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Historical Fiction December 2020
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| The Blind Light by Stuart EversWhat it's about: After taking part in a 1959 military exercise meant to simulate a nuclear attack, British soldiers James Carter and Drummond Moore forge an unlikely friendship across class boundaries that will shape them both in unforeseen ways for decades to come.
Read it for: the friends' shared obsession with surviving nuclear fallout, which casts a sense of foreboding over the 50 years they spend building their lives and families in close proximity to one another.
Reviewers say: "With its slow burn, Evers’s vivid, perceptive chronicle of secrets and desperation satisfies" (Publishers Weekly). |
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The liar's dictionary : a novel
by Eley Williams
What it's about: Tasked with identifying false entries in an encyclopedic dictionary before it is digitized, a young intern questioning her sexuality and place in the world uncovers the laugh-out-loud mountweazels of a disaffected Victorian lexicographer. A first novel.
What is that: Mountweazel n. the phenomenon of false entries within dictionaries and works of reference. Often used as a safeguard against copyright infringement.
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The secret chapter : an invisible library novel
by Genevieve Cogman
What happens: Irene and Kai have to team up with an unlikely band of misfits to pull off an amazing art heist, or risk the wrath of a dangerous villain in his secret island lair.
Series note: The Secret Chapter is the 6th installment of the Invisible Library series. Number seven will be The Dark Archive.
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A long petal of the sea : a novel
by Isabel Allende
What it's about: Sponsored by the poet Pablo Neruda to flee the violence of the Spanish Civil War, a pregnant widow and an army doctor unite in an arranged marriage only to be swept up by the early days of World War II.
You may also like: Love and Ruin by Paula McLain or San Miguel by T. Corghessan Boyle and books by Louis De Bernieres.
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Spitfire
by M. L. Huie
What it's about: Hired by the notorious Ian Fleming to find the World War II traitor behind the execution of the man she loved, former spy Livy Nash finds the case complicated by shifting alliances and new intelligence strategies. A first novel.
You may also like these series: Death in Focus: An Elena Standish novel by Anne Perry and Jack of Spies and the Jack McColl series by David Downing.
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| Actress by Anne EnrightWhat it is: a character-driven account of the larger-than-life personality and career of Irish acting legend Katherine O'Dell, as told by her novelist daughter Norah.
Read it for: the engaging portrait of well-meaning but complex Katherine, who struggles to navigate fame and single motherhood in an era without models for either.
About the author: Irish writer Anne Enright's previous novels include The Green Road and Man Booker Prize-winning The Gathering. |
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| Marlene by C. W. GortnerThis is a downloadable eBook on CMRLS.Freading.com
What it's about: the compelling professional and personal lives of legendary German-American actress Marlene Dietrich.
Why you might like it: Gortner revels in the details of formative eras in Dietrich's life, from the seductive and seedy cabaret scene of Weimar Berlin to the star-studded USO tour she participated in during World War II.
Try this next: The Only Woman in the Room by Heather Terrell, which tells the story of Austrian actress and scientist Hedy Lamarr and her unique contributions to the war effort. |
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| The Crooked Path by Irma JoubertStarring: Lettie Louw, a young woman in pre-apartheid South Africa who is determined to become a doctor like her father; Marco Romanelli, an Italian immigrant whose physical and mental health were deeply scarred by his experiences in World War II.
Love the one you're with: Marco and Lettie meet and decide to marry for less-than-romantic reasons, neither expecting to fall in love. But as the years go by they do develop a bond, which faces its ultimate test when Marco's fragile health deteriorates. |
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| Yesternight by Cat WintersThis is a downloadable eBook on CMRLS.Freading.com
Picture it: Gordon Bay, a bleak town on the Oregon coast where the "Roaring Twenties" are anything but.
The setup: Pioneering child psychologist Alice Lind has arrived to test the IQ of the towns' children and decides to stay with the friendly O'Daire family while she's there.
What goes wrong: Alice unwittingly throws off her hosts' family dynamics, at the same time finding herself drawn towards the handsome patriarch and puzzling over his troubled young daughter who tells disquieting stories about a past life. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100
http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us
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