One rainy morning in June, two years after the end of World War II, a minor traffic accident brings together Eleanor Moskowitz and Patricia Bellamy. Their encounter seems fated: Eleanor, a teacher and recent Vassar graduate, needs a job. Patricia’s difficult thirteen-year-old daughter Margaux, recovering from polio, needs a private tutor.
Though she feels out of place in the Bellamys’ rarefied and elegant Park Avenue milieu, Eleanor forms an instant bond with Margaux. Soon the idealistic young woman is filling the bright young girl’s mind with Shakespeare and Latin. Though her mother, a hat maker with a little shop on Second Avenue, disapproves, Eleanor takes pride in her work, even if she must use the name "Moss" to enter the Bellamys’ restricted doorman building each morning, and feels that Patricia’s husband, Wynn, may have a problem with her being Jewish.
Invited to keep Margaux company at the Bellamys’ country home in a small town in Connecticut, Eleanor meets Patricia’s unreliable, bohemian brother, Tom, recently returned from Europe. The spark between Eleanor and Tom is instant and intense. Flushed with new romance and increasingly attached to her young pupil, Eleanor begins to feel more comfortable with Patricia and much of the world she inhabits. As the summer wears on, the two women’s friendship grows—until one hot summer evening, a line is crossed, and both Eleanor and Patricia will have to make important decisions—choices that will reverberate through their lives.
Daughter of a Daughter of Queen by Sarah Bird (Sep 4th)
Cathy Williams was born and lived a slave – until the Union army comes and destroys the only world she’s known. Separated from her family, she makes the impossible decision – to fight in the army disguised as a man with the Buffalo Soldiers. With courage and wit, Cathy must not only fight for her survival and freedom in the ultimate man’s world, but never give up on her mission to find her family, and the man she loves.
A Lincolnshire village on a
glorious summer's morning in 1940, the countryside as still as a
painting. In the blue sky above, the fate of the whole war will soon
rest with the RAF and their desperate effort to win the Battle of Britain. If
they fail, Hitler's next step will be invasion. And as the scene comes to
life before us over the next six months, this shadow of war will not disappear
- the conflict will take husbands and sons away, bring in evacuees from the
city and soldiers to defend the coast. There will be more money from war work,
but less to spend it on - legitimately at least. Everywhere, the feeling of
change is in the air.
Vienna, 1914. Lucius is a twenty-two-year-old
medical student when World War I explodes across Europe. Enraptured by romantic
tales of battlefield surgery, he enlists, expecting a position at a
well-organized field hospital. But when he arrives, at a commandeered church
tucked away high in a remote valley of the Carpathian Mountains, he finds a
freezing outpost ravaged by typhus. The other doctors have fled, and only a
single, mysterious nurse named Sister Margarete remains.
But Lucius has never lifted a
surgeon's scalpel. And as the war rages across the winter landscape, he finds
himself falling in love with the woman from whom he must learn a brutal,
makeshift medicine. Then one day, an unconscious soldier is brought in from the
snow, his uniform stuffed with strange drawings. He seems beyond rescue, until
Lucius makes a fateful decision that will change the lives of doctor, patient,
and nurse forever.
The ancient city of Troy has
withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, who continue to wage
bloody war over a stolen woman--Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman watches
and waits for the war's outcome: Briseis. She was queen of one of Troy's
neighboring kingdoms, until Achilles, Greece's greatest warrior, sacked her
city and murdered her husband and brothers. Briseis becomes Achilles's
concubine, a prize of battle, and must adjust quickly in order to survive a
radically different life, as one of the many conquered women who serve the
Greek army.
When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful of the Greeks. Achilles refuses to fight in protest, and the Greeks begin to lose ground to their Trojan opponents. Keenly observant and cooly unflinching about the daily horrors of war, Briseis finds herself in an unprecedented position to observe the two men driving the Greek forces in what will become their final confrontation, deciding the fate, not only of Briseis's people, but also of the ancient world at large.
In 1780s London, a prosperous
merchant finds his quiet life upended when he unexpectedly receives a most
unusual creature—and meets a most extraordinary woman—in this much-lauded,
atmospheric debut that examines our capacity for wonder, obsession, and desire
with all the magnetism, originality, and literary magic of The Essex Serpent.
