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Historical Fiction June 2019
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| A Bend in the Stars by Rachel BarenbaumRussia, 1914: When her physicist brother, Vanya, goes missing en route to observe a solar eclipse, Jewish surgeon Miri Abramov embarks on a desperate rescue mission, accompanied by a charming army deserter.
What's at stake: Vanya believes that photographing the eclipse will verify or disprove Einstein's general theory of relativity, while Miri fears that if the coming war doesn't kill them both, the Czar's pogroms will.
Reviewers say: "exhilarating" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Summer of '69
by Elin Hilderbrand
It's 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother's historic home in downtown Nantucket. But like so much else in America, nothing is the same: Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests and determined to be independent, takes a summer job on Martha's Vineyard. Only-son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother and her worried mother, each of them hiding a troubling secret. As the summer heats up, Ted Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, man flies to the moon, and Jessie and her family experience their own dramatic upheavals along with the rest of the country.
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| The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara CollinsIntroducing: Frannie Langton, a Jamaican servant languishing in Newgate Prison as she awaits trial for the murders of her employers.
Why you might like it: Framed as Frannie's confession, this debut offers Gothic atmosphere, vivid recreations of both West Indian sugar plantations and Georgian London, and a penetrating exploration of Enlightenment-era scientific racism.
Want a taste? "The cold seemed to carry its own smell, like raw meat, and came on me sudden as a cutpurse.” |
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| The Flight Portfolio by Julie OrringerWhat it's about: As a volunteer for the Emergency Rescue Committee, American journalist Varian Fry works to smuggle Jewish artists and intellectuals out of Vichy France.
Is it for you? Although it takes some liberties with the biographical details of Fry's life, The Flight Portfolio offers a well-researched depiction of the ERC's activities in assisting refugees during WWII.
About the author: Julie Orriger is the author of The Invisible Bridge. |
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| The Spy of Venice by Benet BrandrethWhat it's about: The "lost years" of William Shakespeare, in which he becomes a spy, undertaking a secret mission while in the guise of a traveling player.
Why you might like it: This brisk yet intricately plotted debut portrays the Bard as a kind of Elizabethan James Bond, dodging assassins and seducing beautiful women.
About the author: When he's not busy writing this series (book 2 is The Assassin of Verona), author Benet Brandreth is the rhetoric coach for the Royal Shakespeare Company. |
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The name of the rose
by Umberto Eco
The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. But his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in seven days and nights of apocalyptic terror. Brother William turns detective, and a uniquely deft one at that. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon -- all sharpened to a glistening edge by his wry humor and ferocious curiosity. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey where "the most interesting things happen at night.
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| The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata MasseyIntroducing: Perveen Mistry, Bombay's first woman solicitor. Despite her Oxford degree, she faces discrimination in a male-dominated profession.
What it's about: Could a strange proviso in the will of a wealthy Muslim mill owner be linked to a murder in the household of his three widows?
Why you might like it: This atmospheric series opener shifts between 1921, when Perveen conducts her investigation, and 1916, when young Perveen discovers her calling in the wake of tragic events. |
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| Plague Land by S.D. SykesWhat it's about: After the Black Death claims his father and brothers, 18-year-old Oswald de Lacy inherits Somershill. His first duty as lord of the manor? To solve a series of murders -- crimes attributed by the locals to dog-headed demons.
Why you might like it: Set in a plague-stricken 1350 Kent, England (in which both constable and coroner are dead), this series opener features an engaging narrator and a twisty mystery.
For fans of: Ariana Franklin's Adelia Aguilar series. |
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| The Ashes of London by Andrew TaylorLondon, 1666: In the aftermath of the Great Fire, a murder victim is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's Cathedral; reluctant government informer James Marwood, son of a traitor, is tasked with finding the killer.
Why you might like it: Marwood's adventures (which continue in The Fire Court) unfold against a richly detailed 17th-century backdrop rife with political intrigue and religious unrest.
You might also like: Susanna Calkins' Lucy Campion mysteries, also set in Restoration London and featuring a working-class sleuth. |
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Death Comes to Pemberley
by P. D. James
It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.
Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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