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Historical FictionMarch 2015
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"Perhaps I would be too late to save them." ~ from Jeremy Page's The Collector of Lost Things
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New and Recently Released!
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| Wolf Winter: A Novel by Cecilia EkbäckEmigrating from their native Finland to Swedish Lapland in 1717, Maija and her emotionally fragile husband, Paavo, along with their two young daughters, struggle to adapt to their new life as homesteaders. When the girls find a man's body in the woods, bearing wounds too clean and precise to be the result of an animal attack, Maija realizes that someone in their tiny, isolated community is a murderer. Her investigation into the crime angers both her neighbors and the church, putting her family in grave danger once the harsh winter descends. |
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| Rebel Queen: A Novel by Michelle MoranRefusing to surrender to the British Empire, Rani Lakshmibai, ruler of India's Jhansi State, defends her realm with not one but two armies -- one comprised entirely of men, the other, all-female. Narrated by Sita, Rani's trusted bodyguard, Rebel Queen vividly depicts the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and introduces readers to a strong, courageous ruler who fought and died for her country. Readers interested in a more panoramic view of this conflict may enjoy Julian Rathbone's Mutiny; fans of Indian history and its female leaders should check out Indu Sundaresan's Taj Mahal trilogy, set in the 16th-century Mughal Empire. |
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| Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral by Mary Doria RussellThirty seconds, thirty bullets. In this sequel to Doc, author Mary Doria Russell employs meticulous research, sumptuous period detail, and sensitive, in-depth character studies to dispel the legends surrounding the 1881 gunfight at the O.K. Corral. As the consumptive Doc Holliday accompanies Wyatt Earp and his brothers to Tombstone, Arizona to face off against the Clantons and the McLaurys, Epitaph explores the circumstances leading up to the shootout as well as the complicated aftermath of the fateful event. |
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| Rodin's Lover: A Novel by Heather WebbDetermined to pursue a career as an artist despite her family's objections, sculptor Camille Claudel moves to Paris, where she becomes the apprentice, muse, and lover of Auguste Rodin. While fighting for acceptance within the art community, Claudel also struggles with mental illness. If you enjoy richly detailed, dramatic novels about the lives and loves of women artists in Belle Époque France, check out Robin Olivera's I Always Loved You, about Impressionist painters Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, or Elizabeth Robards' With Violets, about Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet. |
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| The Marriage Game: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth I by Alison WeirThis sequel to The Lady Elizabeth begins in 1558 with the 25-year-old Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, following the newly crowned queen as she navigates affairs of state and affairs of the heart. Given England's political instability and her own turbulent family history -- in addition to surviving four stepmothers, she is the daughter of a queen executed for treason and the half-sister of a queen who once had her imprisoned in the Tower of London -- Elizabeth is in no hurry to wed. However, she's willing to play the game, pitting foreign suitors against one another while enjoying the attentions of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. If you like The Marriage Game, you may enjoy Margaret George's Elizabeth I, which focuses on a later part of Good Queen Bess' 45-year reign. |
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| Away by Amy BloomLillian Leyb arrives in New York City in 1924, the survivor of a Russian pogrom that killed her family. Barely able to speak English and still mourning the loss of her husband and three-year-old daughter, Sophie, Lillian lucks into a job as a seamstress at the Goldfadn Yiddish Theater and starts to make a new life for herself in America. But then she learns that Sophie may still be alive. Unsure whether to believe the rumor but unable to disregard it, Lillian sets out on an arduous journey to find her child -- one that will take her from New York to Chicago to Alaska and finally to Siberia and beyond. Don't miss this unusual immigrant saga, filled with fully realized, sympathetic characters. |
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| The Ghost of the Mary Celeste: A Novel by Valerie MartinOn December 5, 1872, en route to the Strait of Gibraltar, the merchant brig Mary Celeste appears off the coast of Spain -- abandoned but still seaworthy, its cargo intact, and with no trace of its passengers or crew. Long after the event, people continue to speculate about what really happened aboard the doomed ship: a young Arthur Conan Doyle pens a short story about the incident; Philadelphia spiritualist Violet Petra offers her insights (while journalist Phoebe Grant seeks to expose the medium as a fraud); and the surviving relatives of Captain Briggs, members of an old seafaring family that's experienced its share of tragedy, are left wondering where their loved ones went. Based on true events, this well-researched novel employs an intricate, non-linear narrative to shed light on a still-unsolved historical mystery. |
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| The Collector of Lost Things: A Novel by Jeremy PageGuided by rumors of the Great Auk, a flightless bird thought to be extinct, naturalist Eliot Saxby sets sail for the North Atlantic in 1845. Aboard the Amethyst, Saxby encounters a captain and crew whose interests are more commercial than scientific, as well as passengers who aren't what they seem. Of particular interest to Saxby is an English gentleman by the name of Bletchley and his companion, Clara, whom Saxby once knew as "Celeste." With its strong sense of place and well-developed characters, The Collector of Lost Things may appeal to fans of Andrea Barrett's Voyage of the Narwhal, which also describes a shipboard journey to the Arctic. |
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| Above All Things: A Novel by Tanis RideoutWhat do you do when the "other woman" in your husband's life is a mountain? Ruth, wife of British explorer George Mallory, has spent years competing with Mount Everest, which continues to hold George in its thrall despite two previous failed expeditions to the summit. Set in 1924, Above All Things unfolds in parallel narratives that follow George as he undertakes one final attempt to conquer Everest and Ruth as she remains in England, raising their children while waiting for word of her husband's fate. To learn more about George Mallory's mountaineering career, check out Ghosts of Everest, a nonfiction account of the 1999 expedition that retraced Mallory's journey and discovered his final resting place. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Dauphin County Library System
101 Walnut Street
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101
717.234.4961
http://www.dcls.org
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