Joanna Goodman

Philomena meets Orphan Train in this suspenseful, provocative novel filled with love, secrets, and deceit—the story of a young unwed mother who is forcibly separated from her daughter at birth and the lengths to which they go to find each other. In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility—much like Maggie Hughes’ parents. Maggie’s English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don’t include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. But Maggie’s heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption and get her life ‘back on track’. Elodie is raised in Quebec’s impoverished orphanage system. It’s a precarious enough existence that takes a tragic turn when Elodie, along with thousands of other orphans in Quebec, is declared mentally ill as the result of a new law that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages. Bright and determined, Elodie withstands abysmal treatment at the nuns’ hands, finally earning her freedom at seventeen, when she is thrust into an alien, often unnerving world. Maggie, married to a businessman eager to start a family, cannot forget the daughter she was forced to abandon, and a chance reconnection with Gabriel spurs a wrenching choice. As time passes, the stories of Maggie and Elodie intertwine but never touch, until Maggie realizes she must take what she wants from life and go in search of her long-lost daughter, finally reclaiming the truth that has been denied them both.

The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken – inspired by true events

The Home for Unwanted Girls

In this suspenseful, provocative novel of friendship, secrets, and deceit, a successful writer returns to her elite Swiss boarding school to get to the bottom of a tragic accident that took place while she was a student twenty years earlier. How far would you go to uncover the truth? One spring night in 1998 the beautiful Cressida Strauss plunges from a fourth-floor balcony at the Lycée Internationale Suisse with catastrophic consequences. Loath to draw negative publicity to the school, a bastion of European wealth and glamour, officials quickly dismiss the incident as an accident, but questions remain: Was it a suicide attempt? Or was Cressida pushed? It was no secret that she had a selfish streak and had earned as many enemies as allies in her tenure at the school. For her best friend, scholarship student Kersti Kuusk, the lingering questions surrounding Cressida's fall continue to nag long after she leaves the Lycée. Kersti marries and becomes a bestselling writer, but never stops wondering about Cressida's obsession with the Helvetian Society—a secret club banned years before their arrival at the school—and a pair of its members who were expelled. When Kersti is invited as a guest to the Lycée's 100th Anniversary, she begins probing the cover-up, unearthing a frightening underbelly of lies and abuse at the prestigious establishment. And in one portentous moment, Kersti makes a decision that will connect her to Cressida forever and raise the stakes dangerously high in her own desire to solve the mystery and redeem her past. An unputdownable read as clever as it is compelling, The Finishing School offers a riveting glimpse into a privileged, rarefied world in which nothing is as it appears.

A Novel

The Finishing School

For fans of Jojo Moyes, from the bestselling author of The Home for Unwanted Girls, comes another compulsively readable story of love and friendship, following the lives of two women reckoning with their pasts and the choices that will define their futures. Divided by their past, united by love. 1992: French-Canadian factions renew Quebec's fight to gain independence, and wild, beautiful Véronique Fortin, daughter of a radical separatist convicted of kidnapping and murdering a prominent politician in 1970, has embraced her father's cause. So it is a surprise when she falls for James Phénix, a journalist of French-Canadian heritage who opposes Quebec separatism. Their love affair is as passionate as it is turbulent, as they negotiate a constant struggle between love and morals. At the same time, James's older sister, Elodie Phénix, one of the Duplessis Orphans, becomes involved with a coalition demanding justice and reparations for their suffering in the 1950s when Quebec's orphanages were converted to mental hospitals, a heinous political act of Premier Maurice Duplessis which affected 5,000 children. Véronique is the only person Elodie can rely on as she fights for retribution, reliving her trauma, while Elodie becomes a sisterly presence for Véronique, who continues to struggle with her family's legacy. The Forgotten Daughter is a moving portrait of true love, familial bonds, and persistence in the face of injustice. As each character is pushed to their moral brink, they will discover exactly which lines they'll cross--and just how far they'll go for what they believe in.

