Girl Behind The Smile

Everybody thought of me as the girl with the perfect life. Everybody thought that I was the beautiful blonde that made everybody smile. I, in fact, was fighting a battle inside my head every single day of my life. I was only 13 years old and the desire to die ate me alive until I gave in. I'm now 15 years old and I'm putting you in the shoes of living with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I know how much stigma and negativity there is around mental health issues, but if this book saves at least one life, all of the hate I get will be worth it.

Debby Montgomery Johnson is a woman on a mission. In her book she shares her personal experience with a love that turned into betrayal and financial disaster and she removes the mask of shame and shows others how do to the same. Many of us have something, something we're hiding, something we're ashamed of, something that through no fault of our own or through our own making, something that we keep hidden and that, in turn, keeps us hidden, from each other and the world.

In the garden, in the dew of the morning, when my sister and I grew tired of working, we'd lay in the cool, black dirt, our pillows the bellies of stray dogs our Mema had taken in. We'd whisper sweetly to them as they lay there with us, "I love you-you don't hurt, like people do." Butterflies filled the garden. "Mema, look!" I'd shout. "They are coming to me!" "Baby, it's the spirit you carry within you..." She'd respond, "They sense it." I would get caught up in the moment, jump up to fly, imitating the butterflies, wanting them to land on my hand. I can feel that moment now, when time slows down, a moment you will remember forever-watching butterflies' wings flutter in slow motion, vibrant, delicate, with intricate patterned colors, and longing to be like them; to fly with freedom and grace. I watched as they descended down, as if to connect, and in some way say, "Hello." Natalie Parrish's strong connection to her grandma and the wisdom she shared would stay hidden within her a lifetime-through abuse, struggle, hardship, and even a suicide attempt that nearly stole her life. In this book, Natalie recounts her transformation, coming full circle to embrace her true self, and revealing to us all the Girl Behind the Smile. GirlBehindtheSmile.com

More than one out of 10 new mothers experience post-partum depression (PPD), yet few women seek help. After Marie Osmond, beloved singer and TV talk show host, gave birth to her seventh child (four of her children are adopted), she became increasingly depressed. One night, she handed over her bank card to her babysitter, got in her car, and drove north-with no intention of returning until she had emerged from her crisis. After she went public with her own experiences with PPD on Oprah and Larry King Live, the response was overwhelming. Now collaborating with a doctor who helped her through her ordeal, Marie Osmond will share the fear and depression she overcame, and reveal how she put it all behind her and is moving on with her life.

As part of her recovery from a devastating car accident, Grace Thomas embarks on a surprise cruise booked by her husband, Cameron. The accident still haunts Grace and she is a little anxious to be leaving her family, but excited to fulfil what has been a life-long dream of hers - cruising around the Mediterranean with some girlfriends - even if her husband's secretary, Chantelle is tagging along for the trip. Maybe this is a chance to start a fresh with this woman. But Chantelle appears to be everywhere Grace turns, and her instincts can’t all be wrong. Something is off. Not only does Chantelle resemble Grace, it soon becomes clear that she is desperate for Cameron’s attention, but at what lengths would she go to get it? Were Cameron's motives for sending Grace away on this cruise as admirable as she first thought and is her husband's relationship with the ever-present Chantelle as platonic as he claims? Grace's journey of self-discovery suddenly begins to feel rather sinister. Her friends are distant, Chantelle is incessantly playing with her mind, and Grace feels more lost and alone than ever. Then, she discovers that her husband has told the children she’s died. Grace's world is shattered. Everything she knows has been a lie and the truth has devastating consequences for everyone... Fans of T.M. Logan, C.L. Taylor and K.L. Slater won’t be able to put this one down. JA Andrews is the author of gripping twisty psychological thrillers, Mummy's Boy (2020), You Let Him In (2020) and I Let Her Go (2021). As well as writing fiction, JA Andrews enjoys reading a mix of genres, watching various reality TV and spending time with family and friends. He is a member of the Crime Writers Association.