One September evening in 1785, Jonah Hancock hears an urgent knocking on his
front door near the docks of London. The captain of one of Jonah’s trading
vessels is waiting eagerly on the front step, bearing shocking news. On a
voyage to the Far East, he sold the Jonah’s ship for something rare and far
more precious: a mermaid. Jonah is stunned—the object the captain presents him
is brown and wizened, as small as an infant, with vicious teeth and claws, and
a torso that ends in the tail of a fish. It is also dead.
As gossip spreads through the
docks, coffee shops, parlors and brothels, all of London is curious to see this
marvel in Jonah Hancock’s possession. Thrust from his ordinary existence,
somber Jonah finds himself moving from the city’s seedy underbelly to the
finest drawing rooms of high society. At an opulent party, he makes the
acquaintance of the coquettish Angelica Neal, the most desirable woman he has
ever laid eyes on—and a shrewd courtesan of great accomplishment. This meeting
sparks a perilous liaison that steers both their lives onto a dangerous new
course as they come to realize that priceless things often come at the greatest
cost.
After a year on the job, New
Jersey’s first female deputy sheriff has collared criminals, demanded justice
for wronged women, and gained notoriety nationwide for her exploits. But on one
stormy night, everything falls apart. While transporting a woman to an
insane asylum, Deputy Kopp discovers something deeply troubling about her
story. Before she can investigate, another inmate bound for the asylum breaks
free and tries to escape.
In both cases, Constance runs instinctively toward justice. But the fall of 1916 is a high-stakes election year, and any move she makes could jeopardize Sheriff Heath’s future—and her own. Although Constance is not on the ballot, her controversial career makes her the target of political attacks.
In both cases, Constance runs instinctively toward justice. But the fall of 1916 is a high-stakes election year, and any move she makes could jeopardize Sheriff Heath’s future—and her own. Although Constance is not on the ballot, her controversial career makes her the target of political attacks.
Morris, Sol, and Harry
Rabishevsky grew up poor and rough in a tiny flat on the Lower East Side, until
the death of their father thrust them into having to fend for themselves and
support their large family. Morris, the youngest, dropped out of school at twelve
years old and apprenticed himself to a garment cutter in a clothing factory;
Sol headed to accounting school; but Harry, scarred by a family tragedy, fell
in with a gang of thugs as a teenager. Morris steadily climbs through the ranks
at the factory until at twenty-one he finally goes out on his own, convincing
Sol to come work with him. But Harry can't be lured away from the glamour, the
power, and the money that come from his association with Louis Buchalter, whom
Morris has battled with since his youth and who has risen to become the most
ruthless mobster in New York. And when Buchalter sets his sights on the unions
that staff the garment makers' factories, a fatal showdown is inevitable,
pitting brother against brother.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (Sep 18th)
The Rules of Blackheath Evelyn Castle will be murdered at 11:00 pm.
There are eight days, and eight witnesses, for you to inhabit.
We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.
Understood? Then let's begin . . .
There are eight days, and eight witnesses, for you to inhabit.
We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.
Understood? Then let's begin . . .
Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others...
Francesco has a memory of his father from early childhood, a night when life for his family changed: their name, their story, their living place. From that night, he has vowed to protect his mother and to follow the words of his father: Non mollare. Never give up. When Francesco is rounded up with a group of young men and herded into a camp on the island of San Domino, he realizes that someone has handed a list of names to the fascist police; everyone is suspicious of one another. His former lover Emilio is constantly agitating for revolution. His old friend Gio jealously watches their relationship rekindle. Locked in spartan dormitories, resentment and bitterness between the men grows each day.
Elena, a young and illiterate island girl on the cusp of womanhood, is drawn to the handsome Francesco yet fails to understand why her family try to keep her away from him. By day, she makes and floats her paper birds, willing them to fly from the island, just as she wants to herself. Sometimes, she is given a message to pass on. She's not sure who they are from; she knows simply that Francesco is hiding something. When Elena discovers the truth about the group of prisoners, the fine line between love and hate pulls her towards an act that can only have terrible consequences for all.
