Women Survival Stories

From Alma Rosé, the orchestra's main conductor, niece of Gustav Mahler and a formidable pre-war celebrity violinist, to Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, its teenage cellist and last surviving member, Sebba draws on meticulous archival research and exclusive first-hand accounts to tell the full and astonishing story of the orchestra, its members, and the response of other prisoners for the first time.

A True Story of Resilience Survival and Unbroken Spirit A Civilian Dutch Woman in Europe During World War II Treasures of Sadness is the story of Corrie's unbroken spirit. If you love historical fiction, don't miss reading this real life memoir and page-turner: Treasures of Sadness Treasures of Sadness is a real life account of a woman’s journey that began during World War II. Corrie grew up in an affluent neighborhood in Amersfoort, Holland in the 1940’s. From there she fell in love with a German soldier, rubbed elbows with royalty in Vienna, Austria and ended up in a coal mining town ...

Ya'll, let me tell you my story!Glad you could find your way here, and I welcome you to the Sellers Plantation here in the deep south of Mobile, Alabama. I'm anxious to get started with my story tellin,' so, I'm sharin' a little bout the story that I be tellin' to ya'll down below. When I wuz born, I be given the name Gertrude Ida Rollins, but as I be growin' folks just be callin' me Ms. Gertie. I wuz born in Mobile, Alabama in the year eighteen and eighty-eight. Yes, that be a long time ago for most of ya'll, but I thinks it be good to be learnin' bout the history that be comin' before you...

The author tells the story as told to him of Anne Hobbs, a woman who went to Alaska in the 1920s to teach, but who had trouble due to her kindness to the Indians there.

"The way Jonas built up the atmosphere of menace to an all-encompassing evil is frightening and shocking. The magnitude, the scale of badness, blew me away." —Liz Nugent, author of Strange Sally Diamond. Nothing escapes. Not even time... Something is wrong in the deep woods of Oregon. Horribly, unnaturally wrong. For decades, people have vanished without a trace—tourists, locals, even law enforcement. The few bodies recovered are unrecognizable: aged decades in days. The government sealed the area with barbed wire and silence. No answers. No access. But when four strangers miss their ...

The American West was never just a man’s world. In The Forgotten Frontier, bestselling author Richard Fleischman uncovers the extraordinary lives of women who braved the harsh realities of the 19th-century American frontier. Through vivid, deeply researched storytelling, this powerful volume gives voice to the women who crossed mountains, deserts, and boundaries—both physical and social. From midwives who delivered babies on dirt floors to widows who defended their homes with rifles in hand, these women lived at the intersection of grit, grief, resilience, and resolve. Some followed ...

A story of family, friends, and strangers who are drawn together by forces over which they have no control.The small town of Clare Harbor has always been home for Sara Merryn even though in recent years her visits have been few and far between because of her busy schedule. Now she’s returning for another reason. There is a storm coming and she has to somehow convince her grandparents to leave their home just outside the small southern city of Clare Harbor. That seemingly simple task is made more difficult by her grandmother’s disabling fears. Sara is determined that between the two of ...

A mountain girl in the early 1900’s copes with a marriage arranged by her dad. Her story is titled from an old saying “I own my land, heaven-high and hell-deep.” “Your pa gave his consent for us to marry,” he said the words as though it was a simple matter. It wasn’t a romantic proposal of love and devotion. It wasn’t a proposal at all. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I tried again. “I don’t know your name,” I managed to say as I felt my chest constrict. There was a pain in me that started at my toes and went to the roots of my hair. Dad had come up with a ...

Survival. Justice. Hope. She was only thirteen when her nightmare began. Ripped from the arms of her murdered mother, Jayme Closs was taken by a man who had fantasized for years about kidnapping a young girl—any girl—and making her his own. For eighty-eight days, Jayme lived in fear and isolation, hidden beneath a bed, trapped in a remote cabin in the woods. But she never gave up hope. When the moment came, she ran—and changed everything. 88 Days: The Abduction of Jayme Closs is a powerful true crime story of unimaginable horror, unbreakable courage, and the pursuit of justice. ...

On the morning of November 14, 1992, Annette Herfkens, a top Dutch banker, packed her luggage for a romantic getaway with her longtime fiancé, Willem. At 6:25 that morning, Annette and Willem boarded a plane out of Ho Chi Minh City, with 23 other passengers and six crew members, excited to finally have a vacation together. Six minutes before landing, flying at speed of 300 miles per hour, the plane lost altitude and crashed along a mountain ridge in the jungle of Vietnam.

My Mother's War is a gripping memoir about one woman's unflinching courage and cunning in the face of horrific evil. This compelling true story follows author and Holocaust survivor Michael Fryd's larger-than-life mother who outsmarted the Nazis and saved her family. Michael Fryd was only three years old when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, triggering World War II and one of humanity’s darkest chapters. Forced to leave their home and everything they knew, Fryd's mother went to near impossible lengths to keep her family safe from Hitler’s clutches, including crafting clever lies, dealing in...

