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The Last War by Ana Menendez
Photojournalist Flash chases conflicts around the globe with her war correspondent husband, Brando. Now Brando is in Iraq awaiting her arrival, but instead of racing to join him, Flash idles in Istanbul, vaguely aware that her marriage is faltering. As Flash spirals deeper into regret, she's forced to confront long-buried secrets and hard truths about her world, her marriage, her husband, and herself.
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Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis
Vivacious Sancha of Aragon arrives in Rome newly wed to a member of the notorious Borgia dynasty. Surrounded by the city's opulence and political corruption, she befriends her glamorous and deceitful sister-in-law, Lucrezia, whose jealousy is as legendary as her beauty. The Borgia Bride is a richly compelling tale of conspiracy, sexual intrigue, loyalty, and drama.
The Botticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato
When prostitute Luciana Vetra is asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind serving as the model for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece "Primavera." But when the artist dismisses her without payment, Luciana impulsively steals the painting--only to find that somone is ready to kill her to get it back.
The Canterbury Papers by Judith Koll Healey
AlaÏs, the king of France's sister, is abducted while on her mission for the wily Eleanor of Aquitaine, the former Queen of England, to retrieve hidden letters that, in the wrong hands, could bring down the English king. Now AlaÏs, along with help from the very intriguing leader of the Knights Templar, must unravel a tangled web of family secrets and lies.
Crossed: A Tale of the Fourth Crusade by Nicole Galland
Impeccably researched and beautifully told, Nicole Galland's Crossed is a stunning tale of the disastrous Fourth Crusade—and of the hopeful, brave, and driven who were caught up in and irrevocably changed by a corrupted cause and a furious battle beyond their comprehension or control.
Cruel as the Grave by Sharon Kay Penman
April 1193. England’s King Richard Lionheart languishes in a German prison, and treason scents the air. Richard’s younger brother, John, seizes Windsor Castle, and Dowager Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine summons her trusted personal “queen’s man,” Justin de Quincy, to do the impossible– mediate a truce with her rebel son.
Dina's Lost Tribe by Brigitte Goldstein
When Professor Henner Marcus receives an urgent plea from his niece, Nina Aschauer, he leaves Chicago behind and travels 5,000 miles to France. Nina has finally materialized after a five-year absence, and he is anxious to help her explore the Pyrenees Mountains for the location of her birth, which occurred as her parents fled the Nazis.
The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears
An Instance of the Fingerpost intertwines three intellectual mysteries, three love stories—and three of the darkest moments in human history. United by a classical text called "The Dream of Scipio," three men struggle to find refuge for their hearts and minds...in the final days of the Roman Empire, in the grim years of the Black Death, and in the direst hours of World War II.
Figures in Silk by Vanora Bennett
When silk merchant John Lambert marries off his two beautiful daughters‚ their fortunes are set to change forever. Elder daughter Jane starts a notorious liaison with Edward IV‚ while her sister‚ Isabel‚ as the new silkweaver to the court‚ becomes privy to its most intimate secrets. Could they hold the keys to power in this time of uncertainty?
The Fool's Tale: A Novel of Medieval Wales by Nicole Galland
Wales, 1198. A time of treachery, passion, and uncertainty. King Maelgwyn ap Cadwallon, known as Noble, struggles to protect his small kingdom from foes outside and inside his borders. Pressured into a marriage of political convenience, he takes as his bride the young, headstrong Isabel Mortimer, niece of his powerful English nemesis.
Forgiven by P M Kulseth
FORGIVEN is a story of a small valley in Norway terrorized by a brutal berserker and a boy terrorized by flashbacks from the trauma he experienced as a captive of this notorious Viking. It is a story of a discarded infant, her rescue and the influence her life has on so many people; a story of conversion and forgiveness, the restoration of broken spirits, and the discovery of a most unexpected love.
The Good Men: A Novel of Heresy by Charmaine Craig
In fourteenth-century France, a young woman from the mountain village of Montaillou was tried for heresy by the Catholic inquisition. Her name was Grazida Lizier and, by her own confession, her “joy was shared” with the wrong man: the village rector.
Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country (Guenevere Novels) by Rosalind Miles
Last in a line of proud queens elected to rule the fertile lands of the West, true owner of the legendary Round Table, guardian of the Great Goddess herself . . . a woman whose story has never been told -- until now.
