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#Post#: 55--------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Historical-Fiction Releases January 2018
By: TheFantastical Date: January 3, 2018, 6:29 am
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Just a few titles that I managed to find - hope something grabs
your eye!
The Athenian Women by Alessandro Barbero, Anthony Shugaar
Release date - January, 2nd, 2018
Synopsis -
The Athenian Women offers a powerful vision of class struggle,
the subjugation of women by men, and the courage needed to
change the course of history.
Athens, 411 BC. In the countryside, just outside the city gates,
two veterans, Trasillo and Polemone, live in adjacent cottages.
Years earlier they fought together in the infamous battle of
Mantinea, where Athens was crushed by Sparta. The two survivors
now live as humble farmers, constantly putting off the decision
to find husbands for their two daughters, Glicera and Charis,
who are beginning to get impatient. For the two old men the only
thing that matters is politics. Athens invented democracy, and
they must defend it against the rich oligarchs who plot to
reinstate their tyrannical rule: even their neighbor Eubulo, a
rich landowner who seeks refuge from the fatigue of city life in
a nearby villa, cannot fully be trusted.
Charis and Glicera think their fathers are paranoid. The young
Cimone, son of Eubolo, rich, brash, and arrogant, is the object
of their secret dreams. When all the men head to Athens to see
Aristophanes' latest comedy, the girls break all the rules of
their patriarchal society and accept an invitation to Cimone's
house, far from their fathers' watchful eyes.
Meanwhile, from the stage, the Athenian Lysistrata and the
Spartan Lamito raise their voices in protest of misogyny and
war, causing life in Eubolo's village to take a dramatic turn.
With his extraordinary ability to bring history to life,
Alessandro Barbero has created a fascinating and penetrating
look at a surprisingly contemporary Athens.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34921074-the-athenian-women?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht
Release date - January, 30th, 2018
In the spirit of Lilac Girls, the heartbreaking history of Korea
is brought to life in this deeply moving and redemptive debut
that follows two sisters separated by World War II.
Korea, 1943. Hana has lived her entire life under Japanese
occupation. As a haenyeo, a female diver of the sea, she enjoys
an independence that few other Koreans can still claim. Until
the day Hana saves her younger sister from a Japanese soldier
and is herself captured and transported to Manchuria. There she
is forced to become a “comfort woman” in a Japanese military
brothel. But haenyeo are women of power and strength. She will
find her way home.
South Korea, 2011. Emi has spent more than sixty years trying to
forget the sacrifice her sister made, but she must confront the
past to discover peace. Seeing the healing of her children and
her country, can Emi move beyond the legacy of war to find
forgiveness?
Suspenseful, hopeful, and ultimately redemptive, White
Chrysanthemum tells a story of two sisters whose love for each
other is strong enough to triumph over the grim evils of war.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34701167-white-chrysanthemum?from_search=true
[hr]
Rome's Sacred Flame (Vespasian 8) by Robert Fabbri
Release date - January, 30th (maybe), 2018
Synopsis -
Unknown
[hr]
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar
Release date - January 25th 2018
Synposis -
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?
In this spell-binding story of curiosity and obsession, Imogen
Hermes Gowar has created an unforgettable jewel of a novel,
filled to the brim with intelligence, heart and wit.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35103171-the-mermaid-and-mrs-hancock?from_search=true
[hr]
Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood
Release date - January 2nd 2018
Synposis -
Set in England in 1907, Impossible Saints is a novel that burns
as brightly as the suffrage movement it depicts, with the
emotional resonance of Tracy Chevalier and Jennifer Robson.
Escaping the constraints of life as a village schoolmistress,
Lilia Brooke bursts into London and into Paul Harris’s orderly
life, shattering his belief that women are gentle creatures who
need protection. Lilia wants to change women’s lives by
advocating for the vote, free unions, and contraception. Paul,
an Anglican priest, has a big ambition of his own: to become the
youngest dean of St. John’s Cathedral. Lilia doesn’t believe in
God, but she’s attracted to Paul’s intellect, ethics, and
dazzling smile.
