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Historical Fiction April 2018
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| Bachelor Girl by Kim van AlkemadeWhat happens: In 1939, Colonel Jacob Ruppert, the millionaire owner of the New York Yankees, dies and leaves a substantial bequest to an obscure actress. But why?
Read it for: long-buried secrets revealed through alternating first-person accounts; a vivid evocation of 1920s and '30s New York City.
Author alert: Kim van Alkemade, author of the bestselling Orphan Number 8, returns with another moving and richly detailed novel that shifts between time periods and perspectives. |
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| White Houses by Amy BloomStarring: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena "Hick" Hickok, whose decades-long love affair profoundly influences their lives and careers.
Further reading: Susan Quinn's Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady, an engaging dual biography of the couple; Kelly O'Connor McNees' Undiscovered Country, another biographical novel that examines their relationship. |
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| The Cloister by James CarrollWhat it's about: In 12th-century France, philosopher Peter Abelard embarks on a forbidden (and ultimately doomed) affair with his brilliant pupil, Héloïse. Centuries later, a priest and a Holocaust survivor bond over shared intellectual interests.
Read it for: a thought-provoking meditation on love, faith, and forgiveness.
You might also like: Iain Pears' The Dream of Scipio, another novel of love and philosophy that links characters across time periods. |
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| I Was Anastasia by Ariel LawhonStarring: Two women -- Anna Anderson and Anastasia Romanov -- who may or may not be the same person.
Want a taste? "Am I truly Anastasia Romanov? A beloved daughter. A revered icon. A Russian grand duchess. Or am I an impostor? A fraud. A liar. The thief of another woman's legacy."
You might also like: John Boyne's The House of Special Purpose, which also imagines Anastasia's fate. |
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Varina
by Charles Frazier
What it's about: Forced by limited prospects to marry much-older widower Jefferson Davis, teenaged Varina Howell finds her expectations as the wife of a Mississippi landowner upended by his appointment as the leader of the Confederacy, a situation that renders her and her children fugitives in a divided and increasingly hostile nation.
Why you might like it: Intimate in its detailed observations of one woman's tragic life and epic in its scope and power, Varina is a novel of an American war and its aftermath. Ultimately, the book is a portrait of a woman who comes to realize that complicity carries consequences.
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| The Pagan Lord by Bernard CornwellStarring: Uhtred of Bebbanburg, whose efforts to reclaim his ancestral Northumbrian estate places him in the path of invading Norsemen.
Why you might like it: This fast-paced, action-packed novel also offers a richly detailed depiction of a 10th-century Britain riven by conflict between Saxons and Danes, pagans and Christians.
Media buzz: Bernard Cornwell's popular Saxon Stories books are the basis of the television series The Last Kingdom. |
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| Child of Vengeance by David KirkWhat it is: a dramatic coming-of-age story that follows orphan Bennosuke's transformation into the famed samurai warrior Musashi Miyamoto.
You might also like: James Clavell's Shogun, another dramatic historical novel set in feudal Japan that recreates, in vivid detail, the life of a samurai.
Sequel alert: Bennosuke's story continues in Sword of Honor. |
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Clash of eagles : book one of the Hesperian trilogy
by Alan Smale
What it's about: General Gaius Marcellinus of the Roman Empire is shocked by the fighting skills shown by Native Americans when he commands the invasion of the newly-discovered North American continent.
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A crown for cold silver
by Alex Marshall
What it's about: When an unprovoked attack destroys her village, once feared general Cobalt Zosia comes out of retirement and, bent of revenge, heads for battle once more where she must confront grudge-bearing enemies, once-loyal allies and an unknown army to get justice.
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Conrad Stargard : the radiant warrior
by Leo Frankowski
What it's about: Accidentally hurtled back in time to Poland in the year 1231, Conrad Schwartz sets out to transform medieval Poland into the most powerful country of its time, braving the Inquisition, enemy knights, the Mongol hordes, and other challenges.
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The Scottish Highland Series : Beloved Impostor / Beloved Stranger / Beloved Warrior
by Patricia Potter
Downloadable eBook. What it's about: The men of the Maclean Clan are fierce warriors. From the battle of Flodden Field to the waters off the Spanish Coast, they fight to protect their homes and those they love. In this spellbinding Scottish Highland series, the Maclean brothers find unexpected romance with women who heal and stir their souls.
Why you might like it: Read the entire series...A trio of courageous brothers face danger and love in sixteenth-century Scotland in these three enthralling romances from a USA Today - bestselling author.
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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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