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Historical Fiction February 2019
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| That Churchill Woman by Stephanie BarronPresenting: Lady Randolph Churchill -- née Jennie Jerome, the American heiress who snags a titled husband and scandalizes Victorian England's high society with her political ambition and affaires de coeur.
Why you might like it: This biographical novel offers a sympathetic portrait of an intelligent woman who rebels against the restrictive social mores of the late 19th century.
You might also like: Karen Harper's American Duchess or Therese Anne Fowler's A Well-Behaved Woman, about Gilded Age heiresses who seek personal fulfillment within socially advantageous yet emotionally impoverished marriages. |
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| The Only Woman in the Room by Marie BenedictStarring: Hedwig Kiesler, the Austrian Jewish trophy wife who flees 1930s Vienna and reinvents herself as Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr -- while secretly pursuing her dream of becoming an inventor.
About the author: Marie Benedict wrote The Other Einstein, which similarly illuminates the overlooked scientific contributions of women.
Further reading: Margaret Porter's forthcoming novel Beautiful Invention, or the biography Hedy's Folly by Richard Rhodes. |
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| The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King: A Novel of Teddy Roosevelt and His Times by Jerome CharynWhat it is: a biographical novel about Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States.
Want a taste? "I was glad, glad that I had been born, despite the frozen fist in my lungs, despite the wolf-man at the foot of the bed, and the sudden bouts of diarrhea that we called the Roosevelt colic."
About the author: Jerome Charyn is known for his iconoclastic character studies of prominent Americans such as The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson and I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War. |
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| Prague Spring by Simon MawerWhat happens: A coin flip sends two Oxford students on an impulsive trip to Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1968, a period of political optimism known as the "Prague Spring." Meanwhile, a British diplomat gathers intelligence in the lead up to the Warsaw Pact invasion.
Why you might like it: Full of well-researched historical detail, this character-driven novel by the author of the Walter Scott Prize-winning Tightrope "limns the Cold War to affecting and ultimately chilling effect" (Kirkus Reviews).
You might also like: Paul Vidich's atmospheric George Mueller novels, which offer a similar blend of historical fiction and spy novel. |
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| The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine BannerWhat it's about: the Esposito family and their experiences on the Mediterranean island of Castellamare from World War I to the Great Recession.
Read it for: an atmospheric and leisurely paced tale of island life, full of colorful characters and spiced with magical realism.
For fans of: Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. |
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| Gateway to the Moon by Mary MorrisStarring: New Mexico teen Miguel Torres, an aspiring astronomer, and his 15th-century converso ancestor, Luis de Torres.
What happens: In parallel narratives separated by 500 years, Miguel discovers his Jewish heritage as Luis, fleeing the Inquisition, sails to the New World with Columbus.
Reviewers say: "With prose as clear as the star-strewn sky, Morris’ novel explores people’s hidden connections" (Booklist). |
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| Barkskins by Annie ProulxWhat it's about: In the deep, dark forests of 17th-century New France (now Canada), indentured censitaires work as "barkskins," or woodcutters bound to their seigneur as they toil in the "evil wilderness."
Meet: René Sel and Charles Duquet, censitaires whose paths diverge dramatically: one marries a Mi’kmaw woman and becomes the patriarch of a large, mixed-race family, while the other escapes servitude to become a wealthy trader.
You might also like: Joseph Boyden's The Orenda, which shares Barkskins' setting but focuses on the region's indigenous inhabitants. |
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Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
What happens: In early 1900s Korea, prized daughter Sunja finds herself pregnant and alone, bringing shame on her family until a young tubercular minister offers to marry her and bring her to Japan, in the saga of one family bound together as their faith and identity are called into question.
Want more?: If you're craving more from early 1900s Korea, you may want to give The Calligrapher's Duaghter by Eugenia Kim a try.
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The two-family house
by Lynda Cohen Loigman
What's inside: A book set in a two-family brownstone in 1950s Brooklyn unravels a multigenerational story woven around a deeply buried family secret.
More from Brooklyn: Catch more from one of New York's most famous boroughs with Brooklyn by Colm Toibin and While We're Far Apart by Lynn Austin.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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