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Historical Fiction November 2019
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The Poppy Wife
by Caroline Scott
1921. Survivors of the Great War are desperately trying to piece together the fragments of their broken lives. While many have been reunited with their loved ones, Edie’s husband Francis has not come home. Francis is presumed to have been killed in action, but Edie believes he might still be alive. Harry, Francis’s brother, was there the day Francis was wounded. He was certain it was a fatal wound—that he saw his brother die—but as time passes, Harry begins questioning his memory of what happened. For fans of: Hazel Gaynor and Jennifer Robson.
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A Single Thread
by Tracy Chevalier
1932. After the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiance, Violet Speedwell has become a "surplus woman," one of a generation doomed to a life of spinsterhood after the war killed so many young men. She saves enough to move out of her mother's place and into the town of Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals. There, Violet is drawn into a society of broderers--women who embroider kneelers for the Cathedral, carrying on a centuries-long tradition of bringing comfort to worshippers. About the author: Tracy Chevalier is the author of Remarkable Creatures and The Girl With the Pearl Earring
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The Bright Unknown
by Elizabeth Byler Younts
Pennsylvania, 1940s: The only life Brighton Friedrich has ever known is the one she has endured within the dreary walls of Riverside Home—the rural asylum where she was born. A nurse, Joann, has educated and raised Brighton, whose mother is a patient at the hospital. But Joann has also kept vital information from Brighton—secrets that if ever revealed would illuminate Brighton’s troubling past and the circumstances that confine her to Riverside. Brighton’s best friend is a boy she calls Angel, and as they grow up together and face the bleak future that awaits them, they determine to make a daring escape. For fans of: The Light Between Oceans
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| Where the Light Enters by Sara DonatiThe short version: The pursuit of justice brings the Savard cousins together in this sequel to The Gilded Hour, set in 1880s Manhattan.
The long version: Black obstetrician Sophie is mourning her husband, while white physician Anna has just lost custody (on religious grounds) of the three orphans she and her Jewish detective husband were fostering. However, they must put grief to one side to catch a serial murderer who, posing as a surgeon, mutilates women seeking abortions. |
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Curious Toys
by Elizabeth Hand
Joining a gang near the famous Riverview amusement park in 1915 Chicago, the daughter of a fortune teller teams up with a reclusive artist to track down a serial killer responsible for a child’s disappearance.
For fans of: Erik Larsen
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| The Girls in the Picture by Melanie BenjaminStarring: silent film actress Mary Pickford and screenwriter Frances Marion, whose (complicated) friendship underpins their enduring creative partnership.
Read it for: an engaging story anchored by strong female characters, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the early years of America's film industry.
For fans of: Karina Longworth's podcast You Must Remember This, focusing on both famous and lesser-known figures in Hollywood history. |
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| He by John ConnollyStarring: Stan Laurel, music hall entertainer turned movie star.
What it's about: the comedian's early struggles and eventual stardom, his decades-long creative partnership with Oliver Hardy, and his complicated personal life.
Why you might like it: "a world of Dickens-like detail leaps off the page" (The Irish Times) of this meticulously researched novel, told in spare yet evocative prose.
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| Stars over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner1938: Violet Mayfield and Audrey Duvall become friends while working as secretaries at Selznick International Pictures, which is producing Gone With the Wind.
2012: When a hat worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind is accidentally donated to her vintage clothing boutique on Sunset Boulevard, Christine McAllister sets out to find the rightful owner and uncovers long-hidden secrets.
For fans of: Kate Alcott's A Touch of Stardust. |
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| The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins ReidWhat it's about: Reclusive cultural icon Evelyn Hugo taps journalist Monique Grant to write her tell-all biography. But why?
Read it for: the much-married, larger-than-life Evelyn, whose single-minded pursuit of fame and fortune took her from Hell's Kitchen to Hollywood.
Evelyn's words of wisdom: "Don't be so tied up trying to do the right thing when the smart thing is so painfully clear." |
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| All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana TrigianiIntroducing: novice nun Alda Ducci, who becomes the personal secretary of Hollywood star-on-the-rise Loretta Young.
What happens: Alda and Loretta become fast friends, but their bond is strained by Young's scandalous personal life, which includes an out-of-wedlock pregnancy that must be concealed from the public eye.
You might also like: Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone, which pairs a spirited young starlet with a conservative chaperone. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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