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Historical Fiction April 2024
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| Neferura by Malayna EvansMet our hero: Princess Neferura, daughter of the formidable female pharaoh Hatshepsut, lives a life of prescribed duty, from her role as the high priestess of Amun to an unwanted marriage to Thutmose, a claimant to the throne.
The problem: Caught between her mother and her husband, Neferura will have to do her own scheming in order to survive the intrigues of them both. |
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| The London Bookshop Affair by Louise FeinHow it starts: In this atmospheric and intricately plotted spy novel, the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis reaches across the Atlantic and into the life of sheltered London bookshop clerk Celia Duchesne.
And then: She learns a shocking truth about the wartime fate of her sister and the an old family scandal comes back to haunt her. |
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| The Painter's Daughters by Emily HowesIntroducing: Molly and Peggy, the titular daughters of 18th century English painter Thomas Gainsborough, who are regular subjects in their father's work.
But then: As the girls grow older, it becomes apparent that Molly has developed a mental illness of some kind, something which Peggy realizes must be hidden at all costs from their social-climbing mother and emotionally absent father, or Molly might be sent to the notorious Bedlam asylum. |
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| A Plague on Both Your Houses by Robert LittellWhat it is: Inspired by real events, this fast-paced historical thriller combines the star-crossed young love of "Romeo and Juliet" with the upheaval of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The set up: As two rival crime organizations fight for control of Moscow amidst economic anarchy, Roman and Yulia form an unlikely connection across ethnic, religious, and territorial lines. |
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| Mrs. Gulliver by Valerie MartinThe protagonist: On the fictional Caribbean island of Verona where prostitution is legal, the titular Lila Gulliver runs a high-end brothel.
The plot: In 1954 she takes in Carità Bercy, a charming young blind woman who begins an (actual) love affair with a well-connected client that will have dramatic and unexpected fallout for the entire community. |
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| The Lost Dresses of Italy by M.A. McLaughlinWhat it's about: Three beautifully preserved Victorian dresses unite two women living nearly a century apart in this compelling and richly detailed story of loss and recovery.
Where we start: In 1947, textile historian Marianne Baxter travels to a still-rebuilding postwar Italy to oversee an exhibit of the dresses, which once belonged to celebrated poet Christina Rossetti (who hid them away in 1865 for mysterious reasons). |
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| All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. MorrisWhat it is: This incisive and character-driven prequel is set a decade before the events of Shakespeare's "Scottish Play" and is narrated by the unnamed young woman who would eventually be known as Lady Macbeth.
Reviewers say: "[A] beautifully realized tale of a daughter, mother, and wife ultimately at the mercy of Fate’s unknowable interventions.” (Booklist) |
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| The Rumor Game by Thomas MullenMeet the heroes: In this intricately plotted crime novel, reporter Anne Lemire and FBI agent Devon Mulvey separately, and later together investigate a succession of antisemitic violence in 1943 Boston.
The plot: Soon they uncover a fascist conspiracy to falsely incriminate members of the local Jewish community and must find a way to convince the authorities to act on their information. |
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| Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison PatakiThe main character: The life and adventures of trailblazing writer and activist Margaret Fuller fill this lush and richly detailed novel by The Accidental Empress author Allison Pataki.
Her friends: Fuller's circle of famous friends included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who may have based elements of Hester Prynne on her. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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