Leaving Coy’s Hill by Katherine A. Sherbrooke
07 Monday Feb 2022
Posted in Biographical fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, United States
Tag Archives: 19th century
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
20 Monday Dec 2021
Posted in Biography, History, Non-fiction, United States
Tags
19th century, biography, commitment and detention, Elizabeth parsons Ware Packard 1866-1897, Illinois, insanity, laws, legal status, mentally ill, social reformers, United States, women
“”I have waited fifty years for this full-length biography of Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard, and Kate Moore’s The Woman They Could Not Silence is simply magnificent. It reads like a suspense novel: one is on the edge of her seat at all times; one cannot believe what happens next―and then after that. History comes alive as does the tragedy of women who were falsely judged “mad” and then incarcerated and tortured in 19th century American Insane Asylums. Moore’s research is impeccable. She tells us the whole terrifying and thrilling story: the cost of battle, the triumph of cruel and corrupt misogynists, the nature of feminist victory. It is a complicated story and one brilliantly told. This book reads like a movie and it should be made into one.”- Phyllis Chesler, bestselling author and feminist leader
“Like Radium Girls, this volume is a page-turner.”―Library Journal, STARRED review“
A veritable tour de force about how far women’s rights have come and how far we still have to go…Put this book in the hands of every young feminist.”―Booklist, STARRED review“
In Moore’s expert hands, this beautifully-written tale unspools with drama and power, and puts Elizabeth Packard on the map at the most relevant moment imaginable. You will be riveted―and inspired. Bravo!”―Liza Mundy, New York Times bestselling author of Code Girls
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
07 Friday May 2021
Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction
Tags
19th century, Australia, exile, female friendship, governesses, life changing events, midwives, penal colonies, punishment, women
Best-selling historical fiction author of The Orphan Train and A Piece of the World transports the reader to 1840’s Australia where England sent away her prisoners – for some punishment, for others opportunity and redemption.
“Celebrating the bonds between women, the novel explores how lives that seem destined for pain might persevere.” — Real Simple
“Both uplifting and heartbreaking, this beautifully written novel doesn’t flinch from the ugliness of the penal system but celebrates the courage and resilience of both the first peoples and the settlers who came after, voluntarily or not, to create a new home for themselves and their children.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Monumental…This episode in history gets a top-notch treatment by Kline, one of our foremost historical novelists. This fascinating 19th-century take on Orange Is the New Black is subtle, intelligent, and thrillingly melodramatic.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
07 Monday Dec 2020
Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction
Historical writing is Jiles’ specialty (News of the World). Now through the eyes of a rag tag assortment of musicians, we experience the dicey times just days after the end of the Civil War where law enforcement is vague, disease runs rampant, and trying to survive is undermined at every juncture.
“Incandescent in its beauty, told in Paulette Jiles’s trademark spare yet lilting style, Simon the Fiddler is a captivating, bittersweet tale of the chances a devoted man will take, and the lengths he will go to fulfill his heart’s yearning.” – Amazon
“Imbued with the dust, grit, and grime of Galveston at the close of the Civil War, Simon the Fiddler immerses readers in the challenges of Reconstruction. Jiles brings her singular voice to the young couple’s travails, her written word as lyrical and musical as Simon’s bow raking over his strings. Loyal Jiles readers and fans of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge will adore the author’s latest masterpiece.” (Booklist (starred review))
“Vividly evocative and steeped in American folkways: more great work from a master storyteller.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))
Ritz & Escoffier: the Hotelier, the Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class by Luke Barr
22 Saturday Feb 2020
Posted in History, London, Non-fiction
Tags
19th century, 20th century, A. Escoffier 1846-1935, Cesar Ritz 1850-1918, hospitality industry, leisure class, Savoy Hotel (London England), social aspects
November’s Non-Fiction Book Club Selection at the Weston Public Library
Two men, the hotel and restaurant they created like no one else had ever experienced, run in often mysterious and always extravagant ways ….. which created quite a scandal once exposed.
“Ritz and Escoffier, Luke Barr’s entertaining narrative history, reads like a novel…Mr. Barr has done a fine job evoking fin-de-siecle London and the characters of the two odd men who played such a pivotal role in that exhilarating time.” –Wall Street Journal
“In this winningly-told story, Luke Barr explores the advent of the luxe life through the saga of hotelier Cesar Ritz and chef Auguste Escoffier, whose partnership brought us not only the adjective ‘ritzy,’ itself no small testament, but also such once-novel phenomena as hotel rooms with their own bathrooms, and innovative dishes like peach Melba. It’s a charming tale of success, scandal, and redemption—complete with an unexpected villain. Warning: It will make you hungry, and a little nostalgic for bygone times.”—Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and Devil in the White City
Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson
18 Monday Nov 2019
Posted in murder and investigation, Non-fiction, United States
Weston Public Library Non-Fiction Book Club Selection for October 2019
The remarkable new account of an essential piece of American mythology—the trial of Lizzie Borden—based on twenty years of research and recently unearthed evidence.
