Winner Fiction: Historical The 2020 Best Book Awards
With the cloud of the Holocaust still looming over them, twin sisters Bronka and Johanna Lubinski and their parents arrive in the US from a Displaced Persons Camp. In the years after World War II, they experience the difficulties of adjusting to American culture as well as the burgeoning fear of the Cold War. Years later, the discovery of a former Nazi hiding in their community brings the Holocaust out of the shadows. As the girls get older, they start to wonder about their parents’ pasts, and they begin to demand answers. But it soon becomes clear that those memories will be more difficult and painful to uncover than they could have anticipated. Poignant and haunting, The Takeaway Men explores the impact of immigration, identity, prejudice, secrets, and lies on parents and children in mid-twentieth-century America.
History tells us that early God of the Game Christy Mathewson, a volunteer in the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I, was exposed to poison gas in a training accident in France that led to his premature death.
But accounts from some close to Mathewson and other evidence some recently discovered cast doubt on this story. And the question is raised: If the poison gas incident is merely a myth, what really happened? What uncomfortable truths might lie behind the official history, now thoroughly entrenched in baseball lore? What secrets perhaps involving the institution of baseball itself are being protected?
The novel THIS NEVER HAPPENED jumps off from authentic recently discovered documents about a WWI army unit that included all-time baseball greats Mathewson, Honus Wagner, Big Ed Walsh, the fiery Ty Cobb, and others. In a seamless blending of fact and fiction, author and political scientist JB Manheim imagines answers to the mystery behind Christy Mathewson s death. It s a multigenerational story filled with intrigue, adventure, and a shocking event that triggers a cover-up, one that continues to this day.
After being driven from his home in Vermont by a mother perched on the edge of insanity and a money-grubbing old woman who won’t let him marry the woman he loves, Sheridan Baird seeks his fortune in the steel mills in Pittsburgh. But when his worst fears come true and his love marries another, he wonders if it wouldn’t have been better to have perished in the Civil War like his brothers. Then, he meets the attractive and sophisticated Elinor Taylor from Manhattan. Encouraged by the death wish of a good friend and in a reckless bid to seize control of his fortunes, Sheridan moves to Brooklyn, New York, to try to win her heart. Things rarely go according to plan, and he ends up fighting, not only for Elinor’s love but also for his very life.
In a moment of heinous desecration, Claire O'Brien's life changes forever. In an attempt to gather the pieces of her shattered life, she leaves Ireland and all she loves and journeys to America to begin her life anew. Tony Sabella has recently returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam, psychologically broken from the horrors of war. Once a gregarious, happy man, Tony struggles with deep depression but tries valiantly to hide his emotional pain. By a chance encounter, Tony and Claire meet and find miraculous healing through their mutual love. Unknowingly, they loose the thread that will begin to unravel a tragic mystery.
Set in the early 1900s, Among the Beautiful Beasts is the untold story of the early life of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, known in her later years as a tireless activist for the Florida Everglades. After a childhood spent in New England estranged from her father and bewildered by her mother, who fades into madness, Marjory marries a swindler thirty years her senior. The marriage nearly destroys her, but Marjory finds the courage to move to Miami, where she is reunited with her father and begins a new life as a journalist in that bustling, booming frontier town. Buoyed by a growing sense of independence and an affair with a rival journalist, Marjory embraces a life lived at the intersection of the untamed Everglades and the rapacious urban development that threatens it. When the demands of a man once again begin to swallow Marjory’s own desires and dreams, she sees herself in the vulnerable, inimitable Everglades and is forced to decide whether to commit to a life of subjugation or leap into the wild unknown. Told in chapters that alternate between an urgent midnight chase through the wetlands and extensive narrative flashbacks, Among the Beautiful Beasts is at once suspenseful and deeply reflective.
A marriage of convenience leads to a life of passion and purpose. A shared vision transforms the American landscape forever.
New York, 1858: Mary, a young widow with three children, agrees to marry her brother-in-law Frederick Law Olmsted, who is acting on his late brother's deathbed plea to "not let Mary suffer." But she craves more than a marriage of convenience and sets out to win her husband's love. Beginning with Central Park in New York City, Mary joins Fred on his quest to create a 'beating green heart' in the center of every urban space.
