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The storm we made: A novel
By Vanessa Chan. 2024
* A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * One of the "most anticipated books of 2024" ( Oprah Daily…
), this spellbinding, sweeping novel features a Malayan mother who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII—with shocking consequences for her family, and her country. Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara's family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day. Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth. A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an "Asia for Asians." Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them. Spanning years of pain and triumph, told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made is a dazzling saga about the horrors of war; the fraught relationships between the colonized and their oppressors, and the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stakeThe ghetto within: A novel
By Santiago H. Amigorena. 2022
In his English language debut, Santiago H. Amigorena writes to fight the silence that "has stifled [him] since [he] was…
born", weaving together fiction, biography, and memoir to distill a stirring novel of loss and unshakeable love. A critical sensation in France, The Ghetto Within is its author's personal attempt to confront his grandfather's silence. Passed down, from generation to generation, the silence of Amigorena's grandfather became his own. A gripping study of inheritance,The Ghetto Within re-imagines the life of this Jewish grandfather, a Polish exile in Argentina, whose guilt provokes an enduring silence to span generations. 1928. Vicente Rosenberg is one of countless European émigrés making a new life for themselves in Argentina. It is here, along the bustling avenues of Buenos Aires, that he will meet and marry Rosita, whose ties to his native Poland are more ancestral than extant. They will have three children and pursue a quiet, comfortable domestic life. Vicente will start a profitable business and, on occasion, look back. Still, despite success, he will ache for his mother, Gustawa, who stayed behind in Warsaw with his siblings. For years, she writes him several times a month. Yet, as rumors mount from abroad, Vicente is given pause. The war in Europe feels so remote. Over time, his mother's letters become increasingly sporadic and Vicente, through delayed missives and late transmissions, begins to construct the reality of a tragedy that has already occurred. And one day, the letters stop altogether. Racked with guilt and anxiety over the fate of his mother and family, he lapses into a deep despair and longstanding silence. With his new novel, Amigorena employs language to reclaim his "voice" from the oblivion of familial trauma. An effort to understand the ways in which his grandfather's silence continues to affect the generations that followed,The Ghetto Within is a powerful new addition to Holocaust canon, a stunning introduction of an essential new voice to English readers. Translated from the French by Frank WynneUnsinkable
By Jenni L Walsh. 2024
The Titanic was only the beginning. What she survived has become legend. Violet Jessop is Miss Unsinkable. Violet is a…
stewardess and wartime nurse who not only survives a shipwreck but also two sinkings, one on the infamous Titanic. No one can understand why she would return to sea, but Violet is simply trying to survive. Her childhood was fraught with illness and death in her family. Her distraught mother is too ill to work, that responsibility falling to Violet as the oldest of nine. When the world enters the Great War, she becomes aboard as a nurse, helping men who could very well be her brothers. But disaster strikes again, this time as the Britannic strikes a mine. Miraculously, Violet survives, but her obligation to her mother and siblings still remains, leaving Violet to wonder if she'll ever be able to put her tumultuous life at sea behind her and pursue a life and love all her own. Daphne has survived calamity of her own. Daphne Chaundanson grows up as an unwanted child after her mother died in a tragedy. She throws herself into education, collecting languages like candy in a desperate attempt to finally earn her father's approval. When the Special Operations Executive invites her to be an agent in France in World War II, her childhood of anonymity and her love of languages make her the perfect fit. She sees it as an opportunity to help the country she loves and live up to her father's expectations. But unthinkable moments of challenge and resilience change Daphne in ways she could never expect, including an eye-opening encounter where she must come to terms with the secrets in her own past. Two unsinkable women. Two stories of survival, family, and finding one's own happiness. One connection that reshapes both their lives foreverCode name butterfly
By Embassie Susberry. 2024
Inspired by the incredible true story of Josephine Baker's role in the French Resistance, this is a heart-wrenching, unforgettable tale…
of the strength of the human spirit in the darkest days of World War II. In the City of Light, one woman will stand against darkness. Paris, 1941. With Nazi occupation imminent, journalist Elodie Mitchell plans to return home to Chicago. But an unexpected invitation to a Josephine Baker show changes everything. Mistaken for the star, Elodie is whisked backstage, where she uncovers an underground resistance movement hidden beneath the glitz and glamour. Drawn into a whisper network of spies, Elodie accepts a perilous mission: to go undercover as Josephine's cousin and gather vital intelligence. In a world on the edge of darkness, Elodie must summon unwavering courage to protect her beloved adopted city and its people - and getting caught is not an option. A wartime epic about love, bravery and fighting against prejudice in all its forms, perfect for fans of Kate Quinn, Marie Benedict and Pam Jenoff. ------------------------------------------ Readers adore Code Name Butterfly: 'A WWII story with a difference...' ????? 'The setting and atmosphere is stellar!' ????? 'I felt like I was in Paris! Susberry's vivid descriptions were phenomenal.' ????? 'I've read many books with this setting, but none as wonderfully immersive as this one.' ????? 'Could not recommend it more! Have never read a book so fast!' ????? 'Draws the reader in from the first page and doesn't let go. Please pick it up! It won't disappoint.' ????? 'An interesting, well researched and well written book. An excellent read.' ????? 'A complex story about more than just WWII in France or Josephine Baker.' ????? 'It's about family, racism, and courage. I loved it.' ?????Ruthless vows (Letters of Enchantment #2)
