| Bloodline by Conn IgguldenBy the winter of 1461, Richard Plantagent, Duke of York, and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, are dead, their heads mounted on iron spikes at the entrance to the city of York. However, the victor -- Lancastrian King Henry VI -- remains imprisoned. As his wife, Margaret of Anjou, orders her army south to London to liberate him, a new rival emerges: Edward, Earl of March, who asserts his claim to the English throne. Bloodline is the conclusion of the gritty, action-packed trilogy that began with Stormbird and Trinity. For another, more romantic perspective on the Wars of the Roses try Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series. |
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The Cheapside corpse
by Susanna Gregory
London in the spring of 1665 is a city full of fear. There is plague in the stews of St Giles, the Dutch fleet is preparing to invade, and a banking crisis threatens to leave Charles II's government with no means of paying for the nation's defence. Amid the tension, Thomas Chaloner is ordered to investigate the murder of Dick Wheler, one of the few goldsmith-bankers to have survived the losses that have driven others to bankruptcy - or worse. At the same time, a French spy staggers across the city, carrying the plague from one parish to another. Chaloner's foray into the world of the financiers who live in and around Cheapside quickly convinces him that they are just as great a threat as the Dutch, but their power and greed thwart him at every turn. Meanwhile, the plague continues to spread across the city, and the body count from the disease and from the fever of avarice starts to rise alarmingly ..
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| To the bright edge of the world: A novel by Eowyn IveyLeaving his wife, Sophie, behind in the Vancouver barracks, U.S. Army Colonel Allen Forrester embarks on an expedition to map the interior of the newly acquired Alaska Territory. As Forrester and his crew venture into the wilderness, encountering danger, hardship, and astounding natural beauty, free-spirited Sophie chafes against the restrictions placed upon military spouses, recording her experiences in her diary. This is an historical epistolary novel (told through letters, documents and other ephemera) with sympathetic characters and lyrical depictions of the 19th-century American frontier. |
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| The castle of kings by Oliver PötzschWhen her trained falcon returns from hunting with an antique ring tied to its talons, Lady Agnes, daughter of the knight castellan of Trifels, is determined to solve the mystery. She confides in her friend (and would-be suitor) Mathis, son of the castle's blacksmith, inadvertently embroiling the pair in the political unrest sweeping the country. Mathis, who's been experimenting with gunpowder, is recruited by rebels in need of his expertise, while Agnes must protect herself and her father from the schemes of the villainous Count Friedrich von Löwenstein-Scharfeneck. Set in Palatinate Germany during the 16th-century Peasants' War, this sprawling and intricately plotted saga combines rich period detail with a dramatic tale of adventure. |
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| The raft by Arabella EdgeIt's 1818 and Paris society is obsessed with the shipwreck of the French frigate Medusa, a catastrophe that left 150 survivors adrift on a crude raft -- until illness, starvation, murder, and cannibalism reduced their numbers to only 15. Celebrated young painter Théodore Géricault, seeking a subject for his next masterpiece, decides to recreate "The Raft of the Medusa" on canvas. Consumed by the project, Géricault commissions a life-sized replica of the raft, uses corpses as models, and finds muses in two survivors. |
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The painter's apprentice
by Charlotte Betts
1688. Beth Ambrose has led a sheltered life within the walls of Merryfields, her family home on the outskirts of London; a place where her parents provide a sanctuary for melancholic souls. A passionate and gifted artist, Beth shares a close bond with Johannes the painter, a troubled resident at Merryfields, who nurtures her talents and takes her on as his apprentice. But as political tensions begin to rise in the capital, Noah Leyton arrives at their door in the middle of the night with a proposition that turns Beth's world upside down. Meanwhile, Merryfields becomes refuge to a mysterious new guest, whose connections provide an opportunity for Beth to fulfil her artistic ambitions. But she soon realises it comes at a price. As the Glorious Revolution begins to throw the whole country into turmoil, can Beth find the courage to follow her heart and defend all she holds dear? And change the course of history for good.
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| Georgia: A novel of Georgia O'Keeffe by Dawn TrippAspiring artist Georgia O'Keeffe's life changes -- mostly for the better -- when she meets and falls in love with photographer Alfred Stieglitz. However, as the mistress and muse of the much-older, married Stieglitz, Georgia struggles to be recognized as an artist in her own right -- especially once Stieglitz revives his own flagging career by exhibiting nude portraits of her. Meanwhile, self-taught Georgia wrestles with mastering her chosen medium and suffers her own betrayals by Stieglitz, whose obsessive pursuit of younger women strains their relationship to the breaking point. With its emphasis on the inner life of Georgia O'Keeffe, this lyrical novel presents a nuanced portrait of one of America's most iconic artists. |
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| Lisette's list: A novel by Susan VreelandIn 1937, Parisienne Lisette Roux and her husband, André, move to the village of Roussillon in Provence to care for Andre's ailing grandfather, Pascal. While Lisette misses the cultural life of the big city -- not to mention the art gallery apprenticeship she had to turn down -- she comes to appreciate country life, especially once Pascal shares his memories of seven paintings and the two artists who created them, Paul Cézanne and Camille Pissarro. However, the outbreak of World War II shatters the Roux' cozy domesticity and scatters the artworks; can Lisette locate the paintings and put her family back together? Both art aficionados and fans of romantic war stories will be delighted by author Susan Vreeland's most recent novel. |
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