The story of Lewis & Clark was one topic absolutely guaranteed to put me to sleep in high school. But this authoritative, daringly written novel brings the time period, the two men, and the mission to vivid life.
I like immersive historical fiction. Please don’t explain. Don’t ladle out expository dialogue. Don’t put the characters on a pedestal. Plunge me into the world. Author Brian Hall does just that by employing multiple narrators: Lewis, Clark, and, most intriguingly, Sacagawea are all given the mic. Seeing the world through a native American’s eyes – and a rough approximation of her language – is a thrill.
Like any dangerous journey, there is a surprise at every turn (of the page): You’ve got rivalries, insurrections, brawls, betrayals, and stomach-churning meals. Sign me up.
A sweeping, gorgeously written novel of Lewis and Clark's legendary expedition, named one of the best novels of the year by The Boston Globe, Salon, The Los Angeles Times, and The Christian Science Monitor.
Brian Hall’s compulsively readable novel vividly re-creates Lewis and Clark’s extraordinary journey into the unknown western frontier. Focusing on the emblematic moments of the participants’ lives, the story unfolds through the perspectives of four competing voices—from the troubled and mercurial figure of Meriwether Lewis, the expedition leader who found that it was impossible to enter paradise without having it crumble around him, to Sacagawea, the Shoshone…
Denise Mina is one of my very favorite crime writers, and this is one of her best.
Her heroes often struggle with dicey relationships while struggling to solve murders or stay one step ahead of the bad guys. Her plots are intricate but don’t take a genius to follow and unravel. Her mysteries are set in Scotland, usually Glasgow or environs, and the unfamiliar culture is intriguing. The language is rich, and the dialogue tangy.
The central character is a journalist whose old boyfriend is murdered. Paddy Meehan is a bit chubby, a bit lonely, and struggling with self-hatred. But she’s prickly and unafraid—a complex heroine with a razor-sharp sense of humor and a chip on her shoulder as she confronts cops, gangsters, and assorted low-lifes.
A brilliant new thriller featuring Paddy Meehan, one of the most praised heroines since Temperance Brennan, from "a rising star in the world of crime fiction" (Laura Miller, Salon).
Paddy Meehan is no stranger to murder--as a reporter she lives at crime scenes--but nothing has prepared her for this visit from the police. Her former boyfriend and fellow journalist Terry Patterson has been found hooded and shot through the head. Paddy knows she will be of little help--she had not seen Terry in more than six months. So she is bewildered to learn that in his will he has left…
I love this book for its affirmation of human goodness. Without sentimentality, without idealizing her characters, Geraldine Brookes depicts selflessness and courage. It is a singular literary achievement because the book is set in 1666 in a small English village experiencing the ravages of the bubonic plague. The. Bubonic. Plague.
The central character evolves from a simple housewife and mother to a competent medical practitioner. Her neighbors evolve from sensible folk to…something else. At first, they agree to quarantine themselves, but one family does not abide by the decision. And what follows? Death, hysteria, superstition, jealousy, madness, theft. But also kindness, resourcefulness, friendship, commitment, and sacrifice.
Geraldine Brooks is one of the greatest writers we have, and this is considered by some as her masterpiece.
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'March' and 'People of the Book'.
A young woman's struggle to save her family and her soul during the extraordinary year of 1666, when plague suddenly struck a small Derbyshire village.
In 1666, plague swept through London, driving the King and his court to Oxford, and Samuel Pepys to Greenwich, in an attempt to escape contagion. The north of England remained untouched until, in a small community of leadminers and hill farmers, a bolt of cloth arrived from the capital. The tailor who cut the cloth had no way of knowing that the damp…
Chloe is a happy teenage science fair nerd. Grigore is a sullen teen who wants to generate dark magic spells with his computer. Why? To get girls, be popular. Huge mistake. Grigore is quickly possessed by a Demon, and poor Chloe is caught in the maelstrom. Both are hurled into the mysterious world between earth and eternity: a drowned New York City, a canal city of pirates, slavemasters and unholy monsters.
Chloe is soon running for her life. Meanwhile her best friend Maya is back home in their New York, doing what she can to save her friend while also passing algebra – and while the Demon possessing the dorky sorcerer is working to destroy mankind…slowly. Painfully.
An enthralling read packed with adventure, supernatural suspense and dorky humor.
