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The Stolen Marriage
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
The Stolen Marriage is a compelling novel from Diane Chamberlain, the bestselling author of The Silent Sister, Pretending to Dance and The Midwifes Confession. In 1944, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly ends her engagement to the love of her life when she marries a mysterious stranger and moves to Hickory, North Carolina. Hickory is a small town struggling with racial tension and the hardships imposed by World War II. Tesss new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows no interest in making love. Tess quickly realizes shes trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out. The people of Hickory love and respect Henry and see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain, especially after one of the towns prominent citizens dies in a terrible accident and Tess is blamed for the death. Tess suspects people are talking about her, plotting behind her back, and following her as she walks around town. What does everyone know about Henry that she does not? Feeling alone and adrift in a hostile town, Tess turns to the one person who seems to understand her a local medium who gives her hope but seems to know more than hes letting on. When a sudden polio epidemic strikes the town, taking the lives of some of its children, including a boy well known to the Kraft family, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital in less than three days. Tess, who has a nursing degree, bucks Henrys wishes and begins to work at the hospital, finding meaning in nursing the young victims. Yet at home, Henrys actions grow more baffling and alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle her husbands mysterious behavior and save her own life?
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Gissy
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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#ItTakesAllKinds Day 20 #WithRain (I like this cover and it has texture)

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks My choice too! ☔️ 7mo
Eggs Love this author ✍🏻 7mo
Gissy @Eggs This will be my first novel by her😃 7mo
Gissy @Eggs This will be my first novel by her😃 7mo
35 likes4 comments
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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#Ittakesallkinds
#WithRain

❤️☔️📚

Eggs Perfect! Love Chamberlain 💜☔️🩵 7mo
54 likes1 comment
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SilversReviews
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Thanks to these Litsy folks for today‘s prompt:

#ITTAKESALLKINDS
@Eggs
@AlwaysBeenALoverOfBooks
@LitsyEvents
#LitsyEvents

TODAY‘S PROMPT: ABOUT MARRIAGE

Tess, Tess, Tess, what did you do?  Is that the only decision you could have made?

THE STOLEN MARRIAGE can only be described as addictive, amazing, and fantastic. 

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/3bpadkuu

Eggs 🩵 Diane Chamberlain 🩵 8mo
31 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Born.A.Reader
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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#WorldPolioDay #AutumnPlease
Buried in my TBR pile, I found this one about 23 year old Tess, dealing with her secretive and distant husband, and find purpose working at the local hospital during a polio epidemic in 1944.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Perfect 👍🏻 12mo
11 likes1 comment
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thecurlyreader
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

This one grabbed me right from the beginning and kept me guessing the whole way through. I liked that it was set during WWII but that wasn't the central part of the story. I was so frustrated with Tess at times and really felt for her at times as well. Overall a great read!

LeeRHarry Welcome to Litsy! 😊 2y
Kfp10596 I went to buy this today with this awesome gift card I got. Turns out I already own it so I am moving up my TBR based on your recommendation. 2y
4 likes2 comments
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TorieStorieS
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

Listening to Diane Chamberlain‘s books makes for such a treat! I have been saving this one to listen to and just delighted in listening at every opportunity- including hanging out longer in my driveway, parking lots and wrapping gifts. Set mainly during the polio epidemic in NC in 1944, Tess‘s story is both heartbreaking and hard to stop listening to! I really enjoyed this! The performance is great too!

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Roxanareads
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

Tess DeMello was never meant to marry Henry Kraft from Hickory, NC. It is 1944 and suddenly the sleepy town of Hickory is on the map due to the polio epidemic and a hospital being opened there to treat the affected. Tess comes face to face with the fiancée she left behind and finally learns the secret life her husband has been hiding. A fantastic historical fiction book with mystery and romance mixed in. I listened to it on audio and loved it.

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AmyK1
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

Tess is about to graduate as a nurse and planning her wedding to boy next door Vincent, who has just become a doctor, when she become pregnant with another man‘s child. Filled with shame and not knowing where to turn, she travels to NC and marries the baby‘s father. When a polio outbreak threatens the town, she works as a nurse in the newly built hospital. While there she is faced with her old life and all she‘s given up.

