|
|
Historical Fiction January 2023 |
|
|
|
|
| That Summer in Berlin by Lecia CornwallStarring: Viviane Alden, a young British woman who travels to Berlin in 1936 under the guise of working as a photographer at the Olympics. Her true goal? To find evidence that Germany is rearming in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles.
What makes it unique: the high-stakes setting, which has extra layers of artifice for Viviane to parse since any country hosting the Olympics tries to put its best foot forward.
For fans of: the Miss Lily series by Jackie French; the Verity Kent series by Anna Lee Huber. |
|
| The Poison Machine by Robert J. LloydSeries alert: The Poison Machine is the sequel to The Bloodless Boy, which first introduced readers to Harry Hunt, a 17th-century gentleman scientist and amateur sleuth.
This time: Harry heads to Norfolkshire for a seemingly straightforward investigation that will eventually take him across the English Channel in pursuit of a former royal favorite from the days of Charles I.
Reviewers say: Author Robert J. Lloyd "skillfully combines an endearingly flawed lead, jaw-dropping twists, and the fraught, conspiracy-laden politics of the Stuart Restoration" (Publishers Weekly). |
|
|
|
The Book of Everlasting Things
by Aanchal Malhotra
What it's about: When their beloved city is ravaged by Partition, Hindu perfumer Samir Vij and Muslim calligrapher Firdaus Khan, now on opposite sides, their love forbidden, make a series of fateful decisions that will change the course of their lives forever.
Want a taste? "All that surrounded him—the river, the legends, the sand, the breeze, the morning light, even his family—dissolved. Everything solid melted into air."
Reviewers call it: "A quiet and moving portrait of eternal love and remembrance" (Kirkus Reviews).
|
|
| Marmee by Sarah MillerWhat it is: a heartwarming, leisurely paced reimagining of classic novel Little Women, from the perspective of the titular March family matriarch.
Read it for: a deeper understanding of the complexities of Margaret March's existence beyond the supporting role she played in the stories of her daughters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.
About the author: Sarah Miller writes juvenile nonfiction about historical topics and historical fiction for both children and adults. Her previous adult novel Caroline reimagined the story of the Caroline Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie fame. |
|
| Miss Del Río by Bárbara Louise MujicaWhat it is: the dramatic, rags to riches story of Hollywood icon Dolores del Río, beginning with her days as an orphan in northern Mexico before the 1910 Revolution.
Appearances by: Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, and Frida Kahlo.
You might also like: Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick and The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict. |
|
|
|
The Circus Train
by Amita Parikh
What it's about: Lena, who uses a wheelchair after a case of polio, feels isolated even within the traveling circus she’s always called home until she finds companionship with Alexandre Robichaud, an orphaned Jewish boy hiding in the circus’s train as it crosses Amsterdam in 1938.
Reviewers say: "Parikh has created a carefully researched historical debut whose bighearted, sensitive protagonist makes the reader’s emotional journey well worth it" (Kirkus Reviews).
For fans of: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
|
|
|
|
The Seamstress of Sardinia
by Bianca Pitzorno
What it's about: In 1900 Sardinia, an intelligent and ambitious young woman with an impossible dream--to become the seamstress for a wealthy family--is drawn into a world far different than her own where she observes the town's residents, who are not quite what they pretend to be.
Read it for: Minutely described period clothing and memorable characters that add to the charm.
Reviewers say: "This sumptuous costume drama has a great deal of heart" (Publishers Weekly).
|
|
|
|
River Sing Me Home
by Eleanor Shearer
What it's about: In 1834 Barbados, after the master of the Providence plantation in Barbados refuses to let them go even after the king has decreed an end to slavery, Rachel escapes and embarks on a grueling journey to find her five children who survived at birth and were sold.
Want a taste? “Six years of cutting and planting and cutting again. Freedom was just another name for the life they had always lived.”
Reviewers say: "The beautifully written depiction of a mother longing for her children makes this transcendent" (Publishers Weekly).
|
|
| One Woman's War by Christine WellsWhat it's about: the wartime activities of Victoire Bennett, a British Naval Intelligence officer who some believe inspired James Bond mainstay Miss Moneypenny.
Read it for: the engagingly written characters including Victoire, a survival-driven Austrian double agent, and Ian Fleming himself.
For fans of: Kate Quinn's The Alice Network and Ariel Lawhon's Code Name Helene. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Fremont Public Library District at 847-566-8702.
|
|
|