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Historical Fiction June 2019
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| A Bend in the Stars by Rachel BarenbaumRussia, 1914: When her physicist brother, Vanya, goes missing en route to observe a solar eclipse, Jewish surgeon Miri Abramov embarks on a desperate rescue mission, accompanied by a charming army deserter.
What's at stake: Vanya believes that photographing the eclipse will verify or disprove Einstein's general theory of relativity, while Miri fears that if the coming war doesn't kill them both, the Czar's pogroms will.
Reviewers say: "exhilarating" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Tubman Command by Elizabeth Cobbs HoffmanWhat it's about: iconic abolitionist Harriet Tubman and her role in the 1863 Raid on Combahee Ferry, in which black soldiers from the 2nd South Carolina Infantry raided lowcountry plantations, destroying Confederate supplies and liberating 750 enslaved men and women.
What sets it apart: This well-researched novel by the author of The Hamilton Affair focuses on Tubman's lesser-known deeds as a scout and spy for the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Further reading: Catherine Clinton's biography Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. |
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Resistance Women: A Novel
by Jennifer Chiaverini
What it's about: Resisting the power grabs of an increasingly formidable Nazi Party in 1930s Berlin, the courageous American wife of a German intellectual and her circle of women friends engage in a clandestine battle to sabotage Hitler's regime.
Want more?: Jennifer Chiaverini is a great author to explore if you're a fan of historical fiction. You may also want to try her well known novels about the Lincoln's and other Civil War era stories.
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| The Flight Portfolio by Julie OrringerWhat it's about: As a volunteer for the Emergency Rescue Committee, American journalist Varian Fry works to smuggle Jewish artists and intellectuals out of Vichy France.
Is it for you? Although it takes some liberties with the biographical details of Fry's life, The Flight Portfolio offers a well-researched depiction of the ERC's activities in assisting refugees during WWII.
About the author: Julie Orriger is the author of The Invisible Bridge. |
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Alice's Tulips
by Sandra Dallas
What it's about: An evocation of the day-to-day life of women in the Civil War era follows Alice, whose husband has left their Iowa farm for the war, as she copes with the farm and lives normally, until suddenly being accused of murder.
Want more?: Check out Fallen Women also by Sandra Dallas, and featured below. It's another mystery, this time in Gilded Age Colorado.
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The Light In The Ruins: A Novel
by Chris Bohjalian
What it's about: Hoping to safeguard themselves from the ravages of World War II within the walls of their ancient villa in Florence, the noble Rosatis family become prisoners in their home when 18-year-old Cristina's courtship by a German lieutenant prompts the Nazis to take over the estate, a situation that leads to a serial murder investigation years later.
You may also like: City of Women by David R. Gillham, another tale of secrets in World War II Europe.
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| The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata MasseyIntroducing: Perveen Mistry, Bombay's first woman solicitor. Despite her Oxford degree, she faces discrimination in a male-dominated profession.
What it's about: Could a strange proviso in the will of a wealthy Muslim mill owner be linked to a murder in the household of his three widows?
Why you might like it: This atmospheric series opener shifts between 1921, when Perveen conducts her investigation, and 1916, when young Perveen discovers her calling in the wake of tragic events. |
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The God of The Hive
by Laurie R. King
What it's about: A conclusion to the best-selling The Language of Bees finds Mary Russell picking up a mysterious friend while making her way back to London, Sherlock Holmes investigating questions about a ruthless villain while hiding a wounded son, and murderous adversaries setting a deadly trap.
Series alert: This is the tenth book in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series, to start at the beginning pick up a copy of The Beekeeper's Apprentice.
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Fallen Women
by Sandra Dallas
What it's about: In 1885, wealthy New York socialite Beret Osmundsen investigates the brutal murder of her estranged sister Lillie, entering a dangerous world of prostitution where she discovers the truth about the sister she couldn't save, exposing the darkest side of Gilded Age ambition in Denver in the process.
You may also like: The Patchwork Bride by Sandra Dallas, the tale of a woman's search for her soul mate.
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The Alchemy of Murder
by Carol McCleary
What it's about: At the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, reporter Nellie Bly teams up with the likes of Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde and Louis Pasteur to find the connection between a series of killings and an epidemic that is wiping out Parisians by the thousands.
Want more?: Nellie Bly, an interesting character in real life, not only made a trip around the world inspired by a Jules Verne book, but also entered an insane asylum as an undercover investigative reporter to expose the conditions and treatment of patients. Read her first hand account of the investigation in Ten Days In A Mad-House.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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