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EadieB
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

#TheStolenMarriage #DianeChamberlain #BookSpinBingo

It's 1944 and Tess DeMallo is pregnant with Henry Kraft's baby but she is engaged to Vincent Russo. She is riddled with guilt and decides to break her engagement and marry Henry. She moves to the rural town of Hickory, N.C. She leaves Vincent a note and doesn't tell him anything. Vincent is working as a doctor and hasn't been home in months.

EadieB Tess goes to Washington D.C. with her friend, Gina, and she goes out to dinner with two guys who are staying in Gina's aunt's house. They have some martinis at dinner and Tess gets drunk and Henry takes her home, kisses her and they have sex. Tess wakes up next morning and can't believe that she just had sex with a man she just met. Next, she discovers that she is pregnant. 2y
EadieB She confronts Henry and he suggests that they get married to make things better for the baby. Tess quickly realizes that she is trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out. The people in Hickory see Tess as an outsider and treat her with suspicion and disdain. Henry is secretive and everyone seems to know something about him that Tess does not. 2y
EadieB When a sudden polio epidemic strikes Hickory, the townspeople band together to build a hospital. Tess decides to work at the hospital as a nurse much to her husband's dislike. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle the truth behind her husband's mysterious behavior and find the love and the life she was meant to have? 2y
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EadieB The Stolen Marriage is an emotionally captivating novel of secrets, betrayals, prejudice, and forgiveness. It is Diane Chamberlain at her best. I read this book in one sitting and really enjoyed it. The characters were very real to me and the plot was one that kept the pages turning until the very end. There were shocking twists that kept the story moving and Henry's secret was unbelievable. 2y
EadieB I am now looking forward to my next Diane Chamberlain novel. 2y
Andrew65 Great review. 2y
EadieB @Andrew65 This book was so good. I couldn't put it down. 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2y
52 likes2 stack adds8 comments
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Bec_lectic
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

Another good one from Diane Chamberlain! Taking place in 1944, the story integrates the polio endemic that swept the nation during that time and was inspired by a real polio hospital that was built in Hickory, NC at the time. Without revealing anything I just want to say that the author got me at the turning point in the story.. I thought I had the husbands secret figured out but I was wrong! Good story and quick read! Def recommend!

47 likes1 stack add
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Reecaspieces
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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These two are on sale at audible for $5. I love this author. I have read The Stolen Marriage and really enjoyed. I have not read the other one yet. Some of you audible readers need to snatch these up

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Wildly_Bookish
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Starting this one next. It's borrowed from/ recommended by a friend that has never steered me wrong, yet.

21 likes2 stack adds
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BookishGirl06
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Mehso-so

It was pretty good. A good enough story that I didn‘t think I‘d be that into it. There are so many secrets in it and when you start to figure out the truth about people, they seem more sympathetic.

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BookishGirl06
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain

So question for all you people who like to keep track of stats. Is it fair to take the page count for something you listened to instead of physically reading? I mean it‘s the same story where you listen or read physically, but curious what you guys think

Captivatedbybooks I would count it as the same because someone is reading it word for word on the page and you can follow along too so id say its the same 5y
Cortg Count it! 5y
Reecaspieces Totally agree. Count it. Who cares how you read as long as you read!! 5y
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Skyrimir Yes! Definitely count listening too. For example, the American Gods audiobook was about 20 hours long. That time counts for something! 5y
Ruthiella I had trouble with this at first too. Now I count it. At the end of the day you consumed the content either by listening or by reading.😀 5y
vivastory I use Goodreads to track all of my books & I always log my audio books 5y
Graywacke It's fair if you can convince yourself it's fair 🙂 I actually count it both as pages and time. I do two ways partially because I've been known to change my mind and partially because I want to know how much time I have been listening and how many pages I've actually stared at and read. (I have also begun to track the time I spend reading ... ) (Oh, I get worse, I have a formula for counting how much time listening is actually a page) 5y
sprainedbrain I record my audiobooks on Goodreads. On my spreadsheet reading tracker, I track the time for audiobooks and pages for ebooks/physical books, but I think you can do whatever works for you! 5y
kimmypete1 I do the same as @sprainbrain but before I used my own personal spreadsheet tracker I just counted it as whatever on goodreads. I do wish goodreads had a better audio tracking option (you can pick the audiobook, but it‘s often only 1 page or like 10 pages and I found that more irritating than having pages when I had minutes. Regardless, listening is reading and it def counts!!! 5y
52 likes9 comments
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BookishGirl06
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Getting in some audio walking in today. About halfway done.

