Award Winner: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Historical
Prior to 1857, the year it was engulfed by tragic historical conflict, the cosmopolitan city of Lucknow thrived on open-mindedness, great prosperity and pride, the city a magnet for musicians, poets, painters and chefs, drawing the finest cultural talent from other parts of India and the wider world. It proved too tempting a prize for the English East India Company not to attempt a takeover of the Kingdom of Awadh with its capital city, Lucknow. The devastation and disaster that came to be known as "the Red Year" was a turning point in the history of Indian colonialism. It gave birth to the self-conscious, anti-colonial nationalism that would define the next ninety years, eventually leading to Gandhi's nonviolent measures to oust the British from India once and for all. When the women decide to take on the English colonists who declare rule, what will be the ultimate price of the women's loyalty to the royal family and to the place they've grown to love?
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Historical
In the late 1950s, state police recruit Frank Mahan reports for duty at the Grafton barracks. Based on historical events, An Appointed Time is an accounting of Mahan's challenging and violent journey to a fateful meeting with fugitive John Coyle in the swamps and cranberry bogs of Middleborough Massachusetts.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Historical
Beguiled is about every person who ever had dreams that were interrupted by cultural mores, by discrimination, or by their own shortcomings. Miriam Levine, born in 1900, dreamed of going on stage, until an almost fatal mis-step forced her to postpone her "real life." A serendipitous offer compelled her to confront her inner demons and society's expectations. As Glinda, the Good Witch of the South in the Wizard of Oz, she recites at age 16: "You've always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself."
The story is inspirational for young people and their parents who dearly wish to access the American dream. The historical context of the decades before the Great Depression, the role of immigrants and women's suffrage parallels tough political dilemmas that the US faces today.
Will Miriam have the gumption to follow her dreams? Will those dreams yield her the happiness she seeks? Or will she find that her childhood fantasies "beguile" her to seek 'fool's gold?'
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Historical
Blackbeard: The Birth of America is the true story of Edward Thache--former British Navy seaman and notorious privateer-turned-pirate, who lorded over the Atlantic seaboard and Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy. A Robin-Hood-like American patriot and the most famous freebooter of all time, Blackbeard was illegally hunted down by Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood, the British Crown's man in Williamsburg obsessed with his capture. Based on reliable historical records and the latest research, this adventure tale illuminates the true man behind the myth and his doggedly determined pursuer, revealing a cat-and-mouse game and important historical figure lost to us in a "fog of legend, myth and propaganda" for three hundred years. A folk hero in his own lifetime, Blackbeard exploded onto the scene during the birth of America and was one of the first American revolutionaries in the War of Independence against British rule.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Historical
In the early summer of 1933, an 18-year-old naive Kentucky farm boy, Michael Boone, becomes a driver for a traveling religious revival troupe. As the summer unfolds and the itinerant group moves from town to town, he learns that things are not what they seem; primarily that the goal of the enterprise is making money, not saving souls and that hardly anyone in the group fits into a neat and normal family narrative. Michael, in turns, is exposed to religious hypocrisy, the world of good literature, the destructiveness of alcohol abuse, pedophilia, overt racism, first true loves, near tragedy and selflessness. He is also skillfully tutored in the art of seduction and sex. The full impact of Michael's time with Brother Daniel's Good News Revival is only learned many years after the summer of '33. It is a revelation that shakes the foundation of the life he had since built.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Historical
The long, bloody Civil War is finally at an end when Zee Mimms, the dutiful daughter of a Missouri preacher, is tasked with nursing her cousin, Jesse James, back to health after he suffers a near-fatal wound. During Jesse's long convalescence, the couple falls in love, but Jesse's resentment against the Federals runs deep. He has scores to settle. For him, the war will never be over.
Zee is torn between deferring to her parents’ wishes and marrying for security or marrying for love and accepting the harsh realities of life with an outlaw—living under an assumed name and forever on the run. For her, the choice she makes means the war is only beginning.
Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards Fiction: Historical
A near-death experience in a car with her Mother; running from tear gas at a Vietnam War rally hand-in-hand with her Pop; a year in India learning side-by-side the country's 'untouchables;' the highs and lows of living on a rural Pennsylvania commune…and all before Fiona Sprechelbach's thirteenth birthday. Set during one of the most politically divisive eras in American history, Thread for Pearls is a coming of age tale that takes us on a young heroine's journey to faith and freedom amidst a turbulent family dynamic. It's a story of resilient hope that questions whether it's the events of our lives that define us, or the thread on which we choose to string them.
Imagine if the United States Constitution had never been ratified and George Washington had never become President. In We the States, author Adam Sivitz creates an alternative narrative acted out by the founding fathers of the United States. As the story unfolds, readers find George Washington at home in Virginia impatiently awaiting news of each state’s response to the constitution. Patrick Henry will persuade Virginia to reject the constitution, which will lead to the formation of three independent countries, and Alexander Hamilton will become the leader of one of the newly formed countries.
Within the tumultuous and divisive chain of events, Sivitz weaves the tale of two slaves owned by Washington. Their story displays the darker side of U.S. history and underscores the struggle for freedom for so many, while also reminding readers of the ongoing fight for equality and justice.
A rash love affair with a member of the Irish Mafia catapults Luna Mulkerrins into scandal, murder, scorn and decadent friendships in Ragtime Manhattan. Escaping from the blaze of publicity, a new Luna emerges: Blythe of the Seven Gates. Her meteoric rise as a magician leads to fame, vaudeville, silent movies and the notoriety of a damaging court case. Can Luna reclaim her reputation and reinvent herself as an independent woman of the time?
Infants of the Brush is historical fiction based on Armory v. Delamirie, a 1700s court case before the King's Bench against Paul de Lamerie, a silversmith. In the vein of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Infants of the Brush is set in a time when London society ignored the ills of child labor. Unlike the gleeful chimney sweeps portrayed in Mary Poppins, climbing boys were forced up burning flues to dislodge harmful soot and coal ash.
Egan Whitcombe is just six years old when he is sold to Master Armory for a few coins that his family desperately needs. As one of Master Armory's eight broomers, Egan quickly learns that his life depends on absolute obedience and the coins he earns.
Pitt, the leader of Master Armory's broomers, teaches Egan to sweep chimneys and negotiate for scraps of bread. Broken and starving, the boys discover friendship as they struggle to save five guineas, the cost of a broomer's independence.
This third book in the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series provides a delightful romp through the English countryside and back.
Anxious to be married, Henrietta and Clive push forward with their wedding plans despite their family differences, made worse now by Oldrich Exley’s attempts to control the Von Harmons. When the long-awaited wedding day arrives, there is more unfolding than just Clive and Henrietta’s vows of love. Stanley and Elsie’s relationship is sorely tested by the presence of the dashing Lieutenant Harrison Barnes-Smith and by Henrietta’s friend Rose—a situation that grows increasingly dark and confused as time goes on.
As Clive and Henrietta begin their honeymoon at Castle Linley, the Howards’ ancestral estate in England, they encounter a whole new host of characters, including the eccentric Lord and Lady Linley and Clive’s mysterious cousin, Wallace. When a man is murdered in the village on the night of a house party at the Castle, Wallace comes under suspicion—and Clive and Henrietta are reluctantly drawn into the case, despite Clive’s anxiety at involving his new bride and Henrietta’s distracting news from home.
Delicately attempting to work together for the first time, Clive and Henrietta set out to prove Wallace’s innocence, uncovering as they do so some rather shocking truths that will shake the Linley name and estate forever.
It is March 1998 and Chic Lucas is down on his luck. He has endured three major losses within a short period of time: the death of his father, a divorce, and the loss of his long-time job. Heartsick at his recent defeats, Chic is embarking on a quest to replenish his soul by returning to Poland, the land of his parents tribulations, to learn more about his familys life during World War II. As his journey takes him from Kansas City to Poland, Chics path crosses with that of a Jewish-American woman, Ruth Mintz, who is there to commemorate her mothers experiences as a Holocaust survivor. As Chics eyes are opened to the anti-Semitism of some Polish people and the animosity many Jewish people hold toward the Poles, he and Ruth become romantically involved. While each sets down different yet equally enlightening trails to the truth, their relationship becomes complicated by the disparities in their backgrounds, leaving Chic and Ruth to decide whether they can overcome their challenges and move forward into the future together. In this compassionate tale of courage and survival, the paths of two strangers intertwine in Poland where each is searching for insight into a horrible period in history.