I was born during the winter of 1944 by an unwed, seventeenyear old, frightened Norwegian girl on the war-torn soil of Germany. Unknowingly, she became part of Heinrich Himmler’s plan, known as the Lebensborn Program, a master design for cultivating an Aryan race. The unfolding story is both revealing and touching. Over time slivers of buried history surfaced into the mainstream of my thinking. An orphan’s journey is revealed transforming the story into enlightened self-discovery. It wasn’t until I found the courage to face the unknown mysteries woven together by people, places and programs that healing could eventually take place. All the intertwining circumstances influenced my life, opened my eyes and helped me make peace with my inner spirit.

Lisa was only a young little girl who was raised without her biological parents and lived her fear behind her smile. From molestation and staying with different family members to wanting to be loved, it all developed into a mental shutdown. Searching for love in the wrong places, she finally grows and accepts her past and learns that what she had been through will not define who she has become as an adult. Lisa learns that her past life has made her stronger and wiser and begins to put all that love, time, and her past pain into her intelligent son, who brings her back to reality from giving up on her own sanity. No one would have ever known and believed the things Lisa was faced as a child from her hiding behind her smile.

*Contains strong language* Cathy's life is spiralling out of control. Deeply scarred by a childhood of maternal neglect, she attempts to find solace in self-harm and delinquent behaviour. Before long, she is addicted to alcohol. Hidden behind a painted smile, Cathy begins a promising career as an actress and model, rubbing shoulders with royalty and the rich and famous. But Cathy is her own worst enemy and her continued dependence on alcohol hurtles her down a path of self-destruction. She endures a string of abusive, often horrific relationships, anorexia, poverty and almost loses her children. In this harrowing true story, Cathy never loses her sense of humour and is determined to win the battle with the bottle, and herself.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The plot provided by the universe was filled with starvation, war and rape. I would not—could not—live in that tale.” Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when her mother and father began to speak in whispers, when neighbors began to disappear, and when she heard the loud, ugly sounds her brother said were thunder. In 1994, she and her fifteen-year-old sister, Claire, fled the Rwandan massacre and spent the next six years migrating through seven African countries, searching for safety—perpetually hungry, imprisoned and abused, enduring and escaping refugee camps, finding unexpected kindness, witnessing inhuman cruelty. They did not know whether their parents were dead or alive. When Clemantine was twelve, she and her sister were granted refugee status in the United States; there, in Chicago, their lives diverged. Though their bond remained unbreakable, Claire, who had for so long protected and provided for Clemantine, was a single mother struggling to make ends meet, while Clemantine was taken in by a family who raised her as their own. She seemed to live the American dream: attending private school, taking up cheerleading, and, ultimately, graduating from Yale. Yet the years of being treated as less than human, of going hungry and seeing death, could not be erased. She felt at the same time six years old and one hundred years old. In The Girl Who Smiled Beads, Clemantine provokes us to look beyond the label of “victim” and recognize the power of the imagination to transcend even the most profound injuries and aftershocks. Devastating yet beautiful, and bracingly original, it is a powerful testament to her commitment to constructing a life on her own terms.

What exactly is happiness? Can we measure it? Why are some people happy and others not? And is there a drug that could eliminate all unhappiness? People all over the world, and throughout the ages, have thought about happiness, argued about its nature, and, most of all, desired it. But why do we have such a strong instinct to pursue happiness? And if happiness is good in itself, why haven't we simply evolved to be happier? Daniel Nettle uses the results of the latest psychological studies to ask what makes people happy and unhappy, what happiness really is, and to examine our urge to achieve it. Along the way we look at brain systems, at mind-altering drugs, and how happiness is now marketed to us as a commodity. Nettle concludes that while it may be unrealistic to expect lasting happiness, our evolved tendency to seek happiness drives us to achieve much that is worthwhile in itself. What is more, it seems to be not your particular circumstances that define whether you are happy so much as your attitude towards life. Happiness gives us the latest scientific insights into the nature of our feelings of well-being, and what these imply for how we might live our lives.