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Historical Fiction September 2019
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New and Recently Released |
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| The Ventriloquistsby E.R. RamzipoorBrussels, 1943. Twelve-year-old street orphan Helene survives by living as a boy and selling copies of the country’s most popular newspaper, Le Soir, now turned into Nazi propaganda. Helene’s world changes when she befriends a rogue journalist, Marc Aubrion, who draws her into a secret network that publishes dissident underground newspapers. The Nazis track down Aubrion’s team and give them an impossible choice: turn the resistance newspapers into a Nazi propaganda bomb that will sway public opinion against the Allies, or be killed. Faced with no decision at all, Aubrion has a brilliant idea. While pretending to do the Nazis’ bidding, they will instead publish a fake edition of Le Soir that pokes fun at Hitler and Stalin—daring to laugh in the face of their oppressors. The ventriloquists have agreed to die for a joke, and they have only eighteen days to tell it. |
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The Moon Sisterby Lucinda RileyA wildlife expert's job on an isolated Scottish estate leads to the discovery of how her past was shaped by a flamenco dancer's impossible choice during the Spanish civil war. Back in 1912, in the poor Romani community outside the city walls of Granada, Lucía Amaya-Albaycin is born. Her mother is devastated when Lucía is whisked away by her ambitious father at the tender age of ten to dance in the flamenco bars of Barcelona. And while Lucía perfects her passionate performances—eventually becoming the greatest flamenco dancer of her generation—tensions in Spain boil over into civil war, forcing Lucía and her troupe of dancers to flee for their lives. As they travel in search of a safe haven, Lucía’s long-held dream of going to New York may be in grasp. But to pursue it, she must choose between her love for her career and the man she adores.
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The Summer Countryby Lauren Willig Barbados, 1854: Emily Dawson has always been the poor cousin in a prosperous English merchant clan-- merely a vicar’s daughter, and a reform-minded vicar’s daughter, at that. Everyone knows that the family’s lucrative shipping business will go to her cousin, Adam, one day. But when her grandfather dies, Emily receives an unexpected inheritance: Peverills, a sugar plantation in Barbados—a plantation her grandfather never told anyone he owned. When Emily accompanies her cousin and his new wife to Barbados, she finds Peverills a burnt-out shell, reduced to ruins in 1816, when a rising of enslaved people sent the island up in flames. Rumors swirl around the derelict plantation; people whisper of ghosts. Why would her practical-minded grandfather leave her a property in ruins? Why are the neighboring plantation owners, the Davenants, so eager to acquire Peverills? The answer lies in the past— a tangled history of lies, greed, clandestine love, heartbreaking betrayal, and a bold bid for freedom.
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The Golden Hourby Beatriz WilliamsLeonora “Lulu” Randolph, an investigator for a New York society magazine, travels to World War II Nassau to interview the infamous Duke and Duchess of Windsor. As she infiltrates their social circle, and the powerful cabal that controls the islands’ political and financial affairs, she uncovers evidence that beneath the glister of Wallis and Edward’s marriage lies an ugly—and even treasonous—reality. In fact, Windsor-era Nassau seethes with spies, financial swindles, and racial tension, and in the middle of it all stands Benedict Thorpe: a scientist of tremendous charm and murky national loyalties. Inevitably, the willful and wounded Lulu falls in love. Then Nassau’s wealthiest man is murdered in one of the most notorious cases of the century, and the resulting coverup reeks of royal privilege. Benedict Thorpe disappears without a trace, and Lulu embarks on a journey to London and beyond to unpick Thorpe’s complicated family history: a fateful love affair, a wartime tragedy, and a mother from whom all joy is stolen.
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Tidelands by Philippa GregoryMidsummer’s Eve, 1648, England is in the grip of a civil war between renegade king and rebellious parliament. The struggle reaches every corner of the kingdom, even the remote tidelands —the marshy landscape of the south coast. Alinor, a descendant of wisewomen, trapped in poverty and superstition, waits in the graveyard under the full moon for a ghost who will declare her free from her abusive husband. Instead, she meets James, a young man on the run, and shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marsh, not knowing that she is leading disaster into the heart of her life. Suspected of possessing dark secrets in superstitious times, Alinor’s ambition and determination mark her out from her neighbors. This is the time of witch mania, and Alinor, a woman without a husband, skilled with herbs, suddenly enriched, arouses envy in her rivals and fear among the villagers, who are ready to take lethal action into their own hands. It is dangerous for a woman to be different.
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All the Flowers in Parisby Sarah JioWhen Caroline wakes up in a Paris hospital with no memory of her past, she’s confused to learn that for years she’s lived a sad, reclusive life in a sprawling apartment on the rue Cler. Slowly regaining vague memories of a man and a young child, she vows to piece her life back together—though she can’t help but feel she may be in danger. In Nazi-occupied Paris, a young widow named Céline is trying to build a new life for her daughter while working in her father’s flower shop and hoping to find love again. Then a ruthless German officer discovers her Jewish ancestry and Céline is forced to play a dangerous game to secure the safety of her loved ones. When her worst fears come true, she must fight back in order to save the person she loves most: her daughter. When Caroline discovers Céline’s letters tucked away in a closet, she realizes that her apartment harbors dark secrets—and that she may have more in common with Céline than she could have ever imagined.
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Inlandby Téa ObrehtIn the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives unfold. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life—her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home. Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie’s death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora’s plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel.
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Thursday, September 26 Social Security and Medicare Information Workshop6:30 p.m. This informative program will feature a speaker from Golden Years Design Benefits, Inc. Register online or at the library. Tuesday, October 8 Great Decisions Screening & Discussion6:30 p.m. Tonight's topic is "State of the State Department and Diplomacy." Register online or at the library. Wednesday, October 16 The ABCs of Trees7:00 p.m.
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Every Thursday Chess for Adults6:30 p.m. Second Mondays of the Month, or By Appointment Tech Talk with Jay 11:30 a.m. Ask Jay your tech questions. Bring your tablet, smart phone, or laptop. First and Third Tuesdays of the Month Spinning Yarns Craft Circle6:30 p.m. Join us in the Gambino Room for an hour of knitting, crocheting, crafts and conversation. All levels welcome. Third Wednesdays (1:30 p.m.), Fourth Tuesdays (6:30 p.m.) Library Book Discussion Groups New members always welcome! See us on GoodReads at Cranbury Public Library Book Chat.
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Cranbury Public Library
23 North Main Street ~
Cranbury, NJ 08512 ~ Phone: 609-655-0555 ~ Contact Us
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