|
Historical Fiction May 2018
|
|
|
|
|
I, Eliza Hamilton by Susan Holloway ScottAlexander Hamilton’s wife, Eliza, supports and assists her brilliant husband through the American Revolution and afterwards, when he becomes one of the new country’s most important figures and even after his untimely death, ultimately forging her own extraordinary path. You might also like: The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs and My Dear Hamilton by Eliza Schuyler Hamilton.
|
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| The Courtesan by Alexandra CurryWhat it’s about: Born during Dowager Empress Cixi's reign, legendary Qing dynasty courtesan Sai Jinhua witnesses numerous transitions throughout her long and eventful life. From being sold to a brothel for a handful of coins at the age of seven to traveling to Vienna as the concubine of a government official, Jinhua’s story reaches a dangerous climax during the Boxer Rebellion.
For fans of: Authors Lisa See and Amy Tan as well as Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. |
|
|
The Day the Falls Stood Still
by Cathy Marie Buchanan
What it's about: Living in 1915 near Niagara Falls, 17-year-old Bess Heath, who is struggling to cope with the death of her sister and the disgrace of her family, and Tom Cole, whose sixth sense of the river and the falls aids him in daring rescues, are the key players in a transformative love story.
|
|
|
The Girl who Played Go
by Sa Shan
What it's about: Occupied with her coming of age when hostilities break out between her fellow citizens in Manchuria and their Japanese occupiers, a sixteen-year-old girl becomes disdainful of the adult world and dominates local go competitions until she is challenged by a disguised Japanese soldier.
|
|
|
Outlander: A Novel
by Diana Gabaldon
What it's about: Hurtled back through time more than two hundred years to Scotland in 1743, Claire Randall finds herself in the midst of an world torn apart by violence, pestilence, and revolution, and haunted by her feelings for a young soldier.
Don't miss out: Now a hit series on STARZ!
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|