The House of Lanyon by Valerie Anand
Richard Lanyon answers to no one save the aristocratic Sweetwater family, owners of the land he farms. His bitter resentment is legend within the bounds of their tiny Exmoor community, but as their tenant, Richard must do their bidding. However, driven to succeed, Richard is prepared to take what is not his and to forfeit the happiness of his family to claim the entitlements he lusts for.
I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis
Florence, April 1478: The handsome Giuliano de' Medici is brutally assassinated in Florence's magnificent Duomo. The shock of the murder ripples throughout the great city, from the most renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, to a wealthy wool merchant and his extraordinarily beautiful daughter, Madonna Lisa.
The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease
England, late fourteenth century: For Lady Kathryn of Blackingham Manor, a widow and mother, it is a time made both sweeter and more perilous by the arrival of a master illuminator called Finn. Caught between the King's taxes and the Church's tithes, Kathryn strikes a bargain with the local abbot: she will take Finn and his pretty young daughter into her household in exchange for protection.
Kabbalah of Stone by Irene Reti
Girona, Spain, 1492-Rabbi Raphael Halevi seeks to save his community from the Inquisition. Help comes in the unexpected form of the spirit of the biblical prophet, Huldah, and a Christian scribe who has discovered his hidden Jewish identity. This lyrical and suspenseful novel of Jewish history, magic, and Kabbalah offers a feminist reinterpretation of an intriguing Hebrew prophet.
The King's Daughter by Barbara Kyle
Even as she plans for her own nuptials, Isabel Thornleigh is helping to lay the groundwork to overthrow Bloody Mary and bring Elizabeth to power. But none of the secrets Isabel has discovered compares to the truths hidden in her own family. With her beloved father imprisoned by Queen Mary, only Carlos Valverde --- a Spanish soldier of fortune --- can help Isabel.
Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King
Lady Gruadh, called Rue, is the last female descendant of Scotland’s most royal line. Married to a powerful northern lord, she is widowed while still carrying his child and forced to marry her husband’s murderer: a rising warlord named Macbeth.
The Lady Queen by Nancy Goldstone
In 1348, at the age of twenty-two, Joanna I, the queen of Naples, stood trial before the pope, accused of murdering her cousin and husband, Hungarian prince Andrew. Arguing her own case in Latin, she won her acquittal, and went on to become the only female monarch in her time to rule in her own name—until she herself was murdered.
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now.
The Lady of the Sea by Rosalind Miles
The final thrilling chapter in the Tristan and Isolde trilogy: Isolde, heir to the throne of the queens, is now a sovereign in her own right. With the glories of the throne comes the responsibility of a queen, and Isolde knows she must return to her beloved Western Isle, where her lords face a growing threat from the warlike Picti, who live in the barren highlands to the north of England.
Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex
Isabella and Beatrice d'Este are as different as night and day. Wordly and ambitious, Isabella's beauty and intellect are legendary across the courts of Europe, while her younger sister, a tomboy, prefers horses and the hunt. When Isabella is betrothed to the Marquis of Mantua, all her ambitions seem to come true - until Beatrice marries Ludovico, the powerful Duke of Milan.
The Miracles of Prato by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz
Italy, 1456. A Carmelite monk, the great artist Fra Filippo Lippi acts as chaplain to the nuns of the Convent Santa Margherita. It is here that he encounters the greatest temptation of his life, beautiful Lucrezia Buti, who has been driven to holy orders more by poverty than piety. But as painter and muse are united, a passionate love develops, one that threatens to destroy them both.
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire
Seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives on a farm perched high above the rolling hills and valleys of Tuscany. One day a noble entourage makes its way up the winding slopes to the farm—and the world comes to Montefiore. In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia—decadent children of a wicked pope—no one can claim innocence for very long.
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
This is the tragic tale of the rise and fall of Camelot - but seen through the eyes of Camelot's women: the devout Gwenhwyfar, Arthur's Queen; Vivane, High priestess of Avalon and the Lady of the Lake; above all, Morgaine, possessor of the sight, the wise, the wise-woman fated to bring ruin on them all.
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
One of the few female post-Renaissance painters to achieve fame during her own era, Artemisia Gentileschi led a remarkably "modern" life. Susan Vreeland tells Artemisia's captivating story, beginning with her public humiliation in a rape trial at the age of eighteen, and continuing through her father's betrayal, her marriage of convenience, motherhood, and growing fame as an artist.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The building of a cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of this drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.