The Billy Gogan story is a fictional memoir told by an old Army general of his adventures as a young man. Billy Gogan, American, opens with recently orphaned Billy Gogan fleeing Ireland on the eve of the Great Hunger — either because he is the son of a dangerous revolutionary, or because his cousin doesn't trust him around his daughter. Billy befriends a destitute Irish peasant named Máire and her young daughter Fíona, and together they endure a harsh passage to New York, America's greatest city. They get separated as they debark, and Billy searches tirelessly for them in the dangerous Five Points, ground zero in the collision of Americans, ex-slaves, and Irish refugees.
Here, Billy completes his education. Already able to declaim Cicero and construe Aristotle, he learns voting fraud from Bill Tweed, the future head of Tammany Hall, and the numbers game from Charlie Backwell, Tammany's top bookie. Finally, Brannagh O’Marran, the beautiful mulatta daughter of the Irish madam of Gotham’s finest brothel, teaches him about love.
Billy eventually finds Máire and Fíona, and the three of them plan their future together. But that future is taken in a cruel stroke, and nothing will ever be the same.
Inspired by real events, Country Boy, City Girl is the extraordinary story of two teenagers and their ferocious struggle through extreme circumstances in the historically trying time known as the Great Depression. Harley and Mable both have a goal to attend college but are challenged with difficulties and disasters. Family and friends, and in one instance, the encouragement of the most famous athlete of the 20th century, propel them to pursue a college degree and the brighter future it promises.Harley, who lives on a farm, and Mable, who lives in town, must prevail through personal and family tragedies. Adversity truly builds strength and determination.They hope for something better and are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it. This compelling and inspirational book is a testament to the determination and ingenuity of two members of what is now known as "The Greatest Generation."
In The Tall Pines is a gripping adventure tale that tells the story of the original settlement of the upper Connecticut River valley through a fictional battle between actual historical figures from the Native American Abenaki tribe and the invading English settlers. The book is set in the primeval forest of New Hampshire, and old growth forest that has all but disappeared from the region due to two and a half centuries of Western habitation. Discover what life was like for the original settlers of western New England and learn more about the Native American Abenaki tribe whose way of life kept western New England a pristine primeval forest through several thousand years. Can we see primeval forests, salmon migrating in the rivers, or Native American settlements in New Hampshire or Vermont today? No, they're all gone. The only way to envision what it was like is through tales of life under the canopy of undisturbed nature such as In The Tall Pines.
Christopher MacDougall is a common man, struggling to provide for his family in 18th century Edinburgh, Scotland. After accepting a stranger's offer to earn more money, unexplainable things begin to happen, and his life is changed forever. Soon, he discovers that dark forces are at work, lurking in the shadows and threatening to destroy everyone he cares about. If he wishes to protect those he loves, he must confront, not only what lurks in the shadows, but the darkness inside himself as well.
The Legend of Chip is a book series which follows the epic story of Christopher "Chip" MacDougall and his family as they struggle with dark forces that threaten to tear their world apart. Join Chip on his amazing journey as he searches for the answers to his problems while clinging to his faith. This is a story of love, hope, faith and redemption.
