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A Songbird in Wartime
Par Karen Dickson. 2021
A wartime family saga, perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Val Wood Shaftesbury, 1936. Mansfield House Hotel has…
been a refuge for Emily ever since she was orphaned at the age of 16. Not only did they give her employment as a chambermaid, but it&’s also where she met her fiancé Tom. When theatre agent Roland stays at the hotel and hears Emily singing, he is determined to take her away to Bristol and make her a star. But knowing she'd never leave her fiancé, he hatches a plan to get Emily away from Tom. Six years later, Emily has made a name for herself as 'The Bristol Songbird'. Her love for Tom is still as strong as ever, but she's not heard from him since that fateful night so long ago. And with the world enveloped in a war, it seems unlikely the two will ever meet again. Will Emily and Tom ever find their way back to one another? Or will the war – and Roland – succeed in keeping them apart? Praise for Karen Dickson: &‘A compelling saga that will hold you fast from the first page to the last. Loved it&’ VAL WOOD, author of The Lonely Wife 'This rollercoaster of a novel draws you in from the first page… I devoured this in one sitting and look forward to more from this author. In short a gem of a read' FIONA FORD, author of Wartime at Liberty's 'A delight to read... Lily Hayter is a wonderful heroine whose resilience and integrity shine through as she struggles to claim a life of her choosing and find a family. At the heart of the story is a warmth and humanity that makes it a truly uplifting read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was sorry when I reached the end because I wanted to linger in Dickson&’s world. I eagerly await more from Karen Dickson' VICKI BEEBY, author of The Ops Room Girls &‘An exciting, fresh and talented new voice – a five-star read!&’ CAROL RIVERS, author of Molly&’s Christmas Orphans'The characters in this novel are so believable that I cared deeply about them from the first chapter. A heartfelt, hopeful account of one young woman&’s fight to keep her child safe when all the odds are against her. Atmospheric and beautifully written' JAN CASEY, author of The Women of Waterloo BridgeGathering of Waters: Gathering Of Waters, Glorious, The Warmest December, And Nowhere Is A Place
Par Bernice L. McFadden. 2012
One of Essence's Best Books of the Decade!A New York Times Notable Book of 2012!Gathering of Waters is a finalist…
for a Phillis Wheatley Fiction Book Award!Gathering of Waters was named a finalist for a 2013 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award!Gathering of Waters has been selected as a Go On Girl! April 2013 Book Pick."McFadden works a kind of miracle--not only do [her characters] retain their appealing humanity; their story eclipses the bonds of history to offer continuous surprises...Beautiful and evocative, Gathering of Waters brings three generations to life...The real power of the narrative lies in the richness and complexity of the characters. While they inhabit these pages they live, and they do so gloriously and messily and magically, so that we are at last sorry to see them go, and we sit with those small moments we had with them and worry over them, enchanted, until they become something like our own memories, dimmed by time, but alive with the ghosts of the past, and burning with spirits."--Jesmyn Ward, New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice"Read it aloud. Hire a chorus to chant it to you and anyone else interested in hearing about civil rights and uncivil desires, about the dark heat of hate, about the force of forgiveness."--Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered, NPR"McFadden combines events of Biblical proportions--from flooding to resurrection--with history to create a cautionary, redemptive tale that spans the early twentieth century to the start of Hurricane Katrina. She compellingly invites readers to consider the distinctions between 'truth or fantasy'...In McFadden's boldly spun yarn, consequences extend across time and place. This is an arresting historical portrait of Southern life with reimagined outcomes, suggesting that hope in the enduring power of memory can offer healing where justice does not suffice."--Publishers Weekly"The rich text is shaped by the African American storytelling tradition and layered with significant American histories. Recalling the woven spirituality of Toni Morrison's Beloved, this work will appeal to readers of mystic literature."--Library Journal"McFadden makes powerful use of imagery in this fantastical novel of ever-flowing waters and troubled spirits."--Booklist"In this fierce reimagining, the actual town of Money, MS narrates the story about the ghost of Emmett Till and his from-the-other-side reunification with the girl he loved as a child in Gathering of Waters by Bernice L. McFadden."--Ebony MagazineGathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi--a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families.Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit.Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money and fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released from the dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are reunited, bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion.Gathering of Waters mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well as the town's families, and threads their history over decades. The bare-bones realism--both disturbing and riveting--combined with a magical realm in which ghosts have the final say, is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's Beloved.The Book of Harlan
Par Bernice L. McFadden. 2016
Bernice L. McFadden has been named the Go On Girl! Book Club's 2018 Author of the YearWINNER of the 2017…
