| Midnight on the Marne by Sarah AdlakhaWhat it is: an intricately plotted love story set during an alternate history version of World War I that invites readers to ponder the weight our choices carry for the world around us.
The setup: French nurse (and erstwhile spy for Britain) Marcelle Marchand has a chance encounter with American soldier George Mountcastle and the two fall in love. But when Marcelle's latest mission goes wrong, Germany gains the upper hand and occupy France, which threatens any future she and George might have had together.
For fans of: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. |
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The House of Fortune
by Jessie Burton
What it is: a spellbinding stand-alone companion novel to The Miniaturist set in 1705 Amsterdam.
What happens: Thea Brandt, on her 18th birthday, which marks the day her mother died, receives a parcel containing a miniature figure of her secret lover, which changes her fate forever.
Reviewers say: "New readers will be delighted that they can enjoy this book without having read the first one, but they'll probably seek it out to spend a bit more time in Burton's magical Amsterdam" (Library Journal).
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Voices in the Dead House
by Norman Lock
What happens: After the Union Army's defeat at Fredericksburg in 1862, Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott converge on Washington to nurse the sick, wounded, and dying.
Starring: Walt Whitman: a man of many contradictions; and Louisa May Alcott: intense, intellectual, independent, an abolitionist and suffragist.
Inspired by: Whitman's poem "The Wound-Dresser" and Alcott's Hospital Sketches.
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| The Last of the Seven by Steven HartovWhat it is: an atmospheric and well-researched story of survival and revenge, inspired by the true story of the Special Interrogation Group (SIG), a British army unit composed of German-speaking Jewish volunteers sent on sabotage missions behind Nazi lines.
How it opens: Dragging a gangrenous broken leg and wearing a Nazi uniform, George Henry Lane, the sole survivor of an SIG detachment, stumbles out of the desert and turns himself in to a the British military.
Read it for: the visceral, stirring descriptions of the physical challenges the characters endure and the welcome moments of gallows humor. |
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The Thread Collectors
by Shaunna J. Edwards
What it's about: In 1863, a young black woman, who embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army, crosses paths with a Jewish seamstress who helps her discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save us.
Inspired (loosely) by: the authors' family histories.
Reviewers say: "This book, with its distinct prose, quick chapters, and dynamic characters, provides a stirring narrative and much-needed perspective in Civil War fiction" (Booklist).
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The House With the Golden Door
by Elodie Harper
What it's about: Living in a house with a golden door, Amara, whose survival depends on the affections of her patron, longs for the women at the brothel she was forced to leave behind as she fights to be free in a place where her existence is subject to Venus, the goddess of love.
For fans of: Circe, The Song of Achilles, and other Greek mythology books, as well as inspiring feminist historical fiction exploring the worlds of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Series alert: This is the second book in the Wolf Den Trilogy. The first book, The Wolf Den, was an international bestseller.
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| The Manhattan Girls by Gill PaulWhat it is: an atmospheric, character-driven look at the inner lives of a remarkable group of women who live and work in 1920s Manhattan.
Featuring: Broadway star Winifred Lenihan; Jane Grant, co-founder of The New Yorker; Pulitzer and Bancroft prize-winning history writer and novelist Peggy Leech; the one and only Dorothy Parker.
Read it for: the unsurprisingly witty narration, which alternates between each character; a more nuanced portrayal of Dorothy Parker than readers might be used to, which sheds light on her insecurities and fragile ego. |
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| Moth by Melody RazakWhat it's about: In this gritty, character-driven debut, the Partition of India tears society apart while the clash between new and old ideas tears one high-caste Hindu family apart.
How it starts: Though worldly university professors Bappu and Ma think that 14 would normally be too young to marry, they arrange a marriage for their daughter Alma hoping it will protect her during the anticipated Partition upheaval. When the wedding is later called off, questions of honor and obligation start dividing the family against itself.
Reviewers say: "An exceptional novel that is historical fiction at its finest" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Soviet Sisters by Anika ScottWhat it is: an intricately plotted, atmospheric spy thriller sisters, secrets, and Cold War paranoia.
Starring: Marya, who has spent 9 years in a gulag after being convicted for espionage; Marya's sister Vera, a state attorney who finally gets the courage to officially reopen her sister's case.
For fans of: the novels of Kate Quinn, especially recent titles like The Rose Code and The Alice Network. |
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The Girl from Guernica
by Karen Robards
What happens: During WWII, Sibi, living in Germany with her father, a scientist working on jet propulsion engines for the Nazi party, joins the underground resistance movement with him, and they become deeply embedded in a web of secrets, lies, and deceit that threatens to destroy their already fragile family.
Inspired by: Pablo Picasso's great masterpiece, Guernica.
Reviewers say: "With gripping descriptions of bombings, fearful interrogations, and a blooming love story, Robards delivers a fantastic, captivating historical romance" (Booklist).
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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