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Historical Fiction May 2020
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| Conjure Women by Afia AtakoraWhat it's about: The pre-and-post-slavery life of Rue, a midwife and healer who learned everything she knows from her late mother May Belle, a "conjure woman" whose skill set also included laying curses on their cruel master.
After the war...the recently emancipated people stay on the grounds of the old plantation, building a new community in the shadow of their former master's burned-out house. When the birth of strange-looking baby precedes an epidemic that Rue can't stop, a traveling preacher condemns her as a witch. |
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| The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế MaiWhat it is: the sweeping and lyrical multigenerational saga of one family in Vietnam, from the height of the French colonial era to the late 1970s.
Narrated by: Diệu Lan, who lost her life of privilege in the 1930s, weathered the Japanese occupation in the 1940s, and made difficult choices during the famine of the 1950s; Diệu Lan's granddaughter Huong, who develops her survival skills amidst the tumultuous and traumatic years of the American War. |
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| The Everlasting by Katy Simpson SmithWhat it's about: the multilayered history of life in Rome, told through four complex characters -- a precocious 2nd-century Christian girl (the future Saint Prisca), a penitent 9th-century monk nearing the end of his life, an illegitimate Medici "princess" in an unhappy marriage, and a modern-day biologist having an affair during a research trip to the city.
The hook...is an actual fishing hook that appears across the centuries, whether as a simple tool, a child's treasured possession, or a revered religious relic. |
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| How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam ZhangWhat it is: a dramatic and compelling debut novel that follows two immigrant siblings as they search for a home in a Wild West where Chinese and American mythology meet.
All that glitters: Twelve-year-old Lucy and 11-year-old Sam are orphaned after the death of their miner father. Forced to leave the racist mining town they grew up in, the children set off into the hills with a stolen horse to find a way in the world. |
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The girl you left behind
by Jojo Moyes
A German Kommandant, occupying a French town in World War I, obssesses over a portrait of Sophie, a woman who risks everything to reunite with her husband; and a century later, Liv, a widow, is caught in a a dispute over the ownership of the valuable work
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The guest book
by Sarah Blake
"A novel about past mistakes and betrayals that ripple throughout generations, The Guest Book examines not just a privileged American family, but a privileged America. It is a literary triumph. The Guest Book follows three generations of a powerful American family, a family that "used to run the world." And when the novel begins in 1935, they still do.
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After the war is over : a novel
by Jennifer Robson
After four years as a military nurse during the Great War, Charlotte Brown's life is radically changed when she receives two letters—one from a radical young newspaper editor, offering her a chance to speak out for those who cannot, and the other pulls her back to her past, and to a man she has tried, and failed, to forget..
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The Shadow King: A Novel
by Maaza Mengiste
Ethiopia, 1935: Orphaned Hirut joins the fight against Italy's invading army by serving as bodyguard to the "Shadow King," a stand-in for exiled Emperor Haile Selassie.
What sets it apart: Not only does this lyrical novel by the author of Beneath the Lion's Gaze depict a lesser-known conflict, Hirut's journey from servant to soldier offers a change from war stories that portray women exclusively as casualties or refugees.
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| The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr by Susan Holloway ScottBased on: oral histories that claim Aaron Burr fathered illegitimate children with an enslaved woman named Mary Emmons who worked in his home.
Starring: Calcutta-born Mary, a sympathetic young woman who fights to maintain her sense of self as she tends to Burr's dying wife Theodosia and navigates the power imbalance surrounding her relationship with the notorious statesman.
You might also like: Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, which also delves into the sexual power dynamics of enslaved women and their masters. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Grand Ledge Area District Library 131 E Jefferson St Grand Ledge, Michigan 48837 (517) 627-7014https://gladl.org |
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