The Prince of Poison by Pamela Kaufman
Set amidst the pomp and savagery of twelfth-century Europe, the Alix of Wanthwaite trilogy renders a glorious mishmash of ruffians, peasants, troubadours, murderers, pretenders, barons, princesses, and popes in charming and disarming detail. This novel lampoons historical notables like Richard the Lion Heart and Eleanor of Aquitaine, spinning the historical novel in a fresh direction.
The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman
Eleanor of Aquitaine sits on England's throne. At seventy, she has outlived the husband with whom she had once scandalized the world. But has she also outlived her favorite, her first-born son? Richard Lionheart, England's king, has been missing these last months. It is rumored that he is dead. Only a letter, splattered with the blood of a dying man, can tell her if Richard still lives.
The Ruby in Her Navel: A Novel by Barry Unsworth
Set in the Middle Ages during the brief yet glittering rule of the Norman kings, The Ruby in Her Navel is a tale in which the conflicts of the past portend the present. The novel opens in Palermo, in which Latin and Greek, Arab and Jew live together in precarious harmony. But the peace and prosperity of the kingdom is being threatened, internally as well as externally.
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin
When King Henry II's mistress is found poisoned, suspicion falls on his estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The king orders Adelia Aguilar, expert in the science of death, to investigate. A reluctant Adelia finds herself once again in the company of Rowley Picot, the new Bishop of St. Albans...and her baby's father. Their discoveries into the crime are omens of greater danger to come.
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A. D. 62: Pompeii: A Novel by Rebecca East
A twenty-first century woman is stranded in first century Pompeii when a time travel experiment goes awry; she is sold to a wealthy family as a house slave. This provides her with an intimate, upstairs/downstairs perspective on household life in ancient times. As her influence grows, she wins the love of her master and his daughter and provokes the vengeful jealousy of his wife.
Alexander and Alestria by Shan Sa
Acclaimed author Shan Sa brings Alexander the Great to richly imagined new life, entwining his historical legacy with a fantastic love affair set in a time of war between Western and Eastern civilizations.
As Sure As the Dawn: Mark of The Lion #3 by Francine Rivers
Atretes. German warrior. Revered gladiator. He won his freedom through his fierceness... but his life is about to change forever.
Baudolino by Umberto Eco
It is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story.
Caveat Emptor: A Novel of the Roman Empire by Ruth Downie
Newlyweds Ruso and Tilla are ready to find a place to settle down. They return to Britannia for Ruso’s work; however, the only job available isn’t as a doctor, but as an investigator for the Roman government. A tax collector from the town of Verulamium is missing, and the town council swears that the tax man, Julius Asper, was trying to make off with the town coffers...
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Stacy Schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order.
Drinker of Blood by Lynda S. Robinson
With the top secret investigation of Queen Nefertiti's murder in full gallop, Lord Meren is suddenly called away to investigate the bizarre death of Pharaoh Tutankhamen's favorite groom.
An Echo in the Darkness: Mark of the Lion #2 by Francine Rivers
Turning away from the opulence of Rome, Marcus is led by a whispering voice from the past into a journey that could set him free from the darkness of his soul.
The Gilded Chamber by Rebecca Kohn
For centuries her name has been a byword for feminine beauty, guile, and wisdom. This sweeping, meticulously researched novel restores Esther to her full, complex humanity while reanimating the glittering Persian empire in which her story unfolded.
Helen of Troy by Margaret George
Margaret George tells the story of the woman whose face "launched a thousand ships." This is an exquisite page-turner with a cast of irresistible characters--Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Priam, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon, as well as Helen and Paris themselves--and a wealth of material that reproduces the Age of Bronze in all its glory,
Iokaste: The Novel of the Mother-Wife of Oedipus by Alice Underwood and Victoria Grossack
For millennia the story of Oedipus - who, despite all efforts to avoid his fate, killed his father and married his mother - has captivated imaginations. Even more compelling are the experiences of his wife and mother, Iokaste. In Iokaste, she finally tells her story.
The Memoirs of Helen of Troy: A Novel by Amanda Elyot
In this lush, compelling novel of passion and loss, Helen of Troy, a true survivor, tells the truth about her life, her lovers, and the Trojan War. This is the memoir that she has written—her legendary beauty still undimmed by age.
Poison by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
The death of flamboyant writer and womanizer Peter Grosvenor sets in motion a series of spiraling events surrounding his legacy and his estate. His bitter third wife, his two children, his sister, his friends, and his would-be biographers are drawn into a maelstrom of intense memories and painful encounters as each of the major players in Peter's life seeks to appropriate Peter's estate for his or her own purposes.
