May 2023 MBR The Historical Fiction Shelf

The Historical Fiction Shelf

The Tiffany Girls
Shelley Noble
William Morrow & Company
c/o HarperCollins Publishers
www.harpercollins.com
9780063252448, $19.99, PB, 416pp

https://www.amazon.com/Tiffany-Girls-Novel-Shelley-Noble/dp/0063252449

Synopsis: It's 1899, and Manhattan is abuzz. Louis Comfort Tiffany, famous for his stained-glass windows, is planning a unique installation at the Paris World's Fair, the largest in history. At their fifth-floor studio on Fourth Avenue, the artists of the Women's Division of the Tiffany Glass Company are already working longer shifts to finish the pieces that Tiffany hopes will prove that he is the world's finest artist in glass. Known as the "Tiffany Girls", these women are responsible for much of the design and construction of Tiffany's extraordinary glassworks, but none receive credit.

Emilie Pascal, daughter of an art forger, has been shunned in Paris art circles after the unmasking of her abusive father. Wanting nothing more than a chance to start a new life, she forges a letter of recommendation in hopes of fulfilling her destiny as an artist in the one place where she will finally be free to live her own life.

Grace Griffith is the best copyist in the studio, spending her days cutting glass into floral borders for Tiffany's religious stained-glass windows. But none of her coworkers know her secret: she is living a double life as a political cartoonist under the pseudonym of G.L. Griffith -- hiding her identity as a woman.

As manager of the women's division, Clara Driscoll is responsible for keeping everything on schedule and within budget. But in the lead-up to the most important exhibition of her career, not only are her girls becoming increasingly difficult to wrangle, she finds herself obsessed with a new design: a dragonfly lamp that she has no idea will one day become Tiffany's signature piece.

Brought together by chance, driven by their desire to be artists in one of the only ways acceptable for women in their time, these "Tiffany Girls" will break the glass ceiling of their era and for working women to come.

Critique: Original, deftly crafted characters, interesting storyline, "The Tiffany Girls" by novelist Shelley Noble is an absorbing, entertaining read from first page to last. With a special appeal to fans of women's historical fiction, "The Tiffany Girls" is especially commended for community library Historical Fiction collections and is available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99) as well.

Editorial Note: Shelley Noble (https://shelleynoble.com) is the author of Whisper Beach and Beach Colors. Her other titles include Stargazey Point, Breakwater Bay, and Forever Beach (a story of foster adoption in New Jersey) and four spin-off novellas. Shelley is also a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Women's Fiction Writers Association.

Like the Appearance of Horses
Andrew Krivak
Bellevue Literary Press
c/o NYU School of Medicine
www.blpress.org
9781954276130, $28.99, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Like-Appearance-Horses-Andrew-Krivak/dp/1954276133

Synopsis: Rooted in the small, mountain town of Dardan, Pennsylvania, where patriarch Jozef Vinich settled after surviving World War I, "Like the Appearance of Horses", novelist Andrew Krivak immerses his readers in the intimate lives of a family whose fierce bonds have been shaped by the great conflicts of the past century.

After Bexhet Konar escapes fascist Hungary and crosses the ocean to find Jozef, the man who saved his life in 1919, he falls in love with Jozef's daughter, Hannah, enlists in World War II, and is drawn into a personal war of revenge. Many years later, their youngest son, Samuel, is taken prisoner in Vietnam and returns home with a heroin addiction and deep physical and psychological wounds. As Samuel travels his own path toward healing, his son will graduate from Annapolis as a Marine on his way to Iraq.

Critique: Featuring a spare, breathtaking prose by an author with a genuine flair for a distinctive and narrative driven storytelling flair, "Like the Appearance of Horses" is an original and freestanding, and concluding novel in Andrew Krivak's award-winning Dardan Trilogy, which began with "The Sojourn" and "The Signal Flame". This is a compelling and deftly crafted story about borders drawn within families as well as around nations, and redrawn by ethnicity, prejudice, and war. But it is also a tender story of love and how it is tested by duty, loyalty, and honor. While steadfastly recommended for community and academic library Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Like the Appearance of Horses" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).

Editorial Note: Andrew Krivak (https://www.andrewkrivak.com) is the author of The Bear, a Mountain Book Competition winner and NEA Big Read selection, and the novels of the Dardan Trilogy: The Sojourn, a National Book Award finalist and winner of both the Chautauqua Prize and Dayton Literary Peace Prize; The Signal Flame, a Chautauqua Prize finalist.

In Search of the Animalcule
Steven L. Berk, M.D.
iUniverse, Inc.
c/o Author House
1663 Liberty Dr. Suite #300, Bloomington, IN 47403
www.iuniverse.com
9781663248015, $23.99, HC, 228pp

https://www.amazon.com/Search-Animalcule-Steven-M-D-Berk/dp/166324801X

Synopsis: When he is born in 1847 Vienna, Jacob Pfleger shares just two days with his mother, a female obstetrician who dies giving birth (like thousands of other women around the world) of the mysterious childbed fever.

Because his birth father wants nothing to do with him, Jacob is placed in an orphanage. His mother's dying wish is that he will grow up with resilience and independence. As Jacob matures into a precocious twelve-year-old, he is told about the legacy of his mother by her colleague, Ignaz Semmelweis, and learns that his father is a winemaker in Lille, France.

