Historical Literary Fiction Saga

In the tradition of Paullina Simons comes an unforgettable story of a mother and daughter from a remarkable new writer. Beginning in a small village under Japanese occupation on the Chinese-Russian border in the final days of World War II, White Gardenia tells the story of a Russian mother and daughter separated by war.

Postwar Paris is alive with optimism, but lavender keeper Luc Ravens and his love, Lisette, remain haunted by the horrors they have endured. Casting their fate to the winds, they set sail for Australia, hoping to rebuild their lives in a land that's full of promise. But trouble has a way of catching up with them.

Debut novelist Wayne Caldwell's Cataloochee -a rich, vivid, arresting work beginning at the dawn of Reconstruction - sprawls across the succeeding generations like the vast green mountains of its rural North Carolina setting. Best-selling author Charles Frazier calls it "a brilliant portrait of a community and a way of life long gone, a lost America." This enthralling saga evokes the full color spectrum of mountain life, from lights to darks and every shade in between.

In 1770s Boston, a prosperous merchant's daughter, Eliza Boylston, lives a charmed life - until war breaches the walls of the family estate and forces her to live in a world in which wealth can no longer protect her.

Born in rural Palestine, just before the dawn of the 20th century, Miriam adores her father and is certain his love will protect her, but she soon finds that tradition overrides love. Uprooted by war, Miriam enters a world where the old constraints slip away with thrilling and disastrous results. Miriam's rebellious daughter, Nadia, is thrilled with the opportunity for a modern life that her elite education provides. But when she falls in love with an outsider, the clan reins her back with a shocking finality.

As the novel opens, Kitty and Louise Heaney say good-bye to their boyfriends Julian and Michael, who are going to fight overseas. On the domestic front, meat is rationed, children participate in metal drives, and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller play songs that offer hope and lift spirits. And now the Heaney sisters sit at their kitchen table every evening to write letters.

Leggendo questa storia estrema, questa esistenza di febbre, la follia assume consistenza fisica. Sembra quasi di poterla toccare. Toccare la follia ci atterrisce, perché ci spalanca l'universo vuoto sotto di noi.La comprensione di quanto sia vano il gioco estetico del consumismo della follia, la rete elettrica circolante nel sistema nervoso centrale di questi tempi estemporanei è un effetto inevitabile, una sorta d’illuminazione che folgora la lettura.

Claire de Beaulieu est une jeune et belle aristocrate, fiancée au duc de Bligny, un homme superficiel et dépensier, mais qu'elle aime malgré tout. Alors qu'une demande en mariage officielle doit être faite auprès de sa famille, le duc disparaît, préférant épouser Athénaïs Moulinet, la plus farouche ennemie de Claire, une fille sans titres, mais détentrice d'une immense fortune.

1630: after long years of peace the reign of Charles I brings brutal civil war to England. The clash between King and Parliament is echoed at Morland Place when Richard brings home a Puritan bride while his brother, Kit, joins Prince Rupert and the Royalist cavalry, leaving their father Edmund desperately trying to steer a middle course between the fighting factions. As the war grinds on, bitterness and disillusion replace the early fervour, and the schisms between husband and wife, father and son, grow deeper.

Caecilia, Roman born but Etruscan wed, forsakes Rome to return to her husband, Vel Mastarna, exposing herself to the enmity of his people while knowing the Romans will give her a traitor's death if Veii falls. Semni, a reckless Etruscan servant in the House of Mastarna, embroils herself in schemes that threaten Caecilia's son and Semni's own chance for love. Pinna, a destitute Roman prostitute, uses coercion to gain the attention of Rome's greatest general at the risk of betraying Caecilia's cousin.

In the late 19th century, Newport, Rhode Island, was a cauldron of undeclared class warfare where reputations were made and lost in a whirlwind of parties and fancied slights. Sam Driver, railroad mogul and one of the few surviving robber barons of the lawless years after the Civil War, knocks on the door of fabled Newport, along with his daughter, Jenny, who is determined not to be turned away.

Jonathan Garrett lost everything. He and his two best friends, Caleb and Aryl, operated one of the top brokerages in New York City when the unthinkable happened; the stock market crash of '29. And now, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, these men must start over. But starting over has never been more difficult. The jobs become fewer and danger lurks around every corner. And then when a business rival threatens their existence, despair looms overhead as the men struggle to find a way out.

For Kate Drake, her family has brought her peace after years of uncertainty. Now, watching her own children grow up, it seems the world is a no less complicated place. But when a secret from the past casts its shadow across four generations of the family, a stubbornly independent woman opens herself to love whilst an older one rediscovers it, and a young boy begins to understand the complexities of adult life.

In den Wirren der 1940er Jahre verschlägt es die junge Jasna mit ihrer Schwester Luzyna nach Persien. Als sie Aufnahme in Neuseeland erhalten sollen, keimt Hoffnung in Jasna auf. Doch nur eine der jungen Frauen wird für die Verschickung ausgewählt. Zur gleichen Zeit bricht James McKenzie aus Neuseeland auf. Gegen den Willen seiner Eltern will der wagemutige Flieger in Europa für die Ideale der Freiheit kämpfen. Das Schicksal führt James' und Jasnas Wege zusammen.Doch gibt es für sie eine gemeinsame Zukunft? Ein Juwel von Spiegel-Bestsellerautorin Sarah Lark.

Critically acclaimed author Silas House’s A Parchment of Leaves was named Kentucky Novel of the Year and won a special achievement award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In 1917 rural Kentucky, Saul Sullivan marries a beautiful Cherokee woman named Vine. They weather the storm of prejudice, but when Saul temporarily moves away to work a better job, his younger brother makes advances on Vine that are not welcome and ultimately lead to tragedy.

One thousand years ago, chaos loosed itself upon Japan, upending an era in which the arts flourished. At the dawn of 250 years of civil war, in the opulent court of Lord Norimasa, the beautiful but cruel poet Lady Utsu wages war with men's hearts and holds the fearsome lord and his devoted samurai Matsuhito in her thrall. As the two men raze Japan's landscape in futile battles for unity, Utsu falls for Matsuhito even as Lord Norimasa continues to love her.

A Young Wife follows the unforgettable journey of Minke Van Aisma across three continents - from a life of opulence in Amsterdam during the 1900s, to rough living on the Argentine coast, to fighting poverty as an immigrant in New York City. She is forced to leave behind a kidnapped son in Argentina, but sets upon the arduous task of struggling to find the child and taking revenge on the people who orchestrated his abduction.

Hull, 1874. Clara had always wondered about the beautiful, mysterious Jewel Newmarch, who was adopted as a baby and turns heads wherever she goes - her exotic looks point to her origins far away from the streets of Hull. Even at her twin sister Elizabeth’s wedding, Clara knows that Jewel is the belle of the ball. And as Jewel looks on at the happy, newly-married couple she feels a restlessness and intense longing to know her own roots.

Local Whitby girl, Colette Shipley has become fascinated by the mysteries of the new art of photography and begins to create a record of her scenic home town with its tall ships and twin lighthouses, street urchins and weathered old fishermen. One day she encounters Arthur Newton who shares her passion for the town's unique atmosphere. Colette and Arthur begin a friendship that develops further. However, unbeknown to Collette, Arthur is also married with a young child. Arthur has tried to be content with his steady job at the railways and his marriage to his childhood sweetheart Rose.

At the height of China's Cultural Revolution, a powerful general fathered two sons. Tan was born to the general's wife and into a life of comfort and luxury. His half brother, Shento, was born to the general's mistress, who threw herself off a cliff in the mountains of Balan only moments after delivering her child.