Novels Now

Pam Jenoff
360 pages
Earlier this fall, I read The Kommandant’s Girl, which is the story of Emma Bau, a young newlywed who belongs to the Polish resistance during World War II. The Diplomat’s Wife is a companion book that is told from the perspective of Marta Nedermann who is friend and fellow resistance member to […]

Popularity: 54% [?]

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In the year since I renounced my Mormon faith, and set out to tell the nation the truth about American polygamy, many people have wondered why I ever agreed to become a plural wife. [First Sentence]
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
Random House, 2008
Fiction; 514 pgs
Religion is a subject that fascinates me in general, in particular […]

Popularity: 28% [?]

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Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Pages: 324
First Published: March, 2008
Genre: southern fiction, historical fictionRating: 5/5
First sentence:
Henry and I dug the hole seven feet deep.
Comments: A story of 1940s Mississippi. A tale of two families; one black, the other white. Henry McAllen moves from the city with his wife, two young daughters and his cantankerous, racist father to […]

Popularity: 28% [?]

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Two women were standing on high places, shielding their eyes from the blazing sun with their hands, peering into the distance in search of messengers from the battlefield. Each knew that her life depended on the outcome of the battle; but their lives depended on opposite results. -From The Triumph of Deborah, page 1-
The […]

Popularity: 33% [?]

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Enjoyable Debut Novel
Susanna Smith’s last living relative has recently died and she goes to Weymouth, Massachusetts to settle her aunt’s estate. Susanna’s faithful companion, a Weimaraner, goes along.
This is no usual estate. Both Susanna and her Aunt Susanna are both descendants of Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams. The house is listed in the […]

Popularity: 26% [?]

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Warning: Do not read this right before bed!
The year is 1837 and Liberty Lane, runs away from her overbearing aunt to meet up with her father in France. She receives an anonymous note telling her that her father was shot in a dual. She knows that this can’t be true, due to her father’s ethical […]

Popularity: 24% [?]

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Victorian Divorce — a National Scandal
In 1864 a scandal of huge proportions shook Great Briton. That scandal was due to a divorce case, which was quite new at the time. The Sealed Letter is based on this true scandal.
Miss Emily “Fido” Faithful was a businesswoman and feminist active in the British women’s movement. She was […]

Popularity: 28% [?]

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Rich Details and Decadence of 17th-Century Court
This is the story of real life Louise de la Vallière, mistress to France’s King Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King. At a young age, Louise, lovingly nicknamed Petite by her father, uses bone magic to tame a wild stallion.
Though of minor nobility, her family doesn’t have […]

Popularity: 27% [?]

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From medieval times, Guernica was a crossroads of the old Roman Way and the Fish and Wine Route that wound through the hills inland from the sea. Intersecting them both was the pilgrims’ route to Santiago de Compostela. For centuries, representatives of the region met under the Guernica oak to shape laws that outlawed torture […]

Popularity: 18% [?]

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A needle is such a small, brittle thing. It is easily broken. It can hold but one fragile thread. But if the needle is sharp, it can pierce the coarsest cloth. Ply the needle in and out of a canvas and with a great length of thread one can make a sail to move […]

Popularity: 18% [?]

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