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Historical Fiction May 2019
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| The Parting Glass by Gina Marie GuadagninoA tangled web: Lady's maid Mary Ballard is in love with her mistress -- who's having an affair with stablehand Johnny Prior. Unbeknownst to their employers, Mary is an Irish immigrant named Maire O'Farren, and Johnny is her twin brother Seanin.
Why you might like it: The Parting Glass offers a suspenseful Upstairs, Downstairs plot and a vivid recreation of 1830s New York City.
For fans of: the atmospheric, LGBTQIA-themed historical fiction of Sarah Waters and Emma Donoghue. |
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| The Parisian by Isabella HammadIntroducing: Midhat Kamal, the Sorbonne-educated son of a wealthy Palestinian textile merchant who finds himself caught between cultures.
What happens: Known as "the Parisian" in his hometown of Nablus, a small village "north of Jerusalem, south of Damascus," Midhat has a front-row seat to history as colonial powers squabble over his homeland.
Reviewers say: a "dazzling debut novel" (The New York Times). |
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| American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt by Stephanie ThorntonStarring: Alice Roosevelt, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. Just 18 when her father is elected president, spirited Alice becomes a celebrity, a fashion icon, and a walking scandal who smokes, gambles, and rides in automobiles with men.
Why you might like it: Alice's lively narration describes her coming-of-age in the public eye while capturing her larger-than-life personality.
You might also like: Jerome Charyn's The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King, in which Teddy Roosevelt recounts his adventurous life. |
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| The Quintland Sisters: A Novel by Shelley WoodWhat it's about: In 1934, quintuplets are born to a poor family in rural Ontario. Teenage midwife Emma Trimpany, who helps deliver all five girls, tells their story.
Inspired by: the real-life Dionne sisters of Canada, the first known quintuplets to survive infancy and reach adulthood.
You might also like: Ami McKay's The Birth House, another engaging, well-researched historical novel about rural Canadian midwives. |
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The uncommon appeal of clouds : an Isabel Dalhousie novel
by Alexander McCall Smith
Investigating the theft of a valuable painting that was supposed to be donated to the Scottish National Gallery, Isabel harbors a growing suspicion that the thieves may be close to the painting's wealthy owner. By the best-selling author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
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The music lesson
by Katharine Weber
Patricia Dolan is alone with a stolen Vermeer painting in an Irish cottage by the sea. How she got here is part of the story she tells us: about her father, a Boston cop; the numbing loss of her daughter; and her charming Irish cousin, who has led her to this high-stakes crime.
Her vigil becomes a tale of love, regret, and transformation. As Patricia immerses herself in the passions of her Irish heritage, she discovers what has been hidden beneath the surface of her own life--and what she must do to preserve the things she values most.
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| The Collector's Apprentice: A Novel by B.A. ShapiroStarring: 19-year-old Paulien Mertens, who becomes Vivienne Gregsby and finds a job with an American art collector who shares her passion for post-Impressionist art. Little does he know she's got an ulterior motive.
Why you might like it: Cameos by famous artists and evocative details of Paris in the 1920s add atmosphere to a slow-burning tale of passion, murder, and revenge.
Did you know? Although this novel's characters are fictitious, its featured works of art form the core of the collection at the real-life Barnes Foundation museum in Philadelphia. |
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The swan thieves : a novel
by Elizabeth Kostova
His ordered life thrown into disarray when he begins treating an unstable genius artist who has recently attacked a canvas at the National Gallery of Art, psychiatrist and art hobbyist Andrew Marlowe struggles to understand the secret that torments the artist and discovers a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism. 750,000 first printing.
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The careful use of compliments
by Alexander McCall Smith
Dealing with a newborn son and his doting father, James, Isabel Dalhousie stumbles upon a new puzzle when she attends an art auction and finds a painting attributed to a now-deceased artist that features a person whom the artist could only have encountered after his supposed death, meaning that either the artwork is a forgery or the artist could still be alive. 150,000 first printing.
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The goldfinch
by Donna Tartt
Taken in by a wealthy family friend after surviving an accident that killed his mother, 13-year-old Theo Decker tries to adjust to life on Park Avenue, in a novel by the author of The Secret History. A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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