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BookishGirl06
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Been #audiocleaning for a few hours and just realized how great it is to multi task while still getting reading in

Melissa_J I wish I could do that, but alas, I end up distracted and miss most of what I tried to listen to 🤷🏻‍♀️ 5y
79 likes1 comment
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BookishGirl06
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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First time really trying out an audiobook. Gonna see how this goes.

JennyM Hope it goes ok. Took me a while to get into audiobooks but now I always have one on the go. 5y
BookishGirl06 @JennyM I tried one on audible but didn‘t get into. Trying one on Libby now. Would rather just borrow them for free for now 5y
JennyM @BookishGirl06 I‘m the same...I only get mine from the library. Enjoy 😊 5y
69 likes3 comments
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Allthingsbooks
Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
Pickpick

Thanks Diane Chamberlain....this book was excellent and just what I needed. Loved the true historical facts.

baes Loved this one! Have you read other books of hers? I loved Necessary Lies too for the history and story. CeeCee Wilkes was good too. The Dream Daughter was as well, but had a slightly different vibe to it with the time travel and being a bit more modern. I have so many of her books on my TBR....not sure which one to read next. 5y
Allthingsbooks I have just started to read her books...The Dream Daughter and Necessary Lies we‘re both great. She does a great job of developing each character. 5y
5 likes2 comments
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Judybskt
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

I loved this!!

nelehelen Nice!!! 5y
16 likes1 comment
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Judybskt
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Loving this so far...

Judybskt @nelehelen just looked - this book was from you. Thanks! 5y
nelehelen Glad this one is good!! 5y
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sprainedbrain
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

3rd book (first audiobook) finished for #24in48 🎉

I had heard good things about this one, and I‘m glad the library had it. Well-written historical fiction with a storyline that grabbed me from the beginning and kept surprising me until the end. Good stuff!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amor4Libros I loved it!! 5y
90 likes1 stack add1 comment
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sprainedbrain
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Oh, I‘m definitely doing this challenge. I am a hardcore audiobook fan... I listen to so many that I have to get them from multiple sources. 😂

I use Audible, Libro.fm, Volumes, Kobo, and Scribd, but I get about half of what I listen to with my two out-of-state library cards through Libby (aka the best app ever).

My current audiobook is tagged.

#24in48

85 likes1 stack add
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baes
Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Stars.

Loved this. This was my second book from Diane Chamberlain, who is now one of my new favorite authors.

She is a great storyteller who incorporates history with an element of mystery to her stories to make you guess what‘s really going on.

Crazeedi I've not heard of this one! 5y
60 likes1 stack add1 comment
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baes
Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Had the perfect afternoon with the pool all to myself.

83 likes1 stack add
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ashley_gilman
Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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My happy place ❤️

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Wonderwoman89
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Oh Wow!! I can‘t believe what I got in the Litsy swap #thankfulforbooks. Thank you so much @Skeebies05 I can‘t believe you sent me the coffee pot and I love it as well as my new books.

JamieLou So neat! Enjoy 😊 🦃 6y
Skeebies05 Im so glad you like it!! 6y
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BlueStockingReviews
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

A heart-wrenching and engaging historical novel of mistakes, secrets, love and forgiveness.
One mistake and Tess DeMello‘s life is changed forever. It‘s 1944 and 23 year old Tess is now pregnant alone and riddled with guilt....read more. https://www.bluestockingreviews.com/blog/the-stolen-marriage

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LeaRob
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
Pickpick

This is a fantastic book, even though I was expecting a twist, I did not see this one until it happened and was revealed.

rather_be_reading welcome to litsy!! 📚🎉📚 @LitsyWelcomeWagon 6y
RaimeyGallant Good to know. :) And welcome to Litsy! #LitsyWelcomeWagon Some of us put together Litsy tips to help new Littens navigate the site. It's the link in my bio on my page in case you need it. Or if you prefer how-to videos, @chelleo put some together at the link in her bio. 6y
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LeaRob @RaimeyGallant thank you! 6y
RaimeyGallant My pleasure. :) 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 👋🏻🌸 6y
6 likes6 comments
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intothehallofbooks
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

The way Hank‘s family acted toward Tess (a Catholic Italian from Baltimore) made me sad and angry, but felt so true. Those emotions drove me to read quickly. There were moments that I thought I knew how it ended, but I didn‘t, and the story came together so well in the end.