African American Historical Fiction novel set during the "Era of Great American Madness!" Cotton Club Princess is a coming of age tale that uses the suspense and romance of the Harlem Renaissance, The Great Migration, and the Jazz Age to bring to life the 1920's-1930's in the world's most famous speakeasy. Mob Bosses, such as Madame Stephanie St.Clair, Bumpy Johnson, and Dutch Schultz battle for Harlem policy banks while the talented elite, such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Bill Bojangles Robinson, entertain the masses. The Night Club Era and prohibition, come to life as seen through the eyes of a country girl, turned worldly, wise woman in the old glamorous Harlem, of Lenox Avenue, 125th Street, Striver's Row, and Sugar Hill. Comparable titles are The Striver's Row Spy by Jason Overstreet, Rules of Civility: A Novel by Amor Towles, The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, and On Account of Conspicuous Women by Dawn Shamp
What's a man to do after the Coast Guard shoots up his boat, sinks it, and leaves him for dead off the coast of Maine? In the 1920s, at the height of prohibition, options are limited. Emmett Dougal, fisherman and rumrunner, feels it best to put some distance between him and his recent past, returning to his Puget Sound roots to start afresh. But home isn't what it used to be, and Emmett finds himself embroiled in adventures of love, larceny, and organized labor. Despite his best efforts, life as an honest fisherman doesn't pay what it needs to, and Emmett finds himself tempted back into the dangerous trade of rum running. The local police and the feds may be at odds with each other, but both have an unhealthy interest in prohibition and the men who break the rules.
Living in the shadow of the mighty Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, miles from the village, Ellie, Luke, and Blake exist in a world of spirits, mystical wolves, and stories told by their grandfather, the keeper of the lighthouse. In this fivevolume series, the three children of the Jennette family travel back in time to discover the origin of their ancestors and the events that shaped the civilization of Cape Hatteras Island. Throughout the series, islanders live as they did when only an occasional mail boat kept them connected to the rest of the world before a bridge linked the island to the mainland, before tourists flocked to the area during the summer season, and before the government became involved in managing the land. Isolated from others, they created a life of comfort and community, one that is long lost. In each subsequent volume, the Lighthouse Kids meet the people and experience the events that gradually transformed Cape Hatteras Island to the popular resort area it is today.
In Pirates, the children are transported back in time to meet their more colorful ancestors. They begin to take adventures away from the family compound, as their mobility is enhanced by majestic horses. Learning of an old mansion in the woods, they are awestruck when Grandpop takes them there. Frequent secret visits form a bond between the children and the mysteries held by the 250 year old dwelling. Ellie s power grows, as do the boys. Luke is introduced to Blackbeard, and uncovers a family secret! Community events bring the villages together to celebrate their collective history of Pirates, as the island begins to stir at the looming threat of WWII.
"I happen to believe that genius makes people weird," a storyteller once said, explaining how Johnny Appleseed could be at once so peculiar and so profound.
A Novel based upon the True Mythology of Johnny Appleseed
Between 1801 and 1812, Ohio and the Old Northwest territory runs wild and brutal, with a fragile peace, savage living conditions, and the laws of civilization far away. Still, settlers stake everything they own on the chance of building better lives for themselves in this new frontier.
John Chapman--aka Johnny Appleseed--knows this land better than any white man. Everywhere he goes, he shares the "Fresh News Straight from Heaven," which he hears right from the voices of angels who chat with him regularly. God had promised him personally that he could build peace by growing fruit.
Convincing people of that vision, though, is no easy task. Most folks consider him mad.
This land teems with a miscellaneous assemblage of soldiers, scoundrels, freebooters, runaway slaves, circuit riders, and religious cultists. Ambitious politicians, like Aaron Burr and William Henry Harrison, dream of creating a new empire there. Meanwhile, a reformed drunkard emerges among the Shawnee as a Prophet, one who spoke with the Great Spirit, Waashaa Monetoo. Along with his brother, the war chief Tecumseh, the Prophet begins building an Indian coalition to take back their land.
On February 6, 1481, Diego Ben Susn became the first person executed by the authorities of the Spanish Inquisition. According to oral histories shared for over 500 years, his death came about as a result of his own daughters unwitting betrayal. La Susona adds flesh to the bones of this pervasive legend, still told in the city of Seville, Spain. The story shines light on the over-two-thousand-year-old footprints left on the Iberian Peninsula by the Spanish Jews in the lands that had become the center of the Jewish world in Medieval Europe; a land they called Sepharad. The desperation of citizens seeking religious freedom is depicted in this book side by side with the tragic story of a secret love affair. By relating the ordinary-turned-extraordinary events in the life of a young Jewish woman, the story describes the effects of the dark cloud that spread over the Jewish communities there when the Christians reconquered southern Spain. Through the telling of La Susonas life, using accurate historic events and locations enhanced by fictional embellishments, the reader learns not only the story of La Susona, but also becomes aware of the erosion of religious tolerance that the Sephardic Jews had enjoyed.
