28 results for "Historical Fiction"

Queen Charlotte

Quinn, Julia,Rhimes, Shonda
Go beyond the original Shondaland series on Netflix, Queen Charlotte, with this lushly romantic Bridgerton prequel novel written by New York Times bestselling authors Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes as the marriage of Queen Charlotte and King George of England leads to an unexpected love story and a union that transforms society. In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours. Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent... not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she, and her King, needed. Because George has secrets... secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy. Thrust into her new role, Charlotte must navigate the intricate politics of the court--with the newly-titled Lady Danbury at her side--all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King...even as he pushes her away. Now, Charlotte must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society, fulfilling her destiny as Queen. But she also has to fight for the love growing between her and George as people first, royals second. As she says to him: "Fight with me! Fight for me!"
Avon 2023 335 pages

I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888

Lauren Tarshis
Eleven-year-old John Hale has already survived one brutal Dakota winter, and now he's about to experience one of the deadliest blizzards in American history. The storm of 1888 was a monster, a frozen hurricane that slammed into America's midwest without warning. Within hours, America's prairie would be buried under ten feet of snow. Hundreds would be dead, thousands terrified and lost and freezing. John never wanted to move to the wide-open prairie. He's a city kid, not a tough pioneer! And his inner strength is seriously tested when he finds himself trapped in the blinding snow, the wind like a giant crushing hammer, pounding him over and over again. Will John ever find his way home?
Gale, a Cengage Company 2020-02 177 pages

The girl with the make-believe husband

Quinn, Julia
"While you were sleeping ... With her brother Thomas injured on the battlefront in the Colonies, orphaned Cecilia Harcourt has two unbearable choices: move in with a maiden aunt or marry a scheming cousin. Instead, she chooses option three and travels across the Atlantic, determined to nurse her brother back to health. But after a week of searching, she finds not her brother but his best friend, the handsome officer Edward Rokesby. He's unconscious and in desperate need of her care, and Cecilia vows that she will save this soldier's life, even if staying by his side means telling one little lie ... I told everyone I was your wife When Edward comes to, he's more than a little confused. The blow to his head knocked out three months of his memory, but surely he would recall getting married. He knows who Cecilia Harcourt is--even if he does not recall her face--and with everyone calling her his wife, he decides it must be true, even though he'd always assumed he'd marry his neighbor back in England. If only it were true ... Cecilia risks her entire future by giving herself--completely--to the man she loves. But when the truth comes out, Edward may have a few surprises of his own for the new Mrs. Rokesby."--Provided by publisher.
Avon Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 2017-05-30 291 pages

Everything and the moon

Quinn, Julia
When Robert Kemble stumbles across Victoria Lyndon in a hedgerow maze, he can't believe his eyes. The girl who'd torn him in two, who let him plan an elopement and left him standing by the side of the road, was suddenly within arm's reach, and even though his fury still knew no bounds, she was impossible to resist. Victoria's father told her an earl would never marry a vicar's daughter, and he was right. Robert had promised her marriage, then danced off to London while she suffered the shame of a foiled elopement. But even though Victoria doesn't particularly enjoy her new life as a governess, when Robert offers her a job of a different sort--his mistress--she refuses, unable to sacrifice her honor, even for him. But Robert won't take no for an answer, and he vows to make her his through any means possible. Can these star-crossed lovers learn to trust again?
Avon Books 1997-03-01 372 pages

Ten things I love about you

Quinn, Julia
The third book in the Bevelstoke series: witty, irresistibly romantic and by the bestselling author of the global phenomenon Bridgerton Sebastian Grey is in limbo. He is the heir presumptive to the Earl of Newbury, unless the current earl, a widower, can find a bride who will bear him a son. Newbury is in his sixties and somewhat portly, but as an earl he's considered quite a catch. Sebastian, on the other hand, is twenty-nine and devilishly handsome, but in no hurry to find a wife. Annabel Winslow , a country girl through and through, has received an offer to go to London for the season. The eldest of a family of eight, she knows that a good marriage might be the only thing that will save her family from ruin. After a few weeks in town, Annabel attracts the attention of the Earl of Newbury. The thought of submitting to him makes her skin crawl, but she is practical and determined to do her duty. But when Sebastian meets Annabel, sparks fly, and best laid plans look set to combust . . . 'A veritable treat' Daily Mail 'Quinn is a master of Historical romance' Entertainment Weekly
Piatkus 2021-05-27 384 pages