The Triumphant Story of Two Women Divided by Their Past, But United by Love--Inspired by True Events

The Forgotten Daughter

Inheritance

L’épopée déchirante d’une mère pour retrouver sa fille dans le Québec des années 1950. Les parents de Maggie, un commerçant anglophone des Cantons de l’Est et son épouse francophone, ont des ambitions pour leur fille aînée. Qu’elle s’amourache de Gabriel Phénix, un jeune fermier, est donc inacceptable. Qu’elle tombe enceinte à quinze ans? La honte. Sans autre forme de procès, Maggie est forcée de «reprendre le droit chemin» et d’abandonner cette petite Élodie qu’elle adorait avant même de la connaître. À l’institut psychiatrique où elle se retrouve, Élodie est soumise, comme des milliers d’orphelins de Duplessis, à une existence tragique. Invisible et abandonnée de tous, elle parvient, à force de détermination et de résilience, à endurer les horribles sévices qui lui sont infligés. Enfin libérée à l’âge de dix-sept ans, elle est projetée sans repères dans un monde inconnu et terrifiant. Au fil des ans, les destinées de Maggie et d’Élodie s’entrecroisent sans se toucher. Maggie, qui a épousé un homme plus convenable, n’a jamais oublié sa fille; aussi, lorsque l’occasion se présente de renouer avec Gabriel, le passé la rattrape brutalement. Elle doit à tout prix retrouver son enfant et laisser éclater l’horrible vérité qui leur a volé, à toutes les deux, la vie qu’elles auraient dû vivre. Un roman profondément touchant qui prouve combien les liens du sang et de l’amour sont indestructibles. Originaire de Montréal, Johanna Goodman habite aujourd’hui Toronto avec son époux et ses deux enfants. Elle est l’auteure de six romans, La fille de Maggie étant le premier à être traduit en français. En plus d’écrire, elle est propriétaire d’une boutique de literie fine, Au lit, à Toronto.

La fille de Maggie

The Triumphant Story of Two Women Divided by Their Past, but United by Love--Inspired by True Events

Forgotten Daughter

La quête déchirante d'une mère pour retrouver sa fille dans le Québec des années 1950. Dans le Québec rural des années 1950, Maggie, père anglais et mère française, tombe enceinte de son jeune voisin, fermier, qu'elle aime éperdument. Quand ses parents l'apprennent, ils forcent Maggie à abandonner son bébé dès la naissance et à rentrer dans le droit chemin. Elodie grandit à l'orphelinat dans des conditions précaires. Quelques années plus tard, une loi déclare que les orphelinats deviennent administrativement des hôpitaux psychiatriques. La situation empire dramatiquement pour Elodie, déclarée alors, comme des milliers d'autres orphelins québécois, malade mentale... De son côté, Maggie s'est mariée à un homme d'affaires impatient de fonder une famille. Malgré tout, elle ne peut oublier Elodie. Mère et fille parviendront-elles à se retrouver ?

Le pavillon des orphelines

A successful writer returns to her elite Swiss boarding school to get to the bottom of a tragic accident that took place twenty years earlier. One spring night in 1998, Cressida Strauss plunged from a fourth-floor balcony at the Lycée Internationale Suisse. Was it a suicide attempt? Or was Cressida pushed?

El Internado Suizo

Het huis voor ongewenste meisjes

Having pursued their individual dreams and aspirations, the three Zarr sisters--Hollywood film editor Estelle, New York writer Erica, and Jessie, married to a doctor with two children--have somehow become somewhat disenchanted with their lives and set out to rediscover the meaning of love and happiness. Original. 35,000 first printing.

You Made Me Love You

Véronique Fortin, daughter of a radical separatist convicted of murdering a politician in 1970, has embraced her father's cause. The Forgotten Daughter is a portrait of true love, familial bonds, and persistence in the face of injustice. Each character discovers how far they'll go for what they believe in.

La Hija Olvidada

"Although 2016 has been the breakthrough year for artificial intelligence (AI) in legal services in terms of market awareness and significant take-up, legal AI represents evolution rather than revolution. Since the first "robot lawyers" started receiving mainstream press coverage, many law firms, other legal service providers and law colleges are being asked what they are doing about AI. Ark Group's Robots in Law: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Legal Services is designed to provide a starting point in the form of an independent primer for anyone looking to get up to speed on AI in legal services [...] Along with the emergence of New Law and the burgeoning lawtech start-up economy, AI is part of a new dynamic in legal technology and it is here to stay. The question now is whether AI will find its place as a facilitator of legal services delivery, or whether it will initiate a shift in the value chain that will transform the legal business model."

How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Legal Services

Robots in Law

Despite her comfortable life with a loving husband, Anne Mahroum is having trouble adjusting to the fact that her new baby boy, Evan, has been born with club feet, begins to wonder about her own mother and the strange circumstances of her childhood, and sets out to unearth the truth about her past. By the author of You Made Me Love Your. Original.

Harmony

When Maggie Hughes becomes pregnant at fifteen in 1950s Quebec, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption and get her life back on track. As time passes, the stories of Maggie and Elodie intertwine but never touch, until Maggie goes in search of her long-lost daughter.

Joanna Goodman

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