The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, 487 pages

"Lilac Girls" is a World War II novel inspired by real people and events.  It tells the story of three women: New Yorker Caroline Ferriday (real person); polish teenager Kasia Kusmerick who was sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp (inspired by a real person); and Dr. Herta Oberheuser (also a real person) who conducted medical experiments on the women of Ravensbruck. 

There are an endless number of stories still to be told about the atrocities, trials, and triumphs related to World War II.  This is a beautiful and sometimes heart wrenching novel that gets the word out about a few more of those stories.

Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar 307 pages

To carry on with my India fiction for children, I read Ahimsa.  This takes place during one of the most brutal, but fascinating periods of time in India's history.  I've read several other stories set around the time that Pakistan was established as a separate country from India, but they were always for an adult audience.  This book was set before the split, when India was still under British rule and tensions were running high.  It follows a young girl, Anjali, as her family joins the peaceful resistance started by Gandhi.  If you're interested in historical fiction, I highly recommend this one.  Ahimsa means peace, and this book gently reminds us that one voice can have a huge impact. 

Grant by Max Byrd, 359 pages

  I liked taking some time to ponder our country’s history during the era when Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain, General William Tecumseh Sherman, and a family member of the two Adams’ presidents interacted, back when Thomas Edison’s inventions were new, experimental, and rapidly catching on.

  I can’t say, however, that I liked the story telling. I think this content could have been told much better, so I'm not interested in reading other historical fiction by Max Byrd. If I am to read anything else about Grant, I'll look for non-fiction.

To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey, 417 pages

  This work of historical fiction is loosely based on real 1885 Alaska exploration under the command of senior U.S. Army Officer Henry Trueman Allen.

  The novel toggles between Colonel Allen Forrester and his young bride, Sophie. After being stationed near Vancouver, Colonel Forrester accepts the challenge of leading a small group of men into Alaska to explore territory unknown to the U.S. government, leaving Sophie behind in a wilderness outpost with military personnel and a few women. 

  Also woven into the story is the development of a letter-writing relationship between a present-day descendant of Colonel Forrester and an Alaskan museum employee who lives near the area where Forrester explored.

  The words of this novel are a pleasure, vividly describing majestic scenes, abutting cultures, the light and dark and ins-and-outs of 19th Century photography, privation, emotions, and personalities. It includes adventure, monotony, survival, supernatural mystery, and important thoughts relevant for today.

  This is my first book (technically audio book) with an Alaskan setting. I enjoyed and recommend it. 

The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley, 558 pages

  Until I read this book, I wasn’t even aware that I had never spent any time wondering anything at all about Greenland. Now I have.

  Yes, the book contains ice, snow, details about the geography of Greenland, and hardship. It also contains tales about ships with people visiting from the European continent, bringing goods to trade and news from their world. But mostly, the book kept me engrossed in the drama between rival families over the course of a few generations, the escapades of Roman Catholic priests in all their imperfect humanity being transplanted to a foreign land, and the story of a woman who earned a life-sentence of exile because she followed her heart rather than custom.  

    I enjoyed the adventure of reading about people living in 14^th Century Greenland. The personalities and actions of Asgeir Gunnarsson and his family and the Catholic priests in-residence were memorable and have come to mind every now and then for the last four months or so since I reached the end of this story.

Generations of Winter by Vasily Aksyono (translated by John Glad and Christopher Morris), 592 pages

  Bound by love, blood, and years together, Gradov family members spanning three generations approach life individually in the midst of their socialist society. I was glad to get to know each person in this fictional, well-educated family whose best days center around the Gradov home in the Silver Forest on the outskirts of Moscow. With different fields of expertise and competing ideologies, each character faces the upheaval, purges, punishment, and war in different geographical places throughout the nation that was the Soviet Union from 1925-1945.

  I wouldn’t exactly say I’m a fan of Russian literature or history. Both are often a challenge to read with hard-to-face realities, but I’ve been glad to have read every bit of Russian literature that I’ve pushed on through. It fascinates me. This book is no exception.

  Multiple reviewers compare this novel to War and Peace; I see that the narrative styles of the two books could be compared. If you’ve read War and Peace, though, you’ll be getting an entirely different experience with Generations of Winter. This book covers a different historical period, hinges on close family relationships rather than on people from different segments of society, and incorporates a positive tone in spite of historically accurate, harsh, and even unsurvivable situations. Most Russian literature I’ve encountered presents a crumbling of personhood or a struggle to survive; this novel, however, shows how people live.

  It was worth the time to read and is a novel I would hold onto for another day if it were my own.

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus, 434 pages

  Imagine you’re a women in the Midwest U.S. in 1875. Every woman is pretty much a second class citizen, but you are an unacceptable sort, even further outside the realm of power over your own life than most. Say you’re an unmarried woman with children, or a woman with mental illness committed to an asylum, or a prisoner, or an immigrant with a heavy accent, or you just have wild notions in your head. Regardless, your present is so challenging that your future appears hopeless. And then, you’re told that, if you like, you may be part of a program supported by President Grant. Only if you want, you may get a free pass out of whatever hard situation you find yourself in. You are given the opportunity to travel with other women, each one who has accepted the offer to permanently join with a nomadic Indian tribe that you've only heard to be savages, marry an Indian, birth, and raise a family as an Indian wife.

