| My dear Hamilton: A novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura KamoieStarring: Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, wife of American founding father Alexander Hamilton -- a complex and determined woman who contributed much to the birth of the United States while enduring many personal and public tribulations.
For fans of: the musical Hamilton who are hungry for more about this Revolutionary War-era figure.
You might also like: I, Eliza Hamilton by Susan Scott Holloway and The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs. |
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| Varina by Charles FrazierWhat it’s about: Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America during the U.S. Civil War, learns that her marriage of security and comfort comes at a steep price.
Why you might like it: If you enjoyed bestselling author Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, you will rejoice as he returns to the same time period in U.S. history.
Read it for: the fascinating character study of Varina Davis through which we can ponder topics like culpability and complicity. |
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Silk and song
by Dana Stabenow
In Beijing, 1322 Sixteen-year-old Wu Johanna is the granddaughter of the legendary trader Marco Polo. In the wake of her father’s death, Johanna finds that lineage counts for little amid the disintegrating court of the Khan. Johanna’s destiny, if she has one, lies with her grandfather, in Venice. So, with a small band of companions, she takes to the road, the Silk Road, that storied collection of routes that link the silks of Cathay, the spices of the Indies and the jewels of the Indus to the markets of the west. But first she must survive treachery and betrayal on a road beset by thieves, fanatics and warlords.
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The mermaid and Mrs. Hancock
by Imogen Hermes Gowar
One September evening in 1785, the merchant Jonah Hancock hears urgent knocking on his front door. One of his captains is waiting eagerly on the step. He has sold Jonah's ship for what appears to be a mermaid. As gossip spreads through the docks, coffee shops, parlours and brothels, everyone wants to see Mr Hancock's marvel. Its arrival spins him out of his ordinary existence and through the doors of high society. At an opulent party, he makes the acquaintance of Angelica Neal, the most desirable woman he has ever laid eyes on, and a courtesan of great accomplishment. This meeting will steer both their lives onto a dangerous new course, on which they will learn that priceless things come at the greatest cost. Where will their ambitions lead? And will they be able to escape the destructive power mermaids are said to possess?
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| The room on Rue Amélie by Kristin HarmelWhat it’s about: Three disparate characters are drawn together in Nazi-occupied Paris: Ruby Benoit, an American newlywed with questions about her secretive French husband; Ruby’s Jewish neighbour, 11-year-old Charlotte Dacher; and British Royal Air Force pilot Thomas Clarke.
Why you should read it: This poignant tale is based loosely on the true story of an American woman who aided Allied soldiers in Paris as part of a resistance group called the Comet Line.
For fans of: World War II-era fiction like Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Martha Kelly’s Lilac Girls. |
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| Ecstasy by Mary SharrattWhat it’s about: Set amid the spectacular whirl of turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna, Ecstasy introduces readers to aspiring composer Alma Schindler, who -- while capturing the heart of the much-older conductor Gustav Mahler -- dares to defy the expectations of her time.
Who it’s for: Readers who like strong female heroines, especially women in history whose stories deserve to be better known. |
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The library of light and shadow: A novel
by M. J. Rose
Sought by society patrons who admire her ability to create stunning "shadow portraits" revealing her subjects' most scandalous secrets, a mystical artist in 1925 Manhattan renounces her gift in the wake of a tragedy and flees to southern France, where she confronts toxic people from her past. By the best-selling author of The Secret Language of Stones.
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The soldier's curse
by Thomas Keneally
In the Port Macquarie penal settlement for second offenders, at the edge of the known world, gentleman convict Hugh Monsarrat hungers for freedom. Originally transported for forging documents passing himself off as a lawyer, he is now the trusted clerk of the settlement's commandant. His position has certain advantages, such as being able to spend time in the Government House kitchen, being supplied with outstanding cups of tea by housekeeper Hannah Mulrooney, who, despite being illiterate, is his most intelligent companion. Not long after the commandant heads off in search of a rumoured river, his beautiful wife, Honora, falls ill with a sickness the doctor is unable to identify. When Honora dies, it becomes clear she has been slowly poisoned. Monsarrat and Mrs Mulrooney suspect the commandant's second-in-command, Captain Diamond, a cruel man who shares history with Honora. Then Diamond has Mrs Mulrooney arrested for the murder. Knowing his friend will hang if she is tried, Monsarrat knows he must find the real killer.
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| The courtesan by Alexandra CurryWhat it’s about: Born during Dowager Empress Cixi's reign, legendary Qing dynasty courtesan Sai Jinhua witnesses numerous transitions throughout her long and eventful life. From being sold to a brothel for a handful of coins at the age of seven to traveling to Vienna as the concubine of a government official, Jinhua’s story reaches a dangerous climax during the Boxer Rebellion.
For fans of: Authors Lisa See and Amy Tan as well as Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. |
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| The other Alcott by Elise HooperIntroducing: May Alcott, sister and rival to Louisa May Alcott and the model for Amy March in Louisa’s classic Little Women, who aspires to greatness in the male-dominated art world.
Reviewers say: “Not to be missed” (Library Journal).
You might also like: Marie Benedict’s The Other Einstein, which also focuses on a less well-known relative of a historical icon, or Priya Parmar's Vanessa and Her Sister, another biographical historical novel that addresses complex sisterly relationships. |
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Homegoing: A Novel
by Yaa Gyasi
Homegoing opens in 18th-century West Africa and introduces two half-sisters whose fates could not be more different. There's Effia, who becomes the mistress of a British slave-trader, and Esi, who survives the Middle Passage only to live out her days in bondage on an American plantation. In the centuries that follow, Effia's family experiences the destructive legacies of British imperialism and warfare between the Fante and Asante people, while Esi's descendants live through the Civil War, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights Movement. Fans of African-American family sagas such as Alex Haley's Roots will want to read this powerful debut by Ghanaian author Yaa Gyasi.
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Champion of the world
by Chad Dundas
In 1921, there's so little money in professional wrestling that former lightweight champion Pepper Van Dean makes his living on the carnival circuit, performing the dangerous "Hangman's Drop" stunt for crowds who'd probably enjoy seeing him die in the ring. No wonder Pepper leaps at the chance to slip the noose and train Garfield Taft, a once-great African-American heavyweight contender seeking to reclaim his title. But while these men may be (mostly) honest strivers looking to better their lot in life, the fight promoters holding the purse strings are not. Fighters and bootleggers, gamblers and gangsters all add colour and grit to this compelling underdog story.
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