|
Historical Fiction October 2020
|
|
|
|
Welcome to the October Historical Fiction Newsletter! This month a couple of titles feature ghosts! We also have stories set in Hawaii, Paris, Stockholm, Laos and South Carolina. Time frames range from biblical times through the 18th century, the WWI and WWII eras and into the 1950s. Scroll down for this month’s “Books in a Series” titles. |
|
|
A house of ghosts : a gripping murder mystery set in a haunted house by William Ryan"Shortlisted for the Irish Book Award, a classic cozy big-house mystery haunted by the specters of World War One--for readers of Agatha Christie and Simone St. James. Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives. At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, armaments manufacturer Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons, both of whom died at the front. Then, when a storm descends, they find themselves trapped on the island. Soon one of their number will die. For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one. An unrelenting, gripping mystery, packed with twists and turns and a kindling of romance, A House of Ghosts is the perfect cold-weather read"
|
|
|
The silent companions
by Laura Purcell
"When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge, what greets her is far from the life of wealth and privilege she was expecting. When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But with her husband dead just weeks after their marriage, her new servants resentful, and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure--a silent companion--that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of The Bridge are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition--that is, until she notices the figure's eyes following her. A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, this is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect--much like the silent companions themselves"
|
|
|
These ghosts are family : a novel by Maisy CardA man on his deathbed reveals that he stole another man’s identity decades earlier, traces the family’s history from colonial Jamaica to present-day Harlem and reconnects with the firstborn daughter he never knew.
|
|
|
The book of longings by Sue Monk KiddA first-century intellectual fights the limitations imposed on women before an encounter with an 18-year-old Jesus leads to their marriage, his dangerous public ministry and her flight to safety in Alexandria. (historical fiction). By the author of The Invention of Wings.
|
|
|
Run me to earth : a novel by Paul YoonThree children orphaned in 1960s Laos meet a dedicated doctor who enlists them as motorcycle couriers in his effort to rescue civilians and find medical supplies in a novel from the award-winning author of Snow Hunters.
|
|
|
The Paris hours by Alex GeorgeFour individuals share an extraordinary day in Paris between the wars, including a maid in possession of a lone surviving Marcel Proust manuscript and a lovesick artist who would repay an impossible debt through a partnership with Gertrude Stein
|
|
|
The first actress : a novel of Sarah Bernhardt by C. W. GortnerA historical tale inspired by the life of French actress Sarah Bernhardt traces the rise of a courtesan's daughter whose rebellious style and refusal to give up her child lead her to become the most acclaimed performer of her time.
|
|
|
The vanishing half
by Brit Bennett
"The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, evenseparated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?"
|
|
|
Time after time by Lisa Grunwald"On a clear December morning in 1937, at the famous gold clock in Grand Central Terminal, Joe Reynolds, a hardworking railroad man from Queens, meets a vibrant young woman who seems mysteriously out of place. Nora Lansing is a Manhattan socialite whose flapper clothing, pearl earrings, and talk of the Roaring Twenties don't seem to match the bleak mood of Depression-era New York. Captivated by Nora from her first electric touch, Joe despairs when he tries to walk her home and she disappears. Delving into Grand Central Terminal's rich past, Lisa Grunwald crafts a masterful historical novel about a love affair that defies age, class, place, and even time"
|
|
|
The Color of Air
by Gail Tsukiyama
Hawaii, 1935: On the Big Island, the town of Hilo is home to a tight-knit community of Japanese immigrants and their families, eking out an existence in the shadow of sugarcane plantations. Also in the background: the volcano Mauna Loa, which is on the verge of its biggest eruption in years.
Featuring: Daniel Abe, a medical student whose return to Hilo coincides with the volcanic disaster; Daniel's estranged father Kenji, who is deep in mourning for Daniel's recently deceased mother Mariko; Maile, Daniel's high school sweetheart who is also back in Hilo after a brush with racist violence in Honolulu.
|
|
|
Cilka's journey : a novel by Heather MorrisRussian sixteen-year-old Cilka is forced by a concentration-camp commandant to become his lover and subsquently sent to a Siberian prison camp after being found guilty of collaborating with the enemy.
|
|
|
A choir of lies by Alexandra RowlandThree years ago, Ylfing watched his master-Chant tear a nation apart with nothing but the words on his tongue. Now Ylfing is all alone in a new realm, brokenhearted and grieving—but a Chant in his own right, employed as a translator to a wealthy merchant of luxury goods, Sterre de Waeyer. But Ylfing has been struggling to come to terms with what his master did, with the audiences he’s been alienated from, and with the stories he can no longer trust himself to tell. A choir of lies is the second book in this series. A conspiracy of truth was the first book in the series.
|
|
|
Leeds, May 1822. Thief-taker Simon Westow owes Davey and Emily Ashton everything - the siblings gave him sanctuary when he needed it most. So when Davey is arrested for sedition and Emily begs Simon for help, he starts asking questions, determined to clear his friend. Are the answers linked to rumours of a mysterious government spy in town? The Hocus girl is the second book in the Simon Westow Mystery Series. Book 1 is: The Hanging Psalm.
|
|
|
Westside saints : a novel by W. M. AkersEarly 1920s Manhattan detective Gilda Carr is cynical about a family of eccentric street preachers who believe in “electric resurrection,” until her long-dead mother walks in her front door. Westside Saints is the second book in the Gilda Carr Tiny Mystery Series. The first book is: Westside
|
|
|
|
|
|