As Lilia finds her calling in the militant Women’s Social and
Political Union, Paul is increasingly driven to rise in the
church. They can’t deny their attraction, but they know they
don’t belong in each other’s worlds. Lilia would rather destroy
property and serve time in prison than see her spirit destroyed
and imprisoned by marriage to a clergyman, while Paul wants
nothing more than to settle down and keep Lilia out of harm’s
way. Paul and Lilia must reach their breaking points before they
can decide whether their love is worth fighting for.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35407551-impossible-saints?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
One Kind Man (Ellindale Series) by Anna Jacobs
Release date - January 11th 2018
Synopsis -
From the beloved and bestselling Anna Jacobs' comes the second
novel in her new Lancashire-based saga.
1931, Lancashire: When Finn Carlisle loses his wife and unborn
child, he spends a few years travelling to keep the sad memories
at bay. Just as he's ready to settle down again, his great-uncle
dies and leaves everything to him. This includes Heythorpe House
in Ellindale just down the road from Leah Willcox and her little
fizzy drink factory.
Finn finds a village of people in dire need of jobs, a house
that hasn't been cleaned or lived in for thirty years and
Reggie, an eleven-year-old who's run away from the nearby
orphanage and its brutal Director Buddle. When Finn sees the
marks left by regular beatings, he decides Reggie will never go
back there.
He can't turn away two hungry young women from the village
seeking jobs as maids, either, and they too need help with their
lives.
But Buddle has other plans for the child, and will stop at
nothing to get Reggie back in his cruel grasp. Finn's new
neighbours help him save Reggie but other surprises throw his
new plans into turmoil.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35792913-one-kind-man?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam
Release date - January 2nd 2018
Synopsis -
The unforgettable story of Alexander Pushkin’s beautiful wife,
Natalya, a woman much admired at Court, and how she became
reviled as the villain of St. Petersburg.
At the age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly
beautiful and intellectually curious. But while she finds joy in
French translations and a history of Russian poetry, her family
is more concerned with her marriage prospects. It is only
fitting that during the Christmas of 1828 at her first public
ball in her hometown of Moscow she attracts the romantic
attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin.
Enchanted at first sight, Natalya is already a devoted reader of
Alexander’s serialized novel in verse, Evgeny Onegin. The most
recently published chapter ends in a duel, and she is dying to
learn what happens next. Finding herself deeply attracted to
Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya hopes to see
him again as soon as possible.
What follows is a courtship and later marriage full of equal
parts passion and domestic bliss but also destructive
jealousies. When vicious court gossip leads to Alexander dying
from injuries earned defending his honor as well as Natalya’s in
a duel, Natalya finds herself reviled for her alleged role in
his death.
With beautiful writing and understanding, Jennifer Laam, and her
compelling new novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, help
Natalya tell her side of the story—the story of her greatest
love and her inner struggle to create a fulfilling life despite
the dangerous intrigues of a glamorous imperial Court.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34964901-the-lost-season-of-love-and-snow
[hr]
Last Stop in Brooklyn (A Mary Handley Mystery 3) by Lawrence H.
Levy
Release date - January 9th 2018
Synopsis -
It's the summer of 1894, and an infidelity case has brought PI
Mary Handley to a far corner of Brooklyn: Coney Island. In the
midst of her investigation, Mary is contacted by a convicted
man's brother to reopen a murder case. A prostitute was killed
by a Jack the Ripper copycat years ago in her New York hotel
room, but her true killer was never found. Once again it's up to
Mary to make right the city's wrongs. New York City's
untouchable head of detectives, Thomas Byrnes, swears he put the
right man behond bars, but as Mary digs deeper, she finds
corruption at the heart of New York's justice system, involving
not only the police, but the most powerful of stock titans.
