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Historical Fiction March 2021
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| My Name is Anton by Catherine Ryan HydeNew York, 1965: Still recovering from his brother's death, troubled teen Anton is fiddling around with his telescope when he discovers that a neighbor is beating his wife, a woman named Edith. Moved to action, Anton connects Edith with a friend who can shelter her if she decides to leave her husband.
Washington D.C., 1980: On a train into the city, Anton and Edith run into each other and despite their age difference, form a heartwarming bond built on Anton's act of kindness 15 years ago.
Read it for: Anton's engaging narration and emotional resiliency. |
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| Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne JohnsonWhat it is: an amusing and dramatic story set in 1930s Nevada as Reno becomes the center of a burgeoning industry in quickie divorces.
Starring: Yale dropout Ward Bennett, who takes a desperately needed job at a dude ranch that hosts soon-to-be-divorcées; guest Emily Sommer, who shares an undeniable spark with Ward despite her cool veneer of patrician superiority; larger-than-life aviatrix Nina O'Malley, a guest who is on divorce number 3. |
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| Yellow Wife by Sadeqa JohnsonThe setup: Mixed-race Pheby Brown is anxiously awaiting her 18th birthday, when her white father (and owner) Jacob has promised to set her free.
What goes wrong: A carriage accident kills Pheby's mother and incapacitates her father, and Jacob's bitter and jealous wife seizes the chance to sell Pheby to a cruel jailer, whose treatment Pheby endures until an unexpected opportunity arrives.
Reviewers say: Yellow Wife is a "powerful, unflinching account of determination in the face of oppression" (Publishers Weekly). |
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The sea gate
by Jane Johnson
What it's about: Mourning her late mother, Rebecca sets out for Cornwall to help an elderly cousin save her beloved home and discovers attic treasures, a mysterious tunnel from the cellar to the sea and long-buried secrets.
Past & Present: This novel takes place in both the 1940s and the present day.
Is it for you? "Although secrets abound, this is also a novel of sacrifice, forgiveness, and redemption. Recommended for readers who value the journey, however harrowing, as much as the destination." (Library Journal)
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Send for me
by Lauren Fox
What it's about: A baker’s daughter and her husband flee to America amid increasingly violent anti-Semitism in pre-World War II Germany two generations before her granddaughter learns the astonishing story of their heritage and losses.
For fans of: Elizabeth Berg and Alice Hoffman.
Reviews call it: A "thoughtful, character-driven exploration of the unbreakable bonds of motherhood" (Booklist) as well as "tender and deeply inspired." (Publishers Weekly)
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| The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.What it is: a lyrical and heartwrenching story of the power of human connection under even the worst circumstances.
The premise: Enduring the horrors of slavery, two young men living on a Mississippi plantation find love and solace in each other. But when another slave becomes a preacher to gain favor with their master, they soon become a target of his sermons and their community begins to fracture.
You might also like: Edward P. Jones's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Known World, which also features arresting writing and centers on the complex relationships that develop in communities of enslaved people. |
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Germania : a novel of Nazi Berlin
by Harald Gilbers
What it's about: Reactivated against his will by the Gestapo in the bombed-out capital of the Reich in 1944, Jewish detective Richard Oppenheimer investigates a serial killer who has been leaving Nazi-connected victims at war memorials.
Is it for you? "What would it be like for a Jewish detective to work for the Nazis on a serial killer case?...Gilbers makes Oppenheimer’s fears, and the moral compromises he makes, palpable." (Publishers Weekly)
Award winning: This is Gilbers’s debut, which won the Glauser Prize for best German crime novel.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Winfield, IL 60190
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