  Such is the premise of this book. May Dodd sets out as a participant in the Brides for Indians Program, never again to see her parents, siblings, lover, or children she’s leaving behind in Chicago where she was raised and educated. She has no idea what to expect from a new life in the wilderness with the Cheyenne people, but she knows she is expected to help assimilate the tribe into the white man’s world.

  I liked May, the women who became her companions, and the Cheyenne people in this book. I rooted for the women and their new tribe all the way to the end. The book did a good job of pulling me into the world, albeit a fictionalize world, of one Native American Tribe as it struggled to survive foreign invasion of their land and lives.

Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All by Allan Gurganus, 718 pages

  I knew this book was historical fiction when I chose it.
  Lucy speaks from the first sentence, chock full of personality. She has given a man who wishes to record her life’s connection with the Civil War permission to visit her in her nursing home between the time she’s up and going in the mornings and when the attendant comes to take her to lunch.
  She was once a child bride of a 40-some-year-old Civil War veteran who trekked off to fight when he was just a boy. Now pushing 100 years old, Lucy has lived through a century of incredible change. Drawing from the memories her husband recounted thousands of times, it seems as though she must have lived beyond her own lifespan, even back through the Civil War herself.
  Lucy has certainly lost her filters, if she ever had any. The woman craves attention and knows how to keep her biographer entertained in response to the questions he asks.
  I was probably 200 pages in when I remembered this was fiction instead of a biography, and I was so upset that Lucy wasn’t real that I had to set the book aside for a week or so until I could accept that and move on.
  Absolutely worth reading!

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco 336 pages

Being a fan of historical fictional and true crime, I was fascinated with this book. Audrey Rose Wadsworth is not your conventional lord’s daughter. She is fascinated more with science and death than teas and dress fittings. As Jack the Ripper’s victims turn up on her uncle’s autopsy table, Audrey Rose is determined to find their killer.

This was read by Nicola Barber. 

Bedlam: A Novel of Love and Madness by Greg Hollingshead, 386 pages

   I hated this novel, not the writing, but rather how characters with mental illness or who were political prisoners were treated by society and the medical profession. I read it thoroughly because of human history I think people today and in coming generations should know and remember.

   This is a novel, but the larger depiction of the 18^th Century London insane asylum is, unfortunately, true to what is known of Bedlam. Names of characters and the larger pieces of their stories in the book also existed and are part of Bedlam’s known history.

   I found myself a bit lost in the way the flashbacks were told at first, but some rereading of parts did the trick. Most of the book flowed smoothly enough. The book was definitely worth the time to read, but stay far away from it if you're looking for a feel-good escape from reality.

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 316 pages

Ada and her brother Jamie life in a tiny flat in London with their mother.  It is right before WWII is really getting going, Hitler is threatening Europe, but hasn't invaded yet.  Ada, who is 10, has never stepped foot outside her flat.  Her mother forbids it, saying that Ada is a disgrace because of her club foot.  She is horribly abusive to both children, especially Ada.  When children are evacuated out of London, Ada forces herself to leave the only room she's ever known.  She and Jamie end up with Susan in a smaller village by the sea.  Ada falls in love with the resident pony, Butter and learns that she has much more to offer the world than simply sitting by a window and wishing for better.  This was a heartbreaking book, you kept wanting to tell Ada that she was misunderstanding, that she was not bad or stupid, but the book never cheated.  It was told from Ada's perspective, which added the majority of heartbreak to the story.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  I absolutely loved it!  It is a nominee for the Mark Twain Award this year.  I listened to it on audio read by Jayne Entwistle, who did a wonderful job bringing so much warmth and believable voice to all the characters.

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor 335 pages

St. Mary's is full of historians.  Sounds drab to some, I'm sure.  However, these historians aren't your stuffed shirt, elbow patch stereotypes.  In fact, they are a highly trained, physically powerful crew who put themselves in danger with every research project they are assigned.  Why?  Because they use time travel to study history.  Max is new to the facility, but she's well suited to it.  Right up until sabotage and double crossing can make the whole thing fall apart.  This book was so well written.  The dialogue was fast and smart, and the story itself was highly engaging.  I recommend this to folks who love science fiction with humor.  History buffs might like it, too...but don't get hung up on the accuracy!  It's great if you just want to jump on and enjoy the ride.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos 341 pages

"In the historic town of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, twelve-year-old Jack Gantos spends the summer of 1962 grounded for various offenses until he is assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a most unusual chore involving the newly dead, molten wax, twisted promises, Girl Scout cookies, underage driving, lessons from history, typewriting, and countless bloody noses."

This book has a lot of appeal for a wide audience.  It won the Newbery Award a few years ago for good reason.  It's like opening a time capsule and being able to vicariously experience a childhood that would be completely unimaginable these days.  Gantos has such a believable voice, and his characters, while bigger-than-life, are not absurd or out of the realm of possibility.  I really enjoyed this book.  I think it will appeal strongly to boys of all ages and most girls, too.