American Book AwardWINNER of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Fiction)2017 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Nominee (Fiction)!A Washington Post Notable Book of 2016"McFadden uses the experiences of her own ancestors as loose inspiration for the life of Harlan, whom she portrays from his childhood in Harlem through imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp and his struggles afterward to put his life back together."--Library Journal"Simply miraculous...As her saga becomes ever more spellbinding, so does the reader's astonishment at the magic she creates. This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over bigotry, intolerance and cruelty, and at the center of The Book of Harlan is the restorative force that is music."--Washington Post"Bernice L. McFadden took me on a melodious literary journey through time and place in her masterpiece, The Book of Harlan. It's complex, real, and raw...McFadden intricately and purposefully weaves history as a backdrop in her fiction. The Book of Harlan brilliantly explores questions about agency, purpose, freedom, and survival."--Literary Hub, one of Nicole Dennis-Benn's 26 Books From the Last Decade that More People Should Read"McFadden's writing breaks the heart--and then heals it again. The perspective of a black man in a concentration camp is unique and harrowing and this is a riveting, worthwhile read."--Toronto Star"The Book of Harlan is an incredible read. Bernice McFadden...has created an amazing novel that speaks to lesser known aspects of the African-American experience and illuminates the human heart and spirit. Her spare prose is rich in details that convey deep emotions and draw the reader in. This fictional narrative of Harlan Elliot's life is firmly grounded amidst real people and places--prime historical fiction, and the best book I have read this year."--Historical Novels Review, Editors' Choice"McFadden packs a powerful punch with tight prose and short chapters that bear witness to key events in early twentieth-century history: both World Wars, the Great Depression, and the Great Migration. Partly set in the Jim Crow South, the novel succeeds in showing the prevalence of racism all across the country--whether implemented through institutionalized mechanisms or otherwise. Playing with themes of divine justice and the suffering of the righteous, McFadden presents a remarkably crisp portrait of one average man's extraordinary bravery in the face of pure evil."--Booklist, Starred reviewThe Book of Harlan opens with the courtship of Harlan's parents and his 1917 birth in Macon, Georgia. After his prominent minister grandfather dies, Harlan and his parents move to Harlem, where he eventually becomes a professional musician. When Harlan and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartre--affectionately referred to as "The Harlem of Paris" by black American musicians--Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him.But after the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, Harlan and Lizard are thrown into Buchenwald--the notorious concentration camp in Weimar, Germany--irreparably changing the course of Harlan's life. Based on exhaustive research and told in McFadden's mesmeric prose, The Book of Harlan skillfully blends the stories of McFadden's familial ancestors with those of real and imagined characters.Queen of Diamonds: An exciting and gripping new crime saga series (Queen of Thieves #3)
Par Beezy Marsh. 2024
London, 1922. Orphan girl Alice dreams there's more to life than toiling long hours in Pink's jam factory. Inspired by…
stories about the legendary Queen of Thieves, Mary Carr, who terrorised the streets of Victorian London, Alice decides to set up her own gang: The Forty Thieves.Sly seamstress Kate Felix from Whitechapel persuades Alice they'd make the perfect team and before long, the pair are making headlines in the glitzy world of 1920s Soho with their criminal sprees.A life of crime means they soon make some powerful enemies, and Alice must sacrifice more than she ever thought if she is to be crowned Queen of Diamonds.But the toughest and most beautiful diamonds are formed under pressure.From squalid slums and the grim confines of Holloway Prison to the glittering nightclubs of London in the roaring twenties, Queen of Diamonds is a fast-paced, gritty story of love, loss and loyalty to the gang.The third in a thrilling new crime saga series about a real-life gang girl from Sunday Times bestselling author Beezy Marsh, Queen of Diamonds is perfect for fans of Sam Michaels, Martina Cole and Jessie Keane.Queen of Diamonds: An exciting and gripping new crime saga series (Queen of Thieves #3)
Par Beezy Marsh. 2024
London, 1922. Orphan girl Alice dreams there's more to life than toiling long hours in Pink's jam factory. Inspired by…
stories about the legendary Queen of Thieves, Mary Carr, who terrorised the streets of Victorian London, Alice decides to set up her own gang: The Forty Thieves.Sly seamstress Kate Felix from Whitechapel has the same plan and will stop at nothing to keep Alice and her pals off her turf in the West End shops. But Alice is determined to win at all costs, hitting the headlines as the Bob-Haired Bandit. It isn't long before they make some powerful enemies, and Alice must sacrifice more than she ever thought if she is to become Queen of Diamonds.But the toughest and most beautiful diamonds are formed under pressure.The third in a thrilling new crime saga series about a real-life gang girl from Sunday Times bestselling author Beezy Marsh, Queen of Diamonds is perfect for fans of Sam Michaels, Martina Cole and Jessie Keane.Into the Jungle!: A Boy's Comic Strip History of World War II (Cultures of Childhood)
Par Jimmy Kugler. 2023
Near the end of World War II and after, a small-town Nebraska youth, Jimmy Kugler, drew more than a hundred…
double-sided sheets of comic strip stories. Over half of these six-panel tales retold the Pacific War as fought by “Frogs” and “Toads,” humanoid creatures brutally committed to a kill-or-be-killed struggle. The history of American youth depends primarily on adult reminiscences of their own childhoods, adult testimony to the lives of youth around them, or surmises based on at best a few creative artifacts. The survival then of such a large collection of adolescent comic strips from America’s small-town Midwest is remarkable. Michael Kugler reproduces the never-before-published comics of his father’s adolescent imagination as a microhistory of American youth in that formative era. Also included in Into the Jungle! A Boy's Comic Strip History of World War II are the likely comic book models for these stories and inspiration from news coverage in newspapers, radio, movies, and newsreels. Kugler emphasizes how US propaganda intended to inspire patriotic support for the war gave this young artist a license for his imagined violence. In a context of progressive American educational reform, these violent comic stories, often in settings modeled on the artist’s small Nebraska town, suggests a form of adolescent rebellion against moral conventions consistent with comic art’s reputation for “outsider” or countercultural expressions. Kugler also argues that these comics provide evidence for the transition in American taste from war stories to the horror comics of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Kugler’s thorough analysis of his father’s adolescent art explains how a small-town boy from the plains distilled the popular culture of his day for an imagined war he could fight on his audacious, even shocking terms.