Historical Fiction
Shrines of gaiety : a novel
Kate Atkinson
FICTION Atkinson Kate
Historical Fiction
"1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven, whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost. "--
The book of everlasting things : a novel
Aanchal Malhotra
FICTION Malhotra Aanchal
Historical Fiction
"A lush, sweeping debut novel in the vein of All the Light We Cannot See, about a Hindu perfumer and a Muslim calligrapher, who fall in love against the backdrop of Partition. On a January morning in 1938, Samir Vij first locks eyes with Firdaus Khan through the rows of perfume bottles in his family's ittar shop in Lahore. Over the years that follow, the perfumer's apprentice and calligrapher's apprentice fall in love with their ancient crafts and with each other, dreaming of the life they will one day share. But as the struggle for Indian independence gathers force, their beloved city is ravaged by Partition. Suddenly, they find themselves on opposite sides: Samir, a Hindu, becomes Indian and Firdaus, a Muslim, becomes Pakistani, their love now forbidden. Severed from one another, Samir and Firdaus make a series of fateful decisions that will change the course of their lives forever. As their paths spiral away from each other, they must each decide how much of the past they are willing to let go, and what it will cost them. Lush, sensuous, and deeply romantic, The Book of Everlasting Things is the story of two lovers and two nations, split apart by forces beyond their control, yet bound by love and memory. Filled with exquisite descriptions of perfume and calligraphy, spanning continents and generations, Aanchal Malhotra's debut novel is a feast for the senses and the heart"--
The main story that threads this novel is of the love of Samir Vij and Firdaus Khan. They are both skilled in their crafts: Samir an apprentice in his family’s perfumery and Firdaus, a student of calligraphy, the only female in her father’s studio. While their love grows, the British Raj dissolves and Partition begins. And Samir is a Hindu and Firdaus is a Muslim. The new borders that create Pakistan and India doesn’t just sever land. But this book is much more than a love story. It is about finding meaning in oneself when everything is taken away. It is about how trauma and history are inherited. It is about what memories we hold on to and what we don’t. And it is about perfume. Malhotra brings scents alive along with the memories they capture. I enjoyed this novel. -Anne M
Stone blind : a novel
Natalie Haynes
FICTION Haynes Natalie
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics
"The only mortal in a family of gods, Medusa is the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. Unlike her siblings, Medusa grows older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know. When the sea god Poseidon assaults Medusa in Athene's temple, the goddess is enraged. Furious by the violation of her sacred space, Athene takes revenge--on the young woman. Punished for Poseidon's actions, Medusa is forever transformed. Writhing snakes replace her hair andher gaze will turn any living creature to stone. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with one look, Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude. Until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon"--
To be fully transparent, I'll read anything by Natalie Haynes, so I'm probably not a fair judge. I've loved all her works, and this is no exception. Not only is Haynes to be commended for giving voice (sometimes, for the first time) to characters we know from the Greek myths, but her own voice--influenced by her skill, her amazing intellect, her sense of humor, her empathy--shines through and makes her writing so immediate and fulfilling to the reader (well, at least this reader!). Her (re)telling of these stories is fresh and necessary and delightful. -Candice
Trespasses
Louise Kennedy
FICTION Kennedy Louise
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
"Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering debut novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and unsanctioned love"--
Cushla Lavery wants to fix things. She wants to help her brother manage the family's pub. She wants to help her mother stop drinking. As a primary school teacher, she wants to help a socially struggling student find acceptance. She wants a lot of things and works for them. But this is Northern Ireland in the 1970's and everything is an uphill battle. And then Michael Agnew walks into the pub. He is all the wrong things: married, Protestant, older and from a different social class. He offers Cushla an escape from the daily toils and community violence. Will this last? This is a beautifully written novel. Heartbreaking, of course, and full of feeling. The audiobooks is a gem. -Anne M
The marriage portrait
Maggie O'Farrell
FICTION O'Farrell, Maggie
Historical Fiction
"A novel set in Renaissance Italy, and centering on the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici"--
Maggie O’Farrell expertly builds a narrative surrounding the life and suspicious death of Lucrezia de’Medici. Tension is created by splitting the time frame, shifting between Lucrezia’s upbringing and her marriage to the Duke of Ferrara, the man suspected of her death. -Becky
The book of goose
Yiyun Li
FICTION Li Yiyun
Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
A magnificent, beguiling tale winding from the postwar rural provinces to Paris, from an English boarding school to the quiet Pennsylvania home where a woman can live without her past, The Book of Goose is a story of disturbing intimacy and obsession, of exploitation and strength of will, by the celebrated author Yiyun Li. Fabienne is dead. Her childhood best friend, Agnès, receives the news in America, far from the French countryside where the two girls were raised―the place that Fabienne helped Agnès escape ten years ago. Now Agnès is free to tell her story. As children in a war-ravaged backwater town, they’d built a private world, invisible to everyone but themselves―until Fabienne hatched the plan that would change everything, launching Agnès on an epic trajectory through fame, fortune, and terrible loss.
