Publisher: Vintage International
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9780345805034
ISBN-10: 0345805038

In 1832, two years before the abolition of slavery in South Africa, a young slave named Philida tells the story of her life at Farm Zandvliet. Central to her narrative is Francois "Frans" Brink, the son of Philida's owner and the father of her four children. Once, Frans asked Philida to be his wife; Philida, eager to gain freedom for herself and their children, consented. Now Frans, bowing to his father's demands that he marry into a socially prominent Cape Town family, not only refuses to emancipate her, but also threatens to sell her. In retaliation, Philida lodges a formal complaint -- a bold step that will irrevocably alter the course of her life. Based on author André Brink's own family history, this meticulously researched novel explores the issues surrounding the institution of slavery in lyrical, dialect-rich language.

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Publisher: Doubleday
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 03/12/2013
ISBN-13: 9780385536639
ISBN-10: 0385536631

Years ago, Bennosuke's father, the renowned warrior Munisai, abandoned his home for the battlefield. Although his uncle (and guardian), the monk Dorinbo, nudges Bennosuke towards the religious life, the 13-year-old wants nothing more than to follow in his father's footsteps. When Munisai returns, Bennosuke learns the terrible truth behind his father's departure -- and strengthens his resolve to become a true samurai. Based on the life of 17th-century warrior-poet Musashi Miyamoto, whose achievements include creating the two-bladed sword technique of kenjutsu and authoring The Book of the Five Rings, this gripping biographical novel skillfully evokes a time, place, and way of life that should appeal to fans of historical fiction set in feudal Japan, such as James Clavell's Shogun.

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Publisher: Harlequin Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/26/2013
ISBN-13: 9780778313526
ISBN-10: 0778313522

Even before the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, life is tough for 14-year-old Lucy Takeda: in addition to wrestling with the normal pains of adolescence, Lucy grieves for her recently deceased father and worries about her mother, Miyako, who has fallen into a deep depression. Then Lucy and Miyako are "relocated" to Manzanar, an internment camp in the California desert, where they and numerous other Japanese-American prisoners must contend with malnutrition, poor sanitation, and abusive camp officials. When Miyako takes a stand to protect her daughter, she sets in motion a tragic series of events that leave their mark on Lucy for the rest of her life. This moving historical novel about the mass internment of Japanese-American families during World War II may appeal to fans of Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor was Divine.

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Publisher: Back Bay Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/02/2008
ISBN-13: 9780316065771
ISBN-10: 0316065773

In 17th-century Persia, one nameless girl's life changes forever when a comet streaks across the sky. Soon after the fateful event, the girl's father dies, and she and her mother travel to Isfahan to the house of her uncle, the Shah's carpet maker. While her role is that of a servant, she soon becomes something of an apprentice, learning everything about the carpet trade. That's not the only change in her life: rather than embrace marriage and motherhood, she must submit to a sigheh -- a temporary, renewable (or not) marriage contract lasting three months -- in order to earn her keep. But the girl, who has discovered a passion for making carpets, has other ideas. If you enjoy this debut by Iranian-American author Anita Amirrezvani, be sure to read her most recent book, Equal of the Sun, about a 16th-century princess of Iran.

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/10/2007
ISBN-13: 9780312378028
ISBN-10: 0312378025

Fiona Finnegan dreams of marrying her sweetheart, Joe Bristow, and opening a shop in London's East End. Alas, those dreams are shattered when wealthy tea merchant William Burton arranges the murder of her father, a union organizer, and separates her from Joe. Further tragedy ensues until Fiona has no choice but to flee England. She arrives in New York City, determined to dominate the tea trade and, in doing so, to lay the groundwork for her revenge on Burton. This dramatic and intricately plotted rags-to-riches saga is the 1st book in the Tea Rose Trilogy, followed by The Winter Rose and The Wild Rose. The series, which begins in the 1880s and continues through World War I, is a sweeping family saga whose strong-willed heroines face many obstacles before finding happiness in life and love.

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Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/05/2012
ISBN-13: 9781439155585
ISBN-10: 1439155585

Half-Turkish and half-Welsh aspiring singer Saba Tarcan decides to aid both the war effort and her career by auditioning for the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), which organizes morale-boosting performances for those serving in the British armed forces. Saba's singing captivates one audience member in particular, wounded fighter pilot Dominic Benson, with whom she begins a tentative romance that's interrupted by Dom's reassignment to the Desert Air Force and Saba's own top secret intelligence mission to Istanbul. This lush, leisurely paced novel of wartime romance and espionage should delight fans of vivid, atmospheric historical novels such as Sebastian Faulks' Charlotte Gray, or classic World War II-era films such as Casablanca.

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Publisher: W.W. Norton
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780393324914
ISBN-10: 0393324915

After escaping bombed-out London in 1941, Gwen Davis, a 35-year-old researcher at the Royal Horticultural Society, relocates to Devon, where she volunteers as a captain in the Women's Land Army. Supervising a band of young female recruits as they plant potatoes for the war effort, Gwen begins to break her lifetime habit of isolation. She befriends a young woman whose pilot fiancé is missing in action and resists her attraction to a Canadian army officer billeted at a nearby estate. Unfolding in vivid, poetic prose, The Lost Garden may appeal to readers who appreciate sensitively written novels of troubled individuals longing for understanding and companionship amid the deprivations of war, such as Sarah Waters' The Night Watch or Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/07/2012
ISBN-13: 9780312274818
ISBN-10: 0312274815

In 1957, Chairman Mao declares: "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend." However, by 1958, the so-called "Great Leap Forward" has become a giant step backward as Chinese intellectuals are routinely arrested and sent to re-education camps. One victim of the purges is university professor Sheng Ying, taken away from his wife Kai, his seven-year-old son Tao, and his elderly father Wei. While Kai tells the boy that his father is working abroad, Wei goes further and attempts to locate Sheng -- partly for the sake of the family and partly to atone for his own actions, which are revealed during the course of this moving, character-driven novel describing the turbulent years leading up to China's Cultural Revolution.

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