Julia Beckett believes in destiny. When she moves into Greywethers, a beautiful sixteenth-century farmhouse, she suspects that more than coincidence has brought her there. The locals are warm and welcoming, especially the eligible squire of Crofton Hall, yet beneath the ordinariness, Julia senses a haunting sadness about her new home. Then she learns of Mariana, a beautiful young woman who lived there three hundred years ago. It seems history has been waiting for Julia.
What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James and Jack the Ripper by Paula Marantz Cohen
The World, the Flesh, and the Devil by Reay TannahillAn invalid for most her life, Alice James is quite used to people underestimating her. And she generally doesn't mind. But this time she is not about to let things alone. Yes, her brother Henry may be a famous author, and her other brother William a rising star in the new field of psychology. But when they all find themselves quite unusually involved in the chase for a most vile new murderer-one who goes by the chilling name of Jack the Ripper-Alice is certain of two things:
No one could be more suited to gather evidence about the nature of the killer than her brothers. But if anyone is going to correctly examine the evidence and solve the case, it will have to be up to her.
The Wilding by Maria McCannLeaving her home in the sunbleached courts of Avignon, gently nurtured, seventeen-year-old Ninian rides into the darkness and strife of Scotland to marry a stranger. Her path crosses that of Gavin Cameron of Kinveil, priest and Chancellor of Scotland. Laconic, ambitious and handsome, he is the one man the Stewart king dares to trust, the one man strong enough to save the kingdom from the civil war planned by the charming, implacable Archdeacon Columba Crozier and his bastard sun, Adam de Verne. Tied by blood on one side and by an overwhelming -- and forbidden -- love on the other, Ninian, growing from her careless girlhood into a beautiful woman and an artist of brilliance and power, is precipitated into violence and tragedy, in which she, too, has a vital part to play.
Sherwood by Parke GodwinIn her second novel Maria McCann returns to 17th Century England, where life is struggling to return to normal after the horrific tumult of the Civil War. In the village of Spadboro Jonathan Dymond, a 26-year old cider-maker who lives with his parents, has until now enjoyed a quiet, harmonious existence. As the novel opens, a letter arrives from his uncle with a desperate request to speak with his father. When his father returns from the visit the next day, all he can say is that Jonathan's uncle has died. Then Jonathan finds a fragment of the letter in the family orchard, with talk of inheritance and vengeance. He resolves to unravel the mystery at the heart of his family - a mystery which will eventually threaten the lives and happiness of Jonathan and all those he holds dear.
Memory of Lions by Parke GodwinForced from his home by Norman invaders, young Edward Aelredson, Thane of Denby, takes refuge in the forest Sherwood, where, with sword and bow, he bedevils the usurping king and comes to be called "Robin Hood."
Louisa May Alcott: A Personal Biography by Susan CheeverIt was a time of conquest and cruelty, of the clash of iron chains and armor, of French blood on English soil. Here Gerlaine de Neuville comes with her family to claim their fiefdom and build their own noble line.
But Saxons, they discover, do not take so easily to the yoke. And one of them, half a lord by birth-learned, tall, and fearless-cannot be cowed. He is Gurth Bastard, the man Gerlaine cannot own and cannot help but love.
Love, war...twins in this dark age. And when the bloodstained hand of a Saxon strikes those dear to her, Gerlaine will hate the man she loves will all her heart.
The Last Aloha by Gaellen QuinnIn Louisa May Alcott, Susan Cheever, the acclaimed author of American Bloomsbury, returns to Concord, Massachusetts, to explore the life of one of its most iconic residents. Based on extensive research, journals, and correspondence, Cheever’s biography chronicles all aspects of Alcott’s life, from the fateful meeting of her parents to her death, just two days after that of her father. She details Bronson Alcott’s stalwart educational vision, which led the Alcotts to relocate each time his progressive teaching went sour; her unsuccessful early attempts at serious literature, including Moods, which Henry James panned; her time as a Civil War nurse, when she contracted pneumonia and was treated with mercury-laden calomel, which would affect her health for the rest of her life; and her vibrant intellectual circle of writers and reformers, idealists who led the charge in support of antislavery, temperance, and women’s rights.
Alcott’s independence defied the conventional wisdom, and her personal choices and literary legacy continue to inspire generations of women. A fan of Little Women from the age of twelve, and a distinguished author in her own right, Cheever brings a unique perspective to Louisa May Alcott’s life as a woman, a daughter, and a working writer.
In 1886, Laura Jennings boards a steamship bound for the exotic islands of Hawaii to live with missionary relatives she's never met. Laura imagines she'll live in a grass hut and minister to "savages." But on arriving in Honolulu, she's surprised to find that, far from being savages, the Hawaiians have developed a charming and prosperous kingdom--and Laura's family is among the wealthy elite plotting to overthrow the monarchy. To avoid her conniving uncle's control, Laura goes to work for the royal family. She's swept up in a web of intrigue and turmoil as the Missionary Party intensifies its scheme to topple the throne and Hawaii's last queen, Lili'uokalani, struggles heroically to save the kingdom. When every way is blocked, the queen's choices reveal to Laura a power capable of restroring the spirit of a people caught in a turbulent, changing world. And Laura discovers how her own family's long-hidden secrets can lead the way to reconciliation.
