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The evening road
by Laird Hunt
In the summer of 1920 in small-town Indiana, two extraordinary women—beautiful Ottie Lee Henshaw and Calla Destry, a young black woman—cross paths and they soon move through an America plagued by fear and hatred, determined to flee the secrets they have left behind. By the author of Neverhome.
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Human acts
by Han Kang
A U.S. release of an award-winning, controversial best-seller from South Korea follows the aftermath of a young boy's shocking death during a violent student uprising as told from the perspectives of the event's victims and their loved ones.
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| The Hollywood daughter: A novel by Kate AlcottJessica "Jesse" Malloy's father is a PR executive for Selznick International Pictures; her mother is a devout Catholic homemaker who disapproves of the film industry. These worldviews clash when Jesse's idol, glamorous starlet Ingrid Bergman, begins an affair with married Italian director Roberto Rossellini -- a scandal that places her father's career, her parents' marriage, and the family's livelihood in jeopardy. Although it's set in the 1950s instead of the 1930s, this coming-of-age story by the author of A Touch of Stardust may appeal to fans of Adriana Trigiani's All the Stars in the Heavens, which also features a young Catholic woman who observes a Hollywood scandal and the moral hypocrisy that accompanies it. |
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The witchfinder's sister
by Beth Underdown
A tale inspired by the witch hunts of mid-17th-century England follows the experiences of Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkin's disgraced sister—who, upon returning, pregnant and unmarried, to her brother's home—discovers how he is targeting the marginalised women of their community.
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The secrets of Mary Bowser
by Lois Leveen
A slave to one of the wealthiest families in Richmond, Virginia, Mary Bowser, sent to Philadelphia to be educated, secretly joins the abolition movement to bring fugitive slaves to freedom - a cause that leads her to deceive even those who are closest to her as she engages in a deadly game of espionage to end slavery.
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| In the name of the family: A novel by Sarah DunantThis sequel to Blood and Beauty finds Rodrigo Borgia comfortably ensconced in the Vatican as Pope Alexander VI. His illegitimate children continue to increase their wealth and power through any means available: brilliant but volatile Cesare undertakes an ambitious military campaign, while daughter Lucrezia embarks on her third marriage to secure a political alliance with the prominent Este family. Observing (and learning from) their exploits is diplomat and spy Niccolò Machiavelli. For other fictional treatments of this infamous family, check out C.W. Gortner's The Vatican Princess or Jeanne Kalogridis' The Borgia Bride. |
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| The confessions of young Nero: A novel by Margaret GeorgeLucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was born to rule. At least, that's what his mother believes, though it must be noted that Agrippina, a woman with a penchant for poisoning her husbands, may not be the most reliable judge of character. Still, Lucius -- an intelligent, sensitive boy who loves music and chariot races -- can only be an improvement over his uncle, Caligula. Lucius strives to distance himself from his relatives even as he benefits from Agrippina's scheming: by age 16, he's Emperor Nero. However, he quickly discovers that staying in power requires a certain amount of ruthlessness. This novel by the author of The Memoirs of Cleopatra is an unusual coming-of-age story that imagines the life of a notorious ruler. |
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| The horseman: A novel by Tim PearsLeo Sercombe loves horses. The son of a tenant farmer, Leo lives on the Somerset estate of Lord Prideaux and aspires to a position in the master's stables. He also befriends headstrong Charlotte, Prideaux's daughter. However, in Edwardian England, Leo's ambition, coupled with his disregard for class boundaries, make him an outlier and a threat. Descriptive in style and episodic in structure, The Horseman begins in 1911 and continues through World War I. Downton Abbey fans should enjoy this period piece, which reveals a society that clings to tradition as it undergoes dramatic changes wrought by industrialisation. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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