Disturbing evidence of other murders begins to surface, each one
mimicking Jack the Ripper's style, each one covered up by Thomas
Byrnes. As Mary pieces together the extent of the damage, she
crosses paths with Harper Lloyd, an investigative reporter.
Their relationship grows into a partnership, and perhaps more,
and together they must catch a killer who's still out there, and
reverse the ruthless workings of New York's elite. It'll be
Mary's most dangerous, most personal case yet.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34951281-last-stop-in-brooklyn?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Release date - January 27th 2018
Synopsis -
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is based on the true story of Lale
and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian Jews who survived Auschwitz and
eventually made their home in Australia. In that terrible place,
Lale was given the job of tattooing the prisoners marked for
survival - literally scratching numbers into his fellow victims'
arms in indelible ink to create what would become one of the
most potent symbols of the Holocaust. Lale used the
infinitesimal freedom of movement that this position awarded him
to exchange jewels and money taken from murdered Jews for food
to keep others alive. If he had been caught, he would have been
killed; many owed him their survival.
There have been many books about the Holocaust - and there will
be many more. What makes this one so memorable is Lale Sokolov's
incredible zest for life. He understood exactly what was in
store for him and his fellow prisoners, and he was determined to
survive - not just to survive but to leave the camp with his
dignity and integrity intact, to live his life to the full.
Terrible though this story is, it is also a story of hope and of
courage. It is also - almost unbelievably - a love story.
Waiting in line to be tattooed, terrified and shaking, was a
young girl. For Lale - a dandy, a jack-the-lad, a bit of a
chancer - it was love at first sight, and he determined not only
to survive himself but to ensure that Gita did, too. His story -
their story - will make you weep, but you will also find it
uplifting. It shows the very best of humanity in the very worst
of circumstances.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35523006-the-tattooist-of-auschwitz?ac=1&from_search=true#
[hr]
A Treacherous Curse (Veronica Speedwell 3)by Deanna Raybourn
Release date - January 16th 2018
Synopsis -
Members of an Egyptian expedition fall victim to an ancient
mummy's curse in a thrilling Veronica Speedwell novel from the
New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey
mysteries.
London, 1888. As colorful and unfettered as the butterflies she
collects, Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell can’t resist
the allure of an exotic mystery—particularly one involving her
enigmatic colleague, Stoker. His former expedition partner has
vanished from an archaeological dig with a priceless diadem
unearthed from the newly discovered tomb of an Egyptian
princess. This disappearance is just the latest in a string of
unfortunate events that have plagued the controversial
expedition, and rumors abound that the curse of the vengeful
princess has been unleashed as the shadowy figure of Anubis
himself stalks the streets of London.
But the perils of an ancient curse are not the only challenges
Veronica must face as sordid details and malevolent enemies
emerge from Stoker’s past. Caught in a tangle of conspiracies
and threats—and thrust into the public eye by an enterprising
new foe—Veronica must separate facts from fantasy to unravel a
web of duplicity that threatens to cost Stoker everything. . . .
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26244626-a-treacherous-curse?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
King Zeno by Nathaniel Rich
Release date - January 9th 2018
Synopsis -
New Orleans, 1918. The birth of jazz, the Spanish flu, an ax
murderer on the loose. The lives of a traumatized cop, a
conflicted Mafia matriarch, and a brilliant trumpeter
converge--and the Crescent City gets the rich, dark, sweeping
novel it so deserves.
From one of the most inventive writers of his generation, King
Zeno is a historical crime novel and a searching inquiry into
man's dreams of immortality.
New Orleans, a century ago: a city determined to reshape its
destiny and, with it, the nation's. Downtown, a new American
music is born. In Storyville, prostitution is outlawed and the
police retake the streets with maximum violence. In the Ninth
Ward, laborers break ground on a gigantic canal that will split
the city, a work of staggering human ingenuity intended to
restore New Orleans's faded mercantile glory. The war is ending
and a prosperous new age dawns. But everything is thrown into
chaos by a series of murders committed by an ax-wielding maniac
with a peculiar taste in music.
