It’s always rewarding to look back upon the year and review all the books we read in Book Club. As I have mentioned in the past, the books are picked month by month by different members of the club; the only common thread being that they are of the Historical Fiction genre. Here is a little tally, with summaries of the books after.
12 books were read
6/11 have been made into (or are in
development) movies
6 took place in the US, 2 in
Paris, and 1 each in Great Britain, Italy, Denmark and Vietnam.
6 in the 1900s, 4 in the 1800s, 1
in the 1700s and 1 in the 1500s
2 took place during the American Slavery
era
2 took place during wars (WWII and the
Vietnam War)
7 were written by female authors; 5
were written by men
A Most
Agreeable Murder: Manners
and murder. A Regency period spoof by
Julia Seales where a wealthy bachelor drops dead at a ball and a young lady
takes on the notably improper role of detective.
Oil and
Marble: From 1501 to
1505, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti both lived and worked in
Florence. Leonardo was a charming, handsome fifty year-old at the peak of his
career. Michelangelo was a temperamental sculptor in his mid-twenties,
desperate to make a name for himself. Stephanie Storey details how their lives
intertwined.
Coco at the
Ritz: Gioia Diliberto
wrote this WWII novel about Coco Chanel and Baron Hans Günther von Dincklage (a
German aristocrat and member of the Dincklage noble family).
The Royal
Physician’s Visit: Highlights the dramatic era of Danish history
when Johann Friedrich Struensee -- court physician to mad young King Christian
-- stepped through an aperture in history and became the holder of absolute
power in Denmark. This book, by Olov Enquist, is a compelling look into
the intrigues of an Enlightenment court and the life of a singular man.
The Women: By Kristin Hannah, tells the story of
a young nursing student who volunteers as an Army Nurse in Vietnam. But the
real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry
protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
Underground
Railroad: Follows
Cora’s escape north from a brutal plantation as she’s tracked by a slave
catcher, Ridgeway. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. An
outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is on the cusp of womanhood—where
greater pain awaits. And so when Caesar, a slave who has recently arrived from
Virginia, urges her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the
opportunity and escapes with him. By Colson Whitehead.
The Heaven
& Earth Grocery Store:
By James McBride, the book tells the story of Black and Jewish residents
of the Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in the 1920s/30s. Chona
Ludlow is the Jewish owner of the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which
shapes the destinies of various characters over the decades exploring themes of
community, survival, and justice.
The Paris
Novel: Ruth Reichl tells
the tale of a New York copy editor named Stella who travels to Paris after her
estranged mother's death, an event that leaves her a one-way plane
ticket.
James: James is a novel by Percival Everett.
The novel is a re-imagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain but
narrated by Huckleberry's friend on his travels, the fugitive slave Jim, rather
than by Huck, as in the original.
West With
Giraffes: A man and an
orphan journey cross country through the United States in the late 1930s with two
African giraffes who had barely survived the 1938 Hurricane. By Lynda Rutledge.
The Magnolia
Palace : Two different
women from two eras enter the Gilded Age realm of famous industrialist and art
collector Henry Clay Frick and his imperious daughter, Helen, and become part
of a thrilling mystery centered on the Frick mansion. By Fiona Rutledge.
The Last
Days of Night: Written
by Graham Moore, a young lawyer takes on a seemingly impossible case -- representing
George Westinghouse in a lawsuit against Thomas Edison over the invention of
the light bulb.
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Thanks for reading!
-- Eve
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