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Historical Fiction February 2022 |
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| Yonder by Jabari AsimWhat it is: a haunting and mystical story about enslaved people fighting to preserve their humanity and their dreams of freedom from the oppressive chattel slavery system they live under.
Starring: the Stolen, which is how the enslaved people of the Placid Hall plantation describe themselves as they share narration duties; the Thieves, which is how they refer to their White captors; and an itinerant preacher who provides an enticing glimpse of the possibility of freedom.
About the author: Multi-genre writer Jabari Asim is known for his short stories (A Taste of Honey), nonfiction (We Can't Breathe), poetry (Stop and Frisk), children's books (Preaching to the Chickens), and previous novel, Only the Strong. |
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| Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian CantorWhat it is: a richly detailed and intricately plotted adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby that gives the novel's female characters a chance to tell their own stories
For fans of: historical murder mysteries and tales of the Jazz Age.
Reviewers say: Beautiful Little Fools is an "admirably convincing act of literary skullduggery [that] offers many rewards" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Queen's Men by Oliver ClementsSeries alert: The Queen's Men is the sequel to The Eyes of the Queen, which introduced readers to English mathematician and court astrologer John Dee.
This time: Always conscious of the insecurity of her throne, Queen Elizabeth I tasks Dee with recovering the long-forgotten recipe for the ancient napalm-like weapon known as Greek fire.
Did you know? The ingredients and production method of Greek fire were a state secret in the Byzantine Empire, and to this day modern historians have yet to discover the recipe. |
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| Small World by Jonathan EvisonWhat it is: a moving and intricately plotted historical epic, beginning in the mid-19th century and spanning decades, continents, and worldviews.
Featuring: Irish immigrants Nora and Finn, recently orphaned in Chicago; Wu Chen, who leaves China to seek fortune during the Gold Rush; escaped slave George, who works to build a new life in the shadow of fugitive slave laws; Miwok woman Luyu, who chafes under the expectations of the family who "adopted" her.
Read it for: the richly detailed and refreshingly diverse portrayal of American history and the skill with which author Jonathan Evison handles this sweeping tale. |
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| The Leopard is Loose by Stephen HarriganWhat it's about: a single frightening, thrilling summer day in 1952, when the escape of the Oklahoma City Zoo's leopard sends the city -- and one little boy's family -- into a furor.
Read it for: the compelling, innocent voice of narrator 5-year-old Grady McClarty, who provides an imperfect yet insightful perspective on adult issues like postwar anxiety, grief, and the city's simmering racial tension, which threatens to boil over.
Reviewers say: Leopard is a "likable, nostalgic yarn that explores how minor incidents can catalyze into bigger crises" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Last Dance of the Debutante by Julia KellyWhat it is: the engaging, character-driven story of the final Queen Charlotte's Ball, where debutantes were presented to London high society before Queen Elizabeth ended the practice in 1958.
The setup: Lily Nichols wants nothing more than to go to university, but she agrees to "do the Season" of social events to please her tradition-minded mother. But underneath the glitz and glamour Lily discovers a complex web of scandals and secrets, including a devastating one that could destroy her own legacy-obsessed family.
About the author: Bestselling author Julia Kelly got her start with romance novels but now writes historical fiction, including The Whispers of War and The Last Garden in England. |
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| The Family by Naomi KrupitskyWhat it's about: First bonding over the shared strangeness of their lives as the daughters of prominent Brooklyn mafiosi, Antonia Russo and Sofia Colicchio develop a deep, complex friendship in childhood that will be tested like never before when one of their fathers "disappears" after trying to leave the Family.
Read it for: the sweeping, character-driven narrative, which alternates perspectives as Antonia and Sofia tell their respective sides of the story.
Reviewers say: The Family is a "dynamite debut" in which "Mario Puzo meets Elena Ferrante" (Booklist). |
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| The Paris Bookseller by Kerri MaherWhat it is: a leisurely paced and character-driven story of Shakespeare and Company, the iconic Paris bookstore, and its equally remarkable founder Sylvia Beach.
Cameos by: Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and James Joyce, who Sylvia supported in more ways than one after his controversial book Ulysses was banned in the U.S.
You might also like: Tenderness by Alison MacLeod; The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. |
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| The London House by Katherine ReayWhat it's about: Faced with the possibility that her great-aunt and namesake was a Nazi collaborator; Caroline Payne travels to London to search for the truth.
Read it for: the intricate plotting and atmospheric tone, which keep things moving along at a steady pace as the story switches between each Caroline's perspective.
Reviewers say: Author Katherine Reay's "fast-paced foray into the past" that readers who "enjoy engrossing family mystery should take note [of]" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Our Kind of People by Carol WallaceThe setup: Impeccably bred Helen Wilcox (née Maitland) is preparing to launch her daughters Alice and Jemima into New York high society, hoping to salvage their social position through advantageous matches to compensate for her own decision to "marry down" for love in her youth.
The problem: Alice and Jemima's already precarious social standing is put into even more jeopardy as they await the fallout of their father's questionable business gamble, and as they each find themselves drawn toward men their mother is sure to reject.
About the author: Bestselling author Carol Wallace wrote the social history To Marry an English Lord, which partially inspired Downton Abbey, and her Ben-Hur is a retelling of the classic novel of the same name, originally written by her great-great-grandfather General Lew Wallace. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Atlantic County Library System | 40 Farragut Avenue, Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Phone: (609) 625-2776 | www.atlanticlibrary.org
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|  | Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson
Atlantic County Board of Commissioners, Maureen Kern, Chairwoman |
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