Showing results by author "Elena Graf" in All Categories

“You never know when you’re going to say the wrong thing that will make someone hate you forever. It’s like a rip tide. You can’t even see it from the surface. Then you step into it, and the next thing you know, you’re drowning.” – Liz Stolz A small town in Maine has begun to recover from a school shooting when another mass shooting and divisive politics threaten to divide friends and end relationships. Town doctor Liz Stolz and Episcopal rector Lucy Bartlett, used to bringing people together, find their own alliances threatened. Can these two healers find ways to bind up ...

Liz Stolz and Maggie Fitzgerald were college roommates until Maggie confessed to her parents that she’d fallen in love with a woman. Maggie gave up her dream of becoming an actress and married her high school boyfriend. Liz became a famous breast surgeon. Maggie is performing in a summer stock production near the Maine town where Liz is now a general practitioner. When Maggie breaks her leg in a stage accident, she lands in Dr. Stolz’s office. Is forty years too long to wait for the one you love?

In 1938, Margarethe von Stahle is desperately trying to practice ethical medicine despite the Nazi policy of "racial hygiene" that is forcing doctors to collaborate in the extermination of the handicapped and mentally ill. She has always avoided politics, but now she must decide whether to remain on the sidelines or to act on her convictions. At the same time, she is struggling to hold her family together, despite intrigue, secrecy, and an unforgivable indiscretion. The people she holds most dear are conspiring against her for their own ends. Neither of Margarethe's children are playing to ...

It’s midwinter in Maine, and the biggest problem is a snowstorm. Only Liz Stolz, the senior doctor of Hobbs Family practice, is paying attention to the strange virus in China that’s roiling the financial markets. Police chief Brenda Harrison is interested in Liz’s new physician’s assistant, but after witnessing police violence, Cherie Bois despises cops. As the pandemic closes in, the friends are pushed together during the lockdown. Friendships and relationships are strained. Can the women of Hobbs forge deeper bonds by helping one another and the town survive?

The new rector of St. Margaret’s by the Sea Episcopal Church has a secret. Lucille Bartlett was a rising star at the Metropolitan Opera, but she disappeared from the stage and no one knows why. Philosophy Professor Erika Bultmann is a confirmed agnostic, who doesn’t have much use for religion, but she is fascinated by Mother Lucy. When Erika returns to her summer cottage in Hobbs to finish her last book before she retires, Lucy is drawn to the enigmatic professor, but she wants much more than a casual affair. Erika has been in open relationships; Lucy wants a commitment. Lucy believes ...

A school shooting is a nightmare that happens in other towns until it comes to yours. A small town in Maine wakes up thinking it’s just another winter day, but a tragedy has been set in motion by dark secrets from the past and an unfortunate series of recent events. The horror that every town fears is about to come to Hobbs. Dr. Liz Stolz is preparing to teach a gun safety class. Police Chief Brenda Harrison is heading to present her new conceal carry requirements to town manager, Olivia Enright. The principal of Hobbs Elementary, Courtney Barnes, and the new teacher, Susan Gedney, ...

For seven centuries, the German convent of Obberoth has been hiding the nuns' secrets—forbidden passions, scandalous manuscripts locked away, a ruined medical career, perhaps even a murder. In 1931, Margarethe von Stahle, an aristocratic physician, arrives at the convent to interview Sister Augustine, a candidate for head nurse. The nun’s past is shrouded in mystery. She abandoned a medical career, and her final vows were delayed for an unspeakable reason. Determined to lift the veil of secrecy, Margarethe finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery, a complicated romance, and a ...

Rev. Susan Gedney returns to Hobbs after facing the wreckage of her past in the Midwest, but she soon learns her own recovery is incomplete until she earns back everyone’s trust. Susan remembers what she learned in Rehab: ‘You’re only as sick as your secrets’. She may have to reveal a few before winning back the support of the people who want to believe in her again. Meanwhile, at the Hobbs Family Practice, Bobbie Lantry, the new Nurse Practitioner, has a big secret of her own. She seems always to be rushing away to take care of a mysterious older woman. Why? And who is the mystery ...