Over the next 40 years, Fred is inspired to create dozens of city parks, private estates and public spaces with Mary at his side. Based upon real people and true events, this is the story of Mary's journey and personal growth and the challenges inherent in loving a brilliant and ambitious man.
On a cold night in 1877, Laurel Whitman’s father flies into a rage and throws her into the street. His behavior isn’t unusual; he has ridiculed her for years, and Laurel doesn’t understand why. All she knows is that his vitriol has something to do with her grandmother, a woman shrouded in mystery. Laurel goes on a harrowing journey from her home in Philadelphia to Maryland only to discover that her grandmother is on death’s door. She is welcomed with open arms by her extended family but receives a chilly reception from her grandmother who seems suspicious of Laurel’s arrival. Over the next few weeks, her grandmother recovers and her distrust begins to thaw as she tells Laurel stories of her abusive first husband, the young immigrant whom she came to love, and the birth of her two illegitimate children. Laurel learns the secrets of her family’s fractured past, a story of resilience, deception, and forbidden passion that forces Laurel to confront the truths in her own heart. But will unearthing long-buried secrets heal the rift between Laurel and her father, or will the past haunt the present and the future forever?
As a young boy in the late 1950s, Jimmy O'Farrell emigrates with his family from Ireland to Manhattan to bask in the dawn of a new life. Thousands of miles away, the family of Jaylen Jackson seeks to build a life amid Jim Crow culture in Mississippi. As teenagers, both boys struggle to come of age in a racially divisive world, suffering horrific tragedies that shape their characters and life missions. Jimmy seeks to define what it means to stand for someone when the chips are down, while Jaylen embarks on a journey to gain respect beyond the color of his skin.
Fleeing the past, both families land in neighboring Bronx communities in the 1960s, where Jimmy and Jaylen's lives first intersect, on the basketball courts and then in the Vietnam jungle. Repeatedly tested as men of different races, their friendship faces its toughest challenge outside a Bronx bar-with fatal consequences. Truth Is in the House is an epic and provocative tale that plumbs historical and modern racial themes and explores redemption, forgiveness, and the power of connecting through the human spirit.
It was a beautiful summer in Munich when Tretan slipped the ring upon Adelisa's finger and made her his wife. Against all odds, against all prejudice, whether it came from those they loved: close friends, family, even strangers, they joined in a union built on care, sacrifice, and unrelenting love that would be put to the test.
Years later, in November, Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass had begun, and their world, their family was under the watchful eye of what was now Nazi Germany. Hidden in the darkness, they struggled to survive, living in fear of what would happen should they be reported for breaking racial law. But their nightmare had only just begun. The worst had happened and torn apart by the seams of their life; they were sent to Angel's Grove.
It's 1955. David stands on the courthouse steps in Cleveland, buttoning his overcoat, when his gaze catches the martial stride of a passerby. He recoils. It s Dr. Gerhardt Adler, a brutal ex-S.S. Major who David sent to Nuremburg shackled in the back of a U.S. Army Jeep. Determined to discover what that war criminal is doing in the U.S., David reverts to old habits he mastered in the Office of Strategic Services and pursues the Nazi. Feeling cheated by his role during the war, safe behind Allied lines, he sees another chance to be a hero. But how much will it cost?
Chasing the American Dream captures David's quest for justice against those who committed crimes against humanity during World War II. To his horror, it transforms into a fight with the U.S. government who threatens his own American dream.
When Texas cowboy, Jesse Pruitt, purchases land in Florida he quickly discovers ranching in Florida is uniquely different from ranching in Texas. When Jesse’s life intersects with Harriet Painter, a survivor of abuse at the hands of her uncle Buford, Malachai McQueen, the son of an El Paso working woman and others with names like Moccasin Bob and Pelo Berryhill, what results is a case of murder, stolen identity, a runaway girl in peril and a love story.
Cracker Justice explores the true history of the Sara Sota Vigilance Committee, a group of prominent ranchers and business men who resorted to violent tactics to evict squatters and farmers from the open range. It is a novel of Florida’s outlaw history that blends historical fact with engaging fictional characters who revolve around the classic cowboy hero – Jesse Pruitt. Cracker Justice combines all the essential parts of a classic Cracker Western.
