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Historical Fiction October 2019
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The water dancer : a novel
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A Virginia slave narrowly escapes a drowning death through the intervention of a mysterious force that compels his escape and personal underground war against slavery. By the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me. (historical fiction). (This book was listed in a previous issue of Forecast.) Tour.
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| The Golden Wolf by Linnea HartsuykerWhat it is: the much-anticipated conclusion to the Golden Wolf trilogy, which began with The Half-Drowned King and The Sea Queen.
The Next Generation: While Ragnvald of Sogn and his sister, "Sea Queen" Svanhild, still play significant roles, Svanhild's daughter and Ragnvald's sons take center stage in this intricately plotted novel.
You might also like: Cecilia Holland's Corban Loosestrife novels, Robert Low's Oathsworn series, and other Viking-era historical sagas. |
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This tender land : a novel
by William Kent Krueger
Fleeing the Depression-era school for Native American children who have been taken from their parents, four orphans share a life-changing journey marked by struggling farmers, faith healers, and lost souls
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| The Secrets We Kept by Lara PrescottWhat it's about: The CIA's plan to smuggle copies of Boris Pasternak’s banned novel Dr. Zhivago into Moscow as anti-Soviet propaganda.
Starring: Russian-born secretary-turned-spy Irina; her handler Sally, with whom she begins an affair; and Pasternak's mistress, Olga, who refuses to incriminate her lover and lands in the gulag.
Want a taste? "Some of us spoke Mandarin. Some could fly planes. Some of us could handle a Colt 1873 better than John Wayne. But all we were asked when interviewed was, 'Can you type?'" |
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The world that we knew : a novel
by Alice Hoffman
Sent away to 1941 Paris when Berlin becomes too dangerous for Jewish families, young Lea bonds with her protective mystical golem; while her friend Ettie, a rabbis daughter, joins the French Resistance in order to defend their people
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Focus on: Creepy Historical Fiction
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| The Hunger by Alma KatsuWhat it is: a chilling, often visceral retelling of the Donner Party's ill-fated overland journey, in which supernatural forces stalk the wagon train.
Is it for you? While this well-researched novel adheres closely to the known facts, the introduction of elements such as lycanthropy and ghosts may not be everyone's cup of tea.
For fans of: menacing historical horror à la Dan Simmons' The Terror or F.R. Tallis' The Passenger. |
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| The Owl Killers by Karen MaitlandWhat it's about: escalating tensions between the members of a beguinage -- a self-supporting community of lay religious women -- and a group of powerful men known as the Owl Masters in the 14th-century English village of Ulewic.
Why you might like it: Human nature may be the most frightening part of this eerie novel by Karen Maitland (Company of Liars), which immerses readers in a bleak medieval world of disease and famine, religion and superstition. |
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| The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate MosseIntroducing: taxidermist's daughter Constantia "Connie" Gifford, whose missing memories, the result of a childhood accident, are slowly returning -- much to her dismay.
Is it for you? Set in 1912 Sussex, England, this atmospheric novel incorporates detailed, often gruesome descriptions of the taxidermist's trade into a Gothic story of murder and secrets.
Want a taste? "It is a tale that begins, as it will end, in a graveyard where the bones and the spiders and the worms inhabit the cold earth." |
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| The Silent Companions by Laura PurcellWhat happens: Pregnant Elsie Bainbridge travels to her late husband's ancestral home in the English countryside, where she encounters suspicious villagers, frightened servants, and life-sized, eerily lifelike 17th-century painted wooden figures.
Why you might like it: This haunting novel unfolds in parallel narratives that shift back and forth between the 1630s and the 1860s.
For fans of: the Gothic atmosphere of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black. |
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| The Little Stranger by Sarah WatersWhat it's about: Upon arriving at Hundreds Hall in 1948, Dr. Faraday is alarmed to learn that the aristocratic Ayres family -- widowed Mrs. Ayres; her troubled son, former RAF pilot Roderick; and her "spinster" daughter, Caroline -- believe they're being menaced by supernatural forces.
For fans of: Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House
Reviewers say: readers will enjoy this "eerie ghost story mixed with piercing class commentary" (Booklist). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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