By Rebecca Ross. 2023
"This captivating production will leave listeners wanting more" — AudioFile on Divine Rivals The epic conclusion to the intensely romantic…
and beautifully written story that started in Divine Rivals . Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre's movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it's only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that's unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor's reign. Since waking below in Dacre's realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together...the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war. A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur BooksThe ascent: A house can have many secrets
By Stefan Hertmans. 2023
In this revealing and poignant story, Stefan Hertmans uncovers haunting details about the previous owner of his house and the…
crime he committed as a member of the Nazi police. In 1979 Stefan Hertmans became obsessed with a rundown townhouse in Ghent. The previous owners were mentioned only in passing during the acquisition, and it wasn’t until the new millennium, long after he had sold the house, that he came across a memoir by the owner’s son Adriaan Verhulst, a distinguished history professor and a former teacher of Hertmans’, which revealed that his father was a former SS officer. Hertmans finds he is profoundly haunted by images of the family as ghostly presences in the rooms he had once known so well, he begins a journey of discovery—not to tell the story of Adriaan’s father, but rather the story of the house and the people who lived in it and passed through it. Archives, interviews with relatives and personal documents help him imagine the world of this house as they reveal not only a marital drama, but also a connection between past visitors to the house and important figures in the culture and politics of Flanders now. A stunning and immersive reimagining of a family in a historical moment of great upheaval confirms Hertmans’ always brilliant melding of fiction and nonfictionThe great reclamation: A novel
By Rachel Heng. 2023
WINNER OF THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE AND THE JOYCE CAROL OATES…
PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY TIME , TOWN & COUNTRY , KIRKUS, ELECTRIC LITERATURE AND BOOKPAGE ! "Stunning…epic…impressive…It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters.”— The New York Times "A deep and powerful love story." —NBC The Today Show "A beautifully written novel. I loved so much in this book: the richly imagined setting, the complicated love story, and the heartbreaking way history can tear apart a family." —Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy’s unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility—something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love. By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up. An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people’s feetThe dancer's promise
By Olivia Horrox. 2024
'Oh my gosh! What a beautifully written story!... I totally loved it... I literally could not stop reading... This is…
a must if you like historical fiction!!' Reader review 5 stars 'A beautifully written and evocative story of love and loss, of family and redemption, that swept me away.' Rachel Burton, author of The Last Party at Silverton Hall When their father loses the family fortune, and their mother locks herself away, sisters Grace and Clementine are left to raise themselves in a grand London house that is slowly falling apart around them. Each of them is determined to one day restore their fortunes and their family name and make a promise to do just that. Clementine dreams of being a star on stage, a celebrated ballerina who will tour the world, earning fame and fortune. She is adamant she won't put her fate into a man's hands but take charge of it herself. Grace, in contrast, sees security in a good marriage. Their eligible new American neighbour, with wealth, charm and looks, seems like the perfect match. But when Clementine falls unexpectedly in love, it throws both sisters' lives into turmoil and forces each of them to ask if they are prepared to break their promise for a chance at true love... A beautifully imagined historical novel about the bond between sisters and a changing world. Perfect for fans of Tracy Rees, Lucinda Riley and Kate Morton. Readers love The Dancer's Promise : ' Brilliant ... I loved the characters Grace and Clementine a true story of sisterly love and support in such difficult times... Truly memorable read ... touching and inspiring' Reader review 5 stars ' What a treat! With its mystery element thrown in to enhance the plot, I found the time sped by and I was lost in another time and place ' Reader review 5 starsThe excitements: A novel
By Cj Wray. 2024
"Irresistible...Filled with surprise, poignancy, and excitement, this is a surefire winner." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) A brilliant and witty drama…
