The Weight of Air

Elizabeth Book Reviews, Historical Fiction, The Twentieth Century Leave a Comment

All Mabel MacGinnis has ever known is life in the Manzo Brothers Circus. In 1911, as the strongest woman in Europe, she has quite a reputation. Bram, her father, was a famous strong man. When he dies suddenly, her standing in the circus becomes uncertain. She learns that the mother she thought had died years ago has been alive the entire time. To make matters worse, the truth was hidden from her.

The Hidden Prince

Elizabeth Book Reviews, Classical Antiquity, Historical Fiction, Religious Fiction Leave a Comment

Keren’s family are Jewish captives who live in Babylon, trying to make a living in a difficult place. When Lord Daniel, governor of the province of Babylon, takes Keren into his home, she promises to faithfully serve him as a scribe. While living there, she becomes someone he trusts deeply and is instructed in lessons alongside his sons, where she meets Jared, their best friend.

The Letter from Briarton Park

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In 1811 England, Cassandra Hale is a strong young woman whose past is shrouded in mystery. As Mrs. Denton, the woman who raised her, lies dying, she gives her a letter written by a Mr. Clark. The cryptic letter, which was written two years before, instructs her to come to Briarton Park if she wants to learn more about her family. Suddenly, it feels as if her entire life has been a lie.

Along the Rio Grande

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Susanna Jenkins has a difficult life. First she lost her husband to influenza, and now she has to deal with her selfish family. Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Ragsdale have never known a moment of hardship. When Mr. Ragsdale is tricked out of money by a con man, they lose their standing in society and fall from grace. With nowhere to go, the Ragsdale family reluctantly moves to San Marcial, New Mexico, to manage the Grand Hotel.

Banished

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Banished, the first installment in “The Long Road Home” trilogy, is set in the early twentieth century. Life for orphans, Obadiah “Oba” and Merriweather “May” Miller, is anything but easy. After losing their parents, they are sent to Arkansas to live with distant relations, Uncle Melvin and Aunt Gertrude “Gertie” Amstutz, on their cotton farm. From the moment Oba and May arrive, they realize just how cruel Melvin and Gertie really are.

My Dear Miss Dupré

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Willow Dupré, a wealthy heiress from one of the foremost families on Fifth Avenue, is the most sought-after lady in New York society. With her father retiring, she has no time for anything else, let alone a man, because she is far too busy overseeing the family business. Despite the fact that she is a devoted businesswoman, the board of shareholders holds the fact that she is a woman against her and will not stand behind her. Not long after, her parents announce that she must find a husband who can help her maintain power among those who would try to take it away.

Shadows of the White City

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Jocelyn Green’s “Shadows of the White City,” book two in the “Windy City Saga,” is a historical Christian novel set in Chicago, in 1893, during the excitement of the World’s Fair. Sylvie Townsend is a generous and loving woman who has run the family bookstore and taken care of her ailing father for years. When a Polish immigrant approaches her with his young daughter, Rozalia “Rose” Dabrowski, she agrees to raise the girl as her own.

A Tapestry of Light

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Ottilie Russell is a young woman of Indian and British descent living in British-occupied India. As the daughter of an Indian mother and British father, she doesn’t fully belong in either culture. She lives with her grandmother and brother, Thaddaeus, whom she supports through her embroidery work. She is skilled in beetle-wing embroidery, an old Indian art that she learned from her late mother.

Starving Hearts

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Annette Chetwynd is the apple of her father’s eye and a source of endless envy for her mother. A sickly creature with a propensity for fainting spells, she is conducted everywhere by her attendant, Miss Lucy Haawk. She is often bullied by her proper mother who has no fondness for her and is obsessed with the prospect of marrying her off to the wealthiest suitor as soon as possible. Even though her father is away often, she is every inch his daughter and she hungers for intelligent conversation.