If there was ever a book that reveals the fundamentals of human nature, this is it. Yiyun Li's The Book of Goose reminds me of a modern folk tale (without the magic or talking animals) but with the elements of a cautionary lesson. -Anne M
Death at Greenway : a novel
Lori Rader-Day
MYSTERY Rader-Day, Lori
Fiction, Mystery, Historical Fiction
"Bridey Kelly has come to Greenway House-the beloved holiday home of Agatha Christie-in disgrace. A terrible mistake at St. Prisca's Hospital in London has led to her dismissal as a nurse trainee, and her only chance for redemption is a position in the countryside caring for children evacuated to safety from the Blitz. Greenway is a beautiful home full of riddles: wondrous curios not to be touched, restrictions on rooms not to be entered, and a generous library, filled with books about murder. The biggest mystery might be the other nurse, Gigi, who is like no one Bridey has ever met. Chasing ten young children through the winding paths of the estate grounds might have soothed Bridey's anxieties and grief-if Greenway were not situated so near the English Channel and the rising aggressions of the war. When a body washes ashore near the estate, Bridey is horrified to realize this is not a victim of war, but of a brutal killing. As the local villagers look among themselves, Bridey and Gigi discover they each harbor dangerous secrets about what has led them to Greenway. With a mystery writer's home as their unsettling backdrop, the young women must unravel the truth before their safe haven becomes a place of death ... "--
This is a great book to get cozy with, taking place in none other than Agatha Christie's vacation home! That link sets the tone, a nice, clipped-accented British mystery set during the WWII bombings of London. Strong, winning heroines abound, with the well-meaning but troubled Bridey, the mysterious and sophisticated Gigi, and a host of others who serve as reminders of just how much women picked up the slack during the war, and various ways they also suffered. The relocation of children to the countryside--to protect them from the falling bombs--allows the book's characters to shelter in what should be a more idyllic location, but the sadness, death, and mystery follow them there, in more ways than one. Particularly poignant is the mother who keeps her child in London with her, with unforeseen consequences. -Candice
Haven : a novel
Emma Donoghue
FICTION Donoghue Emma
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
In this beautiful story of adventure and survival from the New York Times bestselling author of Room, three men vow to leave the world behind them as they set out in a small boat for an island their leader has seen in a dream, with only faith to guide them. In seventh-century Ireland, a scholar and priest called Artt has a dream telling him to leave the sinful world behind. Taking two monks--young Trian and old Cormac--he rows down the river Shannon in search of an isolated spot on which to found a monastery. Drifting out into the Atlantic, the three men find an impossibly steep, bare island inhabited by tens of thousands of birds, and claim it for God. In such a place, what will survival mean?
Emma Donoghue returns to her isolation theme as in "Room." Set in the Middle Ages in Ireland, three monks leave their monastery to find a renewed settlement in service to God. They settle on a desolate island filled only with birds, little else to eat, and no shelter. How to proceed is up to debate amongst the three. Are bodily needs like food and shelter necessary if they devote themselves fully to God? The situtation is tense and often dire as they get to know each other more fully through adversity. -Anne M
Mercury Pictures presents : a novel
Anthony Marra
FICTION Marra Anthony
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
"When we first meet Maria Lagana, she's rewriting scripts at Mercury Pictures, a failing Hollywood studio known for its schlock. Maria's job is to re-craft dialogue and action to circumvent the censors, a skill she's mysteriously adept at. Born in Italy, as a teenager Maria witnessed Mussolini's censors arrest her father, an event that will destroy her family and burden Maria with questions of guilt and responsibility she will carry with her throughout this wondrous, far-reaching novel. Like many before her, Maria has come to Hollywood to outrun her past. Despite its cheap production values and factory-approach to making movies, Mercury Pictures is a nexus of refugees and emigres, each struggling to reinvent themselves in the land of celluloid. There's Artie, the studio boss, a man of many toupees who barely escaped the pogroms of Eastern Europe; there's Anna, a set designer, who ran afoul of Hitler; and there's Eddie Lu, a struggling actor and Maria's boyfriend, who despite being born in Los Angeles encounters the worst of America's xenophobia. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, everything changes for Maria and her world, forcing her come to terms with her father's fate--and her own"--
I can’t say enough good things about this book. Rarely does a book come along that pulls at my heartstrings; Marra knows how to capture emotional heft. This novel is funny, it is sad, it makes you feel angry, but also hopeful. When I finished, I wanted to return and start rereading from the beginning again. -Anne M
The good left undone : a novel
Adriana Trigiani
FICTION Trigiani Adriana
Historical Fiction, Fiction
"From present day Viareggio to Glasgow during World War II, a multigenerational sweeping tale of love lost, family secrets, and reconciliation over decades from New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani"--
"The Good Left Undone" is sweeping--a story crossing three generations covering a century. Trigiani is at her best in this novel. She really cares for her characters and this love shines through. That doesn't mean there isn't heartbreak or cruelty or tragedy in this novel. There is plenty of it--it covers mid-20th Century Europe. But Trigiani allows growth and healing to take place. To spin a quote from Edna Ferber's "So Big" mentioned in this very novel, Trigiani shows her characters living. -Anne M
I’ve always enjoyed Kate Atkinson’s books. She is always able to somehow marry the tragic and the comedic, showing complexity of character or situation. But I loved this book. Perhaps it was the time and place (1920’s London reeling from the aftermath of World War I) or the characters (Gwedonllen Kelling, a librarian now independently wealthy looking for a lost family member of a friend), but I reveled every page. -Anne M