The ax murders scramble the fates of three people from different
corners of town. Detective William Bastrop is an army veteran
haunted by an act of wartime cowardice, recklessly bent on
redemption. Isadore Zeno is a jazz cornetist with a dangerous
side hustle. Beatrice Vizzini is the widow of a crime boss who
yearns to take the family business straight. Each nurtures
private dreams of worldly glory and eternal life, their
ambitions carrying them into dark territories of obsession,
paranoia, and madness.
In New Orleans, a city built on swamp, nothing stays buried
long.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35259559-king-zeno?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
Daughters of the Night Sky by Aimie K. Runyan
Release date - January 1st 2018
Synopsis -
A novel—inspired by the most celebrated regiment in the Red
Army—about a woman’s sacrifice, courage, and love in a time of
war.
Russia, 1941. Katya Ivanova is a young pilot in a far-flung
military academy in the Ural Mountains. From childhood, she’s
dreamed of taking to the skies to escape her bleak mountain
life. With the Nazis on the march across Europe, she is called
on to use her wings to serve her country in its darkest hour.
Not even the entreaties of her new husband—a sensitive artist
who fears for her safety—can dissuade her from doing her part as
a proud daughter of Russia.
After years of arduous training, Katya is assigned to the 588th
Night Bomber Regiment—one of the only Soviet air units comprised
entirely of women. The Germans quickly learn to fear nocturnal
raids by the daring fliers they call “Night Witches.” But the
brutal campaign will exact a bitter toll on Katya and her
sisters-in-arms. When the smoke of war clears, nothing will ever
be the same—and one of Russia’s most decorated military heroines
will face the most agonizing choice of all.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34879517-daughters-of-the-night-sky?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
The Maze at Windermere by Gregory Blake Smith
Release date - January 9th 2018
Synopsis -
A richly layered novel of love, ambition, and duplicity, set
against the storied seascape of Newport, Rhode Island
A reckless wager between a tennis pro with a fading career and a
drunken party guest--the stakes are an antique motorcycle and an
heiress's diamond necklace--launches a narrative odyssey that
braids together three centuries of aspiration and adversity. A
witty and urbane bachelor of the Gilded Age embarks on a
high-risk scheme to marry into a fortune; a young writer soon to
make his mark turns himself to his craft with harrowing social
consequences; an aristocratic British officer during the
American Revolution carries on a courtship that leads to murder;
and, in Newport's earliest days, a tragically orphaned Quaker
girl imagines a way forward for herself and the slave girl she
has inherited.
In The Maze at Windermere Gregory Blake Smith weaves these
intersecting worlds into a brilliant tapestry, charting a voyage
across the ages into the maze of the human heart.
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34962936-the-maze-at-windermere?ac=1&from_search=true
[hr]
The English Wife by Lauren Willig
Release date - January 9th 2018
Synopsis -
From the New York Times bestselling author, Lauren Willig, comes
this scandalous New York Gilded Age novel full of family
secrets, affairs, and even murder.
Annabelle and Bayard Van Duyvil live a charmed life: he’s the
scion of an old Knickerbocker family, she grew up in a Tudor
manor in England, they had a whirlwind romance in London, they
have three year old twins on whom they dote, and he’s recreated
her family home on the banks of the Hudson and renamed it
Illyria. Yes, there are rumors that she’s having an affair with
the architect, but rumors are rumors and people will gossip. But
then Bayard is found dead with a knife in his chest on the night
of their Twelfth Night Ball, Annabelle goes missing, presumed
drowned, and the papers go mad. Bay’s sister, Janie, forms an
unlikely alliance with a reporter to uncover the truth,
convinced that Bay would never have killed his wife, that it
must be a third party, but the more she learns about her brother
and his wife, the more everything she thought she knew about
them starts to unravel. Who were her brother and his wife,
really? And why did her brother die with the name George on his
lips?
Link -
HTML https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34945222-the-english-wife?ac=1&from_search=true
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