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Historical Fiction July 2018
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| The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle GableWhat it is: an inspired-by-real-life tale of love, politics, and glamour, starring a young Jack Kennedy -- an up-and-coming congressman from Hyannis Port, MA -- and Alicia Darr, the Polish immigrant with whom he fell in love.
For fans of: multi-generational family sagas -- or, of course, the Kennedy family.
Reviewers say: “An alternate Kennedy family history that will leave readers wondering whether America knew the real JFK at all” (Kirkus Reviews). |
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The taster
by V. S. Alexander
Amid the turbulence of World War II, a young German woman finds a precarious haven closer to the source of danger than she ever imagined—one that will propel her through the extremes of privilege and terror under Hitler’s dictatorship. Original.
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The accidental guardian
by Mary Connealy
When Trace Riley takes in Deborah Harkness and the handful of other survivors of an attack on their wagon train, his simple existence is fundamentally altered as they work together to make it through the winter together
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Munich
by Robert Harris
A spy thriller set against the backdrop of the fateful Munich Conference of 1938 follows the experiences of a rising star in the British diplomatic service and his Oxford friend, a secret member of the anti-Hitler resistance, who, while on a disastrous collision course with each other, witness pivotal events involving Chamberlain, Mussolini and other historical figures.
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| A View of the Empire at Sunset by Caryl PhillipsWhat it is: Award-winning British author Caryl Phillips imagines the life of Jean Rhys -- the author of Wide Sargasso Sea, the prequel to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre -- who was born Ella Gwendolyn Williams and whose life began in the West Indies. Sent to Edwardian England as a teenager, she was consistently an outsider.
Further reading: For more biographical fiction about women authors, try The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg, Miss Emily by Nuala O’Connor, and Jane Austen’s First Love by Syrie James. |
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| The Removes by Tatjana SoliFeaturing: fifteen-year-old Anne Cummins, who is the sole survivor after her family is brutally attacked on their homestead by the Cheyenne; and Libbie Custer, who faces a difficult life on the plains with her husband, Civil War hero General George Armstrong Custer.
Why you might like it: This thrilling historical novel is an epic tale of the clashing cultures on the American frontier.
For further reading: Savage Country by Robert Olmstead, which also focuses on women settlers in the American West. |
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| The Madonna of the Mountains by Elise ValmorbidaWhat it’s about: In 1923 Italy, 25-year-old Maria Vittoria is almost too old to marry, but her life’s path changes when she weds Achille, a veteran of the Great War. Together they open a small grocery, and over the next few decades, Maria experiences all the good and the bad that life offers.
Is it for you? Yes, if you like multi-generational sagas about women’s lives, Italian history, and are interested in the period between the World Wars. |
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| The Outcasts by Kathleen KentStarring: epileptic prostitute Lucinda Carter, who plans to rendezvous with her lover and hunt for buried treasure in tiny Middle Bayou, Texas; and Oklahoma transplant and new police recruit Nate Cannon, who has been tasked with tracking down murderer William McGill.
Read it for: the surprising convergence of these parallel storylines, as the colorful characters at the heart of them pursue their separate goals. Also watch for the richly atmospheric and starkly beautiful landscape of post-Civil War Texas.
You might also like: the female outlaw in Courtney Collins' The Untold. |
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Wayfaring stranger : a novel
by James Lee Burke
A decade after taking a shot at Bonnie and Clyde during one of their notorious armed robberies, Weldon Holland escapes death during the Battle of the Bulge and marries a beautiful young woman with whom he seeks his fortune along the Texas-Louisiana oil coast
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Epitaph : a novel of the O.K. Corral
by Mary Doria Russell
A sequel to Doc is based on the true events of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Wyatt Earp's survival against a backdrop of volatile politics in 1881 America. By the award-winning author of The Sparrow.
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El Paso : a novel
by Winston Groom
The Pulitzer Prize finalist author of Forrest Gump presents a sweeping epic inspired by the Mexican Revolution and the border wars of the early 20th century, tracing in six parts the rivalry between legendary outlaw Pancho Villa and a thrill-seeking tycoon.
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Railroad schemes
by Cecelia Holland
Lily Viner, a young woman orphaned by a stagecoach robbery, finds herself on the run with King Callahan, a notorious outlaw out to undermine the growing power and influence of the Southern Pacific Railroad. By the author of The Bear Flag.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Harrison Memorial Library Ocean and Lincoln Carmel, California 93921 831-624-4629www.hm-lib.org/
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