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Historical FictionMarch 2016
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"It was America, not just the U.S.A. America was bigger than the states, bigger than the world. America was everything possible." ~ from Roddy Doyle's Oh, Play That Thing
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| The Queen of the Night: A Novel by Alexander CheeWith her distinctive "falcon" soprano, Lilliet Berne is the uncontested star of the Paris Opera. Only one accolade has thus far eluded her: the chance to originate a leading role, ensuring that she'll never be forgotten. Her wish comes true when she's presented with a libretto that alludes to the secrets of her past. Only four other people know the details of her early life, but which one of them betrayed her? As she tries to solve the mystery, she reflects on the various parts she has played, beginning with her childhood on the Minnesota prairie and encompassing roles as a circus performer, as a servant to Empress Eugénie, and as a celebrated courtesan. As lush and dramatic as the theatrical world it depicts, this sweeping novel brings Belle Époque France to richly detailed life. |
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Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear It’s early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs is back in England. On a fine yet chilly morning, as she walks towards Fitzroy Square—a place of many memories—she is intercepted by Brian Huntley and Robert MacFarlane of the Secret Service. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only if he is handed over to a family member. Because the man’s wife is bedridden and his daughter has been killed in an accident, the Secret Service wants Maisie—who bears a striking resemblance to the daughter—to retrieve the man from Dachau, on the outskirts of Munich. The British government is not alone in its interest in Maisie’s travel plans. Her nemesis—the man she holds responsible for her husband’s death—has learned of her journey, and is also desperate for her help. Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, Maisie encounters unexpected dangers—and finds herself questioning whether it’s time to return to the work she loved. But the Secret Service may have other ideasired by the British Secret Service to go undercover in Hitler's Germany to secure the release of a British prisoner, Maisie Dobbs is challenged by interference by the man she holds responsible for her husband's death.
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| A Friend of Mr. Lincoln: A Novel by Stephen HarriganBefore he became the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was an Illinois state senator and, before that, a circuit-riding lawyer. He was also an accomplished teller of off-color jokes, prone to bouts of melancholy, and awkward around women. It's this side of Lincoln that's most cherished by (fictional) poet Micajah "Cage" Weatherby, whom he befriends in Springfield in the 1830s until circumstances -- particularly Lincoln's marriage to Mary Todd -- cause a rift between them. For more depictions of Lincoln as a flawed yet sympathetic human being, try Tom LeClair's Lincoln's Billy or Jerome Charyn's I Am Abraham. |
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| Flight of Dreams: A Novel by Ariel LawhonOn May 3, 1937, a total of 97 individuals board the D-LZ129 Hindenberg for what will prove to be the airship's final, fatal flight. Covering a three-day period, this suspenseful novel unfolds from the perspective of five characters: stewardess Emilie; her suitor and the ship's navigator, Max; German journalist Gertrud, pursuing a story despite having her press credentials revoked by the Nazi Party; cabin boy Werner, charged with guarding a mysterious piece of cargo; and an enigmatic American businessman. All five have secrets, but whose will bring down the zeppelin? |
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| Ginny Gall: A Novel by Charlie SmithWhen his beloved mother, Cappie Florence, flees Chattanooga after killing a white man, five-year-old Delvin Walker is taken in by successful African-American funeral director Cornelius Oliver. Under Oliver's tutelage, Delvin becomes an undertaker more out of loyalty to his benefactor than any love of the mortician's trade. However, his quiet life changes irrevocably when he's falsely accused of rape and goes on the lam. Delvin subsequently rides the rails from Tennessee to Louisiana and back, giving readers of this bleak, lyrical novel an intimate look at the Jim Crow South during the Great Depression. |
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| The Arrangement: A Novel by Ashley WarlickUnfulfilled in her marriage to academic Al Fisher, aspiring writer Mary Frances Kennedy pursues married painter Dillywn "Tim" Parrish -- who, unlike Al, supports her literary ambitions while satisfying her physical desires. Set in 1930s Los Angeles, Paris, and the Swiss Alps, this lush and atmospheric biographical novel stars pioneering food writer M.F.K. Fisher, of whom W.H. Auden once said, "I do not know of anyone in the United States who writes better prose." For another fictionalized account of a real-life love triangle, try Lily King's Euphoria, inspired by the life of anthropologist Margaret Mead. |
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| Oh, Play That Thing by Roddy DoyleWith a price on his head, Irish revolutionary Henry Smart flees to the United States, arriving in New York City in 1924. At the height of Prohibition, Henry finds success as a bootlegger. However, his enterprising nature causes him to encroach on a powerful mobster's turf, which sends him running to Chicago, where he embraces the burgeoning jazz scene and becomes Louis Armstrong's bodyguard and unofficial manager. And, believe it or not, that's just the beginning in this sequel to A Star Called Henry, the middle volume in Roddy Doyle's picaresque The Last Roundup trilogy, which concludes with The Dead Republic. |
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| The Kitchen House by Kathleen GrissomIn 1791, seven-year-old Irish orphan Lavinia becomes an indentured servant at Tall Oaks, a tobacco plantation in Tidewater Virginia owned by Captain James Pyke. Entrusted to the care of Belle, Pyke's illegitimate and enslaved daughter, Lavinia lives and works with the slaves in the plantation's kitchen house. Eventually, she's summoned to the big house to tend to her opium-addicted mistress, a turn of events that will endanger both Lavinia and Belle. If you enjoy this compelling character-driven family saga, keep an eye out for the forthcoming Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House, which follows the next generation. |
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| Fever by Mary Beth KeaneIn 1883, Irish immigrant Mary Mallon arrives in New York to pursue her dream of becoming a cook. Success seems within reach when she's hired by a wealthy Manhattan family, but quickly recedes when her employers fall violently ill. She flees, but the pattern repeats itself and the death toll rises until the New York Department of Health catches up to her. As an asymptomatic carrier of salmonella typhi, the strain of bacteria responsible for typhoid fever, Mary is healthy yet capable of infecting others. Dubbed "Typhoid Mary," the city's notorious patient zero is placed under quarantine and spends the rest of her life alternately campaigning for her freedom and, despite the danger to all involved, attempting to return to the work she loves. |
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| Galway Bay by Mary Pat KellyIn 1839, 17-year-old Honora Keeley is on the verge of entering a convent when a handsome man emerges from Galway Bay and sweeps her off her feet. It's love at first sight for blacksmith Michael Kelly as well, and the couple marries and settles down to a life of farming. Then the potato blight arrives, causing widespread famine and death. Could emigrating to America save Honora and her growing family? This gripping saga of the Great Starvation should appeal to fans of Ann Moore's Gracelin O'Malley and its sequels. |
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| Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm TóibínWanting more opportunities than 1950s Ireland can offer, Enniscorthy native and aspiring bookkeeper Eilis Lacey leaves her mother and sister to start a new life in Brooklyn, where she attends school and finds work -- as well as romance. But when devastating news reaches her from home, Eilis must return to Enniscorthy and settle family affairs. Will she have to sacrifice her new life (and love) in America to resume the existence she's left behind? Recently made into an acclaimed film starring Saoirse Ronan, this novel received praise from The New York Times for showing "how place can assert itself, enfolding the visitor, staking its claim." |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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