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Historical Fiction May 2018
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| My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura KamoieStarring: Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, wife of American founding father Alexander Hamilton -- a complex and determined woman who contributed much to the birth of the United States while enduring many personal and public tribulations.
For fans of: the musical Hamilton who are hungry for more about this Revolutionary War-era figure.
You might also like: I, Eliza Hamilton by Susan Scott Holloway and The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs. |
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| Varina by Charles FrazierWhat it’s about: Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America during the U.S. Civil War, learns that her marriage of security and comfort comes at a steep price.
Why you might like it: If you enjoyed bestselling author Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, you will rejoice as he returns to the same time period in U.S. history.
Read it for: the fascinating character study of Varina Davis through which we can ponder topics like culpability and complicity. |
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| The Room on Rue Amélie by Kristin HarmelWhat it’s about: Three disparate characters are drawn together in Nazi-occupied Paris: Ruby Benoit, an American newlywed with questions about her secretive French husband; Ruby’s Jewish neighbor, 11-year-old Charlotte Dacher; and British Royal Air Force pilot Thomas Clarke.
Why you should read it: This poignant tale is based loosely on the true story of an American woman who aided Allied soldiers in Paris as part of a resistance group called the Comet Line.
For fans of: World War II-era fiction like Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Martha Kelly’s Lilac Girls. |
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| Ecstasy by Mary SharrattWhat it’s about: Set amid the spectacular whirl of turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna, Ecstasy introduces readers to aspiring composer Alma Schindler, who -- while capturing the heart of the much-older conductor Gustav Mahler -- dares to defy the expectations of her time.
Who it’s for: Readers who like strong female heroines, especially women in history whose stories deserve to be better known.
You might also like: Elizabeth Hickey's The Painted Kiss, about the relationship between painter Gustav Klimt and Emilie Fleoge. |
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The Light Between Oceans: A Novel
by M.L. Stedman
What it's about: An emotionally scarred World War I veteran becomes a lighthouse keeper on a small island off the coast of Australia. When a boat washes ashore carrying an infant girl, he and his wife decide to keep the baby -- a decision with far-reaching consequences.
You might also like: Karen Viggers' The Lightkeeper's Wife, another moving novel about a lighthouse keeper who starts an unconventional family on an isolated island off the coast of Australia.
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| The Other Alcott by Elise HooperIntroducing: May Alcott, sister and rival to Louisa May Alcott and the model for Amy March in Louisa’s classic Little Women, who aspires to greatness in the male-dominated art world.
Reviewers say: “Not to be missed” (Library Journal).
You might also like: Marie Benedict’s The Other Einstein, which also focuses on a less well-known relative of a historical icon, or Priya Parmar's Vanessa and Her Sister, another biographical historical novel that addresses complex sisterly relationships. |
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Lilac girls : a novel
by Martha Hall Kelly
A debut novel inspired by the life of unlikely World War II heroine Caroline Ferriday follows the experiences of a Manhattan debutante, who resolves to help upon learning of the atrocities at the Ravensbruck concentration camp; and a Catholic teen, who is swept up in the Polish resistance movement.
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Alice I have been : a novel
by Melanie Benjamin
Octogenarian Alice, who as a child inspired Lewis Carroll's famous Wonderland character, looks back on a life marked by an implacable mother, her halcyon days in Oxford and the sons who went off to war. Reprint.
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| The Gardens of Consolation by Parisa RezaFeaturing: the Amir family: Sardar and his young bride, Talla, whose arranged marriage is also founded on love, and their bright university-educated son, Bahram.
Why you might like it: The growth of the Amir family is set against the changing political climate of early 20th-century Iran.
About the author: Debut author Parisa Reza emigrated from Iran to France as a teenager in the 1980s; The Gardens of Consolation received the 2015 Prix Senghor for a debut novel by a Francophone writer. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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