Elena, a young and illiterate island girl on the cusp of womanhood, is drawn to the handsome Francesco yet fails to understand why her family try to keep her away from him. By day, she makes and floats her paper birds, willing them to fly from the island, just as she wants to herself. Sometimes, she is given a message to pass on. She's not sure who they are from; she knows simply that Francesco is hiding something. When Elena discovers the truth about the group of prisoners, the fine line between love and hate pulls her towards an act that can only have terrible consequences for all.
Local businessman Harry Exeter doesn't want the aid of the Thames River Police in tracking down the men who kidnapped his wife, Kate. He only asks them to help him navigate Jacob's Island, a creepy mass of decrepit buildings where he will hand off a large sum of money in exchange for her life. But when they arrive at the meeting place, Commander Monk and five of his best men are attacked from all sides, and Monk is left wondering who could have given away their plans--and why anyone would want to harm Kate Exeter.
As Monk follows leads from Kate's worried cousin and a crafty clerk at the bank where Exeter gathered the ransom money, it seems inevitable that one of his own men has betrayed him. Delving into their pasts, he realizes how little he knows about the people he works with every day, including his trusted right-hand man Hooper, the one colleague Monk has always been certain he can count on. Even as they identify one of the kidnappers, the case runs into hurdle after hurdle, causing Monk to choose between his own safety and the chance to solve the case--and figure out where his men's loyalty really lies.
As Monk follows leads from Kate's worried cousin and a crafty clerk at the bank where Exeter gathered the ransom money, it seems inevitable that one of his own men has betrayed him. Delving into their pasts, he realizes how little he knows about the people he works with every day, including his trusted right-hand man Hooper, the one colleague Monk has always been certain he can count on. Even as they identify one of the kidnappers, the case runs into hurdle after hurdle, causing Monk to choose between his own safety and the chance to solve the case--and figure out where his men's loyalty really lies.
When a man is arrested at a museum for attempting to steal the bullet-ridden suit of a murdered Colombian politician, few notice. But soon this thwarted theft takes on greater meaning as it becomes a thread in a widening web of popular fixations with conspiracy theories, assassinations, and historical secrets; and it haunts those who feel that only they know the real truth behind these killings.
In 1940, eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever.
Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence.
Germany, 1942. Franciscan friar Anton Starzmann is stripped of his place in the world when his school is seized by the Nazis. He relocates to a small German hamlet to wed Elisabeth Herter, a widow who seeks a marriage—in name only—to a man who can help raise her three children. Anton seeks something too—atonement for failing to protect his young students from the wrath of the Nazis. But neither he nor Elisabeth expects their lives to be shaken once again by the inescapable rumble of war.
As Anton struggles to adapt to the roles of husband and father, he learns of the Red Orchestra, an underground network of resisters plotting to assassinate Hitler. Despite Elisabeth’s reservations, Anton joins this army of shadows. But when the SS discovers his schemes, Anton will embark on a final act of defiance that may cost him his life—even if it means saying goodbye to the family he has come to love more than he ever believed possible.
Over four long years, the Delasalle family has struggled to live in their Nazi occupied village in Normandy. Maman, Oncle Henri, Yvonne, and Françoise silently watched as their Jewish neighbors were arrested or wordlessly disappeared. Now in June 1944, when the sirens wail each day, warning of approaching bombers, the family wonders if rumors of the coming Allied invasion are true—and if they will survive to see their country liberated. For sixteen-year-old Yvonne, thoughts of the war recede when she sees the red-haired boy bicycle past her window each afternoon. Murmuring to herself I love you, I love you, I love you, she wills herself to hear the whisper of his bicycle tires over the screech of Allied bombs falling from the sky.
Yvonne’s sister, Geneviève, is in Paris to audition for the National Conservatory. Pausing to consider the shadow of a passing cloud as she raises her bow, she does not know that her family’s home in Normandy lies in the path of British and American bombers. While Geneviève plays, her brother Simon and Tante Chouchotte, anxiously await news from their loved ones in Normandy. Decades later, Geneviève, the wife of an American musician, lives in the United States. Each summer she returns to her homeland with her children, so that they may know their French family. Geneviève’s youngest daughter, Polly, becomes obsessed with the stories she hears about the war, believing they are the key to understanding her mother and the conflicting cultures shaping her life.