The Trial of Lizzie Borden tells the true story of one of the most sensational murder trials in American history that took place in Fall River, Massachusetts.
“The definitive account to date of one of America’s most notorious and enduring murder mysteries…a superior, page-turning true crime narrative.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Robertson presents the story with the thoroughness one expects from an attorney…Fans of crime novels will love it.” —Kirkus Review
“A fast-paced, page-turning read.” —Booklist, starred review
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
19 Monday Nov 2018
Posted in Fiction
Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbevilles, and meeting her “cousin” Alec proves to be her downfall. When Angel Clare offers her love and salvation, she must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.
By the time Tess of the d’Urbervilles was published in 1891, Thomas Hardy was well established as a popular novelist with 12 novels and a book of short stories to his credit. This book is considered by many to be his finest work, yet it was his first to be met with critical outrage, due largely to the controversial subject matter. In fact, when his next book, Jude the Obscure, was also assailed as inflammatory, Hardy became so disillusioned that he retired from novel writing, and spent the last 30 years of his life writing poetry.
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
10 Monday Apr 2017
In News of the World, a National Book Award finalist, elderly, genteel Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a former soldier and onetime printer, makes his living traveling through post–Civil War Texas with a sheaf of newspapers, reading for dimes to audiences hungry for outside news. The former Johanna Leonberger, a ten-year-old German girl taken captive by the Kiowa in a brutal raid, is now by all measures Kiowa herself. When an aunt and uncle offer a $50 gold piece for Johanna’s safe return, Captain Kidd reluctantly takes the job. 400 miles in 213 pages – action, memorable characters, and gorgeous prose.
“Lyrical and affecting, the novel succeeds in skirting cliches through its empathy and through the depth of its major characters.” – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“My respect for Paulette Jiles grows with every novel she writes, the News of the World is her best yet…She writes with great clarity, understanding, and a forgiving heart.” – Nancy Pearl, librarian, bestselling author, and literary critic
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
13 Monday Mar 2017
Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction
In mid-1800s Ireland, an English nurse is sent to investigate an Irish family claiming that their daughter has not eaten anything for several months. Consuming only a small amount of water each day, the young girl claims that her religious faith is sustaining her, and the skeptical nurse is forced to confront her own beliefs as she spends more time with the family. While the plot is simple, I was engrossed in the characters and descriptions of Ireland.
“[Donoghue’s] contemporary thriller Room made [her] an international bestseller, but this gripping tale offers a welcome reminder that her historical fiction is equally fine.”―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Outstanding…. Exploring the nature of faith and trust with heartrending intensity, Donoghue’s superb novel will leave few unaffected.”―Sarah Johnson, Booklist (starred review)
“A fine work, adept and compelling in voice, plot, and moral complexity…. Donoghue deals out the cards with real skill.”―Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe
The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse: An extraordinary Edwardian case of deception and intrigue by Piu Marie Eatwell
07 Monday Dec 2015
Posted in Biography, History, Non-fiction
This non-fiction account reads like fiction. Eatwell structured the book like a play; instead of chapters she has written acts and scenes so it reads like a farce. I learned that in 19th-century Britain, it wasn’t unheard of for men to lead double lives and have two families and two different names/personalities. Fans of Oscar Wilde will like it!
“A riveting true crime from yesteryear.” (Better Homes & Gardens)
“It’s Downton Abbey meets The Addams Family in Piu Marie Eatwell’s The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse, a delightfully offbeat history of a bizarre Edwardian legal case that became tabloid fodder and kept the British public spellbound for a decade…. Eatwell’s marvelous book reads like a Wilkie Collins gothic novel, but at times truth is stranger than fiction.” (Wilda Williams – Library Journal (Editor’s Fall Picks)
“A meticulous examination of a late Victorian/early Edwardian cause célèbre…with juicy details from the time period.” (Publishers Weekly)“[An] engrossing tale of mystery, lies, and intrigue…Besides recounting years of subterfuge, media hype, greed, and fraud, Eatwell throws light on Victorian and Edwardian society: aristocratic entitlement and power, numbing poverty, political corruption, and many secret lives.” (Kirkus Reviews)
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