Wynne Shipton is the woman who lives in the small house at the corner. Tony Wakeman lives in the large, imposing house across the road. They are people who have merely nodded politely in passing -- until the day Tony accepts a delivery for his neighbor who isn't home to receive it.

The simple act of crossing the road to deliver the package evolves into a heated sexual encounter between strangers. Sexual intimacy is easy; getting to know one another is anything but. They each have past sorrows and present secrets that must be overcome before they can become truly intimate.

Wynne's past has actual shape in the form of a daughter she's never met and a granddaughter she's only heard about. And in one of life's great ironies, it is this unknown daughter who winds up purchasing Wynne's house when she is finally able to commit herself to Tony Wakeman.

It's inevitable that mother and daughter must one day, some way connect, but it comes about as a result of violence that, horrifyingly, breeds even more violence in a generational study that demonstrates very literally how the sins of the father are committed upon the children....

When a woman found a man witty and exhilarating enough to marry straight away, she found that she was happy enough until she discovered his violent nature. Follows GENTLE STRANGER....

Gillian Blake an architect, recently arrived from England, is the owner of a house on Pleasant Avenue that she has personally, painstakingly renovated. Painfully shy to the extent that she stutters helplessly in uncomfortable situations, she nevertheless begins to form friendships with her tenants: the gracious, elderly Mrs. O'Brian, and the young, delightful Jenny.

But everyone in the house on Pleasant Avenue has well-hidden secrets.

A new job with an architectural firm sets Gillian on a collision course with Gabe Hadley, the principal of the school she is seeing to completion. But the job also offers the possibility of additional new friendships and a route back into life.

Gillian and Gabe have each suffered terrible personal losses. Yet slowly they find, through their blossoming feelings for each other and for Jenny and Mrs. O'Brian, that a future might just be possible -- in spite of the burdens of the past.

...

Believing she had achieved her heart's desire in the face of a promising career, a strong relationship, and a positive rapport with her teenage daughter, Isabel finds everything crumbling when her daughter runs away. Reprint. PW. ...

What are the boundaries of love, of human emotion? For Eugenie Elliott who loses her lover and her ability to speak above a whisper all in one terrible moment, this question would appear to have no answer. Everything is gone, except for the baby she is going to have in a few months' time.

For Adele Prewitt, well-born, desperately unhappy wife of the manipulative and charming Lawrence, the boundaries have been stretched beyond all endurance -- until Eugenie comes into her life, making an offer to buy the gatehouse on the property.

Two very different women find in each other sources of hope, of love, of pure elemental kindness. They help one another through the daily battleground of horrors that has become Del's life, until an act of violence forces them, and everyone around them, to reconsider their understanding of the capacities of human nature.

A powerful and revealing look at friendship and its limitless potential....

There are the visible flaws and the not-so-visible flaws, but everyone has them -- or thinks they do.

In the case of Caley Burrell, her flaws are very visible. Being sent face-first through the windshield of a car has left her irreparably, shockingly damaged. And after a number unsuccessful surgical procedures, she has said, No more. As a result of the accident, her life is as shattered as her face and she now wants either a beginning or an end.

To all outward appearances Martin Maddox has it all: a wife and twin sons he adores, and great success as a painter. But Martin is a drunk, and his wife Marian has had enough. She's leaving Martin, taking the boys back to England. And he can't seem to bring himself to do the one thing that would stop this happening: give up drinking.

Caley sets off on the highway in her big rattletrap car. And Martin flies to England in pursuit of his family, vowing to re-establish control of his life. But it is not to be.

Two people traveling somewhat aimlessly on paths that are destined to converge. And when they arrive at the intersection, their faith and trust is to be put to one last test. They must each decide how much flaws, visible or invisible, actually matter to human interaction....

Annabel Abbott's twin sister Julia has committed suicide. This act turns Annabel's life upside down. She simply cannot comprehend why Julia, who had everything, would call her life a senseless rip-off and put an end to it. While Annabel, the studious one, the boring insurance consultant, has doggedly kept moving forward year after year. The detectives who have responded to her call have no explanations to offer, but one of the pair, Harry Schoenman, is very taken with Annabel and offers unexpected comfort.

Their brief affair results in Annabel's pregnancy and also inspires her decision to create a special pregnancy insurance company for women. Working with her feisty assistant Joan and her equally feister lawyer, Frieda, Annabel begins putting her company together -- along the way encountering nonstop negativism from the men with whom she has to deal.

Surprisingly, the person who seems to understand best what it is she's attempting to do, and who takes a personal interest in Annabel is her doctor, Rhys Bowen.

As Annabel's due date draws nearer, she is forced to turn everything over to Joan and, resigned, goes home to wait for the arrival of the baby. And, frighteningly, the birth of the child proves as daunting and dangerous -- but, finally, as deeply rewarding -- as everything else in her life. ...

In a panic, Lyle Maxwell takes the first flight out of Sydney and winds up in Perth, spending her days in the hotel swimming pool, trying to deal with the horror of her recent experiences with the man she had come to Australia to marry.

Jimmy Ballard, an older former journalist -- intrigued and touched by the aura of trauma about Lyle -- approaches her, offering to act as tour guide and show her around the beautiful city.

She finds herself telling Jimmy about things she's never before discussed: her famous comedian father who was anything but funny at home, her lifetime of anxiety, and the dreadful mistake she made in committing herself to a man she really didn't know. Jimmy assures her she's merely human; mistakes are allowed. It is an unexpected but valuable absolution. This chance meeting ultimately gives Lyle the strength to pull herself together.

She returns home to discover that her previously well-ordered life has fallen into chaos. Her shop assistant is leaving and in Lyle's absence she has hired a young Vietnam vet as a replacement. This change in itself is upsetting but then Lyle learns she is seriously ill and must have surgery.

While she is in the hospital, the running of her needlepoint shop is taken over by Jess Kelsey who gradually infiltrates her life and her affections. But Jess is suffering the effects of his experiences in Vietnam and before they can be together, they must be apart.

In Jess's absence, believing he may never return, Lyle finally sheds her past history -- along with her business and her old attitudes -- and out of love and desperation, she reinvents herself.

...

Sidonie had grown up trying to be what other people wanted her to be. She sank into married life with Frank and transformed herself into the plump, placid pet she thought he desired. Then one day she took a good look at herself and despised what she saw, and realized that Frank despised her too....

Nightclub singer Lisa Hamilton relieves loneliness with anonymous lovers, until one hurts her, but a trip to the Bahamas may help, and so, perhaps, will the warm, loving Chas Clayton. Originally in paperback....

Sharing a brief but spectacular romantic encounter on the worst day of their lives, a once-famous ballerina and a man much younger than herself wonder if their love will last beyond a one night stand....