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Historical Fiction May 2017
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| The Women in the Castle: A Novel by Jessica ShattuckOnce a fashionable gathering place for Germany's smart set, the Bavarian castle of Burg Lingenfels is now, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, a crumbling ruin. This character-driven novel follows Marianne von Lingenfels, who offers shelter to Benita Fledermann and Ania Grabarek, the widows of men who fought for the resistance alongside her late husband. Their harrowing experiences forge strong bonds of friendship, but changing circumstances introduce tensions that will tear them apart. With its flawed characters and unflinching examination of the moral dilemmas faced by ordinary people living under authoritarian regimes, this novel may appeal to readers who enjoyed Maria Hummel's Motherland. |
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| Before the War by Fay WeldonAlthough ungainly, socially awkward Vivien "Vivvie" Ripple seems destined to remain a spinster (despite her family's wealth) in 1922 London, an unplanned pregnancy requires that she find a husband, any husband. She proposes a marriage of convenience to Sherwyn Sexton, an aspiring novelist and editor at her father's publishing house -- prompting her scheming socialite mother, Adela, to intervene. Indeed, the vain and ruthless Adela will upstage her daughter in this sardonic, slyly metafictional novel. Fans of family sagas (and scandals) that take place in England between the wars may also enjoy Penny Vincenzi's Spoils of Time trilogy, which begins with No Angel. |
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Leopard at the door
by Jennifer McVeigh
Returning to the Kenya farm where she spent her childhood, Rachel is confronted by her father's controlling new companion, rising political tensions and a secret society of Kenyans determined to oust the British, a situation that is further complicated by a secret from the past and a relationship that compels her into a dire betrayal.
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| City of Thieves: A Novel by David BenioffDuring the Siege of Leningrad, 17-year-old Lev Beniov lands in jail after looting a German paratrooper's corpse for much-needed supplies. While awaiting execution, Lev meets army deserter Kolya, who has also been sentenced to death. However, the condemned men receive a last-minute reprieve when NKVD Colonel Grechko tasks them with gathering ingredients for his daughter's wedding cake. Easier said than done: it's winter in a city that's been in starvation mode since summer, which means that Lev and Kolya must venture into enemy-occupied territory outside the city. Despite its grim subject matter, City of Thieves is a lively adventure story leavened with dark humor. |
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| The Gates of the Alamo: A Novel by Stephen HarriganDeep in the heart of 1836 Tejas, a small group of Texians seeking independence from Mexico gathers in the Alamo Mission as Mexican soldiers under the command of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna mount a 13-day siege that will end in a bloody battle. Delving into the conflicts that fueled the Texas Revolution, this dramatic fictional recreation of the fall of the Alamo features appearances by historical figures, including Colonel James Bowie and David "Davy" Crockett. Fans of early Texas history may also like Edwin Shrake's The Borderland, which focuses on formative years of the fledgling Republic of Texas. |
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| The Dovekeepers: A Novel by Alice HoffmanThis heartbreaking novel focuses on four women whose lives intersect in 70 CE during the siege of Masada, the mountain fortress to which 900 Jewish refugees fled after the Romans sacked Jerusalem. There's assassin's daughter Yael, pregnant by her married lover; widowed grandmother Revka, now the guardian of her grandsons following the deaths of her husband and daughter; and Alexandrian priestess and mystic Shirah and her equally unconventional daughter Aziza, a warrior. Readers interested in Jewish history, war stories, or women's lives in antiquity should check out The Dovekeepers, which "makes ancient history live and breathe" (Booklist). |
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The Siege of Krishnapur : Troubles
by J. G. Farrell; John Sutherland
Two stunning, Booker Prize-winning historical novels that vividly chronicle the crumbling edges of the British Empire in India and Ireland--in one Contemporary Classics hardcover.
Inspired by historical events, The Siege of Krishnapur is the mesmerizing tale of a British outpost, under siege during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, whose residents find their smug assumptions of moral and military superiority and their rigid class barriers under fire--literally and figuratively. The hero of Troubles, having survived the battles of World War I, makes his way to Ireland in 1919, in search of his once-wealthy fiancee. What he finds is her family's enormous seaside hotel in a spectacular state of decline, overgrown and overrun by herds of cats and pigs and the few remaining guests. From this strange perch, moving from room to room as the hotel falls down around him, he witnesses the distant tottering of the Empire in the East and the rise of the violent "Troubles" in Ireland.
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A chain of thunder : a novel of the Siege of Vicksburg
by Jeff Shaara
The best-selling author of A Blaze of Glory presents a first installment in a new trilogy inspired by the Siege of Vicksburg that follows Ulysses S. Grant's successful cross of the Mississippi in May 1863 and his reluctant decision to surround Confederate soldiers and citizens in a ring of Federal entrenchments to starve them into surrendering.
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The siege
by Helen Dunmore
Set against the turbulent backdrop of Leningrad in 1941, an intricately woven tapestry of love and war follows the Levin family--twenty-two-year-old Anna, her young brother Kolya, and their father, Mikhail--as they struggle to survive during the German siege.
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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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