Germany, 1939. Two children watch as their parents become immersed in the puzzling mechanisms of power. Siggi lives in the affluent ignorance of middle-class Berlin, her father a censor who excises prohibited words ("promise", "love", "mercy") from books. Erich is an only child living a lush rural life, near Leipzig, tending beehives, aware that he is shadowed by strange, unanswered questions.
Drawn together as Germany's hope for a glorious future begins to collapse, the children find temporary refuge in an abandoned theatre amidst the rubble of Berlin. Outside, white bedsheets hang from windows; all over the city people are talking of surrender. The days Siggi and Erich spend together will shape the rest of their lives.
Watching over Siggi and Erich is the wish child, the mysterious narrator of their story. He sees what they see, he feels what they feel, yet his is a voice that comes from deep inside the wreckage of a nation's dream.
It is deep winter in York, 1400, the ground frozen, the short days dimmed with the smoke from countless fires, the sun, when it shines, low in the sky. It is rumored that the Epiphany Uprising, meant to relieve the realm of the Henry the usurper and return King Richard to the throne has, instead, spelled his doom. As long as Richard lives, he is a threat to Henry. So, too, the nobles behind the plot. The ringleaders have been caught, some slaughtered as they fled west by folk loyal to Henry, and the king’s men now search the towns for survivors.
A perilous time, made worse for Kate Clifford by the disappearance of Berend, her cook and confidante, shortly after Christmas. Her niece saw his departure in a dream―he said he was honor bound to leave. Honor bound―to a former lord? One of the nobles who led the uprising? Is he alive? She is hardly consoled when Berend reappears, wounded, secretive, denying any connection to the uprising, but refusing to explain himself. When he is accused of brutally murdering a spice seller in the city, Kate discovers a chest of jewels in his possession. Some of the jewels belong to her old friend Lady Margery, wanted by the king for her husband’s part in the uprising. For the sake of their long friendship, and the love she and her wards bear for him, Kate wants to believe his innocence. So, too, does Sir Elric. And he has the powerful backing of the Earl of Westmoreland. All she need do is confide in him. If only she trusted her heart.
London, 1938. The effervescent "It girl" of London society since her father was named the ambassador, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy moves in rarified circles, rubbing satin-covered elbows with some of the 20th century's most powerful figures. Eager to escape the watchful eye of her strict mother, Rose, the antics of her older brothers, Jack and Joe, and the erratic behavior of her sister Rosemary, Kick is ready to strike out on her own and is soon swept off her feet by Billy Hartington, the future Duke of Devonshire.
But their love is forbidden, as Kick's devout Catholic family and Billy's staunchly Protestant one would never approve their match. When war breaks like a tidal wave across her world, Billy is ripped from her arms as the Kennedys are forced to return to the States. Kick gets work as a journalist and joins the Red Cross to get back to England, where she will have to decide where her true loyalties lie--with family or with love . . .
But their love is forbidden, as Kick's devout Catholic family and Billy's staunchly Protestant one would never approve their match. When war breaks like a tidal wave across her world, Billy is ripped from her arms as the Kennedys are forced to return to the States. Kick gets work as a journalist and joins the Red Cross to get back to England, where she will have to decide where her true loyalties lie--with family or with love . . .
By January 1666 the plague has almost disappeared from London, leaving its surviving population diminished and in poverty. The resentment against those who had fled to the country turns to outrage as the court and its followers return, their licentiousness undiminished. While most of Thomas Chaloner's attention is on the continuing threat of the war with the Dutch, he is aware of a growing restlessness among Londoners, and of shadowy forces which are directing this anger against the King's profligacy and his plans to commemorate his father's execution.
