Around the World ~ Chile, Sweden, Turkey

Ten Women ~ by Marcela Serrano, 2011, fiction (Chile)

For nine Chilean women, life couldn’t be more different.  There is the teenage computer whiz confronting her sexual identity.  A middle-aged recluse who prefers the company of her dog over that of most humans.  A housekeeper.  A celebrity television personality.  A woman confronting the loneliness of old age.  Of disparate ages and races, these women represent the variety of cultural and social groups that Chile comprises.  On the surface, they seem to have nothing in common, except for their beloved therapist, who brings them together.  Yet as different as they all are, each woman has a story to share.  As the women tell their stories, unlikely common threads are discovered, bonds are formed, and lives are transformed.  Their stories form an intricate tale of triumph, heartache, and healing that will resonate with women from all walks of life.

Still Waters ~ by Viveca Sten, 2008, fiction (Sweden)

On a hot July morning on Sweden’s idyllic vacation island of Sandhamn, a man takes his dog for a walk and makes a gruesome discovery:  a body, tangled in fishing net, has washed ashore.  Police detective Thomas Andreasson is the first to arrive on the scene.  Before long, he has identified the deceased as Krister Berggren, a bachelor from the mainland who has been missing for months.  All signs point to an accident — until another brutalized corpse is found at the local bed-and-breakfast.  But this time it is Berggren’s cousin, whom Thomas interviewed in Stockholm just days before.  As the island’s residents reel from the news, Thomas turns to his childhood friend, local lawyer Nora Linde.  Together, they attempt to unravel the riddles left behind by these two mysterious outsiders — while trying to make sense of the difficult twists their own lives have taken since the shared summer days of their youth.

Last Train to Istanbul ~ by Ayse Kulin, 2002, fiction (Turkey)

As the daughter of one of Turkey’s last Ottoman pashas, Selva could win the heart of any man in Ankara.  Yet the spirited young beauty only has eyes for Rafael Alfandari, the handsome Jewish son of an esteemed court physician.  In defiance of their families, they marry, fleeing to Paris to build a new life.  But when the Nazis invade France and begin rounding up Jews, the exiled lovers will learn that nothing — not war, not politics, not even religion — can break the bonds of family.  For after they learn that Selva is but one of their fellow citizens trapped in France, a handful of brave Turkish diplomats hatch a plan to spirit the Alfandaris and hundreds of innocents, many of whom are Jewish, to safety.  Together, they must traverse a war-torn continent, crossing enemy lines and risking everything in a desperate bid for freedom, from Ankara to Paris, Cairo, and Berlin.

These three books are among nine offered free for Kindle for another five days.