I do wish Tess had been more assertive BUT it was rural NC in the 40‘s, so. Also! I learned so much about my own state and their response to the polio epidemic of the 1940‘s.

tracey38 🙋🙋 I am in NC as well. May have to look up this book if it's set here. 6y
intothehallofbooks @tracey38 Yes! The setting is Hickory! If you like historical fiction with a little bit of suspense here and there, you should definitely read it. I definitely want to read more by her. I‘ve seen that she has others set in NC. 😊 6y
54 likes1 stack add2 comments
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intothehallofbooks
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Book Club Book!

I just started this one for my June book club meeting. This one seems well-liked; I‘m super excited to read it.

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suvata
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

This was my first Diane Chamberlain novel and I can‘t say enough good things about it. The story was fascinating and, oh my gosh, her character development was spot on. I felt like I knew each and every one of the characters personally. Her vivid descriptions pulled me in to the scene from page one. So good! If the rest of her books are anywhere near as good as this one I am in for quite a treat in my reading life. 5-stars

Lcsmcat And if you arrange it ahead of time, she will Skype with your book group. We did for this book and she was very open and friendly. 6y
suvata @Lcsmcat Good to know. Thanks. 6y
53 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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suvata
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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My first Diane Chamberlain book ... recommended by a friend.

KarouBlue Curious about this one. Can‘t wait to hear what you think! 6y
58 likes1 stack add1 comment
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clkbandara
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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This book was so good. I really enjoyed it ❤️❤️

68 likes2 stack adds
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Cpg
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
Pickpick

I always enjoy Diane Chamberlain- this one has more history included. It was an interesting read most of the time. Also wanted to add that my mom is a Polio survivor so that aspect of the story was interesting....she is from a poor area of West Tennessee. She was afflicted at about 14 months old- has a crippled leg- has lived to be 82. She has a built up shoe, brace and crutch- But is suffering with COPD currently. 😥 Hospice 🙏

Pelican71 My mother also has COPD, full-time oxygen. She was put on the ventilator in May for 10 days after an incident. Prayers for your mom. 6y
Cpg Thank you so much! How‘s your Mom now? 6y
Megabooks I‘m so sorry! You and your mom will be in my thoughts. My mom has polio too. 💜💜 She wears a brace on her left leg. She used to be able to walk with crutches, but when post-polio started in her 50s, she began to use a scooter. 6y
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Cpg @Megabooks Thank you! My mom didn‘t get to use a scooter- because of the oxygen- I think she would have too much to worry with to get on and off of a scooter without breaking her neck. 🤦🏼‍♀️ She‘s just recently declining more rapidly with the COPD and is pretty much bed bound- so she doesn‘t even wear her brace anymore- too much for her. Just a sad season of her life now. 😥 6y
Megabooks Oh I am so sorry. My mom is declining more rapidly, too, now that she‘s in her 70s. Many hugs to you and your mom. I understand how hard it is to watch the progression. I hope she does as best she can each day. 💕💕 6y
Cpg @Megabooks Thanks so much! I‘m going to stay with her this weekend- she‘s about 2 hours away. Hope we have a good weekend!!! Just treasuring the moments now! ❤️😍😥 I can‘t imagine life without her- but having grands now- will definitely take up a big part of my heart also!!! 6y
Cpg @Megabooks I cane across this conversation and I hadn‘t told you that my Mom passed in April at 83 years of age. Missing her so much! My sister and I are getting the things ready for an estate sale and then sell her house. 😭😭😭 5y
Megabooks @Cpg I‘m so sorry! You must miss her terribly. 💙💙 I cant imagine what you are going through and know that my thoughts are with you during this difficult time. 5y
Cpg Oh thanks @Megabooks! 5y
10 likes1 stack add9 comments
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Maddycht
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
Pickpick

I LOVED this book. I absolutely recommend this book.

