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Historical Fiction August 2019
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| Star Path: People of Cahokia by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal GearStarring: Morning Star, god incarnate, and his mortal sister Night Shadow Star, who must defeat their evil brother Walking Smoke.
Why you might like it: Written by a pair of archaeologists, this dramatic novel of pre-Columbian North America recreates the Cahokia settlement (1100 CE) and Mississippian culture in vivid detail.
Should you start here? This 4th book in the Morning Star series follows plotlines established in previous books; newcomers should start with People of the Morning Star. |
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At the Mountain's Edge
by Genevieve Graham
Yukon, 1897: the discovery of gold in the desolate reaches of the Yukon has the world abuzz with excitement, and thousands of prospectors swarm to the north seeking riches the likes of which have never been seen before.
Why you might like it: Adventure and romance in Canada' north country.
You might also like: Golden web: a Klondike mystery by Vicki Delany, and City wolves. by Dorris Heffron.
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| The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel by Jeanne MackinParis, 1938: A young American widow begins working for Elsa Schiaparelli, gaining a front row seat to the flamboyant fashion designer's long-running feud with her arch-rival, Coco Chanel.
Why you might like it: Dueling designers create iconic looks against an atmospheric pre-WWII backdrop in this well-researched historical novel.
You might also like: Meryle Secrest's biography Elsa Schiaparelli, if you're Team Schiap. If you're Team Coco, try C.W. Gortner's Madamoiselle Chanel or Gioia Diliberto's The Collection. |
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| Deep River: A Novel by Karl MarlantesIntroducing: Ilmari, Aino, and Matti Koski, Finnish siblings who immigrate to the United States in the early 1900s and settle in Deep River, a hardscrabble logging community in the Pacific Northwest.
What happens: Brothers llmari and Matti risk life and limb in the timber industry, while sister Aino becomes a labor activist.
Author alert: Karl Marlantes' debut, Matterhorn, won the Society of American Historians Prize for his haunting depiction of the Vietnam War. |
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Land Beyond the Sea
by Kevin Major
In the small hours of October 14, 1942, a German U-boat sank the passenger ferry SS Caribou in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Of the 237 people on board, 136 perished, including 49 civilians. In Land Beyond the Sea, author Kevin Major reimagines the events of that fateful night from the perspectives of both those aboard the doomed vessel and the German U-boat commander who gave the order.
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| The Abduction of Smith and Smith: A Novel by Rashad HarrisonIntroducing: Jupiter Smith, a formerly enslaved Union Army veteran who finds work along San Francisco's waterfront as a "crimper," abducting men and pressing them into service aboard merchant ships.
Also starring: Opium-addicted Confederate solider Archer Smith, the son of the plantation owner whom Jupiter killed before heading west.
Shanghaied! Sold to a gun-smuggling ship captain bound for China, the men must work together to survive after they're marooned on an island. |
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The ghost of the Mary Celeste
by Valerie Martin
Writing a short story inspired by the unsolved disappearance of a merchant vessel's crew, unproven young writer Arthur Conan Doyle stirs up a sensation involving a Philadelphia medium, a journalist who would expose the medium as a fraud and the ship captain's grieving family. By the award-winning author of Mary Reilly.
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| The North Water: A Novel by Ian McGuireWhat it's about: In 1859, the whaling vessel Volunteer sets sail for the Arctic under the command of the corrupt Captain Brownlee.
Featuring: a motley crew that includes 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.
Is it for you? If you like fast-paced, violent sea stories that leave you wondering who (if anyone) will survive, check out The North Water. |
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Kings and emperors : an Alan Lewrie naval adventure
by Dewey Lambdin
As uprisings break out all across Spain, Captain Alan Lewrie of the Royal Navy, while escorting the advance units of British expeditionary armies to aid the Spanish, witnesses the first battles between Sir Arthur Wellesley and Napoleon's best Marshals
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The Island of Sea Women
by Lisa See
Introducing: best friends Young-sook and Mi-ja, who train as haenyeo, divers in the all-women fishing collectives of Korea's Jeju Island. Closer than sisters, their bond is shattered by wartime betrayal.
Why you might like it: This lyrical and heartbreaking novel presents a detailed look at life in a matrifocal society whose ancient traditions are threatened by modernity.
About the author: From Snow Flower and the Secret Fan to China Dolls, historical novelist Lisa See is acclaimed for her moving depictions of female friendships forged in adversity.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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