Sadie Meade is a rebellious, promiscuous teenager in the 1960s whose only care in the world is her inadequate breast size. Born into a humble Catholic family from Massachusetts, she struggles to find her place in the family dynamic. A new job opportunity for Sadies father whisks the Meades to the exciting city of Las Vegas, leaving their ordinary life on the East Coast behind.
Living in the heart of Sin City is uneventful with an overbearing father whose antiquated views and sharp tongue are intolerable for a headstrong young woman like Sadie. She leaves the security of her home and enters a world of debauchery. Her young-adult life is in constant turmoil as she compromises her integrity, indulging in dangerous liaisons.
Seventeen-year-old Ripley is the daughter of legendary parents. In a repressive medieval patriarchal society, she unwittingly becomes a lightning rod for change as she strives to fulfill her controversial ambition to become Valor's first female soldier.
She was a feisty, stubborn, impetuous, exasperating, infuriating thorn in Takeshi's side.
What she did was honorable. But it was also dishonorable. Only Ripley could accomplish both at the same time.
Forces of good and evil collide as a tempest threatens to engulf her and destroy everything she holds dear.
In 1850, twelve-year-old fugitive slave Samuel Prescott, along with his mother, sister, and nephew, seek shelter from a midnight storm at a farm in Fairhaven, Vermont.
Emma and Gabe Hopper, conductors at the waystation, sequester the fugitives, then provide them food and clean clothing. Several days later, Gabe and his son, Luke, embark upon the next dangerous stage to transport the Prescotts to freedom. But evil lurks in the shadows. The devastating aftermath of that ill-fated journey will impact families all the way to the present day.
Irish Republican martyrs rise against overpowering British forces to spark the revolution at Easter 1916, while the Clans search for unity and treasure to honor the Clans Pact of their ancestors in the third book, Rising in The Irish Clans historical fiction six novel series. Follow Tadgh, Morgan, eventually Collin and their compatriots through the brutal Rising and its aftermath.
The story of an orphaned Jewish child in 1935 who disguises their identity to escape religious persecution and eventually is adopted by a high-ranking Nazi family. The main character struggles with internal and external acceptance, but ultimately and incredibly acts for herself and for the betterment of the world around her. The author describes the main themes of the book as: “the struggle of a child to belong, the seduction of youth by a corrupt system, and an effort to atone for willful ignorance and the sins of the father.”
It's 1941, and the chill of something evil is spreading around the world like a black plague. Suspicion and fear have replaced the trust of innocence of humankind. The news of unheard-of violence and brutality presses heavily on the hearts of mankind. What is tomorrow going to look like? What has happened to the world as we once knew it? World War II begins its escalation, extending its chaos in all directions, including the outer shores of America, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Annie Elizabeth Jordan (known to most as Cricket) can't make any sense of the turbulence that is swirling around her life. This thing called war, newspapers headlines that are hidden from her, the heartache, the fears of loved ones all around her are very disturbing, and no one seems to want to explain it all to her. She is looking forward to her annual visit with her grandparents, who live in the Northwestern United States.
Nicky Covo is a Holocaust survivor. In 1990, Nicky – a Brooklyn psychiatrist – receives a letter from Abbess Fevronia, the head of a women’s monastery in Greece. Although Nicky believes the rest of his family died at Auschwitz, he learns that Theodora, a mysteriously silent nun who’s lived at the monastery since 1944, may be his baby sister, Kal. With his old friend and new love, Helen, Nicky returns to Greece – to harrowing memories of his fighting with the partisans and to a reunion with his beloved sister. The Flight of the Veil explores the intersections of guilt and memory, faith and tragedy, fate and miracle.
Gunslingers: A Story of the Old West is John Layne's inaugural novel set in the Old West packed with family drama, action, and adventure. In this, Book One of the Luxton Danner Series, author John Layne tells the story of Joel Thornton and his daughter Elizabeth, as they seek frontier justice with legendary U.S. Deputy Marshall, Ben Chance.