about two brave female World War II veterans who survived the unthinkable without ever losing their killer instinct...or their joie de vivre. Meet the Williamson sisters, Britain's most treasured World War II veterans. Now in their late nineties, Josephine and Penny are in huge demand, popping up at commemorative events and history festivals all over the country. Despite their age, they're still in great form—perfectly put together, sprightly and sparky, and always in search of their next "excitement." This time it's a trip to Paris to receive the Légion d'honneur for their part in the liberation of France. And as always, they will be accompanied by their devoted great-nephew, Archie. Keen historian Archie has always been given to understand that his great aunts had relatively minor roles in the Women's Royal Navy and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, but that's only half the story. Both sisters are hiding far more than the usual "official secrets". There's a reason sweet Auntie Penny can dispatch a would-be mugger with an umbrella. This trip to Paris is not what it seems either. Scandal and crime have always quietly trailed the Williamson sisters, even in the decades after the war. Now armed with new information about an old adversary, these much decorated (but admittedly ancient) veterans variously intend to settle scores, avenge lost friends, and pull off one last, daring heist before the curtain finally comes down on their illustrious careersOnce we were home: A novel
By Jennifer Rosner. 2023
This program features a bonus conversation between the author and narrators. From Jennifer Rosner, National Jewish Book Award Finalist and…
author of The Yellow Bird Sings , comes a novel based on the true stories of children stolen in the wake of World War II. Ana will never forget her mother's face when she and her baby brother, Oskar, were sent out of their Polish ghetto and into the arms of a Christian friend. For Oskar, though, their new family is the only one he remembers. When a woman from a Jewish reclamation organization seizes them, believing she has their best interest at heart, Ana sees an opportunity to reconnect with her roots, while Oskar sees only the loss of the home he loves. Roger grows up in a monastery in France, inventing stories and trading riddles with his best friend in a life of quiet concealment. When a relative seeks to retrieve him, the Church steals him across the Pyrenees before relinquishing him to family in Jerusalem. Renata, a post-graduate student in archaeology, has spent her life unearthing secrets from the past—except for her own. After her mother's death, Renata's grief is entwined with all the questions her mother left unanswered, including why they fled Germany so quickly when Renata was a little girl. Two decades later, they are each building lives for themselves, trying to move on from the trauma and loss that haunts them. But as their stories converge in Israel, in unexpected ways, they must each ask where and to whom they truly belong. Beautifully evocative and tender, filled with both luminosity and anguish, Once We Were Home reveals a little-known history. Based on the true stories of children stolen during wartime, this heart-wrenching novel raises questions of complicity and responsibility, belonging and identity, good intentions and unforeseen consequences, as it confronts what it really means to find home. A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron BooksThe american queen
By Vanessa Miller. 2024
In 1869 a kingdom rose in the South. And Louella was its queen. Over the twenty-four years she's been enslaved…
on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learned to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother. Hate for the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose. Hate so powerful there's no room in her heart for love, not even for the honorable Reverend William, whom she likes and respects enough to marry. But when William finally listens to Louella's pleas and leads the formerly enslaved people out of their plantation, Louella begins to replace her hate with hope. Hope that they will find a place where they can live free from fear. Hope that despite her many unanswered prayers, she can learn to trust for new miracles. Soon, William and Louella become the appointed king and queen of their self-proclaimed Kingdom of the Happy Land. And though they are still surrounded by opposition, they continue to share a message of joy and goodness—and fight for the freedom and dignity of all. Transformative and breathtakingly honest, The American Queen shares the unsung true history of a kingdom built as a refuge for the courageous people who dared to dream of a different way of lifeThe phoenix crown: A novel
By Kate Quinn. 2024
From bestselling authors Janie Chang and Kate Quinn, a thrilling and unforgettable narrative about the intertwined lives of two wronged…
women, spanning from the chaos of the San Francisco earthquake to the glittering palaces of Versailles. San Francisco, 1906. In a city bustling with newly minted millionaires and scheming upstarts, two very different women hope to change their fortunes: Gemma, a golden-haired, silver-voiced soprano whose career desperately needs rekindling, and Suling, a petite and resolute Chinatown embroideress who is determined to escape an arranged marriage. Their paths cross when they are drawn into the orbit of Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate whose extraordinary collection of Chinese antiques includes the fabled Phoenix Crown, a legendary relic of Beijing's fallen Summer Palace. His patronage offers Gemma and Suling the chance of a lifetime, but their lives are thrown into turmoil when a devastating earthquake rips San Francisco apart and Thornton disappears, leaving behind a mystery reaching further than anyone could have imagined . . . until the Phoenix Crown reappears five years later at a sumptuous Paris costume ball, drawing Gemma and Suling together in one last desperate quest for justiceThe warm hands of ghosts: A novel
By Katherine Arden. 2024
During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that…