The death of a well-connected physician, the mysterious sinking of a man-of-war in the Thames and the disappearance of a popular courtier are causing concern to Chaloner's employer. When instructed to investigate them all he is irritated that he is prevented from gaining intelligence on the military preparations of the Dutch. Then he discovers common threads to all the cases, which seem linked to those planning to set a match to the powder keg of rebellion in the city. Against the background of a ferocious winter storm that causes serious damage to London's fabric, Chaloner has to battle the elements in a race against time to prevent the weakened city from utter destruction.
The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Perry (Oct 2nd)
Edinburgh, 1847. City of Medicine, Money, Murder. Young women are being discovered dead across the Old Town, all having suffered similarly gruesome ends. In the New Town, medical student Will Raven is about to start his apprenticeship with the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson.
Simpson's patients range from the richest to the poorest of this divided city. His house is like no other, full of visiting luminaries and daring experiments in the new medical frontier of anesthesia. It is here that Raven meets housemaid Sarah Fisher, who recognizes trouble when she sees it and takes an immediate dislike to him. She has all of his intelligence but none of his privileges, in particular his medical education. With each having their own motive to look deeper into these deaths, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh's underworld, where they will have to overcome their differences if they are to make it out alive.
Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone. The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry―the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.
Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims. With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust―who in her life is false or true, brass or gold―and what is meant to be treasured.
Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims. With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust―who in her life is false or true, brass or gold―and what is meant to be treasured.
An old friend calls Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart to his famous Italian restaurant to enlist their help. His aunt is being evicted from her home in the Tuscan hills by a powerful corporation claiming they own the deeds, even though she can produce her own set of deeds to her land. Catherine and Liam’s only clue is a bound handwritten manuscript, entirely in German, and hidden in its pages is a story long-forgotten…
Ada Baumgarten was born in Berlin in 1918, at the end of the war. The daughter of an accomplished first-chair violinist in the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic, and herself a violin prodigy, Ada’s life was full of the rich culture of Berlin’s interwar society. She formed a deep attachment to her childhood friend Kurt, but they were torn apart by the growing unrest as her Jewish family came under suspicion. As the tides of history turned, it was her extraordinary talent that would carry her through an unraveling society turned to war, and make her a target even as it saved her, allowing her to move to Bologna―though Italy was not the haven her family had hoped, and further heartache awaited.
What became of Ada? How is she connected to the conflicting land deeds of a small Italian villa? As they dig through the layers of lies, corruption, and human evil, Catherine and Liam uncover an unfinished story of heart, redemption, and hope―the ending of which is yet to be written.
It’s the holiday season and Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby have landed a headlining gig at the Brighton Hippodrome, the biggest theater in the city, an achievement only slightly marred by the less-than-savory supporting act: a tableau show of naked “living statues.” But when one of the girls goes missing and turns up dead not long after, Max and Ruby realize there’s something far more sinister than obscenity afoot in the theater. DI Edgar Stephens is on the case. As he searches for the killer, he begins to suspect that her fatal vanishing act may very well be related to another case, the death of a quiet local florist. But just as he’s narrowing in on the missing link, Ruby goes missing, and he and Max must team up once again to find her.
Willa Knox has always prided herself on being the embodiment of responsibility for her family. Which is why it’s so unnerving that she’s arrived at middle age with nothing to show for her hard work and dedication but a stack of unpaid bills and an inherited brick home in Vineland, New Jersey, that is literally falling apart. The magazine where she worked has folded, and the college where her husband had tenure has closed. The dilapidated house is also home to her ailing and cantankerous Greek father-in-law and her two grown children: her stubborn, free-spirited daughter, Tig, and her dutiful debt-ridden, ivy educated son, Zeke, who has arrived with his unplanned baby in the wake of a life-shattering development.
In an act of desperation, Willa begins to investigate the history of her home, hoping that the local historical preservation society might take an interest and provide funding for its direly needed repairs. Through her research into Vineland’s past and its creation as a Utopian community, she discovers a kindred spirit from the 1880s, Thatcher Greenwood. A science teacher with a lifelong passion for honest investigation, Thatcher finds himself under siege in his community for telling the truth: his employer forbids him to speak of the exciting new theory recently published by Charles Darwin. Thatcher’s friendships with a brilliant woman scientist and a renegade newspaper editor draw him into a vendetta with the town’s most powerful men. At home, his new wife and status-conscious mother-in-law bristle at the risk of scandal, and dismiss his financial worries and the news that their elegant house is structurally unsound.