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Bostonmomx2
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
Pickpick

Excellent book. It wasn‘t what I expecting and definitely surprised me in great ways. Definitely recommend.

51 likes1 stack add
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Bostonmomx2
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Saturday night happenings. Fresh crisp sheets on the bed, a snuggly dog and a good book. Oh, and rain outside (window open). I‘m pretty dang happy right now. #dogbuttsoflitsy 🤪

Cconnolly I can‘t WAIT for open windows at night, the sound and smell of the rain. Happy reading! 7y
britt_brooke Perfect! 😆💚🐾 7y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Can‘t get much better!!! 💛🐶📚💧 7y
Debiw781 #dogbuttsoflitsy 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 7y
Bostonmomx2 @Debiw781 I‘m glad that gave someone a chuckle lol 7y
92 likes5 comments
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Bostonmomx2
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Starting this tonight.

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BritanyA
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Couldn‘t put this one down. I do think Tess had the worst luck possible and Chamberlain tries to stuff one too many topics into this novel, but ultimately I couldn‘t turn the pages fast enough. #Polio #CivilRights #Hickory

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Lcsmcat
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

Read this for my IRL book club. I‘m a native of NC, AND I had three family members permanently affected by polio, yet I didn‘t know about the Hickory Polio Hospital. I look forward to Skyping with the author Thursday night. Anyone else read this one?

Alfoster No, but it looks so intriguing!😍 7y
55 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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Lcsmcat
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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1. No;
2. 58 F 🌥
3. In addition to the tagged book on Kobo, I‘m reading Fahrenheit 451 in print, listening to The Avenue of Miracles, and reading Cymbeline on Kindle;
4. France.
5. on it.
#friyayintro @jesshowbooks

cobwebmoth 🖐 My grandmother was from France.☺ 7y
Lcsmcat Cool! I went for a week in 1981 to Nante, Paris, and Nice, but I want to spend so much more time there! 7y
Susanita ✋🏻 7y
See All 6 Comments
ghosthost 🖐 If you get back to Paris, the Cluny has concerts with musicians playing medieval instruments. It‘s not something I would ordinarily have sought out, but it turned out to be my favorite part of the trip I took to Paris about 10 years ago. 7y
Christyco125 🖐 7y
Lcsmcat @ghosthost I‘ll add that to my bucket list! 7y
36 likes6 comments
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Lcsmcat
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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I started this at lunch today. It‘s for my IRL #bookclub and is my first read on my #Kobo app.

ReadingRuby I would definitely recommend Necessary Lies by her if you haven‘t read it already! 7y
Lcsmcat @rubyhanmer I have. My book club read it last year and then found out that she would Skype in to a meeting, so we picked this book for that. She‘s local-ish (the next county over) and we‘d hoped to have her in person. 7y
39 likes2 comments
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BookReaderGal
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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5/5 stars. Fantastic!!

Reecaspieces I enjoyed this one as well 7y
19 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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ItsAngel
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

This is a really good one, y‘all! My first DC was Necessary Lies and it made me a huge fan of her work. This one I rank as highly. Just excellent!

cathysaid The Silent Sister is on sale via iBooks. Probably means it's also on sale via Kindle. 7y
ItsAngel @cathysaid I have read that one too! It‘s really good. 7y
59 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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specklife
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Mehso-so

Moved a little slowly and I didn‘t love it as much as my book club friends. Maybe next time, Diane...
⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Fortifiedbybooks
Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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I got my prize from the #ThanksgivingReadathon!!! It's so winter wonderful 😄😍

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ItsAngel
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Started this one tonight 😊

59 likes1 stack add
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Bookartbookmarks
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
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Pickpick

5 stars. I loved this enthralling historical fiction. For fans of Jeanette Walls and Leila Meacham. Strong main character. I couldn‘t stop listening to this one. Narrator on audible read it beautifully. Recommended.

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LacretiaReads
The Stolen Marriage | Diane Chamberlain
Pickpick

I loved this story and hated to see it end. Great character building. I finished it it in 2 days....easy and entertaining read. If you happen to find yourself in a reading slump I promise that Diane Chamberlain can break it!