Yolo County Library
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Historical FictionApril 2016
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"But by the end of that summer, I would come to see things differently. I would be troubled by my entertainment, played for a fool. I would be the puppet in a rich man's grim comedy." ~ from Timothy Schaffert's The Swan Gondola
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| Carry Me: A Novel by Peter BehrensTwo families, two world wars, one unforgettable love story. Billy Lange's parents are the caretakers of Sanssouci, the country estate of German-Jewish industrialist Baron von Weinbrenner, whose daughter Karin befriends Billy during summers on the Isle of Wight. As children in late Edwardian England, they bond over Westerns while dreaming of life in America; as adults in 1930s Frankfurt, they become lovers who enjoy the city's vibrant nightlife. But the couple -- neither English nor German, but with complicated loyalties to both nations -- find themselves caught in the middle of a global conflict when World War II begins. |
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| The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai RandelWhen her father dies and her family is cast out of their home, 12-year-old Mei believes that her life is over. In fact, it's just beginning. Soon Mei receives a summons from the palace, informing her that she's been chosen to serve as one of 15 maidens of Emperor Taizong's Inner Court. To survive this new life, she must navigate palace intrigues and win the Emperor's favor, but when she falls in love with his son, she risks losing everything she's worked for. Based on the life of China's Empress Wu, The Moon in the Palace is the 1st book in a duology; keep an eye out for the upcoming sequel, Empress of Bright Moon. |
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| The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb: A Novel by Melanie BenjaminAlthough she stands just two feet, eight inches tall, Mercy Lavinia "Vinnie" Warren Bump's personality is larger-than-life. Wishing to expand her horizons, she abandons her schoolteacher job and joins an unsavory talent promoter's riverboat show. This gig ends abruptly with the start of the Civil War, but her subsequent association with impresario P.T. Barnum proves more enduring. Although Vinnie makes headlines with her marriage to fellow small-statured celebrity Charles Stratton (aka "General Tom Thumb"), she finds her intellectual soul mate in Barnum. This novel unfolds from Vinnie's point of view; readers interested in her husband's perspective on thir relationship should try Nicholas Rinaldi's The Remarkable Courtship of General Tom Thumb. |
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| The Thunder of Giants by Joel FishbaneStanding just under eight feet tall and weighing just over 320 pounds, Andorra Kelsey is used to attracting attention. But could her size lead to gainful employment during the Great Depression and enable her to escape Detroit? After her discovery by a Hollywood talent scout, Andorra is cast in a film about the life of 19th-century Nova Scotia "giantess" Anna Swan, who became part of P.T. Barnum's American Museum. The women's stories unfold in parallel narratives that highlight the similarities as well as the differences in their eventful lives. Readers interested in Anna Swan's career with Barnum will be interested in Stacy Carlson's biographical novel Among the Wonderful. |
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| The Museum of Extraordinary Things: A Novel by Alice HoffmanThe daughter of Coney Island impresario Professor Sardie, web-fingered Coralie grows up in The Museum of Extraordinary Things, which exhibits the "living wonders" that her father collects. Eventually (and reluctantly), she joins their ranks as a "mermaid," performing dangerous aquatic feats for crowds of novelty-seekers. Meanwhile, Russian immigrant Ezekiel "Eddie" Cohen flees his strict Orthodox Jewish community on the Lower East Side to pursue his dream of becoming a photographer. Coralie and Eddie's chance meeting on the banks of the Hudson river leads to romance and rebellion as the lovers decide to forge their own paths in life. |
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| Church of Marvels by Leslie ParryAfter a fire consumes their mother's Coney Island sideshow, the Church of Marvels, teen sword-swallower Belle Church disappears, prompting her twin sister, Odile, to search for her. Meanwhile, an abandoned infant sends cleaner Sylvan Threadgill on a quest to reunite the child with its mother, and Alphie, confined to a lunatic asylum on Blackwell Island, concocts increasingly desperate escape plans. These individual narrative strands converge to make this richly detailed novel, set in a gritty 1895 New York City, an unforgettable experience. |
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| The Swan Gondola by Timothy SchaffertDuring the 1898 Omaha World's Fair, ventriloquist Bartholomew "Ferret" Skerritt meets and falls in love with Cecily, the actress who plays Marie Antoinette (pre- and post-guillotine) in the Midway's Chamber of Horrors exhibit. Despite a rocky beginning to their courtship, a moonlight ride on one of the fair's celebrated swan gondolas leads to romance. But the course of true love never did run smooth, as they discover when wealthy widower William Wakefield decides that he wants Cecily for himself. Whimsical and leisurely paced, this bittersweet novel vividly depicts an American society poised on the cusp of a new century. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Yolo County Library
226 Buckeye St. Woodland, California 95695 530-666-8005
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