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
For a thousand years her existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die–Pope Joan, the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to become the only female ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Now in this riveting novel, Donna Woolfolk Cross paints a sweeping portrait of an unforgettable heroine who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept.
Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome by Steven Saylor
Weaving history, legend, and new archaeological discoveries into a spellbinding narrative, critically acclaimed novelist Steven Saylor gives new life to the drama of the city's first thousand years. Following the shifting fortunes of two families though the ages, this is the epic saga of Rome, the city and its people.
Shadow of Colossus by T. L. Higley
The place is the island of Rhodes; the time, 227 BC. In the ten years that Tessa of Delos has been in bondage as a high-priced Greek courtesan to a wealthy politician, she has learned to abandon all desire for freedom and love. But when her owner meets a violent death, Tessa is given the chance to be free—if she can hide the truth of his death and maintain a masquerade until escape is possible.
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Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall
Virginia plantation wife Iris Dunleavy is put on trial and convicted of madness. It is the only reasonable explanation the court can see for her willful behavior, so she is sent away to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a good, compliant woman. Iris knows, though, that her husband is the true criminal; she is only guilty of disagreeing with him on notions of justice, cruelty, and property.
Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks
Cloudsplitter is narrated by the enigmatic Owen Brown, last surviving son of America's most famous and still controversial political terrorist and martyr, John Brown. The novel is dazzling in its re-creation of the political and social landscape of our history during the years before the Civil War.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, a Confederate soldier named Inman decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge mountains to Ada, the woman he loves. His trek across the disintegrating South brings him into intimate and sometimes lethal converse with slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches, both helpful and malign.
The Color of Lightning by Paulette Jiles
In 1863, as the War Between the States creeps inevitably toward its bloody conclusion, former Kentucky slave Britt Johnson ventures west into unknown territory with his wife, Mary, and their three children, searching for a life and a future. But their dreams are abruptly shattered by a brutal Indian raid upon the Johnsons' settlement while Britt is away establishing a business.
Douglass' Women: A Novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Frederick Douglass, the great African-American abolitionist, was a man who cherished freedom in life and in love. In this ambitious work of historical fiction, Douglass' passions come vividly to life in the form of two women: Anna Murray Douglass and Ottilie Assing.
Henry and Clara by Thomas Mallon
Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris were engaged to be married, when they were invited to share the Presidential box with the Lincolns at Ford's Theater on the evening of Good Friday, 1865. When John Wilkes Booth crept into the box, the young couple became witnesses to a central tragedy in American history.
In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent
Leah, an escaped slave, discovers a wounded soldier who lies dying in a battlefield outside Richmond. After she nurses him back to health, he brings her to his family farm in Vermont as his wife, and they begin a family. Now the mother of three, Leah travels back to the South of her birth and returns with a secret that threatens to destroy what she and Norman had created.
The Judas Field: A Novel of the Civil War by Howard Bahr
After returning from the Civil War, Cass Wakefield means to live out the rest of his days in his hometown in Mississippi. But when a childhood friend asks him to accompany her to Franklin, Tennessee, to recover the bodies of her father and brother from the battlefield where they died, Cass cannot refuse.
The Known World: A Novel by Edward P. Jones
This is the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order and chaos ensues.
The Long Journey Home: A Novel of the Post-Civil War Plains by Laurel Means
This epic saga begins when a war-weary homesteader returns home with his injured son after the Civil War, to discover that his wife has passed away, his only daughter has gone, and his land is impoverished beyond repair. After his two sons decide to leave and make good on their own, Henry Morton receives an unexpected land grant from the U.S. government.
A Long Way From Home by Connie Briscoe
Spanning more than sixty years, A Long Way from Home is the story of Susie; her daughter, Clara; and her granddaughter, Susan—house slaves born and reared at Montpelier, the Virginia plantation of President James Madison. Proud and intelligent, these women are united by love, fierce devotion, and a desire for freedom that grows stronger year by year.
March by Geraldine Brooks
From Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March. Brooks follows March as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs.
The Night Inspector by Frederick Busch
The Night Inspector follows the extraordinary life of William Bartholomew, a maimed veteran of the Civil War, as he returns from the battlefields to New York City, bent on reversing his fortunes. It is there he meets Jessie, a Creole prostitute who engages him in a venture that has its origins in the complexities and despair of the conflict he has left behind.