In Magician and Fool, Pamela Colman Smith begins her career as an artist at the end of the Victorian Age at the Lyceum Theatre, where she grows from innocent empath to seer and channeller; creating her now world-famous deck of tarot cards. Introduced to The Golden Dawn cult by Bram Stoker, the second in command at the Lyceum Theatre, she is commissioned to create a tarot deck for the members to use in their quest for magic. Golden Dawn's most evil member, Aleister Crowley, becomes obsessed with unlocking the mysteries of the Tarot. His obsession peaks when he sees the power of her deck and realizes he can create a rival deck, leading him to manifest magical power to harm Pamela's incarnates of her cards.
Eleanor Dennison is happy with her life in Ohio. But, when her husband dies she decides to make a longtime dream of going west come true. The farmer next door, Owen McClure, was once wed to her best friend, Sara, but is now a widower. Though Eleanor feels an attraction to him, Owen becomes engaged to Rosemary Pescher. With nothing holding her back, Eleanor heads west. Yet, while making plans to join a wagon train, she meets up with Owen McClure, a neighbor from back home. The last wagon train leaving Independence is led by Reverend Follansbee who insists that only married couples are welcome. After striking a bargain with Owen to wed, ‘business only,’ she learns he has been accused of murder and has a price on his head. What has she done? Can she trust her heart? Will she find a way to make her dream come true?
Living by his fists and his wits has suited Sam Dollar, who along with his partner, Hugh O'Hanlon, have roamed the West, taking life as it comes. That is until he meets Kathleen Rexrode, the star of the play, The Santa Rita Rose. A beautiful woman with fire and confidence, she's a match for him in every way, except his heart. The thrill of the gamble is irresistible and he follows it to Brazil, then Europe, where he meets the enigmatic Joan Cacella. With her tragic death, he is once more drawn to America where he faces the biggest gamble of all.
"One of the ten best novels ever written about the Ancient Greeks." —David Maclaine, Historicalnovels.info
Leotychides has been born in the Eurypontid palace of Sparta, and regards himself as heir to one of Sparta's two thrones. But he finds that many people regard him as a bastard. When his father dies, his uncle challenges him for the throne. He must face many conflicts in his efforts to preserve the laws and traditions of his declining city.
Michael Tiernan, a burned-out Boston lawyer, is contacted by the mysterious Irish historian Aedan Burns. He believes Michael's family history files contain a clue that will lead them to the only known portrait and missing treasure of the 16th-century Irish pirate Grace O'Malley. Aedan offers Michael and his artist wife Sara a partnership. Michael and Sara apply their different skills and solve the puzzle, or do they? In the process, they discover themselves, and that Grace O'Malley was more than just a pirate. And then they discover who Aedan is and what he was really up to . . .
Winfield, Iowa, 1918. Colonel Wallace Carson, the ruler of a vast agricultural empire, asks Ann Hardy, his ten-year-old granddaughter and eventual heir, to promise she will safeguard The Northeast Quarter, the choice piece of land from which the empire was founded. Ann readily accepts -- little knowing what awaits her. When the Colonel is killed unexpectedly the same afternoon, the world around Ann and her family begins to fall apart.
Against the background of America sliding from a post war boom into the Great Depression, The Northeast Quarter tells the story of Ann's struggle to keep a promise no matter what. She witnesses the remarriage of her grandmother to Royce Chamberlin, the seemingly humble banker who institutes a reign of terror over the household and proceeds to corrupt the entire town. Over the next ten years Ann matches wits with Chamberlin, enduring betrayal, banishment, and even physical violence. She grows from a precocious child into a tough-minded young woman -- watching, observing her enemy, and waiting for the moment to make her move. And when the moment comes in July 1929, life in Winfield will never be the same.