suggest otherwise, in this hauntingly beautiful historical novel with a speculative twist, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale . &“A wonderful clash of fire and ice—a book you won&’t want to let go of.&”—Diana Gabaldon, author of Outlander January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, Laura receives word of Freddie&’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn&’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital, where she soon hears whispers about haunted trenches and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else? November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear. As shells rain down on Flanders and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura&’s and Freddie&’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirelyThe american daughters: A novel
By Maurice Carlos Ruffin. 2024
A gripping historical novel about a spirited girl who joins a sisterhood working to undermine the Confederates—from the award-winning author…
of We Cast a Shadow "A genius conceit . . . thoughtful, courageous, exciting . . . a splendid work."—Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets Ady, a curious, sharp-witted girl, and her fierce mother, Sanite, are inseparable. Enslaved to a businessman in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the pair spend their days dreaming of a loving future and reminiscing about their family’s rebellious and storied history. When mother and daughter are separated, Ady is left hopeless and directionless until she stumbles into the Mockingbird Inn and meets Lenore, a free Black woman with whom she becomes fast friends. Lenore invites Ady to join a clandestine society of spies called the Daughters. With the courage instilled in her by Sanite—and with help from these strong women—Ady learns how to put herself first. So begins her journey toward liberation and imagining a new future. The American Daughters is a novel of hope and triumph that reminds us what is possible when a community bands together to fight for their freedomThe girl they left behind: A novel
By Roxanne Veletzos. 2018
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A sweeping family saga and love story that offers a vivid and unique portrayal of life in war-torn…
1941 Bucharest and life behind the Iron Curtain during the Soviet Union occupation—perfect for fans of Lilac Girls and Sarah's Key . On a freezing night in January 1941, a little Jewish girl is found on the steps of an apartment building in Bucharest. With Romania recently allied with the Nazis, the Jewish population is in grave danger, undergoing increasingly violent persecution. The girl is placed in an orphanage and eventually adopted by a wealthy childless couple who name her Natalia. As she assimilates into her new life, she all but forgets the parents who were forced to leave her behind. They are even further from her mind when Romania falls under Soviet occupation. Yet, as Natalia comes of age in a bleak and hopeless world, traces of her identity pierce the surface of her everyday life, leading gradually to a discovery that will change her destiny. She has a secret crush on Victor, an intense young man who as an impoverished student befriended her family long ago. Years later, when Natalia is in her early twenties and working at a warehouse packing fruit, she and Victor, now an important official in the Communist regime, cross paths again. This time they are fatefully drawn into a passionate affair despite the obstacles swirling around them and Victor's dark secrets. When Natalia is suddenly offered a one-time chance at freedom, Victor is determined to help her escape, even if it means losing her. Natalia must make an agonizing decision: remain in Bucharest with her beloved adoptive parents and the man she has come to love, or seize the chance to finally live life on her own terms, and to confront the painful enigma of her pastThe boy with the star tattoo: A novel
By Talia Carner. 2024
From acclaimed author of The Third Daughter comes an epic historical novel of ingenuity and courage, of love and loss,…
spanning postwar France when Israeli agents roamed the countryside to rescue hidden Jewish orphans—to the 1969 daring escape of the Israeli boats of Cherbourg . 1942: As the Vichy government hunts for Jews across France, Claudette Pelletier, a young and talented seamstress and lover of romance novels, falls in love with a Jewish man who seeks shelter at the château where she works. Their whirlwind and desperate romance before he must flee leaves her pregnant and terrified. When the Nazis invade the Free Zone shortly after the birth of her child, the disabled Claudette is forced to make a heartbreaking choice and escapes to Spain, leaving her baby in the care of his nursemaid. By the time Claudette is able to return years later, her son has disappeared. Unbeknown to his anguished mother, the boy has been rescued by a Youth Aliyah agent searching for Jewish orphans. 1968: When Israeli naval officer Daniel Yarden recruits Sharon Bloomenthal for a secret naval operation in Cherbourg, France, he can't imagine that he is the target of the agenda of the twenty-year-old grieving the recent loss of her fiancé in a drowned submarine. Sharon suspects that Danny's past in Youth Aliyah may reflect that of her mysterious late mother and she sets out to track her boss's extraordinary journey as an orphan in a quaint French village all the way to Israel. As Danny focuses on the future of his people and on executing a daring, crucial operation under France's radar, he is unaware that the obsessed Sharon follows the breadcrumbs of clues across the country to find her answers. But she is wholly unprepared for the dilemma she must face upon solving the puzzle.Salonika burning
By Gail Jones. 2022
Macedonia,1917. The great city of Salonika is engulfed by fire as all of Europe is ravaged by war. Amid the…
destruction are those who have come to the frontlines to heal: surgeons, ambulance drivers, nurses, orderlies and other volunteers. Four of them – Stella, Olive, Grace and Stanley – are at the centre of Gail Jones’s new novel, which takes its inspiration from the wartime experiences of Australians Miles Franklin and Olive King, and British painters Grace Pailthorpe and Stanley Spencer. In Jones’s imagination these four lives intertwine and change, each compelled by the desire to create something meaningful in the ruins of a broken world.