This Golden Crown Literary Society and Rainbow Book Award winner in historical fiction continues the story of the von Stahle family as it deals with the aftermath of World War II.The Russians have invaded and Berlin is in ruins. Nearly everything Margarethe von Stahle has sworn to protect has been lost. After being brutally abused by occupying Russian soldiers, Margarethe must rely on the kindness of her friends to survive. Fortunately, the American Army has brought her former protégé, Dr. Sarah Weber, back to Berlin. Slowly, Margarethe heals and begins to rebuild her life, but as she ...

In this seventh volume of the Hobbs series, Lucy Bartlett, the rector of the Episcopal Church, and town doctor, Liz Stolz, have finally announced their engagement. They get pushback from surprising places, even from friends they’ve counted on for support. Unresolved issues from Liz’s first marriage cloud the prospect even more, especially when her ex-wife returns, desperately needing help. A new doctor has joined Hobbs Family Practice, sparking rumors that Liz will retire. Across town, Police chief, Brenda Harrison, and her wife are settling into a new relationship, but Cherie hears her...

In the waning years of Queen Victoria’s reign, a brilliant daughter is born to an aristocratic, military family in Prussia. A quirk of inheritance law allows Margarethe von Stahle to inherit her family’s titles. Her elders collaborate to educate her to take on her future duties, which include administering her family estates and supporting an order of nuns.Margarethe’s curiosity and precocity delight and perplex her teachers as they try to mold her. Her father trains her with his military cadets. A retired opera singer teaches her how to sing. Her grandaunt, headmistress of the ...

This sixth volume of the Hobbs series shows how a caring, inter-generational community can help everyone make the right connections. After a dark winter of loss and isolation, the summer people are returning, including forty-something Melissa Morgenstern, a trust lawyer from Boston. Melissa has been working remotely since the pandemic began. She has temporarily moved to Maine to comfort her widowed mother. Up to now, Melissa’s devotion to her tight-knit Jewish family and her legal career have made relationships difficult. Town doctor, Liz Stolz introduces her to the new assistant ...

In this fifth volume of the series, the residents of Hobbs, Maine, are relieved to have gotten through the summer relatively unscathed by the pandemic. Town doctor, Liz Stolz, is warning about a fall surge, but everyone is ready to get back to normal. Liz has agreed to help her friend, architect, Sam McKinnon, build a sound-proof practice room over Erika Bultmann’s garage. As the days grow shorter, Erika is worried about her wife, former opera singer and Episcopal rector, Lucy Bartlett, who walks alone on the beach before dawn. Fortunately, the early Christmas gift is ready before tragedy...

Rev. Lucy Bartlett’s life couldn’t be more perfect. She’s turned around her crumbling church. She’s finishing her doctorate and publishing her first book. Best of all, she is engaged to marry her soulmate, Dr. Liz Stolz. Once a world-famous opera singer, Lucy has been coaching the church’s transgender music director, who hopes to relaunch her career as a natural alto. When Denise lands an audition with a major orchestra, she knows that the conductor is only using her to lure Lucy into performing again. To show her support, Lucy agrees to do the concert, but after the triumphant ...

A Christmas short story from the bestselling author of High October. Maggie and Liz have been dreaming of a quiet Christmas since they got back together after being separated for forty years. This year they are determined to celebrate a romantic holiday alone. Their plans of sitting by the fire, drinking mulled wine and watching old Christmas movies get scuttled by surprise visits from friends and family. The Christmas chaos provides some holiday cheer and a touching lesson in the real meaning of Christmas.

Hobbs, Maine, is gradually reopening after the lockdown. Town doctor Liz Stolz has begun a new tradition, Thirsty Thursdays, a weekly cocktail party on her deck, so her friends can socialize safely. Architect Samantha McKinnon has recently moved to Maine to start a renovation business. Liz recommends Sam to do a bathroom remodel for the most hated woman in town, Olivia Enright—a super-rich, retired hedge fund manager whose outspoken, right-wing views have alienated everyone, especially police chief, Brenda Harrison. Meanwhile, Brenda’s budding relationship with her biracial girlfriend, ...