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Historical FictionMay 2016
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"I wanted to give the poor mangled bodies of this world a voice. I wanted to make them live again. My writing was an act of justice." ~ from David Dyer's The Midnight Watch
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| The Risen: A Novel of Spartacus by David Anthony DurhamIn 73 BCE, Thracian gladiator Spartacus conspires with his fellow slaves to stage a revolt against their Roman masters, a plan that gains momentum with the addition of a priestess with a gift for prophecy. Though their numbers are small, their impact is substantial, striking fear into the hearts of Rome's leadership, which channels all its military might into stopping the rebels. For another fictionalization of this famous historical figure, try Ben Kane's two-part chronicle, which begins with Spartacus: The Gladiator and concludes with Spartacus: Rebellion. |
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| The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David DyerWhile the Titanic was sinking, officers and crew aboard the nearby SS Californian watched as eight distress rockets sliced through the fog -- and ignored them. By morning, the Titanic was at the bottom of the sea and 1,500 people were dead, leaving the Californian's Second Officer Herbert Stone and Captain Stanley Lord scrambling to cover up evidence of their negligence. For more suspenseful historical novels featuring flawed characters who wrestle with difficult moral decisions during and after nautical disasters, check out Charlotte Rogan's The Lifeboat or Kate Alcott's The Dressmaker. |
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| Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen GrissomThis sequel to The Kitchen House introduces James "Jamie" Pyke, the son of slave Belle and her owner, the master of Virginia's Tall Oaks plantation. Jamie escapes to the North and settles in Philadelphia, where he passes for white and changes his surname to Burton. However, his affair with a married socialite threatens to destroy his carefully constructed life, as does his return to Virginia to repay a debt of honor to fellow fugitive Henry, who aided James when he was a 13-year-old runaway. Although fans of the 1st book will be interested in meeting the next generation of Tall Oaks' residents, Glory Over Everything stands on its own. |
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| The Translation of Love: A Novel by Lynne KutsukakeAfter spending World War II in a Canadian internment camp, now-motherless 13-year-old Aya Shimamura, born and raised in Vancouver, suffers even greater upheaval when she and her father are forcibly "repatriated" to Japan. Their new life in Tokyo is miserable: her father struggles to find work, while Aya is bullied at her new school. But an unlikely friendship with classmate Fumi Tanaka, whose sister has disappeared, prompts Aya to write a letter to General MacArthur requesting his assistance. Japanese-American Colonel Matt Matsumoto, responsible for the General's correspondence, receives the letter and reluctantly becomes involved in the girls' lives. |
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Flight of Dreams: A Novel
by Ariel Lawhon
On May 3, 1937, a total of ninety-seven individuals board the D-LZ129 Hindenberg for what will prove to be the airship's final, fatal flight. Covering a three-day period, this suspenseful novel unfolds from the perspective of five characters: stewardess Emilie; her suitor and the ship's navigator, Max; German journalist Gertrud, pursuing a story despite having her press credentials revoked by the Nazi Party; cabin boy Werner, charged with guarding a mysterious piece of cargo; and an enigmatic American businessman. All five have secrets, but whose will bring down the zeppelin?
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| The North Water: A Novel by Ian McGuireIn 1859, the whaling vessel Volunteer sets sail for the Arctic under the command of the corrupt Captain Brownlee. Among the crew are Patrick Sumner, a former army surgeon with a laudanum habit and a trunk full of secrets, and Henry Drax, an alcoholic harpooner with a thirst for brutal violence. Predictably, the voyage is an ill-fated one that leaves readers wondering who (if anyone) will survive. If you like your historical fiction fast-paced, violent, and disturbing, you'll be well served by The North Water. |
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| Lazaretto: A Novel by Diane McKinney-WhetstoneOn the night of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, 14-year-old midwife's apprentice Sylvia assists Meda, a black maid pregnant by her white employer, a prominent lawyer. After Meda's delivery, he claims the newborn and orders Sylvia to tell Meda that the baby has died. In the years that follow, a grief-stricken Meda dedicates her life to helping orphans, while guilt-ridden Sylvia becomes a nurse and finds a position at Philadelphia's Lazaretto quarantine hospital. But their paths are fated to cross again, as tragedy strikes Philadelphia's African American community. |
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| Chasing the North Star: A Novel by Robert MorganBorn into slavery on a South Carolina plantation, eighteen-year-old Jonah Williams escapes, shoeless and alone, into the wilderness with only the North Star to point the way to freedom. As he travels, Jonah must elude slave trackers and bounty hunters while contending with cold, hunger, terror, and loneliness. Along the way, he meets fellow fugitive Angel, who believes that Jonah can help her, although he's convinced she'll simply slow him down. This latest novel by the author of the bestelling Gap Creek boasts an atmospheric setting, memorable charactes, and a compelling survival story. |
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| The Last Painting of Sara De Vos: A Novel by Dominic SmithParallel narratives unfold and eventually converge in this multi-layered novel, which explores the legacy of fictional 17th-century Dutch painter Sara de Vos. The artist's masterpiece, At the Edge of a Wood, is stolen from Manhattan attorney Marty de Groot's Upper East Side residence in 1957 and replaced with a skillfully executed forgery that remains a secret for decades -- until museum curator Ellie Shipley, who created the fake, is confronted by the two versions of the painting. Don't miss this richly detailed and complex meditation on art and identity by the author of Bright and Distant Shores. |
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A Man Lies Dreaming : A Novel
by Lavie Tidhar
"Wolf, a low-rent private detective, roams London's gloomy, grimy streets, haunted by dark visions of a future that could have been--and a dangerous present populated by British Fascists and Nazis escaping Germany. Shomer, a former pulp fiction writer, lies in Auschwitz concentration camp, imagining an alternate history where Hitler was toppled in a coup and is forced to eke out a living as a low-rent private investigator on the grimiest streets of London. And when Wolf and Shomer's stories converge, we find ourselves drawn into a novel both shocking and profoundly haunting."-- Amazon.com.
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Contact your librarian for more great books! |
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