John Henry

Julius Lester
Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney's warm, humorous retelling of a popular African-American folk ballad. When John Henry was born the birds, bears, rabbits, and even a unicorn came to see him. He grew so fast, he burst right through the porch roof, and laughed so loud, he scared the sun! Soon John Henry is swinging two huge sledgehammers to build roads, pulverizing boulders, and smashing rocks to smithereens. He's stronger than ten men and can dig through a mountain faster than a steam drill. Nothing can stop John Henry, and his courage stays with us forever. A Caldecott Honor Book * "This is a tall tale and heroic myth, a celebration of the human spirit . . . The story is told with rhythm and wit, humor and exageration, and with a heart-catching immediacy that connects the human and the natural world. " -- Booklist , starred review "Another winning collaboration from the master storyteller and gifted artist of Tales of Uncle Remus fame." -- School Library Journal "A great American hero comes fully to life in this epic retelling filled with glorious, detailed watercolors . . . This carefully crafted updating begs to be read aloud for its rich, rhythmic storytelling flow, and the suitably oversize illustrations amplify the text." -- Publishers Weekly
Penguin 1999-12-01 40 pages

Sweet thames

Kneale, Matthew
In the summer of 1849, cholera threatens the city and the people of London. The authorities send millions of gallons of sewage cascading into the Thames - for many Londoners the only source of drinking water. Joshua Jeavons, a young and idealistic engineer, embarks on an obsessive quest to find the cause of the epidemic. As he labours in a fog of incomprehension, his domestic life is troubled by the baffling coldness of his beautiful bride, Isobella. But when she suddenly disappears, his desperate search for her takes him to a netherworld of slum-dwellers, pickpockets and scavengers of subterranean London.
Atlantic Books 2018-07 311 pages

Bandit's Moon

Sid Fleischman
Annyrose Smith is a true child of calamity, but she is determined to overcome it. So what if she's an orphan? So what if she's stuck with the vilest landlady in California, while her brother's off trying to strike gold? So what if Joaquín Murieta and his band of notorious outlaws swoop in and take her away? The fearsome bandit thinks Annyrose can help him in his quest for justice, and she thinks he can help her search for her long-lost brother. She's not about to let anything stop her, not the mistaken identities, the daring robberies, the wild chases, or her unlikely friendship with the Mexican Robin Hood.
Harper Collins 2008-04-29 192 pages

The waterworks

Doctorow, E. L.
“An elegant page-turner of nineteenth-century detective fiction.” –The Washington Post Book World One rainy morning in 1871 in lower Manhattan, Martin Pemberton a freelance writer, sees in a passing stagecoach several elderly men, one of whom he recognizes as his supposedly dead and buried father. While trying to unravel the mystery, Pemberton disappears, sending McIlvaine, his employer, the editor of an evening paper, in pursuit of the truth behind his freelancer’s fate. Layer by layer, McIlvaine reveals a modern metropolis surging with primordial urges and sins, where the Tweed Ring operates the city for its own profit and a conspicuously self-satisfied nouveau-riche ignores the poverty and squalor that surrounds them. In E. L. Doctorow’s skilled hands, The Waterworks becomes, in the words of The New York Times , “a dark moral tale . . . an eloquently troubling evocation of our past.” “Startling and spellbinding . . . The waters that lave the narrative all run to the great confluence, where the deepest issues of life and death are borne along on the swift, sure vessel of [Doctorow’s] poetic imagination.” – The New York Times Book Review “Hypnotic . . . a dazzling romp, an extraordinary read, given strength and grace by the telling, by the poetic voice and controlled cynical lyricism of its streetwise and world-weary narrator.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer “A gem of a novel, intimate as chamber music . . . a thriller guaranteed to leave readers with residual chills and shudders.” – Boston Sunday Herald “Enthralling . . . a story of debauchery and redemption that is spellbinding from first page to last.” – Chicago Sun-Times “An immense, extraordinary achievement.” –San Francisco Chronicle
Random House Trade Paperbacks 2007-05-08 253 pages

Boom Town

Sonia Levitin
Cat Bowman Smith and Sonia Levitin have teamed up again to bring the history of America's westward expansion to life in this fun, colorful picture book. Bored by cabin life in the sparse settlement, Amanada figures out how to bake a gooseberry pie in the family's crude wood stove. Soon prospectors are paying for her pies, and her business success spills over to the other folks who've decided to settle there.
Scholastic 2004-02 40 pages

P.K. Pinkerton and the Petrified Man

Caroline Lawrence
The second book in a rip-roaring adventure series set in the wild west! After escaping the ruthless desperados, P.K. finally feels safe in Virginia City and is ready to set up a new private eye business. But all the mysteries in town seem to be pranks—until the day P.K. meets a young maid named Martha. Martha’s employer has been found dead . . . and now the killer is after her. The mystery takes a grave turn when Martha disappears, so P.K. consults Poker Face Jace, an expert at people reading. With his help, P.K. inspects saloons and billiard rooms, and even tries sneaking into the coroner’s office. But time is quickly running out for P.K., and Martha’s life has never been in more danger.
Penguin Young Readers Group 2014-01-09 336 pages

