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Historical Fiction May 2017
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The Revolution of the Moon
by Andrea Camilleri
Describes how the Marquees of Castle Rodrigo, named as successor by her husband on his deathbed, tries to improve the impoverished city of Palermo until the Church, who views her as a dangerous revolutionary, has her recalled to Spain. Original.
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| Jerzy by Jerome CharynA Polish refugee turned literary sensation, Jerzy Kosiński gains fame in the mid-1960s for his best-selling novels The Painted Bird and Being There and quickly climbs the social ladder by charming his way into the right circles. But is he really who and what he claims to be? Multiple narrators -- including Peter Sellers' chauffeur, Joseph Stalin's daughter, and a dominatrix known as Anna Karenina -- recount Kosiński's rise and fall as cracks appear in his carefully crafted facade. Author Jerome Charyn, who revealed the inner lives of iconic Americans in his previous novels, The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson and I Am Abraham, uncovers the hidden layers of an enigmatic personality. |
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A single spy
by William Christie
A World War II Russian spy with divided loyalties goes deep undercover in Nazi Germany and uncovers an assassination plot with the potential to change history. By the author of The Enemy Inside.
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| The Drowning King by Emily HollemanThis sequel to Cleopatra's Shadows opens with Egyptian ruler Ptolemy XII Auletes ("the Piper") on his deathbed as his surviving children, waiting in the wings, conspire against him and each other. Favorite daughter Cleopatra surpasses her siblings in intelligence and ambition, but her younger brother has the support of powerful advisers. Meanwhile, the Roman Empire seeks to consolidate its power by bringing Egypt under its rule. Dysfunctional family dynamics and courtly intrigue lead to the downfall of a dynasty in this 2nd book of the Fall of Egypt trilogy. Readers interested in the legendary Queen of the Nile may enjoy Stacy Schiff's biography Cleopatra, which gives ample historical context. |
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The Sun King Conspiracy
by Yves Jégo
A tale of religious brotherhoods, corruption, romantic intrigue and political scheming at the court of Louis XIV.
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The orphan's tale
by Pam Jenoff
Sixteen-year-old Noa, forced to give up her baby fathered by a Nazi soldier, snatches a child from a boxcar containing Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp and takes refuge with a traveling circus, where Astrid, a Jewish aerialist, becomes her mentor
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| Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Crystal KingMost Roman slaves are bought for a pittance; talented chef Thrasius has just been purchased for the unbelievable sum of 20,000 denarii by renowned gourmand Marcus Gavius Apicius. As Apicius' coquus (cook), Thrasius must create sumptuous spreads for his master's wealthy and influential guests. Such feasts are a key component of Apicius' strategy to achieve his cherished ambition of becoming Augustus Caesar's gastronomic advisor. But Apicius has as many rivals and enemies as he does supporters. Will his lust for fame and glory lead to his (and Thrasius') downfall? In addition to domestic and political drama, this debut also contains well-researched details of ancient Roman culinary traditions. |
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Sawbones : a Laura Elliston novel
by Melissa Lenhardt
When Dr. Catherine Bennett is wrongfully accused of murder, she knows her fate likely lies with a noose unless she can disappear. Fleeing with a bounty on her head, she escapes with her maid to the uncharted territories of Colorado to build a new life with a new name. Although the story of the murderess in New York is common gossip, Catherine's false identity serves her well as she fills in as a temporary army doctor. But in a land unknown, so large and yet so small, a female doctor can only hide for so long.
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A bridge across the ocean
by Susan Meissner
Brette Caslake visits the haunted Queen Mary and makes a discovery that will help her solve a 70-year old tragedy involving two European war brides who sailed on the same vessel to New York Harbor in 1946.
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The romance reader's guide to life
by Sharon L Pywell
Left with few options when the end of World War II costs them their jobs, two sisters—one flirtatious, the other bookish—launch a makeup business that is upended when one of them disappears on what may be a romantic adventure on the high seas. By the author of What Happened to Henry.
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| The Women in the Castle: A Novel by Jessica ShattuckOnce a fashionable gathering place for Germany's smart set, the Bavarian castle of Burg Lingenfels is now, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, a crumbling ruin. This character-driven novel follows Marianne von Lingenfels, who offers shelter to Benita Fledermann and Ania Grabarek, the widows of men who fought for the resistance alongside her late husband. Their harrowing experiences forge strong bonds of friendship, but changing circumstances introduce tensions that will tear them apart. With its flawed characters and unflinching examination of the moral dilemmas faced by ordinary people living under authoritarian regimes, this novel may appeal to readers who enjoyed Maria Hummel's Motherland. |
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| Before the War by Fay WeldonAlthough ungainly, socially awkward Vivien "Vivvie" Ripple seems destined to remain a spinster (despite her family's wealth) in 1922 London, an unplanned pregnancy requires that she find a husband, any husband. She proposes a marriage of convenience to Sherwyn Sexton, an aspiring novelist and editor at her father's publishing house -- prompting her scheming socialite mother, Adela, to intervene. Indeed, the vain and ruthless Adela will upstage her daughter in this sardonic, slyly metafictional novel. Fans of family sagas (and scandals) that take place in England between the wars may also enjoy Penny Vincenzi's Spoils of Time trilogy, which begins with No Angel. |
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| The Siege Winter: A Novel by Ariana Franklin and Samantha NormanSet during the 12th-century war of succession between Empress Matilda and King Stephen, this novel focuses on ordinary individuals caught up in extraordinary circumstances. Mercenary and arbalist Gwilherm de Vannes rescues peasant girl Em from a brutal assault; Em disguises herself as a boy and becomes apprentice archer Penda as the pair hunts down her attackers. Their paths soon cross that of 16-year-old Maud of Kenniford, reluctant wife to an ailing lord, who offers her castle as safe haven to Empress Matilda and soon finds herself and her household in the midst of a siege. Begun by the late Ariana Franklin and completed by her daughter, Samantha Norman, this suspenseful, intricately plotted novel stands on its own but is loosely connected to Franklin's Adelia Aguilar series (beginning with Mistress of the Art of Death). |
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| The Dovekeepers: A Novel by Alice HoffmanThis heartbreaking novel focuses on four women whose lives intersect in 70 CE during the siege of Masada, the mountain fortress to which 900 Jewish refugees fled after the Romans sacked Jerusalem. There's assassin's daughter Yael, pregnant by her married lover; widowed grandmother Revka, now the guardian of her grandsons following the deaths of her husband and daughter; and Alexandrian priestess and mystic Shirah and her equally unconventional daughter Aziza, a warrior. Readers interested in Jewish history, war stories, or women's lives in antiquity should check out The Dovekeepers, which "makes ancient history live and breathe" (Booklist). |
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The siege : a novel
by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
A tale set during the Napoleonic siege of Cádiz finds unwavering police commissioner Rogelio Tizón investigating a series of murders committed by one of several possible suspects trapped within the bomb-stricken city.
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A chain of thunder : a novel of the Siege of Vicksburg
by Jeff Shaara
The first installment in a trilogy inspired by the Siege of Vicksburg that follows Ulysses S. Grant's successful cross of the Mississippi in May 1863 and his reluctant decision to surround Confederate soldiers and citizens in a ring of Federal entrenchments to starve them into surrendering.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Prince George's County Memorial Library System 9601 Capital Lane Largo, Maryland 20774 301-699-3500www.pgcmls.info/ |
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