[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Historical Fiction October 2008
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:30:40 -0400
Historical Fiction October 2008
"The simple truth is that not all of us become the men we wish to be."
~ from Peter Weir's film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
New and Recently Released!
Midwife of the Blue Ridge - by Christine Blevins
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 8/5/2008
ISBN: 9780425221686
ISBN-10: 0425221687
After a brutal massacre that leaves her the sole survivor of her remote
Scottish Highland village, 22-year-old Maggie travels as an indentured servant
to
the American colonies, where she hopes to start fresh. Her skill as a midwife
soon places her in demand professionally, while her beauty attracts some
unsavory attention, particularly from a lecherous viscount. Will Maggie, whose
own family thought her cursed, be able to find love and success in the New
World? Read this book to get glimpse of what life was like in 1760s Virginia.
The Various Flavors of Coffee - by Anthony Capella
Publisher: Bantam Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 8/26/2008
ISBN: 9780553807325
ISBN-10: 0553807323
In 1890s London, Robert Wallis is a debt-ridden poet with a remarkable talent
for distinguishing between coffee varieties. His knack for describing flavors
lands him a job with coffee merchant Samuel Pinker, whose goal is to categorize
every type of coffee bean in existence. Wallis excels at his work until
he falls in love with Pinker's daughter Emily and ends up exiled to a coffee
plantation in Abyssinia. Here, Wallis learns about the corrupt inner workings
of the coffee industry (including its dependence on slave labor) and realizes
that ignorance does not excuse complicity. Kirkus Reviews calls this book
"a fast-paced narrative propelled by Capella's masterful characterizations."
First Chapter
The Sealed Letter - by Emma Donoghue
Publisher: Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/22/2008
ISBN: 9780151015498
ISBN-10: 015101549X
Emily Faithfull, known to friends as "Fido," is single and successful. She owns
her own printing business and is a prominent figure in the burgeoning British
women's movement. Everything is going smoothly until, after a seven year
separation, Emily's friend Helen Codrington reappears in her life. Helen,
unhappily
married to an Admiral, is having an affair with a young naval officer--which
soon leads to a scandalous and highly public divorce. Emily, caught in the
middle, risks losing everything she has worked for in this Victorian melodrama,
which according to Publishers Weekly "has style and scandal to burn."
The Other Queen - by Philippa Gregory
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/16/2008
ISBN: 9781416549123
ISBN-10: 1416549129
In this novel, which focuses on the 16 year imprisonment of Mary, Queen of
Scots, the doomed queen's story is told from the perspective of three key
historical
figures: Mary's jailer, the Earl of Shrewsbury; his wife, Bess of Hardwick, and
Mary herself. When Mary flees Scotland after a rebellion, her half-sister
Elizabeth places her in Shrewsbury's custody at his estate in Derbyshire. As
the Earl falls in love with his royal prisoner, Bess spies for William Cecil,
Queen Elizabeth's agent. Meanwhile, Mary desperately plots one escape after
another. Fans of royal intrigue will want to read this latest book by author
Philippa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl).
First Chapter
The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel - by Kathleen Kent
Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/3/2008
ISBN: 9780316024488
ISBN-10: 0316024481
Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be tried and hanged as a witch in
Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, during the infamous Salem witch trials. In
this novel, Martha's story is told by her nine-year-old daughter, Sarah.
Unjustly accused of witchcraft, Martha and Sarah are arrested and thrown in
jail.
While Martha insists that she alone take the blame, Sarah must fight tooth and
nail to survive--both in prison and in front of the judges. One of the few
novels about the Salem witch trials to tell the story from a child's point of
view, The Heretic's Daughter "provides a fresh, bracing and unconventional
take on a much-covered episode" (Publishers Weekly).
