions still ahead, is she really ready for marriage? "How I regretted that I was unable to throw my arms around Reese's neck and cry out that age-old refrain from every romantic movie I'd ever watched as a child...I would always stare at the screen, and want to shout at them, 'But how can you know for sure?'" Nyssa's choice will determine the direction of her life. In concurrent storylines, If I Had Said examines how Nyssa's future plays out in the aftermath of this significant decision. One narrative follows the next ten years in the life of Nyssa Nowles, who said yes to Reese's proposal; the other, the life of Nyssa Lakin, who said no. Through hardship, joy, and sorrow, as well as occasional misgivings about whether she did the right thing, each version of Nyssa works hard to overcome the challenges of the journey that follows her decision.