A Well-Behaved Woman: a Novel of the Vanderbilts by Therese Anne Fowler (Oct 16th)
Alva Smith, her southern family destitute after the Civil War, married into one of America’s great Gilded Age dynasties: the newly wealthy but socially shunned Vanderbilts. Ignored by New York’s old-money circles and determined to win respect, she designed and built 9 mansions, hosted grand balls, and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. But Alva also defied convention for women of her time, asserting power within her marriage and becoming a leader in the women's suffrage movement.
House of Gold by Natasha Solomons (Oct 23rd)
Vienna, 1911. Twenty-one-year-old Greta Goldbaum has always hungered after what's forbidden: secret university lectures, unseemly trumpet lessons, and most of all, the freedom to choose her life's path. The Goldbaum family has different expectations. United across Europe by unsurpassed wealth and power, Goldbaum men are bankers, while Goldbaum women marry Goldbaum men to produce Goldbaum children. Greta will do her part.
So Greta moves to England to wed Albert, a distant cousin. The marriage is not a success. Yet, when Albert's mother gives Greta a garden, things at Temple Court begin to change. First Greta falls in love with her garden, then with England, and finally with her husband. But when World War I sends both Albert and Greta's beloved brother, Otto, to the front lines--one to fight for the Allies, one to fight for the Central Powers--the House of Gold is left vulnerable as never before, and Greta must choose: the family she's created or the one she was forced to leave behind.
So Greta moves to England to wed Albert, a distant cousin. The marriage is not a success. Yet, when Albert's mother gives Greta a garden, things at Temple Court begin to change. First Greta falls in love with her garden, then with England, and finally with her husband. But when World War I sends both Albert and Greta's beloved brother, Otto, to the front lines--one to fight for the Allies, one to fight for the Central Powers--the House of Gold is left vulnerable as never before, and Greta must choose: the family she's created or the one she was forced to leave behind.
Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew and father, Hugh.
In Avonlea—a small, tight-knit farming town on a remote island—life holds few options for farm girls. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth "Izzy" Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.
Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. Joining the Ladies Aid Society, she raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia that secretly serves as a way station for runaway slaves from America. Her budding romance with John Blythe, the charming son of a neighbor, offers her a possibility of future happiness—Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another. She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition—jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe. Now Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.
Once a Midwife by Patricia Harman (Nov 6th)
The women of Hope River trust midwife Patience Hester, whose skill in delivering babies is known for miles around. But though the Great Depression is behind them, troubles are not, for Europe is at war…and it can only be a matter of time before the U.S. enters the fray.
And while some are eager to join the fight, Patience’s husband, Daniel, is not. Daniel is a patriot—but he saw too much bloodshed during the first World War, and has vowed never to take up arms again. His stance leaves Patience and their four children vulnerable—to the neighbors who might judge them, and to the government, who imprison Daniel for his beliefs.
Patience must support their family and fight for her husband’s release despite her own misgivings. And with need greater than ever, she must also keep her practice running during this tumultuous time…relying on generous friends, like Bitsy, who has returned to Hope River, stalwart neighbors, and her own indomitable strength to see them all through.
The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim (Nov 6th)
In 1948 Najin and Calvin Cho, with their young daughter Miran, travel from South Korea to the United States in search of new opportunities. Wary of the challenges they know will face them, Najin and Calvin make the difficult decision to leave their other daughter, Inja, behind with their extended family; soon, they hope, they will return to her.
But then war breaks out in Korea, and there is no end in sight to the separation. Miran grows up in prosperous American suburbia, under the shadow of the daughter left behind, as Inja grapples in her war-torn land with ties to a family she doesn’t remember. Najin and Calvin desperately seek a reunion with Inja, but are the bonds of love strong enough to reconnect their family over distance, time, and war? And as deep family secrets are revealed, will everything they long for be upended?