On Agate Hill by Lee Smith
A dusty box discovered in the wreckage of a once prosperous plantation on Agate Hill in North Carolina contains the remnants of an extraordinary life: diaries, letters, poems, songs, newspaper clippings, court records, marbles, rocks, dolls, and bones. It's through these treasured mementos that we meet Molly Petree, a refugee who has no interest in self-pity.
On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon by Kaye Gibbons
Emma Garnet Tate Lowell, a plantation owner's daughter, grows up in a privileged lifestyle, but it's not all roses. Her family's prosperity is linked to the institution of slavery, and Clarice, a close and trusted family servant, exposes Emma to the truth and history of their plantation and how it brutally affected the slave population.
Red River by Lalita Tademy
Tademy takes her family's story back to a little-chronicled, deliberately-forgotten time...and the struggle of three extraordinary generations of African-American men to forge brutal injustice and shattered promise into a limitless future for their children.
Savannah: Or a Gift for Mr. Lincoln by John Jakes
Georgia 1864: Sherman's army marches inexorably from Atlanta to the sea. In its path: the charming old city of Savannah, where the Lester ladies-attractive widow Sara and her feisty twelve-year-old daughter Hattie-struggle to save the family rice plantation.
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The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon
There are long-held secrets at the manor house in Buckinghamshire, England, where Emilie Selden has been raised in near isolation by her father. A student of Isaac Newton, John Selden believes he can turn his daughter into a brilliant natural philosopher and alchemist. The Alchemist's Daughter is a gripping, evocative tale. Set against the backdrop of eighteenth-century London society, it is an unforgettable story of one woman's journey through a world of mystery, passion, and obsession.
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Volume One: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
Set against the disquiet of Revolutionary Boston, as American Patriots riot and battle for liberty, this deeply provocative novel places an African slave at the center of the war for independence. The first of two parts, M. T. Anderson’s breathtaking narrative views the past through a startlingly fresh lens that has powerful resonance for readers today.
Bound by Sally Gunning
By the age of fifteen, Alice can barely remember the time when she was not a servant to John Morton and his daughter, Nabby. Though work fills her days, life with the Mortons is pleasant; Mr. Morton calls Alice his "sweet, good girl," and Nabby, only three years older, is her friend, companion, and now newly married, her mistress. But Nabby's marriage is not happy, and soon Alice is caught up in its storm.
A Factory of Cunning by Philippa Stockley
Philippa Stockley's American debut begins with the arrival in London of the mysterious Mrs. Fox. On the run from a scandalous French past, she takes on a new identity, determined to rehabilitate herself. To do so she must pit her formidable skills for revenge against Earl Much, a British aristocrat with no less notorious a past who is easily her match in sinfulness and intrigue.
The Fan-Maker's Inquisition by Rikki Ducornet
In a tense courtroom during the French Revolution, a young fan-maker, renowned all over Paris for her sensual and graphic objets d'art, is on trial because of her collaboration with the Marquis de Sade. Heads will roll unless the independent fan-maker, erotically cast in the shadow of Sade, can justify her art and friendships to a court known for its rigid and prudish proprieties.
Harpsong by Rilla Askew
The newlyweds don’t head west in classic Dust-Bowl-to-California migration but careen around the Great Plains in a giant figure eight, with Oklahoma in the middle, “the squeezed-in hourglass place.” The young couple’s personal hardships play out against the backdrop of communal hardships of the era, as they appear in hobo jungles and Hoovervilles, rabbit drives and dust storms, bank robberies, cow killings, and the siege of a county courthouse by out-of-work miners and their families in the coal-mining district.
Kingston by Starlight: A Novel by Christopher John Farley
Irish-born Anne Bonny is only a teenager when she is left destitute by her mother's death. Abandoned by her father, she seems destined to be forgotten by the world. But Anne chooses to seek her fortune in the lush tropics of the colonial West Indies, where she passes herself off as a young man named Bonn. She finds work as a ship's hand, sailing under the command of Calico Jack Rackam, a notorious and charismatic pirate with a bounty on his head.
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Les Misérables, translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, (The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century. It follows the lives and interactions of several French characters over a seventeen-year period in the early nineteenth century, starting in 1815 and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion.
Life Mask by Emma Donoghue
In Life Mask, the bestselling author of Slammerkin turns her eye to the aristocracy of late eighteenth-century England, a world where art, politics, sports, and theater combine to form webs of intrigue. At the center of Life Mask are the Honorable Mrs. Anne Damer, the only female sculptor of her time; the Earl of Derby, inventor of the horse race that bears his name and the richest (though homeliest) man in the House of Lords; and Miss Eliza Farren, born without pedigree but now the reigning Queen of Comedy at London's famed Drury Lane Theatre.
Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution by Patrick McGrath
With consummate skill, Patrick McGrath brings to life the squalor and depravity of eighteenth-century London and the hardships and hopes that drove the American colonists to fight for their freedom, weaving history, philosophy, and politics into a captivating family drama. Rich in breathtaking adventure and psychological suspense, Martha Peake is a haunting portrait of human frailty, courage, and redemption.
The Mirrored World by Debra Dean
Born in to lower Russian nobility, Xenia is a passionate dreamer who cares little for social conventions. She unexpectedly falls in love with Andrei, a handsome solider with the Imperial choir. Their perfect happiness is constantly overshadowed by the petty demands of life at the royal court and Xenia’s obsession to have a child. However, she is certain that tragedy will strike and when it finally does, Xenia begins giving away her possessions and finally vanishes.
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
In this spirited comedy of manners, Catherine Morland falls in love with a young clergyman while vacationing in Bath, and his father, thinking her wealthy, invites her to be a guest at Northanger Abbey, the family's country estate. But things take a turn for the worse when it's discovered that she is not wealthy.
Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez
Against the background of the lush, coastal tropics, García Márquez creates the story of an impossible, yet undeniable, love. Of Love and Other Demons is is set in a South American seaport during the colonial era, the home of bishops and viceroys, enlightened thinkers and Inquisitors, lepers and pirates.
Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
A tour de force of historical improvisation and vocal acrobatics, Peter Carey’s novel looks at postrevolutionary France and America through the eyes of two unforgettable narrators: Olivier and Parrot. The result is a vivid counterpoint and two wildly divergent perspectives on the same tumultuous period. It is also the story of a most unlikely friendship between a French lord and an English servant.
Patriot Hearts by Barbara Hambly
When Martha Dandridge Custis marries her second husband, George, she never suspects that the soft-spoken Virginia planter is destined to command the founding of a nation --- or that she is to be “Lady Washington,” the woman at the first President’s side. Only a select inner circle of women will know the cost of sharing a beloved man with history . . . and each will draw strength from the unique treasure given to them by a doomed queen.
Perfume by Patrick Süskind
In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift-an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and frest-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"-the scent of a beautiful young virgin.
The Rebellion of Jane Clarke by Sally Gunning
Grippingly rendered, filled with some of the lesser known but most influential figures of America's struggle for independence --- John and Samuel Adams, Henry Knox, James Otis --- The Rebellion of Jane Clarke is a compelling story of one woman's struggle to find her own place and leave her own mark on a new country as it is born.
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Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund
The year is 2020, and not much has changed. Human beings are still killing each other over religion, and evidence of life on other planets, if exposed, would certainly rock some fundamentalist boats. So when Lucy Bergmann’s astrophysicist husband Thom tenderly hangs a computer memory stick storing irrefutable proof of extraterrestrial life around her neck, Lucy is both moved and nervous.
Bathsheba: The Wives of King David, Book 3 by Jill Eileen Smith
Bathsheba is a woman who longs for love. With her devout husband away fighting the king's wars for many months at a time, discontent and loneliness dog her steps--and make it frighteningly easy to succumb to King David's charm and attention. Though she immediately regrets her involvement with the powerful king, the pieces are set in motion that will destroy everything she holds dear.
City of God by E. L. Doctorow
At the heart of this stylistically daring and dazzling inventive tour-de-force is a riveting detective story about a cross that vanishes from a Lower-East-Side church, only to reappear on the roof of an Upper-West-Side synagogue. Intrigued by the mystery is a well-known novelist whose capacious brain is a virtual repository for the ideas and disasters of the age.
Eve: A Novel of the First Woman by Elissa Elliott
In this luminous debut novel, Elissa Elliott puts a powerful twist on biblical narrative, boldly reimagining Eve’s journey. This unique work of fiction blends biblical tradition with recorded history and dazzling storytelling. And as it does, Eve comes to life in a way religion and myth have never allowed—in a novel that explores the very essence of love, motherhood, faith, and humanity.
The Exodus Quest by Will Adams
On the trail of the lost Dead Sea Scrolls, archaeologist Daniel Knox stumbles upon a theft in progress at an ancient temple near Alexandria. Then a senior Egyptian archaeologist is violently killed, and the finger of suspicion points at Knox himself. To add to his mounting worries, his partner Gaille Bonnard is kidnapped while showing a television crew around the ruins of Amarna.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
No one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work.