Joel Thornton is a retired U.S. Deputy Marshal now living a quiet rancher's life. Days after welcoming his daughter Elizabeth home, a fugitive seeking revenge attacks his ranch. Badly wounded trying to protect his home and save his daughter, Thornton sends his daughter on a dangerous mission to find help from the only man he trusts to save his beloved family and ranch.
Fans of Western Fiction novels are in for a treat with Layne's crisp, strong prose and cinematic style.
From the author of Gunslingers: A Story of the Old West comes a second novel about frontier freedom and justice on the American Frontier and the Old West.
Red River Reunion is a classic Western Fiction novel set in 1877 that traces the lives of U.S. Deputy Marshal Luxton Danner and Texas Ranger Wes Payne during their latest Texas adventures, where they risk everything to defend the meek, uphold frontier law, and satisfy their pursuit of doing what no other men can.
Tragic circumstances, lawlessness, and villainy, mark life in the Old West as settlers and law enforcement band together to survive and thrive and create a safe and prosperous future for all. Fans of Layne's distinctive style will enjoy his rich characters and period details that bring the Old West back to life.
Jacobo's Rainbow is an historical literary novel set primarily in the nineteen sixties during the convulsive period of the student protest movements and the Vietnam War. It focuses on the issue of being an outsider the ‘other’ an altogether common circumstance that resonates with readers in today’s America. Written from a Jewish perspective, it speaks to universal truths that affect us all.
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of a transformative event in Jacobo’s life the day he is sent to jail he writes about what happened behind the scenes of the Free Speech Movement which provides the backdrop for a riveting story centered on his emergence into a world he never could have imagined. His recording of those earlier events is the proximate cause of his being arrested. Jacobo is allowed to leave jail under the condition of being drafted, engages in gruesome fighting in Vietnam, and returns to continue his work of chronicling America in the throes of significant societal changes.
One crack and the walls will shatter. When you’re the new white kid in an Oklahoma town hemorrhaging with racial and class divisions, accidentally taking the wallet from a dead black man isn’t a simple matter. James embarks on a tortuous journey to navigate tensions in the town while trying to correct the mistake he never should have made. His efforts are hampered by his inability to understand racial prejudice and by those who refuse to let him cross entrenched racial and class barriers. When James’s only friend his age, an African-American girl, is targeted by both the white and the black kids, James is forced to confront the darkness lurking within his own soul. Walls of Glass is a story of forbidden friendship, failure, and redemption.
The Storm is a novel about four intriguing lives and a cast of characters entwined in their stories. The Storm encompasses Paris during The French Revolution leading to the 20th century and covers Rome's opera House scenes, and Hollywood film studios in their Golden Era.
Marie Savoie: Reborn in the 20th century, a reincarnation of Princess Marie Louise Lamballe. She was First Lady in Waiting to Marie Antoinette and first to be executed in the French Revolution because she refused to abandon the King and Queen. Reincarnated in Paris she would go on to become the foremost leading actress in France in the 1950's.
Tristan Taylor: America's sensitive, soft spoken heart throb. A Broadway star who went on to stardom using "bel canto" opera technique as well as pop. His destiny was falling in love with Marie Savoie, the kind of wild, stormy and passionate love only a few ever share in life.
Finalist Fiction: Historical The 2020 Best Book Awards
The Adventure and Romance of America, her people, her spirit and the West.
Fourth novel of thirty-three books of the Threads West, An American Saga series--compared by reviewers, authors and readers to Lonesome Dove, Centennial, Louis L'Amour (with steam) and called by some the "Gone with the Wind of the West" and applauded by others as "rings true and poignant, as authentic and moving as Dances with Wolves". This multiple #1 bestselling series--winner of fifteen National Awards, (including Best Historical Fiction, Best Romance, and Best Western)--bursts with the adventure, romance and promise of historical America set in the West.
The epic saga of Threads West begins in 1854 with Book One. We meet the first of five richly-textured, complex generations of unforgettable characters. The separate lives of these driven men and independent women are drawn to a common destiny that beckons seductively from the wild and remote flanks of the American West.
