Purple Coo Book Club Winter Read 2012

Once again I apologise if any of your suggestions haven't made the final seven, but there were so many brilliant suggestions this time.
Please make your first and second choices in the comments box below.
As soon as I've collated the votes, I'll announce the most popular on the Purple Coo main site and the most popular becomes our Purple Coo Book Club Winter Read 2012

 

Behind the Scenes at the  Museum by Kate Atkinson

The imaginative and thought provoking story of Ruby, this book explores complex family relationships, births, weddings, divorce, death, secrets and lies, all set under the old pebble-stone streets around York Minster.

 

My Policeman by Bethan Roberts

Set in the 1950s, this isn't just another period love triangle. A young woman falls for her best friend's brother, a hunky policeman, but when she marries him she finds out he's having   a relationship with the suave Patrick, who's a curator at the local museum.

 

The Earl's Bargain by Cheryl Bolen
The impossibly young, stunningly beautiful widow Louisa Phillips finds herself penniless upon the death of her no-good husband. What's a man-hating bluestocking to do? Enter the Earl of Wycliff, who offers her financial security for life. All she has to do is travel across England posing as his wife. They're both hiding secrets; not the least of which is their budding love for each other.

 

The Promise by Lesley Pearce

Another by the author of Belle. Set in London, 1914. Belle Reilly finally has the life she's dreamed of thanks to a devoted husband in Jimmy and the hat shop she's wanted to own since she was a child. But as the storm clouds of World War One begin to gather, Belle's already turbulent life is to change in ways she never imagined possible.

The Richard Burton Diaries by Richard Burton

The surviving diaries of Richard Burton are now published in their entirety for the first time. 

 

The Woman who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend

A fun Christmas read. The woman in question takes to her bed on the day her grown up children leave home and she stays there, and from her bed begins to see herself and the world very differently.

 

Two Brothers by Ben Elton

At times bleakly humorous, at others bleakly thought provoking, look at the life and troubles of  a Jewish family with an adopted non-Jewish son, in inter-war Germany.