The secrets of Blythswood Square

Sheridan, Sara
LONGLISTED FOR SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2024. THE ENCHANTING NEW NOVEL BY THE AUTHOR OF THE 2022 WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE YEAR, THE FAIR BOTANISTS. 'Gripping' Good Housekeeping 'S ecrets discovered, ruinous rumours scotched, happiness regained and friendships founded' Daily Mail 'A novel of feeling and intellect which will surely and deservedly be a great success' Allan Massie, The Scotsman You wouldn't suspect it, but scandalous secrets are being kept on Blythswood Square... 1846. Glasgow is a city on the cusp of great social change, but behind the curtains, neighbours are watching, and rumours of improper behaviour spread like wildfire on the respectable Blythswood Square. When Charlotte Nicholl discovers that the fortune she has been bequeathed by her father is tied up in a secret collection of erotic art, she is faced with a terrible dilemma: sell it and risk shaming her family's good name or lose her home. An encounter with Ellory Mann, a talented working-class photographer newly arrived in Glasgow, leads Charlotte to hope she has found not only someone who might help her, but also a friend. Yet Ellory is hiding secrets of her own - secrets that become harder to conceal as she finds herself drawn into Charlotte's world. As the truth begins to catch up with both women, will it destroy everything they've fought to build - or set them both free? Readers love Sara Sheridan's storytelling! 'I absolutely love Sara Sheridan's books. They're so easy to get into and so hard to put down. The Secrets of Bythwood Square is no exception. It's a great story populated with excellent, believable characters and woven with rich historical detail' 5* reader review, NetGalley 'A fascinating, atmospheric story which I greatly enjoyed' 5* reader review, NetGalley 'I absolutely loved it, finished it within 2 days' 5* reader review, NetGalley 'Wonderful characters and a beautifully interwoven story.' 4* reader review, NetGalley PRAISE FOR THE FAIR BOTANISTS : 'Sheridan creates an evocative, enjoyable portrait of two women determined to lead independent lives' SUNDAY TIMES 'Completely enchanting and fascinating . . . a rollicking and immensely readable tale' SCOTSMAN 'Lush, seductive and scandalous, this is a gorgeous read' DAILY MAIL 'A cracking good read' VAL MCDERMID 'Dazzling, original, full of wonderful characters' KATIE FFORDE 'What a beautiful, immersive gem of historical fiction' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'An absolute treat for fans of historical fiction and rich storytelling' RED
Hodder 2024 352 pages

The slaughterman's daughter

Iczkovits, Yaniv
True, the husbands of Motal have been vanishing for years, but a wife and mother? Whoever heard of such a thing. What on earth possessed her?Could it have anything to do with Fanny's missing brother-in-law, who left her sister almost a year ago and ran away to Minsk, abandoning their family to destitution and despair?Or could Fanny have been lured away by Zizek Breshov, the mysterious ferryman on the Yaselda river, who, in a strange twist of events, seems to have disappeared on the same night?Surely there can be no link between Fanny and the peculiar roadside murder on the way to Minsk, which has left Colonel Piotr Novak, head of the Russian secret police, scratching his head. Surely a crime like that could have nothing to do with Fanny Keismann, however the people of Motal might mutter about her reputation as a vilde chaya, a wild animal . . . -- Provided by publisher.
MacLehose Press 2021 525 pages

The fair botanists

Sheridan, Sara
It's the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV's impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower, an event that only occurs once every few decades. When newly widowed Elizabeth arrives in Edinburgh to live with her late husband's aunt Clementina, she's determined to put her unhappy past in London behind her. As she settles into her new home, she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Botanic Garden which borders the grand house and offers her services as an artist to record the rare plant's impending bloom. In this pursuit, she meets Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for botany and the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation. Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest the Garden secret from her new friend. But as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don't last long in this Enlightenment city.
Hodder & Stoughton 2022 371 pages

Savage reprisals

Gay, Peter
A revelatory work that examines the intricate relationship between history and literature, truth and fiction—with some surprising conclusions. Focusing on three literary masterpieces—Charles Dickens's Bleak House (1853), Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1857), and Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks (1901)—Peter Gay, a leading cultural historian, demonstrates that there is more than one way to read a novel. Typically, readers believe that fiction, especially the Realist novels that dominated Western culture for most of the nineteenth century and beyond, is based on historical truth and that great novels possess a documentary value. That trust, Gay brilliantly shows, is misplaced; novels take their own path to reality. Using Dickens, Flaubert, and Mann as his examples, Gay explores their world, their craftsmanship, and their minds. In the process, he discovers that all three share one overriding quality: a resentment and rage against the society that sustains the novel itself. Using their stylish writing as a form of revenge, they deal out savage reprisals, which have become part of our Western literary canon. A New York Times Notable Book and a Best Book of 2002.
W W Norton 2003-12-17 192 pages