The Given Day - by Dennis Lehane
Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/1/2008
ISBN: 9780688163181
ISBN-10: 0688163181
Best known as an acclaimed writer of crime fiction, author Dennis Lehane has
written a historical epic set in Boston at the end of WWI. Police officer Danny
Coughlin, the latest in a long line of cops, is a fresh face on the force and
anxious to impress his father. Thus, he agrees to go undercover to infiltrate
a group of anarchists involved in labor strikes. As Danny penetrates this
underground world, however, he befriends people--such as a beautiful Irish
immigrant
and a black servant-turned-criminal--who force him to re-evaluate his beliefs.
Incorporating real historic events, such as the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic
and the 1919 Boston police strike, Lehane "captures the sense of a country
coming of age" (Booklist).
Books Made into Movies
Girl with a Pearl Earring - by Tracy Chevalier
Publisher: Plume
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/1/2005
ISBN: 9780452287020
ISBN-10: 0452287022
In the wake of her tile-maker father's untimely blindness, 16-year-old Griet
becomes a maid in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer, where she glimpses
a world very different from her own. Griet's nuanced sense of color soon
attracts the attention of the artist, who teaches her how to mix pigments as she
cleans his studio. But Griet's growing bond with Vermeer does not go unnoticed
by the rest of the household, and when the painter chooses her to sit for
his next portrait, Griet becomes the subject of gossip. Seventeenth-century
Delft, Holland comes alive in this vibrant novel, which in 2003 was made into
a film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.
Billy Bathgate: A Novel - by E.L. Doctorow
Publisher: Plume Book
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/1/1998
ISBN: 9780452280021
ISBN-10: 0452280028
Growing up in the Bronx during the Great Depression, teenaged Billy Bathgate
(he takes his name from his street of origin) becomes the protégé of notorious
gangster Dutch Schultz. Believing that his association with Schultz will raise
him out of poverty and enable him to care for his sick mother, Billy
enthusiastically
learns all that the older man has to teach him. Yet the unrelenting violence of
the criminal underworld begins to make Billy uneasy, while his love for
his boss' lady friend causes him to question his own role in the organization.
Don't miss this book, which Publishers Weekly calls "a dark version of the
Horatio Alger fable."
Cold Mountain - by Charles Frazier
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/1/1997
ISBN: 9780871136794
ISBN-10: 0871136791
As he lies recuperating in an army hospital, a Civil War soldier named Inman
decides he's had enough. Without waiting to be pronounced fit for duty, he
walks away from the front and undertakes a journey to Cold Mountain, a small
town in the mountains of North Carolina. Here, Inman hopes to find his
sweetheart,
Ada, whom he hasn't seen in years. Meanwhile, Ada's father has died and she has
inherited the family farm. However, thanks to her privileged upbringing,
she has no idea how to run it. Alternating between Inman's story and Ada's,
Cold Mountain is part page-turner, part passionate love story. Will the two
be reunited? Find out by reading this book, which was adapted for the screen in
2003.
First Chapter
Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel - by Arthur Golden
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/1/1997
ISBN: 9780375400117
ISBN-10: 0375400117
Born poor in 1920s Japan, nine-year-old Chiyo's life changes when her father
sells her to an okiya in Kyoto's Gion district, where she will be trained as
a geisha. It's a life that's far less glamorous than Chiyo imagines: little
more than an indentured servant, she must submit to her mistress' wishes,
whether
it means sleeping on wooden blocks or having her virginity auctioned off to the
highest bidder. Rechristened "Sayuri," she eventually becomes a success,
but longs for freedom, love, and happiness. When WWII destroys the life she's
known, Sayuri faces tough choices about her future. This novel "melds sparkling
historical fiction with a compelling coming-of-age story" (Booklist).
First Chapter
The Far Side of the World - by Patrick O'Brian
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/1/1994
ISBN: 9780393037104
ISBN-10: 039303710X
In this installment of Patrick O'Brian's wildly popular series featuring
Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, surgeon and spy Stephen Maturin, the duo
sails
to Cape Horn in order to intercept an American frigate that is attacking
British whaling ships. However, their mission isn't smooth sailing, as they are
forced to deal with spies, traitors, tropical storms, and a marooning.
Originally published in 1984, The Far Side of the World, along with several
other
books in the series, inspired the 2003 film starring Russell Crowe.
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