Mischling by Affinity Konar, 344 pages

This is a World War II novel that tells the story of identical twin girls, Pearl and Stasha.  They are sent to Auschwitz, along with their mother and grandfather, in September 1944.

As they come off the train, Dr. Josef Mengele selects the girls for "the Zoo," the area of the camp used for his experiments.

Mischling was the legal term used in Nazi Germany to denote a person who had both "Aryan" and Jewish ancestry, but the term was never explained in the book.

There is not just death and horror in this book, there is some surviving and triumphing also.  I do have to admit though, I am glad I am done with this one.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, 262 pages

Eilis Lacey is an Irish immigrant to Brooklyn after WWII.  She takes a job as a bookkeeper and moves into a boarding house. While in America she sort of reinvents herself and finds romance and a career both of which seemed unattainable at home.  But when a family tragedy takes her back to Ireland, she discovers what her life might have been like if she had stayed.  And then she has to make a choice, go back to America where she has commitments and a life waiting for her.  Or stay.  I won't tell you the choice she makes and I'm not even sure it was the right choice.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you enjoy historical fiction from this era.  It has some romance, but I wouldn't catalog it as such.

America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, 587 pages

"America's First Daughter" is the fictionalized account of Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph, the daughter of Thomas Jefferson.  The authors based the story on letters and other primary sources, as much as possible.

It is an enthralling and intriguing story about the life of Thomas Jefferson's oldest daughter, who was alive during the Revolutionary War and traveled with him to Paris when he became America's minister to France.  They were in France as that country's own revolution started.

Patsy was a wife and a mother of 11 children, but she was always foremost the daughter, companion and protector of her father.  Reading this makes me want to learn more about his other family as well, the Hemings. 

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan 592 pages

Echo is a book with several parts. The beginning and ending revolve around Otto, a boy who gets lost in a forbidden forest, who meets three mysterious sisters. He becomes entwined with a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Several years later, Friedrich who lives in Germany during Hitler’s reign finds a special harmonica that does not sound like anything he has ever heard. Friedrich must rescue his father from a work camp when he talks out against Hitler. The harmonica finds its way to Pennsylvania and into the hands of Mike. Mike and his brother are being adopted, but the woman who is adopting them does not want boys, especially two.  When Mike learns of a harmonica group of kids that travels the country, he decides to try out in order to protect his brother. He makes a deal with their new mother, if he makes the traveling harmonica group, she will let his brother stay with her. The harmonica then finds its way to Ivy in California. Ivy’s brother has enlisted in the Army when the Japanese bombs Pearl Harbor. It becomes Ivy’s job to keep their family together.

The lives of Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy converge in a way that would someone would deem as fate. 

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 336 pages

Ada has never left her one-room apartment in her nine years of life. Her mother keeps Ada inside because Ada was born with a clubfoot. But when her brother starts venturing outside the house, Ada teaches herself to walk. When humors of Hitler bombing London, Ada escapes with Jamie, her brother, to the country.

Ada and Jamie are taken to live with Susan, who really didn’t want kids. While with Susan, Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, Buttercup. She also learns to read with the help of Susan. She also begins to trust Susan and over time, Susan begins to care for Ada and Jamie. When Ada and Jamie are taken back to London with their mother, will they ever see Susan again and can they make it through the war?  

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko 278 pages

This is my first Choldenko book.  I never got around to the Al Capone series, I'm sure to my own loss.  I picked this one up after reading an interview with the author.  Something about her explanation of character development just drew me in.  I'm so glad I did read it, because this is an excellent book.  Even though it is a book for a juvenile audience, it successfully addressed racism, classism and sexism (all the bad -isms) in a realistic way.  It was never heavy-handed, but very natural.  The main character, Lizzie, is the daughter of a doctor in turn-of-the-century San Francisco.  Rumors of the plague reaching the states are running around and Chinatown is being blamed.  Lizzie is a smart, skilled girl, but being a girl, she has a lot of difficulty getting men to answer her questions.  She is determined to rescue Jing, a Chinese servant who has been with her family since before she was born, but keeps hitting walls trying to get answers or help from those around her.  I loved that the characters had some hidden qualities that weren't revealed all at once.  I also appreciate that it had a relatively unexpected ending.  Life doesn't always turn out the way we want it to, but it does have a way of resolving itself.  This book really showed the resiliency of the human spirit and I enjoyed it a lot.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, 530 pages

Three of the library's book clubs read this Pulitzer Prize winning book this year.  Set
in World War II, the novel tells the stories two main characters.  A brilliant German boy, Werner Pfennig, who gets caught up in the Hitler Youth and a blind French girl, Marie-Laure LeBlanc, who leaves Paris with her father when it falls to the Germans and spends the war in Saint-Malo, a walled port city in Brittany.

This is a beautifully written novel and is one of those books that I rushed to finish because I couldn't put it down and was sad to finish because it was so good.  It was a pleasure to listen to it again to get ready to discuss it in book club.