Patch Reads: Try Some Historical Fiction This Week

If you are in the mood for some historical fiction this week, here are three great new books you must check out. You will not be disappointed. Happy reading!

Flight of Gemma Hardy By Margot Livesey, January 2012, 464 pages.

Set in Scotland and Iceland in the 1950s and ’60s, this novel is a captivating homage to Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Overcoming a life of hardship and loneliness, Gemma Hardy, a brilliant and determined young woman, accepts a position as an au pair on the remote Orkney Islands where she faces her biggest challenge yet. This book is a sweeping saga that spins an unforgettable new story from threads of our shared, still-living literary past. Fans of Jane Eyre will certainly enjoy this retelling of a classic piece of literature which is destined to become a classic all its own.

Girl Reading: a Novel By Katie Ward, February 2012, 341 pages.

Seven portraits. Seven artists. Seven girls and women reading. Each chapter of Katie Ward's kaleidoscopic novel takes us into a perfectly imagined tale of how each portrait came to be, and as the connections accumulate, the narrative leads us into the present and beyond. In gorgeous prose Ward explores our points of connection, our relationship to art, the history of women, and the importance of reading. This dazzlingly inventive novel that surprises and satisfies announces the career of a brilliant new writer. Fans of Girl With a Pearl Earring and Girl in Hyacinth Blue will enjoy this beautiful, art-filled debut.

The Winter Palace: a Novel of Catherine the Great By Eva Stachniak, January  2012, 444 pages.  

Lovers of Philippa Gregory’s  historical novels about the Tudor family should check out this sweeping tale of  Sophie, a naïve German duchess and her improbable rise to power to become Catherine, Russia’s greatest monarch.  The drama is seen through the eyes of an all-but-invisible servant, Varvara, who becomes Catherine’s closest confidante and most trusted spy.  Impeccably researched and magnificently written, this novel is an irresistible peek through the keyhole of one of history's grandest tales.

Reviews ae brought to you each week by librarians Jennifer Niederhausen, Dona Stein and Heather Timko, Adult Services Division, .