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Late harvest
by Fiona Buckley
When "free trader" Ralph Duggan's brother comes to be suspected of murder, and he and Ralph are sent to live with relatives across the Atlantic, Peggy Shawe, the woman he was to have married, vows to meet him again, but the time and circustances of that meeting are very different than expected
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| The wonder by Emma DonoghueFresh from the battlefields of the Crimea (where she was trained by Florence Nightingale), English nurse Lib Wright has seen it all. Or so she thinks, until she travels to the Irish village of Athlone, where 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell reportedly survives on nothing but "manna from heaven." Is she a saint or a fraud? Hired by a committee of villagers to watch over the girl, Lib has two weeks to determine the truth of the matter -- a task complicated by Anna's uncooperative family and the steady stream of pilgrims who travel to the village to witness the "wonder." Faith and family secrets add a layer of psychological suspense to this haunting novel, which is inspired by true stories of "Fasting Girls" in Europe from the 15th to the 19th century. |
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| The tea planter's wife by Dinah JefferiesWhen 19-year-old Gwendolyn weds widower Laurence Hooper, she forsakes her native Gloucestershire for her new husband's tea plantation in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). But marital bliss eludes the couple due to lingering questions about the mysterious death of Laurence's first wife, Caroline, and their young child. Meanwhile, rising tensions between Sinhalese and Tamil laborers, coupled with growing resistance on the part of the Ceylonese people to British colonial rule, place the Hoopers in a precarious position. With nods to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, this lush and atmospheric novel depicts a failing marriage amid the vivid backdrop of 1920s Sri Lanka. |
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| A gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles"Should you ever set foot outside the Metropol again, you will be shot." With these words, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is placed under house arrest in Moscow's grand Hotel Metropol by the Bolsheviks in 1922. Eschewing despair in favour of "the business of practicalities," Rostov explores his opulent prison and gets to know his fellow residents, particularly a little girl named Nina. Over time, Rostov becomes a fixture of the hotel, which overlooks Revolution Square and serves as a literal window to 20th-century Russian history. At once witty and poignant, this novel by the author of Rules of Civility offers a likeable lead character and a strong sense of place. |
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| The King by Kader AbdolahIn 1848, Crown Prince Naser Muhammad Fatali Mozafar becomes Shah of Persia, a declining Empire that his own grand vizier likens to a "terminally ill patient." Is he up to the challenge? (Because it will be a challenge.) Not only must the new Shah contend with the political infighting of his own court, he must also decide how to adapt the ancient traditions of his society to a rapidly industrialising world and how to deal with powerful nations that long to add Persia to their colonial holdings. Based on the life of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, this novel examines the life of a ruler, a contemporary of England's Queen Victoria, who makes history-altering decisions in a time of change. |
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| Watergate: A novel by Thomas MallonA break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, located in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate Complex, ignites a political scandal that brings down the Nixon administration and causes a constitutional crisis. This witty, character-driven novel depicts multiple viewpoints including those of the President and First Lady; Nixon's loyal secretary Rose Mary Woods; presidential aide and "bagman" Fred LaRue; ex-CIA operative-turned-novelist E. Howard Hunt; nonagenarian socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and more. |
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| Bring up the bodies: A novel by Hilary MantelThis sequel to Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning Wolf Hall continues the story of ambitious courtier Thomas Cromwell's career. Having achieved the pinnacle of success as King Henry VIII's chief minister, Cromwell -- who used cunning and political gamesmanship to secure the annulment that dissolved the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and severed the bonds between the Anglican Church and Rome -- must once again appease his sovereign. This time, his task is to replace Anne Boleyn, who has failed to produce a male heir to the throne, with Henry's latest obsession, Jane Seymour. However, dispensing with yet another queen is a tricky business, and one false step could cost Cromwell everything. |
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| Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee MinSomething of a social chameleon, the future Madame Mao begins her life as Yuhne, the unwanted daughter of a concubine who subjects her, at the age of four, to foot-binding and, later, to an arranged marriage, before the girl runs off to pursue a career on the Shanghai stage. Changing her name to Lan Ping, she enjoys moderate success as an actress before "subversive" activities lead to a stint in prison -- and to her involvement with China's communist party. Assuming yet another identity, she becomes the mistress and ultimately the wife of communist leader Chairman Mao Zedong. Anchee Min's "stunning, powerful portrait" (Booklist) of a controversial yet undeniably complicated and passionate woman also provides insight into China's tumultuous Cultural Revolution. |
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