Finalist Fiction: Historical The 2020 Best Book Awards
On the eve of an international G7 Summit, event coordinator Mattie Maguire discovers that the venue, a century-old estate close to Asheville, NC, is more than simply a picturesque setting. It is also the center of political conspiracies involving a ruthless Russian spy ring that will stop at nothing to steal the massive fortune they believe to be hidden there. The search intensifies and a rogue Russian agent attacks Mattie’s grandmother, still living on the estate. She hovers in a coma, barely clinging to life.
As Mattie struggles to protect her family and ensure a safe event for the most important leaders in the world, her discovery of a fraudulent heir to the estate puts her own life in danger as well. But when her eighty-five-year-old grandfather is kidnapped and held at gunpoint, her path becomes clear. Despite her fear, she must locate the only person who has the information the Russians seek—the estate’s rightful heir, hidden away for decades after the murder of his father. But will the true owner’s return to his childhood home put his life in danger, too?
Finalist Fiction: Historical The 2020 Best Book Awards
Following the harrowing journey of Lady Lee Su-Mei and her family, Robert Wang's debut novel is a historical drama told from dual perspectives—Chinese and British—about the First Opium War, a tragic and history-altering conflict. Honoring the tradition of noted historical fiction writers such as Ken Follett, Philippa Gregory, and James Clavell, The Opium Lord's Daughter artfully weaves true events and characters into the narrative, offering the reader a selective glimpse into a world populated with rogue drug traders, imperialist government officials, religious zealots, scrappy survivors.
Su-Mei, the eponymous protagonist, is a young woman unbounded by convention. From the moment we meet little Su-Mei, she valiantly resists her wealthy and powerful father—one of the largest opium traders in mid-19th century China—who attempts to force her into the barbaric practice of foot binding. Through her, readers look with fresh eyes upon antiquated and harmful traditions, and understand how time and experiences truly shape a person during their life's journey.
Finalist Fiction: Historical The 2020 Best Book Awards
My Mother's Son, the meticulously-crafted debut novel from David Hirshberg, is a story told by a radio raconteur revisiting his past in post-World War II Boston, the playground and battleground for two brothers whose lives are transformed by discoveries they never could have imagined. From the opening line of the book, "When you're a kid, they don't always tell you the truth," the stage is set for this riveting coming-of-age story that plays out against the backdrop of the Korean War, the aftermath of the Holocaust, the polio epidemic, the relocation of a baseball team, and the shenanigans of politicians and businessmen. Hirshberg deftly weaves together events, characters, and clues and creates a rich tapestry of betrayal, persecution, death, loyalty, and unconditional love that resonates with today's America.
Finalist Fiction: Historical The 2020 Best Book Awards
As the former Colonies struggle for freedom, the American Revolution is in the hands of a brave and resourceful teenage girl. At sixteen, Susanna Bolling is like America in rebellion; she craves independence. While her brothers are off fighting for the Patriots, she longs to do more than tedious household chores and attend spinning bees in sleepy City Point, Virginia. When British General Cornwallis invades her family’s Bollingbrook Plantation, she overhears his secret plan to defeat the Patriots. Much to her shock, she finds herself at the center of the war. Now America’s fight for liberty hinges on her. But can she overcome her mother’s objections, face her own fears, and outwit the famed General and his entire Army? Based on the TRUE story of revolutionary courage and conviction that’s sure to captivate readers of all ages.
Finalist Fiction: Historical The 2020 Best Book Awards
Based on the remarkable true account of a young American who landed in Liberia in the 1960s.
NOTHING COULD HAVE PREPARED HIM FOR THE EVENTS HE WAS ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE. Ken Verrier quickly realizes the moment he arrives in Liberia that he is in a place where he understands very little of what is considered normal, where the dignity of life has little meaning, and where he can trust no one.
It's 1961 and young Ken Verrier is experiencing the turbulence of Ishmael and the guilt of his brother's death. His sudden decision to drop out of college and deal with his demons shocks his family, his friends, and especially his girlfriend, soon to have been his fiancee. His destination: Liberia--the richest country in Africa both in monetary wealth and natural resources,
Author Daniel Meier describes Ken Verrier's many escapades, spanning from horrifying to whimsical, with engaging and fast-moving narrative that ultimately describe a society upon which the wealthy are feeding and in which the poor are being buried.