But then war breaks out in Korea, and there is no end in sight to the separation. Miran grows up in prosperous American suburbia, under the shadow of the daughter left behind, as Inja grapples in her war-torn land with ties to a family she doesn’t remember. Najin and Calvin desperately seek a reunion with Inja, but are the bonds of love strong enough to reconnect their family over distance, time, and war? And as deep family secrets are revealed, will everything they long for be upended?
A Christmas Revelation by Anne Perry (Nov 6th)
When Worm, a young orphan boy who works at the local clinic, sees Eloise being kidnapped by two men in the days leading up to Christmas, he immediately recruits Squeaky Robinson to help rescue her. But as they track Eloise down, they're surprised to hear that she does not, in fact, wish to be rescued. Instead, Eloise intends to bring the kidnappers, who drew her father into their shady business deals and then murdered him, to justice. The kidnappers are skilled illusionists, and after they try their tricks on Worm and Squeaky, the friends are determined to help Eloise with her plan--and they might just be able to use the kidnappers' tricks against them.
Miss Bingley Requests by Judy McCrosky (Nov 13th)
Ever since girlhood, Caroline has intended to wed Mr. Darcy. Intelligent and well-educated, Caroline is an ambitious rising star in fashionable society―some might say conniving―but in Regency England, what can she do to better her situation but to marry well? Surely, Mr. Darcy is well aware that Caroline will make the perfect wife and hostess at Pemberley, his grand estate. Now, all she needs do is await his proposal. Caroline’s brother, the wealthy bachelor Mr. Bingley, took an early interest in Elizabeth Bennet, but now he is drawn to Elizabeth’s sister, Jane. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s eyes have strayed to Bingley’s friend, the far richer Mr. Darcy. At first, this doesn’t trouble Caroline in the slightest; but when Mr. Bingley moves the family to Netherfield Park, the unimaginable happens―Mr. Darcy is ensnared by Elizabeth.
At the same time, Mr. Tryphon, is a young man new in London introduced to society by Caroline’s dear friend. Try as she may, Caroline finds it well-nigh impossible to remain placid or even-tempered in Mr. Tryphon’s company. Despite her growing feelings for Mr. Tryphon’s dark eyes, and the touch of his firm forearm beneath her gloved fingers, Caroline is certain that the newcomer’s estate cannot possibly be as grand as Mr. Darcy’s. And nothing―not love, passion, friendship, or loyalty―shall stand in the way of Caroline’s calculations.
At the same time, Mr. Tryphon, is a young man new in London introduced to society by Caroline’s dear friend. Try as she may, Caroline finds it well-nigh impossible to remain placid or even-tempered in Mr. Tryphon’s company. Despite her growing feelings for Mr. Tryphon’s dark eyes, and the touch of his firm forearm beneath her gloved fingers, Caroline is certain that the newcomer’s estate cannot possibly be as grand as Mr. Darcy’s. And nothing―not love, passion, friendship, or loyalty―shall stand in the way of Caroline’s calculations.
The Wild Air by Rebecca Mascull (Nov 20th)
When shy Della Dobbs meets her mother's aunt, her life changes forever. Great Auntie Betty has come home from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, across whose windswept dunes the Wright Brothers tested their historic flying machines. Della develops a burning ambition to fly and Betty is determined to help her. But the Great War is coming and it threatens to destroy everything - and everyone - Della loves.
The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth (Dec 4th)
Venice, 1586. William Shakespeare is disguised as a steward to the English Ambassador. He and his actor friends, Oldcastle and Hemming, possess a deadly secret: the names of the Catholic spies in England who seek to destroy Queen Elizabeth. Before long the Pope’s agents begin to close in on them, so fleeing the city is the players’ only option.
In Verona, Aemelia, the daughter of a Duke, is struggling to conceal her passionate affair with her cousin Valentine. But darker times lie ahead with the arrival of the sinister Father Thornhill, who is determined to seek out anyone who doesn’t conform to the Pope’s ruthless agenda . . .
Events will converge in the forests around Verona as a multitude of plots are hatched and discovered, players fall in and out of love, and disguises are adopted and then discarded. Will the brash William Shakespeare and his friends escape with their secrets―and their lives?
