As the world endures once again the recurrent tragedy of war, this month’s stories remind us of those exceptional individuals who still manage to display courage and compassion despite cruelty, horror, destruction and loss.   We begin with one of the most unusual of these women – Mila Pavlichenko, heroine of Kate Quinn’s THE DIAMOND EYE, which is based on a true story.  Quiet Kiev history student Mila is completely absorbed by her library job and caring for her young son when Hitler’s invasion of Russia upends her world.  Called up like many women to join in the defense of the Motherland, she becomes one of the deadliest snipers on the Eastern front, named “Lady Death” by her Nazi foes.  But after her three hundredth kill, a government needing a rallying point turns her into a national heroine and sends her on a goodwill tour to the U.S. She’s feeling alone and lost in Washington, DC, until an unexpected friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt and a link born of shared experience with a fellow sniper brightens her world.  But wounds, loss, and a determined enemy from her past will show her that though she may have left the battlefield, the struggle…

Although the societal shifts that happened after World War I might have been more ground-breaking, by the 1940s, women were still mostly confined to traditional roles as wives and mothers or to a few “approved” careers, such as secretaries, sales clerks, or nurses.  The advent of World War II and the resulting manpower shortage once again opened opportunities—and challenges—for women to explore vastly different and sometimes dangerous occupations.  This month’s selection of stories transports the reader from England to Russia to the Hawaiian islands as intrepid ladies in difficult times take on exciting, essential, and unprecedented work. In roughly chronological order, we begin with THE ROSE CODE by Kate Quinn.  As German submarines ravage British shipping, Bletchley Park, a stately house in Buckinghamshire, is converted into the top-secret headquarters of a group of academics, scientists, mathematicians, and puzzle fanatics whose goal is breaking the German military communication code.  Included in this group are three very unlikely code-breakers: Canadian debutante Osla, beautiful, wealthy and one of Prince Phillip’s flirts; East-Ender Mab, who burns to utilize her wits and expertise to rise from poverty to make a genteel marriage, and shy spinster Beth, whose brilliance at solving puzzles soon turns her into…

History was one of my least favorite classes in school. Don’t get me wrong–I had some great teachers and I enjoyed a lot of the South Carolina history we were taught, but a lot of what we learned seemed far off and not relevant to my life. I knew that wasn’t true because one of my awesome teachers quoted us time and again about not forgetting the past or being doomed to repeat it, but I didn’t see it reflected through the history books we studied. Very little was taught about the various individual lives of people, in particular the women in history. Anne Frank’s story brought to life what the Jewish people suffered under Hitler, but I learned about her mainly through my literature classes. In fact, it was through literature classes that I learned about how women were treated as property or outcasted from society for exhibiting behaviors identical to the men of their times. Now here I sit, many, many years later, and I am still learning through literature. Whether it’s a graphic novel, such as PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi, or a novel such as BRIGID OF KILDARE by Heather Terrell, there is so much history to…

Like many, I’ve posted ironic images on my Facebook pages comparing the 2020 Year of COVID to many things–a hula hoop made of barbed wire, a pinata that’s actually a hornet’s nest, a time clock that sent us in March from Standard Time not to Daylight Savings Time, but into the Twilight Zone. So perhaps more than in “normal” times, we can identify with protagonists who are attempting to reconstruct their lives in the aftermath of unprecedented upheaval. And aside from a world-wide pandemic, nothing uproots people and disturbs lives like war. We begin with a novel by three of the most talented writers penning historical fiction today, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.  The trio collaborated to create ALL THE WAYS WE SAID GOODBYE, using an iconic Parisian hotel as a locus for their stories.  Aurelie de Courcelles is devastated when, at the outbreak of World War I, her home is taken over as a German headquarters.  The dilemma is made more difficult when she discovers the commander’s aide de camp is the handsome young man who charmed her during her debut season in Paris.  Despite their opposing loyalties, friendship deepens into love…until betrayal drives Aurelie back to…

Every day from now through the end of the year, we’ll be sharing our reviewers’ favorite reads of 2018. A different genre will be featured every day! We’ll share why these books were some of our favorites and what made them so special. We hope you’ll share yours in the comments, too! Today, we are discussing our favorite historical fiction novels of the year. What were some of yours? CARNEGIE’S MAID by Marie Benedict Reviewer: Clare O’Beara Carnegie’s Maid contrasts the Irish people who come to America with the Scots who came one generation earlier and are now wealthy industrialists, so lots to see. We find out how Carnegie got his love of libraries. Women’s Fiction Historical [Sourcebooks, On Sale: January 16, 2018, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781492646617 / ] A self-made man takes lessons from his Irish maid A TOUCH OF DOWNTOWN ABBEY AND AN AMERICAN DYNASTY Buy CARNEGIE’S MAID: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Ripped Bodice | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR *** NEXT YEAR IN HAVANA by Chanel Cleeton Reviewer: Danielle This book captured the spirit and turmoil of Cuba during a major…