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Historical Fiction May 2023 |
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| The Woman with the Cure by Lynn CullenWhat it is: a descriptive and character-driven biographical novel about Dr. Dorothy Horstmann, the pioneering epidemiologist whose work was a crucial part of the development of the polio vaccine.
Read it for: clever and determined Dorothy's dedication to her work and and courage in the face of discrimination from her male colleagues.
For fans of: Paula McLain and Marie Benedict. |
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| The Perfumist of Paris by Alka JoshiSeries alert: The Perfumist of Paris is the final entry in Alka Joshi's Jaipur trilogy, which began with The Henna Artist and continued with The Secret Keeper of Jaipur.
This time: It's 1974, and talented Paris-based perfume maker Radha is returning to India at her employer's behest to search for inspiration for new fragrances. Unbeknownst to Radha, a young man is traveling in the opposite direction and his arrival in Paris could unravel the careful life she's built for herself.
Reviewers say: "Filled with the rich and evocative scents of India and Paris, this novel will transport readers to Radha's world as she deals with heartaches and triumphs on her journey to wholeness" (Library Journal). |
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| The Last Russian Doll by Kristen LoeschWhat it is: a lush and lyrical debut novel that follows three generations of women in a Russian family, beginning in 1917.
Starring: Tonya, a young noblewoman who falls in love with an idealistic revolutionary while married to a wealthy factory owner; Tonya's granddaughter Rosie, an Oxford postgrad who takes a summer research job in Moscow during the twilight of the Soviet Union. |
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| Stealing by Margaret VerbleWhat it is: the heartwrenching, intricately plotted coming-of-age story of a half-Cherokee girl forced into a religious boarding school in the 1950s, where she and her fellow students endure harrowing abuse and indoctrination.
Read it for: narrator Kit Crockett's engaging and realistic youthful narrative voice.
Reviewers say: "Verble tells a memorable and sobering story about injustice, hypocrisy, and resilience" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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The Orphan's Letters
by Glynis Peters
As the Second World War wages on, nurse Kitty Pattison’s life takes a nomadic turn as her work with the Red Cross sees her traversing the country, moving from post to post. With her best friends Jo and Trixie also scattered across the UK, and her soldier sweetheart Michael off on the continent undertaking medical missions he can’t discuss, the war takes its toll and long days are followed by sleepless nights interrupted only by nightmares of what she’s seen on the wards. Now, Kitty’s hopes rise and fall with the arrival of the post – the only thing that keeps her connected to her aunt and uncle, her dear friends, and her Michael – and every moment spent with those she loves is held dear, because each one could be the last…
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The Dressmaker's Secret
by Lorna J. Cook
Adáele is a dressmaker's assistant to Coco Chanel in the Ritz Hotel during the Nazi occupation in Paris and secretly works for the resistance to protect innocent lives, while twenty years later her granddaughter returns to the city to uncover the truths about her grandmother and the legendary designer
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December Breeze
by Marvel Moreno
From her home in Paris, Lina recalls the story of three women whose lives unfold in the conservative city of Barranquilla in Colombia. Amid parties at the Country Club and strolls along the promenade in Puerto Colombia unfurls a story of sensuality suppressed by violence; a narrative of oppression in which Dora, Catalina, and Beatriz are victims of a patriarchy that is woven into the social fabric.
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All the Broken Places
by John Boyne
An elderly London resident befriends the little boy who moves in downstairs, but his parents' fighting brings her back to her harrowing escape from Nazi Germany at age 12 and grim post-war ears in France with her mother.
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Pandora
by Susan Stokes-Chapman
Dora Blake is a talented jewelry designer who lives under the thumb of her suspicious and odious uncle, who is running her late parents' beloved shop of antiquities into the ground. When he begins acting erratically after a mysterious Greek vase is delivered and locked in the basement, Dora enlists the help of Edward Lawrence, a young antiquarian scholar, who (unbeknownst to her) sees the vase as an opportunity to unlock his academic future. Dora hopes to restore the shop to its former glory, find a future for her own elegant, artistic designs, and escape the iniquitous plans her uncle has in store for her. But what Edward claims to discover about the vase unravels everything Dora knows about her life, her family, and the antiquities in the basement. As she begins to uncover the truth, she realizes that some mysteries are buried for a reason -- and others are closer to the surface than they appear.
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A Dangerous Business
by Jane Smiley
A 1851 Monterey widow working at a brothel investigates when the dead bodies of young women start appearing on the outskirts of town.
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The Mitford Affair
by Marie Benedict
After her sister, Diana, divorces her wealthy husband to marry a fascist leader and her sister, Unity, follows Diana to Munich, inciting rumors that she's become Hitler's mistress, novelist Nancy Mitford, after uncovering disquieting documents, must make difficult choices as Great Britain goes to war with Germany.
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Ancestry
by Simon Mawer
This book defies categorisation. It's a history, it's a novel, it's a kind of archaeology, an investigation into the reality of the past and an exploration of that uncertain borderland which lies between fact and fiction. Using archive material, Mawer has picked through the traces left behind by his mid-nineteenth-century ancestors and brings to life the story of his great-great-grandfather, who left home at 15 in 1847 to indenture aboard a ship and explore the world.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Côte Saint-Luc Public Library
5851 Cavendish Blvd.
Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec H4W 2X8
514-485-6900csllibrary.org/ |
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