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Historical Fiction July 2016
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"That my life will be of interest to readers I dare not assume. But it is an unusual one, and for that reason alone, record should be made of it." ~ from Allison Amend's Enchanted Islands
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| Enchanted Islands: A Novel by Allison AmendIn 1937, 50-year-old Frances Frankowski is working as a secretary for the Office of Naval Intelligence when she accepts an unusual mission: marry Ainslie Conway, an undercover intelligence officer 11 years her junior, and accompany him to the Galápagos Islands. Born in Minnesota to Jewish immigrants from Poland, Frances has no idea what to expect from her new island home -- or from Ainslie, a man she hardly knows and who harbors secrets that could get them killed in the dangerous world they now share. Inspired by the memoirs of the real-life Frances Conway, this atmospheric novel vividly evokes its setting while sensitively portraying the unconventional relationship between its central couple. |
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| The Summer Guest: A Novel by Alison AndersonDid Anton Chekhov, acknowledged master of the short story form, once write a novel? That's what Anastasia (Ana) Harding comes to believe when she's hired to translate the diary of physician Zinaida Mikhailovna Lintvaryova (or "Zina"), who met and befriended Anton Pavlovich Chekhov when both were rusticating in the Ukrainian countryside in the summer of 1888. Parallel narratives reveal the connections between Zina, Ana, and Katya, the publisher who employs Ana, as they each contemplate the significance of their lives. With her lyrical prose and intimate character studies, novelist and translator Alison Anderson, who brought Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog to English-speaking audiences, will leave readers wanting to read (or revisit) Chekhov. |
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| Grace: A Novel by Natashia DeónGrace is the name that Josey's mother would have given her, had Naomi not been murdered by slave catchers shortly after giving birth to the blonde, light-skinned child of her former owner. Yet not even death can keep Naomi from watching over her daughter, who grows up on an Alabama plantation and experiences the turmoil of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Narrated by Naomi, Grace utilizes flashbacks from Naomi's life to draw parallels between her experiences and that of her daughter in a moving novel that explores an unbreakable bond between parent and child. |
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| Marlene: A Novel of Marlene Dietrich by C.W. GortnerKinder, Küche, Kirsche. Children, Kitchen, Church: this is what is expected of good German girls. But Maria Magdalena Dietrich has other plans. Traditional ideals of marriage and motherhood hold less appeal for her than performing on the stage -- and not as a concert violinist, as her strict mother insists. From the drag balls and cabarets of Weimar Berlin to the studios of Golden Age Hollywood, Marlene forges her own unconventional path, one that becomes especially dangerous when Hitler (whom she despises) comes to power and insists that she support his regime. Readers mesmerized by the introspective first-person narration of this novel may be interested in Charlotte Chandler's biography Marlene, which draws extensively on the iconic star's own words to tell her life story. |
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| Barkskins: A Novel by Annie ProulxIn the deep, dark forests of 17th-century New France (now Canada), indentured censitaires René Sel and Charles Duquet work as "barkskins," or woodcutters bound to their seigneur as they toil to tame the "evil wilderness." Despite their shared circumstances, their fates dramatically diverge: one marries a Mi’kmaw woman and becomes the hardworking patriarch of a large, mixed-race family, while the other escapes and becomes a wealthy trader. Following two families over the course of three centuries, this sweeping family saga may appeal to fans of Joseph Boyden's The Orenda, which shares its setting but focuses on the region's indigenous inhabitants. |
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Focus on: Native American and First Nations People
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| The Redemption of Oscar Wolf by James BartlemanWhen impulsive actions fueled by rage lead to family tragedy, 13-year-old Oscar Wolf of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation in Ontario, flees to the United States. There, his attempts to atone bring him considerable worldly success, yet leave him culturally and spiritually adrift. He embarks on a series of transformations -- from Depression-era prizefighter to decorated World War II veteran to university scholar-athlete to diplomat -- only to come to the realization that he must come to terms with the past before he can fully live in the present. |
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| The Orenda by Joseph BoydenSet in 17th-century Ontario during the French conquest of Canada, this sweeping, richly detailed historical epic unfolds through the eyes of three individuals: Huron (Wyandot) warrior Bird, his Iroquois captive Snow Falls, and Jesuit Missionary Père Christophe. As the French exploit long-standing conflicts between the Huron and the Iroquois to gain control of their respective territories, shifting alliances between all three groups irrevocably alter the landscape of North America and the lives of its indigenous people. For those interested in Canadian history, Annie Proulx's Barkskins, though more focused on the experiences of European colonizers, also explores this period and setting. |
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| The Plague of Doves by Louise ErdrichIn 1911, the murder of a white farming family in Pluto, North Dakota leads to the lynching of three Ojibwe men, an event that casts a long shadow over the descendants of both the (wrongly accused) men and the lynch mob. Evelina Harp, a part-Ojibwe, part-white girl growing up in the 1960s and '70s, learns the story from her Mooshum (grandfather), widely known as a repository of family and tribal history whose personal connection to the tragedy has made him who he is. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize when it was published in 2008, The Plague of Doves is part of a loose trilogy along with The Round House and the recently published LaRose. |
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| People of the Longhouse by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal GearWhen Yellowtail Village is raided by the enemy warriors, 11-year-old Odion and his sister Tutelo are taken captive and delivered to Gannajero the Trader, a woman rumored to use children's bodies in the practice of witchcraft. As the siblings endure slavery, their parents, War Chief Koracoo and Deputy Gonda, search for them. Set among the Northern Iroquois tribes of 15th-century North America, People of the Longhouse is the 1st book in a four-volume series that focuses on the lives of Iroquois Confederacy founders Dekanawida, Hiyawento (Hiawatha), and Jigonsaseh; it continues with The Dawn Children, followed by The Broken Land and People of the Black Sun. |
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| House of Purple Cedar by Tim TingleFor 11-year-old Rose Goode, growing up in Skullyville's Choctaw community in pre-statehood Oklahoma, 1896 is a bad year: first, an arsonist burns down her school, killing 20 of her classmates; later, Amafo, her beloved grandfather, is severely beaten by the town Marshal, an event with far-reaching consequences. As conflict between Skullyville residents and land-grabbing nahullos (white men) escalates, Rose and her family fear for their survival, while clinging to the hope that better times will come. For another novel featuring Native American communities in what is now Oklahoma, check out Margaret Verble's Maud's Line, about a 1930s Cherokee woman who longs to escape her hardscrabble life on a government allotment. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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