Love's Sacred Song by Mesu Andrews
Standing in the massive shadow of his famous father, young king Solomon wavers between fear and bravado, wisdom and folly. In the uncertain world of alliances and treachery, Solomon longs for peace and a love that is true and pure--a love that can be his cornerstone.
Michal - The Wives of King David, Book One by Jill Eileen Smith
As the daughter of King Saul, Michal lives a life of privilege--but one that is haunted by her father's unpredictable moods and by competition from her beautiful older sister. When Michal falls for young David, the harpist who plays to calm her father, she has no idea what romance, adventures, and heartache await her.
Noah's Wife by T. K. Thorne
Noah's wife is Na'amah, a beautiful and brilliant girl who wishes only to be a shepherdess on her beloved hills in ancient Turkey-- a desire shattered by the hatred of her powerful brother, the love of two men, and a looming disaster that threatens the survival of her world.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons. Told in Dinah's voice, Anita Diamant imagines the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood--the world of the red tent.
Sarah: Book One of the Canaan Trilogy by Marek Halter
Sarah’s story begins in the cradle of civilization: the Sumerian city-state of Ur, a land of desert heat, towering gardens, and immense wealth. From the great ziggurat of Ishtar to the fertile valleys of Canaan to the bedchamber of the mighty Pharaoh himself, Sarah’s story reveals an ancient world full of beauty, intrigue, and miracles.
Sarai: Wives of the Patriarchs, Book 1 by Jill Eileen Smith
Sarai is aware of the way men look at her, including her half brother Abram. When Abram finally requests Sarai's hand, she asks one thing--that he promise never to take another wife as long as she lives. Even her father thinks the demand is restrictive and agrees to the union only if Sarai makes a promise in return--to give Abram a son and heir.
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As High As the Heavens by Kathleen Morgan
It is 1568 and Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. But her supporters, including noblewoman Heather Gordon, are planning a rescue. Heather travels to a cottage in the frigid Highlands to teach a simple man--who just happens to resemble someone with access to Lochleven--how to act the part of a nobleman in order to gain entry to the castle. But in the close quarters of the cottage there is more stirring than political rebellion.
Captured by Desire by Kira Morgan
In 16th century Scotland, young Miss Florie Gilder runs away from her drunken foster father to find her real father and her noble heritage. Along the way, she is accused of theft, becomes a fugitive hiding in a forest, and is accidentally wounded by a handsome local huntsman.
Courtesan by Diane Haeger
The Court of François I is full of lust, intrigue, and bawdy bon temps—a different world from the quiet country life Diane de Poitiers led with her elderly husband. Now a widow, the elegant Diane is called back to Court, where the King’s obvious interest marks her as an enemy to the King’s favourite, Anne d’Heilly. As Anne calls on her most venomous tricks to drive Diane away, Diane finds an ally in the one member of Court with no allegiance to the King’s mistress: his teenage second son, Henri.
In the Company of the Courtesan: A Novel by Sarah Dunant
Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid. With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and satisfy men who have the money to support her.
Daughter of the Sun by Barbara Wood
Hoshi'tiwa is 17 years old, a member of an unnamed clan in what will, centuries later, become New Mexico. Her life is simple --- she is a corn grower's daughter and she will soon marry a storyteller's apprentice. Until she is captured by the powerful and violent ruler of Center Place, a legendary city of untold wealth and unspeakable violence.
Dissolution by C. J. Sansom
The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s feared vicar general, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry.
His Last Letter: Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester by Jeane Westin
They were playmates as children, impetuous lovers as adults --- and for 30 years were the center of each others’ lives. Astute to the dangers of choosing any one man, the Virgin Queen could never give her “Sweet Robin” what he wanted most --- marriage --- yet she insisted he stay close by her side. His Last Letter tells the story of this great love, especially of the last three years Elizabeth and Dudley spent together, the most dangerous of her rule, when their passion was tempered by a bittersweet recognition of all that they shared --- and all that would remain unfulfilled.
The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
London, 1593: It is three weeks before the murder of Christopher Marlowe, playwright and spy in Queen Elizabeth I's secret service -- a crime that remains unsolved to this day. New York City, present day: Renaissance scholar turned private eye Kate Morgan investigates a shocking heist and murder involving a mysterious, antique manuscript recently unearthed in central London. What secret lurks in those yellowed, ciphered pages...and how, centuries later, could it drive someone to kill?
Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner
Readers jump back in time to England after the death of Henry VIII. Lucy Day is ordered to Sudeley Castle, bearing a dress for Lady Jane Grey. Lucy narrates the tale of Lady Jane, pawn in the schemes of powerful men who seek the throne of England even as young Jane Grey is determined to live-and die-on her own terms.
The Last Boleyn: A Novel by Karen Harper
Although her sister Anne (who became the queen) is the one most remembered by history, Mary was the Boleyn that set into motion the chain of events that brought about their meteoric rise to power, as well as the one who managed to escape their equally remarkable fall. Sent away from home at an extraordinarily young age, Mary is quickly plunged into the dangerous world of court politics, where everything is beautiful, but deceptive, and everyone is always watching and manipulating.
Murder Most Royal: A Novel by Jean Plaidy
Sophisticated Anne Boleyn, raised in the decadent court of France, was in love with another man when King Henry claimed her as his own. Being his mistress gave her a position of power; being his queen put her life in jeopardy. Her younger cousin, Catherine Howard, was only fifteen when she was swept into the circle of King Henry. Her innocence attracted him, but a past mistake was destined to haunt her.
Night of Sorrows by Frances Sherwood
Night of Sorrows plunges readers into the conflicting New Worlds of the mysterious Malintzín, born as an Aztec princess and sold as a slave, and her dashing and ruthless lover-master, conquistador Hernán Cortés. As they march through the Empire of the Sun to the shimmering island metropolis, Tenochtítlan (Mexico City), Cortés advances his cause by winning friends through Machiavellian conniving and confronting enemies in merciless battle.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family¹s ambitious plots as the king¹s interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett
The year is 1527. The great portraitist Hans Holbein, who has fled the reformation in Europe, is making his first trip to England under commission to Sir Thomas More. In the course of six years, Holbein will become a close friend to the More family and paint two nearly identical family portraits. But closer examination of the paintings reveals that the second holds several mysteries...
The Queen's Captive by Barbara Kyle
England, 1554. In the wake of the failed Wyatt Rebellion, a vengeful Queen Mary has ordered all conspirators captured and executed. Among the imprisoned is her own sister, 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth. Though she protests her innocence, Elizabeth’s brave stand only angers Mary more. But Elizabeth longs to gain her liberty --- and her sister’s crown. Aiding in a new rebellion against the wrathful Mary will soon lead her to an impossible choice…
The Queen's Lady by Barbara Kyle
London, 1527. Marry or serve: for Honor Larke, the choice is clear. Unwilling to perish of boredom as an obedient wife, she leaves the home of her ward, the brilliant Sir Thomas More, to attend Her Majesty, Queen Catherine of Aragon. But life at Henry VIII's court holds more than artifice for an intelligent observer, and Honor knows how to watch --- and when to act...
Rivals in the Tudor Court by D. L. Bogdan
As Queen Catherine's maid and daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, the future seems bright for Elizabeth Stafford. But when her father gives her hand to Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, the spirited young woman must sacrifice all for duty. Yet Elizabeth is surprised by her passion for her powerful new husband. And when he takes on a mistress, she is determined to fight for her love and her honor…
The Rose Without a Thorn: A Novel by Jean Plaidy
Like her cousin Anne Boleyn, young Katherine leaves her grandmother's home to become a lady-in-waiting at the court of Henry VIII. The royal palaces are exciting to a young girl from the country, and Katherine finds that her duties there allow her to be near her handsome cousin, Thomas Culpepper, whom she has loved since childhood. But her bliss is short-lived as rumors of her wayward past come back to haunt her, and Katherine's destiny takes another, deadly, turn.
The Ruby Ring: A Novel by Diane Haeger
In The Ruby Ring, Diane Haeger brings to life a love affair so passionate that it remains undimmed by time. Set in the sumptuous world of the Italian Renaissance, it’s the story of the clergymen, artists, rakes, and noblemen who made the world of the painter Raphael and his beloved Margherita the most dynamic and decadent era in European history.
Secrets of the Tudor Court by D. L. Bogdan
When young Mary Howard receives the news that she will be leaving her home for the grand court of King Henry VIII, to attend his mistress Anne Boleyn, she is ecstatic. Everything Anne touches seems to turn to gold, and Mary is certain Anne will one day become Queen. But Mary has also seen the King’s fickle nature and how easily he discards those who were once close to him...
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