Historical Fiction

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Philadelphia, 1837. Charlotte expected freedom to feel different from her former life as an enslaved housemaid. Instead, she's locked away playing servant to her white-passing father. Longing to break away, Charlotte befriends Nell, a budding abolitionist from one of Philadelphia's wealthiest Black families. As Charlotte starts to envision a future, a familiar face from her past reappears: Evie - and she's desperate to escape. In a city engulfed by race riots and attacks on abolitionists, Charlotte and Nell soon discover that fighting for Evie's freedom may cost them their own

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When Adebimpe is ten, she is sold with her mother, Sanite, to plantation owner John du Marche. He soon renames her Ady but Sanite never lets her daughter forget who she really is--a person who can read and write and understand numbers. Most importantly, Sanite reminds Ady that she must never reveal these abilities to a white person, especially not her true name. Tasked with maintaining du Marche's home in vibrant New Orleans, Ady takes in the city and starts to envision life beyond her dire circumstances. One day, she notices a beautiful stranger, radiant and poised with a colorful Tignon wrapped regally around her head. Ady realizes that she is a Free Woman. Inexplicably drawn to her, but not knowing who she is or what she does, Ady begins to search for answers--which eventually brings her to Lenore, a free woman who owns the Mockingbird Inn. When Lenore invites Ady to join The Daughters, Ady finds spiritual and sexual liberation, and with their help, imagines a new future for herself and her family

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When Frances Perkins meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House. When vicious political attacks mount and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, she must decide what she's willing to do - and what she's willing to sacrifice - to save a nation.

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In 1895, Antonio Sonoro is the latest in a long line of ruthless men. When he hears about a train laden with gold and other treasures, he sets off for Houston to rob it - endangering not only his life and his family, but his eternal soul. In 1964, Jaime Sonoro, Mexico's most renowned actor and singer, discovers a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family - including the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors. Jaime realizes that he may be the one who has to pay for his ancestors' crimes, unless he can discover the true story of his grandfather Antonio.

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Constance Haverhill has been asked to act as caretaker to Mrs. Fog, an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside resort. Constance is soon swept up in the social whirl of the Meredith Hotel and its colourful inhabitants, most notably, Poppy Wirrall. Poppy operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women and manages a ladies' motorcycle club. Constance soon learns that not everything is as it seems in this pocket of English high society. Soon, the women are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are likely to be revoked as the country settles into a hard-won peace.

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At the turn of the twentieth century, Pirbhai, a teenage boy looking for work, is taken from his village in India to labour on the East African Railway for the British. One day, he makes a desperate choice to ensure his survival that will shadow his family's future for decades to come. As Pirbhai's grandchildren find their way back to each other in exile in Toronto, news arrives that makes each generation question how far they are willing to go, and who they are willing to defy, in order to secure their own place in the world.

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Mid-18th century southwestern Ontario. Lensinda is summoned after a slave hunter is shot dead by an old woman, Cash, recently arrived via the Underground Railroad. Cash refuses to flee before the authorities arrive. Instead she proposes a barter. And so begins an extraordinary exchange of tales that reveal the interwoven history of Canada and the United States. Lensinda realizes she knows far less than she believed not only about the complicated tapestry of her nation, but also of her own family history. And it seems that Cash may carry a secret that could shape Lensinda's destiny.

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In this reimagining of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," the narrative set pieces remain in place, but Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion are shown in a radically new light. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town.

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Neferura, princess and high priestess of Kemet, knows her duty is to her people. But Neferura's unique position at court comes with high stakes for her country, especially when she's forced to serve her vile half-brother, a man determined to stop Neferura's potential rise. When Neferura overhears Thutmose's plot to end her mother's rule, she knows he must be stopped, no matter the cost. Neferura must decide where her loyalties lie and how much she's willing to sacrifice to protect the people she loves before everything crumbles at the hands of a tyrant.

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The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of comprise which operate at the heart of modern marriages.

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Scotland, 1567. A pregnant Mary, Queen of Scots is dragged out of her palace and imprisoned in an isolated Castle along with two servants. Her infant son and heir, James, has been captured by her enemies. After Mary reluctantly surrenders her throne, her closest friend, Lady Seton, is permitted to join the captive women. Against the odds, as they hatch a perilous getaway plan, the four women form a bond that transcends class and religion.

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"Women can be heroes." When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

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