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The Last Tudor
by Philippa Gregory
Seventeen-year-old Jane Grey was queen of England for nine days. Her father and his allies crowned her instead of the dead king’s half-sister Mary Tudor, who quickly mustered an army, claimed her throne, and locked Jane in the Tower of London. When Jane refused to betray her Protestant faith, Mary sent her to the executioner’s block, where Jane transformed her father’s greedy power-grab into tragic martyrdom. “Learn you to die,” was the advice Jane wrote to her younger sister Katherine, who has no intention of dying. She intends to enjoy her beauty and her youth and fall in love. But she is heir to the insecure and infertile Queen Mary and then to her sister Queen Elizabeth, who will never allow Katherine to marry and produce a Tudor son. When Katherine’s pregnancy betrays her secret marriage she faces imprisonment in the Tower, only yards from her sister’s scaffold. “Farewell, my sister,” writes Katherine to the youngest Grey sister, Mary. A beautiful dwarf, disregarded by the court, Mary keeps family secrets, especially her own, while avoiding Elizabeth’s suspicious glare. After seeing her sisters defy the queen, Mary is acutely aware of her own danger, but determined to command her own life. What will happen when the last Tudor defies her ruthless and unforgiving cousin Queen Elizabeth?
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| Jerzy by Jerome CharynA Polish refugee turned literary sensation, Jerzy Kosiński gains fame in the mid-1960s for his best-selling novels The Painted Bird and Being There and quickly climbs the social ladder by charming his way into the right circles. But is he really who and what he claims to be? Multiple narrators -- including Peter Sellers' chauffeur, Joseph Stalin's daughter, and a dominatrix known as Anna Karenina -- recount Kosiński's rise and fall as cracks appear in his carefully crafted facade. Author Jerome Charyn, who revealed the inner lives of iconic Americans in his previous novels, The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson and I Am Abraham, uncovers the hidden layers of an enigmatic personality. |
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Fly me : a novel
by Daniel Riley
Suzy Whitman, alternating her nomadic life as a flight attendant with the drug-hazed surf scene of 1972 Los Angeles, soon falls into a drug-trafficking scheme that clashes perilously with the skyjacking epidemic of the day. A first novel.
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| The Drowning King by Emily HollemanThis sequel to Cleopatra's Shadows opens with Egyptian ruler Ptolemy XII Auletes ("the Piper") on his deathbed as his surviving children, waiting in the wings, conspire against him and each other. Favorite daughter Cleopatra surpasses her siblings in intelligence and ambition, but her younger brother has the support of powerful advisers. Meanwhile, the Roman Empire seeks to consolidate its power by bringing Egypt under its rule. Dysfunctional family dynamics and courtly intrigue lead to the downfall of a dynasty in this 2nd book of the Fall of Egypt trilogy. Readers interested in the legendary Queen of the Nile may enjoy Stacy Schiff's biography Cleopatra, which gives ample historical context. |
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Sacred Hunger
by Barry Unsworth
Liverpool, 1752. William Kemp has lost a fortune in cotton speculation, and must recoup his losses if his son is to marry the wealthy woman whom he loves. His last resort is a slave ship, one that will take him to the Guinea coast, where he will trade for human cargo, then embark on the infamous Middle Passage. When disease ravages the ship and the African prisoners mutiny, William’s profit-seeking venture falls apart. Slaves and sailors alike will join together to found a utopian community on the coast of Florida—not knowing that the vengeful, younger Kemp is in pursuit.
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| Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Crystal KingMost Roman slaves are bought for a pittance; talented chef Thrasius has just been purchased for the unbelievable sum of 20,000 denarii by renowned gourmand Marcus Gavius Apicius. As Apicius' coquus (cook), Thrasius must create sumptuous spreads for his master's wealthy and influential guests. Such feasts are a key component of Apicius' strategy to achieve his cherished ambition of becoming Augustus Caesar's gastronomic advisor. But Apicius has as many rivals and enemies as he does supporters. Will his lust for fame and glory lead to his (and Thrasius') downfall? In addition to domestic and political drama, this debut also contains well-researched details of ancient Roman culinary traditions. |
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| Before the War by Fay WeldonAlthough ungainly, socially awkward Vivien "Vivvie" Ripple seems destined to remain a spinster (despite her family's wealth) in 1922 London, an unplanned pregnancy requires that she find a husband, any husband. She proposes a marriage of convenience to Sherwyn Sexton, an aspiring novelist and editor at her father's publishing house -- prompting her scheming socialite mother, Adela, to intervene. Indeed, the vain and ruthless Adela will upstage her daughter in this sardonic, slyly metafictional novel. Fans of family sagas (and scandals) that take place in England between the wars may also enjoy Penny Vincenzi's Spoils of Time trilogy, which begins with No Angel. |
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| City of Thieves: A Novel by David BenioffDuring the Siege of Leningrad, 17-year-old Lev Beniov lands in jail after looting a German paratrooper's corpse for much-needed supplies. While awaiting execution, Lev meets army deserter Kolya, who has also been sentenced to death. However, the condemned men receive a last-minute reprieve when NKVD Colonel Grechko tasks them with gathering ingredients for his daughter's wedding cake. Easier said than done: it's winter in a city that's been in starvation mode since summer, which means that Lev and Kolya must venture into enemy-occupied territory outside the city. Despite its grim subject matter, City of Thieves is a lively adventure story leavened with dark humor. |
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| The Siege Winter: A Novel by Ariana Franklin and Samantha NormanSet during the 12th-century war of succession between Empress Matilda and King Stephen, this novel focuses on ordinary individuals caught up in extraordinary circumstances. Mercenary and arbalist Gwilherm de Vannes rescues peasant girl Em from a brutal assault; Em disguises herself as a boy and becomes apprentice archer Penda as the pair hunts down her attackers. Their paths soon cross that of 16-year-old Maud of Kenniford, reluctant wife to an ailing lord, who offers her castle as safe haven to Empress Matilda and soon finds herself and her household in the midst of a siege. Begun by the late Ariana Franklin and completed by her daughter, Samantha Norman, this suspenseful, intricately plotted novel stands on its own but is loosely connected to Franklin's Adelia Aguilar series (beginning with Mistress of the Art of Death). |
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| The Gates of the Alamo: A Novel by Stephen HarriganDeep in the heart of 1836 Tejas, a small group of Texians seeking independence from Mexico gathers in the Alamo Mission as Mexican soldiers under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna mount a 13-day siege that will end in a bloody battle. Delving into the conflicts that fueled the Texas Revolution, this dramatic fictional recreation of the fall of the Alamo features appearances by historical figures, including Colonel James Bowie and David "Davy" Crockett. Fans of early Texas history may also like Edwin Shrake's The Borderland, which focuses on formative years of the fledgling Republic of Texas. |
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| The Dovekeepers: A Novel by Alice HoffmanThis heartbreaking novel focuses on four women whose lives intersect in 70 CE during the siege of Masada, the mountain fortress to which 900 Jewish refugees fled after the Romans sacked Jerusalem. There's assassin's daughter Yael, pregnant by her married lover; widowed grandmother Revka, now the guardian of her grandsons following the deaths of her husband and daughter; and Alexandrian priestess and mystic Shirah and her equally unconventional daughter Aziza, a warrior. Readers interested in Jewish history, war stories, or women's lives in antiquity should check out The Dovekeepers, which "makes ancient history live and breathe" (Booklist). |
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