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Historical Fiction April 2017
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A piece of the world : a novel
by Christina Baker Kline
Tells the story of Christina Olson, who served as the host and inspiration for artist Andrew Wyeth, despite an incapacitating illness. By the New York Times best-selling author of Orphan Train. 350,000 first printing.
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The cutthroat
by Clive Cussler
When chief investigator Isaac Bell searches for a young woman who ran away to become an actress, his case is complicated when a serial killer's victims resemble the missing girl
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| The Confessions of Young Nero: A Novel by Margaret GeorgeLucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was born to rule. At least, that's what his mother believes, though it must be noted that Agrippina, a woman with a penchant for poisoning her husbands, may not be the most reliable judge of character. Still, Lucius -- an intelligent, sensitive boy who loves music and chariot races -- can only be an improvement over his uncle, Caligula. Lucius strives to distance himself from his relatives even as he benefits from Agrippina's scheming: by age 16, he's Emperor Nero. However, he quickly discovers that staying in power requires a certain amount of ruthlessness. This novel by the author of The Memoirs of Cleopatra is an unusual coming-of-age story that imagines the life of a notorious ruler. |
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In the Name of the Family: A Novel
by Sarah Dunant
This sequel to Blood and Beauty finds Rodrigo Borgia comfortably ensconced in the Vatican as Pope Alexander VI. His illegitimate children continue to increase their wealth and power through any means available: brilliant but volatile Cesare undertakes an ambitious military campaign, while daughter Lucrezia embarks on her third marriage to secure a political alliance with the prominent Este family. Observing (and learning from) their exploits is diplomat and spy Niccolò Machiavelli. For other fictional treatments of this infamous family, check out C.W. Gortner's The Vatican Princess or Jeanne Kalogridis' The Borgia Bride.
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A trial in Venice
by Roberta Rich
In The Midwife of Venice, set in 1575, Hannah Levi was forced to flee Venice with the baby of a Venetian aristocratic family whom she rescued. Roberta Rich followed that action-packed adventure with The Harem Midwife, which exiled Hannah and her beloved husband Isaac to Constantinople--only for Hannah to become enmeshed in the shady politics of a sultan's harem. And now, with A Trial in Venice, set five years later, Hannah is forced back to Venice--both to opulent yet crumbling villas and the Jewish ghetto known as Veneto. Her beloved adopted son Matteo has been kidnapped and is in danger once more. And this time, so is Hannah.
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World gone by
by Dennis Lehane
Working as a consigliere to the Bartolo crime family, traveling between Tampa and Cuba, former crime kingpin Joe Coughlin, who has everything--money, power, anonymity, and a beautiful mistress--is forced to pay for his lifetime of sin when the dark truthof his past emerges
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| Island Beneath the Sea: A Novel by Isabel AllendeZarité -- better known as Tété -- is the slave of Toulouse Valmorain, a wealthy sugarcane planter in the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Although Tété loathes her master, her fears for the safety of their children and his promises of manumission prompt her to help him escape during the Haitian Revolution. She flees with Valmorain and the children to Cuba, and then to New Orleans, where, she soon discovers, her troubles are only beginning. Lush and steamy, Island Beneath the Sea presents a dramatic family saga grounded in rich historical detail and vivid descriptions of 18th-century life in Haiti and Louisiana. |
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Havana
by Stephen Hunter
Sent by the CIA to 1950s Cuba to eliminate young revolutionary Fidel Castro, ex-Marine hero Earl Swagger finds himself confronting outdated ideals about honor and duty as the world around him erupts into early Cold War violence. Reprint.
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| A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon JamesInspired by the attempted assassination of musician Bob Marley on December 3, 1976, this novel by the author of The Book of Night Women explores Jamaica's turbulent history through multiple, intersecting narratives that introduce more than a dozen characters. Framed as an oral history, A Brief History of Seven Killings features a diverse cast, an evocative and richly detailed setting, and a sprawling story told by a chorus of distinct voices in pitch-perfect dialogue. |
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| Conquistadora: A Novel by Esmeralda SantiagoGloriosa Ana María de los Ángeles Larragoity Cubillas Nieves de Donostia -- better known as "Ana" -- longs for a life of adventure that neither her convent school nor her respectable parents will provide. Inspired by the exploits of her conquistador ancestors, Ana marries Ramon Argosas and accompanies him and his twin brother to Puerto Rico, where they'll be managing a sugar plantation. An ambitious and savvy businesswoman, Ana is soon running the place, coping with challenges ranging from hurricanes to cholera outbreaks to slave revolts. This sprawling saga, which Publishers Weekly calls "a Puerto Rican Gone With the Wind," boasts a fascinatingly complex, if not always sympathetic, heroine. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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