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Historical Fiction January 2023 |
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| That Summer in Berlin by Lecia CornwallStarring: Viviane Alden, a young British woman who travels to Berlin in 1936 under the guise of working as a photographer at the Olympics. Her true goal? To find evidence that Germany is rearming in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles.
What makes it unique: the high-stakes setting, which has extra layers of artifice for Viviane to parse since any country hosting the Olympics tries to put its best foot forward.
For fans of: the Miss Lily series by Jackie French; the Verity Kent series by Anna Lee Huber. |
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| Marmee by Sarah MillerWhat it is: a heartwarming, leisurely paced reimagining of classic novel Little Women, from the perspective of the titular March family matriarch.
Read it for: a deeper understanding of the complexities of Margaret March's existence beyond the supporting role she played in the stories of her daughters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.
About the author: Sarah Miller writes juvenile nonfiction about historical topics and historical fiction for both children and adults. Her previous adult novel Caroline reimagined the story of the Caroline Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie fame. |
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| In the Shadow of a Queen by Heather B. MooreWhat it's about: Princess Louise (one of Queen Victoria's younger daughters) is a strong-willed young woman with artistic and feminist inclinations who serves as her domineering mother's unofficial secretary until the possibility of marriage to a Scottish peer divides her family and forces her to decide what she really wants out of life.
For fans of: The People's Princess by Flora Harding; A Most English Princess by Clare McHugh.
Reviewers say: In the Shadow of a Queen is "a worthy portrait of a woman divided by duty and self-determination" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Miss Del Río by Bárbara Louise MujicaWhat it is: the dramatic, rags to riches story of Hollywood icon Dolores del Río, beginning with her days as an orphan in northern Mexico before the 1910 Revolution.
Appearances by: Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, and Frida Kahlo.
You might also like: Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick.and The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict. |
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| Everything the Light Touches by Janice PariatStarring: Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus during his 1732 Lapland expedition; German intellectual Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during a trip through Italy that would inspire one of his lesser-known books, The Metamorphosis of Plants; Edwardian era Cambridge student Evelyn, during a botany journey in India.
How it's told: in alternating perspectives, interspersed with reflections from modern Delhi resident Shai, whose travels in rural Assam parallel the respective journeys of the book's other three narrators.
For fans of: David Mitchell's nonlinear, stylistically complex, time-spanning novel Cloud Atlas. |
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| The Color Line by Igiaba ScegoWhat it is: the remarkable story of Lafanu Brown, an Afro-Chippewa woman who moves to Italy in the middle of the 19th century to escape American racism and pursue her dreams of being an artist.
How the story is told: through the eyes of a modern day Italian art curator of Somali origin who grows attached to Lafanu's art and story, seeing reflections of her own experience and that of her family.
Reviewers say: The Color Line is "fluid and refreshing" (Library Journal) and "an engrossing tale of ambition, survival, and love" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| One Woman's War by Christine WellsWhat it's about: the wartime activities of Victoire Bennett, a British Naval Intelligence officer who some believe inspired James Bond mainstay Miss Moneypenny.
Read it for: the engagingly written characters including Victoire, a survival-driven Austrian double agent, and Ian Fleming himself.
For fans of: Kate Quinn's The Alice Network and Ariel Lawhon's Code Name Helene. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Carrollton Public Library 1700 Keller Springs Road, Carrollton Texas 75006 4220 North Josey Lane, Carrollton Texas 75010 |
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