|
Historical Fiction May 2018
|
|
|
----------- CMRLS Libraries will be closed Monday, May 28, 2018, Regular Library hours will resume on Tuesday, May 29. Click here for Library hours and contact information. -----------
|
|
|
| Varina by Charles FrazierWhat it’s about: Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America during the U.S. Civil War, learns that her marriage of security and comfort comes at a steep price.
Why you might like it: If you enjoyed bestselling author Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, you will rejoice as he returns to the same time period in U.S. history.
Read it for: the fascinating character study of Varina Davis through which we can ponder topics like culpability and complicity. |
|
| Ecstasy by Mary SharrattWhat it’s about: Set amid the spectacular whirl of turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna, Ecstasy introduces readers to aspiring composer Alma Schindler, who -- while capturing the heart of the much-older conductor Gustav Mahler -- dares to defy the expectations of her time.
Who it’s for: Readers who like strong female heroines, especially women in history whose stories deserve to be better known.
You might also like: Elizabeth Hickey's The Painted Kiss, about the relationship between painter Gustav Klimt and Emilie Fleoge. |
|
| The Courtesan by Alexandra CurryWhat it’s about: Born during Dowager Empress Cixi's reign, legendary Qing dynasty courtesan Sai Jinhua witnesses numerous transitions throughout her long and eventful life. From being sold to a brothel for a handful of coins at the age of seven to traveling to Vienna as the concubine of a government official, Jinhua’s story reaches a dangerous climax during the Boxer Rebellion.
For fans of: Authors Lisa See and Amy Tan as well as Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. |
|
|
Burial Rites: A Novel
by Hannah Kent
What's it about: In March 1829, servant girl Agnes Magnúsdóttir is sentenced to death for the murder of her employer. However, since Iceland's nascent prison system is ill-equipped to house inmates, Agnes must await execution in the home of local farmer Jon Johnsson, his wife Margrét, and their daughters. The family must also extend their hospitality to include the Assistant Reverend Thorvardur "Toti" Jonsson, the young priest whom Agnes has chosen as her spiritual confessor. As Toti counsels Agnes, their conversations segue into flashbacks that reveal the complicated story behind the young woman's situation.
Why you might like it: This complex and haunting novel may appeal to fans of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace.
|
|
|
See What I Have Done
by Sarah Schmidt
What it's about: Lizzie Borden took an axe...and, well, we all know what happened next. Or do we? This unsettling debut by Australian author Sarah Schmidt tells the story from the (conflicting) perspectives of Lizzie, her elder sister, a maid in the Borden household, and a stranger whose surprising connection to the crime is gradually revealed.
Why you might like it: With its creeping dread and unreliable narrators, See What I Have Done may appeal to fans of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace.
|
|
|
The help
by Kathryn Stockett
What it's about: Limited and persecuted by racial divides in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, three women, including an African-American maid, her sassy and chronically unemployed friend, and a recently graduated white woman, team up for a clandestine project against a backdrop of the budding civil rights era.
|
|
|
The Canterbury papers : A Novel of Suspense
by Judith Koll Healey
What it's about: The former queen of both England and France, Eleanor of Aquitaine sends her one-time ward, Alais, sister of the king of France, on a mission to retrieve a cache of dangerous letters hidden in Canterbury Cathedral in exchange for revealing a dangerous secret involving the French princess, in a suspenseful debut novel of family secrets, intrigue, and a missing heir set in medieval Europe.
|
|
|
The quick : a novel
by Lauren Owen
What it's about: When a shy aspiring poet disappears from late-19th-century London after falling in love, his sister's ensuing confrontation with an institution of powerful men is aided by three underworld helpers.
|
|
|
Tilting at windmills : a novel of Cervantes and the errant knight
by Julian Branston
What it's about: A lively study of the story behind the creation of the classic tale of Don Quixote follows the trials and tribulations of Cervantes just as he begins to enjoy success with his comic masterpiece, as he discovers that his fictional hero has an all-too-real counterpart, a rival poet plots to humiliate him, and he falls in love with an unattainable duchess.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100
http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us
|
|
|
|