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She Would Be King

September 17, 2018

she

An unlikely trio comes together in the fight for a new nation in She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore’s debut novel about Liberia. There is 18-year-old Gbessa, exiled from her small West African village as a witch, who survives the bite of a poisonous snake.  June Dey is a 15-year-old Virginian slave, who kills two men while trying to save the woman who raised him. When others try ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Africa, book clubs, debut, historical fiction, literary, magical realism

The Pasha of Cuisine

September 10, 2018

pasha

The light radiating from the Pasha of Cuisine spread across fields, gardens, orchards, and farms, and from there penetrated kitchens, the hands of cooks, and palates, beginning a new era of opulence, prosperity, joy, and health. In short, a new golden age of taste. Set in the time of Aghas and Sultans, in Constantinople, the greatest city of the Ottoman Empire, The Pasha of ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: cultural, historical fiction, magical realism, Middle East

So Much Life Left Over

August 6, 2018

much

Daniel, a young man in his early thirties, manages a tea plantation in Ceylon in the early 1920s. He moved there from England with his wife, Rosie, and daughter Esther, after his friend, another RAF pilot in the Great War, got him the job. It is a new start for them, not just because of the war, but because their marriage is deeply troubled. Daniel hopes that a complete change ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 20th century, England, family saga, historical fiction, Pantheon

Another Side of Paradise

June 8, 2018

another

In case you’ve forgotten the details of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life, here’s a quick recap: after his early, stunning literary successes he dumped his wife Zelda in an institution and headed to Hollywood to try and earn a living as a screenwriter, because he was deep in debt and his literary gifts have disappeared in an ocean of booze. Unfortunately, that job entails being sober ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1930s, chick lit, Harper, historical fiction

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain

May 7, 2018

love

  It wasn’t bravery when you did what you had to do. Paula McLain’s novel, Circling the Sun, was one of my favorites of 2015, largely because she portrayed Beryl Markham so well as a woman who wasn’t content to follow the norms of her times—get married, have children—but who understood that the only way to follow her own path meant the norms would never be an option. ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 20th century, Ballantine, historical fiction, war, women, world war II

The Magnificent Esme Wells

April 20, 2018

esme

Esme Silver is the flaxen haired, china doll, daughter of a Busby Berkley dancer and a handsome, low level grifter. They live in Los Angeles where her parents are certain her mother’s big break into movies is always only a day away. Except the only thing that is ever a day away is them being kicked out of their apartment because her father blew the rent money at the track. ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1950s, childhood, Harper, Las Vegas

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