Myra says, "This is a book about how to overcome life's worst tragedies and your own dumb-ass decisions." It was the scandal that rocked the world of music and destroyed a career. In 1958, rock-and-roll sensation Jerry Lee Lewis stepped off a plane in London to be greeted by a frenzy of fans. His entourage followed, including a teenaged girl. When a reporter asked how she knew the performer, she innocently gave an honest answer. “I’m his wife.” Within hours, headlines erupted with the shocking news that Jerry Lee had secretly married his thirteen-year-old cousin, Myra. The scandal ...

Stolen life. Given fangs. Fate roars in the midnight woods. I awoke reborn—a damsel turned wolf, with secrets lurking beneath every moonlit shadow. Blake, with eyes stormier than thunderclouds, had saved me—and himself. Alpha with a heart of stone and fire, driven by loss yet guided by instincts. The pack offered safety, but Blake's past cried for vengeance. His touch, forbidden and intoxicating, whispered promises of destiny. I, the once fragile human, now became his fiercest ally. Between blood vendettas and tangled loyalties, desire ignited a treacherous dance. Marcus entered—a ...

What happens when a young woman’s spontaneous trip turns into a lifelong adventure in Japan? At just 24, Suzy left behind her familiar life in Israel, chasing the allure of the Far East. What began as a brief escape to Thailand—quickly turned into a bold leap into the unknown. There, she became a hostess in Tokyo, married a local businessman in a traditional Oriental marriage, and bravely adapted to Japanese culture, balancing stark contrasts between Israel and Japan. This autobiography offers more than a tourist’s view of Japan, revealing the real challenges of cultural adaptation, ...

“Finding the North Wind is an exciting journey about a dog that helps us find truth in ourselves.” –Richard Paul Evans, #1 New York Times bestselling author In the third book in the Search and Rescue Dog Series, a young Native American woman, unexpectedly escapes from the Wyoming Women's Minimum Security Prison just before being released, puzzling everyone. Lincoln County Deputy Nate Garner and his search and rescue dog Boo are quickly dispatched to track the running fugitive across the plains of Wyoming and into the Utah wilderness. Accompanying them is teenage Caleb who watches as ...

World War II Begins... It's September of nineteen-thirty-nine, and King George of England has just announced to his people that he has declared war on Germany due to their invasion of the Allied country of Poland. This ghastly news immediately falls on the ears of Simon Bentley while he sits enjoying himself at his younger brother George's wedding. Being a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force, he knows he must act immediately, so without any hesitation, Simon flees the church basement reception and heads straight for his air base. It is time for all the years of his pilot training to be ...

Hidden deep in the Appalachian mountains, the Solista Commune promised sanctuary, purpose, and salvation. But for eighteen-year-old Lucy, born and raised under the rigid teachings of Kanen and Purin, devotion came at the cost of autonomy. When Lucy is sent beyond the commune's borders to a college in the outside world, her journey begins—not just into academia, but into freedom, identity, and unsettling truths. Torn between loyalty to her family and the awakening of her own voice, she must navigate friendships, love, betrayal, and trauma. The deeper she looks, the more tangled her past ...

Electroshock therapy, child abuse, and modern-day slavery... just another day in Christine's life. Take a heart-wrenching yet inspiring ride through one woman's incredible journey that is so compelling that you are simultaneously trying to look away and unable to stop yourself from listening on. Christine's father is a wealthy, tyrannical man renowned in the diamond business. At the age of just five, little Christine is cast aside into a boarding school where she is ridiculed for two embarrassing problems. She grows up in a never-ending circle of traumatic experiences.

The Light Above the Trees is the raw, powerful, and deeply inspiring story of La-Nicea Ward—a woman, a mother, a veteran, and a survivor. Born in Opelousas, Louisiana, La-Nicea survived childhood abuse, teenage motherhood, domestic violence, and military trauma. Yet, through the darkest moments, she found the strength to rise—again and again. From basic training to building a 4,000 sq. ft. home for her family, she defied the odds and rewrote her legacy.

Mary Adeline Walker is no heroine of legend—just the daughter of a hardworking Florida cattleman. Yet as she comes of age on the raw frontier, amid swamps, storms, and looming conflict, she must summon uncommon courage. In the unforgiving wilderness of Middle Florida, every choice she makes will shape not only her family’s survival, but the legacy they leave behind. South Carolina, 1827. Mary Walker is scared. Happy living in the middle of a big extended family, the sharp-eared seven-year-old can’t understand why her father and uncles are discussing moving to the dangerous Florida ...