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Historical Fiction May 2017
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| The Women in the Castle: A Novel by Jessica ShattuckOnce a fashionable gathering place for Germany's smart set, the Bavarian castle of Burg Lingenfels is now, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, a crumbling ruin. This character-driven novel follows Marianne von Lingenfels, who offers shelter to Benita Fledermann and Ania Grabarek, the widows of men who fought for the resistance alongside her late husband. Their harrowing experiences forge strong bonds of friendship, but changing circumstances introduce tensions that will tear them apart. With its flawed characters and unflinching examination of the moral dilemmas faced by ordinary people living under authoritarian regimes, this novel may appeal to readers who enjoyed Maria Hummel's Motherland. |
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| Before the War by Fay WeldonAlthough ungainly, socially awkward Vivien "Vivvie" Ripple seems destined to remain a spinster (despite her family's wealth) in 1922 London, an unplanned pregnancy requires that she find a husband, any husband. She proposes a marriage of convenience to Sherwyn Sexton, an aspiring novelist and editor at her father's publishing house -- prompting her scheming socialite mother, Adela, to intervene. Indeed, the vain and ruthless Adela will upstage her daughter in this sardonic, slyly metafictional novel. Fans of family sagas (and scandals) that take place in England between the wars may also enjoy Penny Vincenzi's Spoils of Time trilogy, which begins with No Angel. |
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An extraordinary union
by Alyssa Cole
During the Civil War two undercover agents, Elle Burns, a former slave, and Malcolm McCall a detective in Pinkerton’s Secret Service uncover a plot that could lead to a Confederate victory and vow to preserve the Union at any cost. Original.
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The practice house
by Laura McNeal
When nineteen-year-old Aldine McKenna follows her sister to America, she accepts a position as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Kansas, where financial conditions require her to live with the family of the man who advertised the position
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The river of kings : a novel
by Taylor Brown
Two brothers, a college student and a Navy SEAL, travel the storied past and present of Georgia's "Little Amazon" Altamaha River to scatter their enigmatic father's ashes while exploring the work of 16th-centry artist Jacques Le Moyne and sharing what they know about their father's death. By the prize-winning author of Fallen Land.
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Ironfire : a novel of the Knights of Malta and the last battle of the Crusades
by David W. Ball
On the small island of Malta, in the heart of the valuable sea lanes between the Ottoman Empire in the East and the Christian kingdoms of the West, the Knights of the Ancient Order of St. John prepare to make a desperate stand against forty thousand of the sultan's fiercest warriors, in a sweeping novel of sixteenth-century Europe.
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| City of Thieves: A Novel by David BenioffDuring the Siege of Leningrad, 17-year-old Lev Beniov lands in jail after looting a German paratrooper's corpse for much-needed supplies. While awaiting execution, Lev meets army deserter Kolya, who has also been sentenced to death. However, the condemned men receive a last-minute reprieve when NKVD Colonel Grechko tasks them with gathering ingredients for his daughter's wedding cake. Easier said than done: it's winter in a city that's been in starvation mode since summer, which means that Lev and Kolya must venture into enemy-occupied territory outside the city. Despite its grim subject matter, City of Thieves is a lively adventure story leavened with dark humor. |
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| The Dovekeepers: A Novel by Alice HoffmanThis heartbreaking novel focuses on four women whose lives intersect in 70 CE during the siege of Masada, the mountain fortress to which 900 Jewish refugees fled after the Romans sacked Jerusalem. There's assassin's daughter Yael, pregnant by her married lover; widowed grandmother Revka, now the guardian of her grandsons following the deaths of her husband and daughter; and Alexandrian priestess and mystic Shirah and her equally unconventional daughter Aziza, a warrior. Readers interested in Jewish history, war stories, or women's lives in antiquity should check out The Dovekeepers, which "makes ancient history live and breathe" (Booklist). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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