Determined to find his father and his destiny, Jacob embarks on a quest to locate him. When he arrives in France, Jacob is introduced to Louis Pasteur who is working with is father to determine why the wines of France are spoiling. As he is led on an intense scientific journey, Jacob eventually also works with Joseph Lister and Robert Koch, participating in the great discoveries of the era that uncover the animalcules, the bacteria, that have caused global disease and death.

Later Jacob studies to become a doctor under the mentorship of Sir William Osler at Johns Hopkins.

Although a deftly crafted work of fiction, "In Search of the Animalcule is an amazing story that fully captures the real lives and work of the great scientists of the time as an orphan assists in shocking medical discoveries that change the worlds understanding of disease and uncovers the field of infectious disease.

Critique: An inherently fascinating and compelling novel, "In Search of the Animalcule" by novelist and medical doctor Steven L. Berk is based upon genuine discovers of bacteria and viruses that would revolutionize medicine and our understanding of the true nature of all manner of infections diseases. While unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Historical/Medical Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "In Search of the Animalcule" is also readily available for personal reading lists in a paperback edition (9781663248008, $13.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $2.99).

Editorial Note: Steven L. Berk (https://www.ttuhsc.edu/medicine/dean.aspx) joined the faculty of the School of Medicine in 1999, and served as Regional Dean for the Amarillo Campus, Professor of Medicine, until 2006 when he was appointed Dean of the School of Medicine.

The Lady of the Lighthouse
Terri Greening
www.terrigreeningauthor.com
World Castle Publishing
https://www.worldcastlepublishing.net
9798385875740, $19.99, HC, 271pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Lighthouse-Terri-Greening/dp/B0BW31X5G4

Synopsis: Loralei Lancaster, a lonely, pregnant young mother and lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes is caught up in a WWII espionage plot while waiting for her shipping-captain husband, Devon, to return from a Great Lakes voyage. When a dashing, Italian spy posing as a down-and-out art dealer and handyman enters her life and seduces her, she must ultimately choose between her passionate love for him and her love for Devon, her family, and her country.

Critique: With the publication of "The Lady of the Lighthouse", novelist Terri Greening presents a deftly crafted and fully entertaining World War II thriller set in the Great Lakes area and features a pirate, a Great Lakes shipping captain, a dashing Italian spy, and the lonely, pregnant young mother who loved them all. An original and fun read from cover to cover, "The Lady of the Lighthouse" will have a very special and particular appeal to readers with an interest in historical World War II espionage suspense thrillers. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Lady of the Lighthouse" is also available in a paperback edition (9781960076403, $13.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $3.99).

Editorial Note: Terri Greening (www.terrigreeningauthor.com) is a creative writer in the Great Lakes region who enjoys yoga, gardening, nature parks, walking, and biking.

Mimosa Road
Ruth Linnea Whitney
https://ruthlinneawhitney.com
Independently Published
9798371628817, $17.99, PB, 340pp

https://www.amazon.com/Mimosa-Road-Ruth-Linnea-Whitney/dp/B0BRZ4J8R1

Synopsis: "Mimosa Road" by author Ruth Linnea Whitney is a novel of two women, two cultures, and a shadow world where people who offend Life-President Mobutu Sese Seko disappear.

Set in Kinshasa, Zaire, 1974-1975, "Mimosa Road" is the story of a privileged expat and a Zairian in a simple village who meet and find themselves in close-up range of Mobutu's mindless brutality.

Their stories intertwine in a post-colonial world that bewilders, terrifies, yet challenges them to confront violent oppression. Of special note is how "Mimosa Road" raises issues in the mid-1970s that are surprisingly relevant to our time and place in 2023.

Critique: An original and inherently riveting read from beginning to end, "Mimosa Road" is exceptionally well written and presented, showcasing as it does the impressive and narrative driven storytelling skills of novelist Ruth Linnea Whitney. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community library General Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Political Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Mimosa Road" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Editorial Note: Ruth Linnea Whitney (https://ruthlinneawhitney.com) short stories and essays have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Kaleidoscope, Natural Bridge, Assisi, and elsewhere; her poetry in Raven Chronicles and Ancient Paths; her journalism in Chicago Tribune, Town & Country, Seattle PI, and elsewhere. Her professional memberships include: The Authors Guild, International Women's Writing Group (IWWG), Pacific NW Writers Association (PNWA), and Writers Guild of PCUSA. She has taught primary school subjects to AIDS orphans in Uganda, ESL to nurses in Vietnam and to immigrants at Peninsula College in Port Townsend, WA.

Liv's Secrets
Janet Levine
Armin Lear Press Inc.
https://arminlear.com
9781956450507, $24.95 Paper/$7.99 ebook

https://www.amazon.com/Livs-Secrets-Janet-Levine/dp/1956450505

Liv's Secrets doesn't sound like a historical novel, but it comes steeped in the genre's best trappings of action and facts. It follows a fictional South African Jewish family's journey from Eastern Europe to South Africa, where currents of prejudice and racism follow them to affect their new lives.

A somewhat-daunting list of characters opens the story. While some might translate this to a weighty novel that will feature fluctuating major players and a complexity that belays emotional investment in people and outcomes, such a perception could not be further from the truth. Janet Levine's approach is designed to introduce and streamline the many characters that interact on the pages and arena of historical change, and this prologue and review helps readers immediately place the characters and their connections.

Because this story of the Weisz family members evolves over a series of decades and different generations, such a review lends a foundation of knowledge to the story that makes it easier to become involved in its personas and events from the start.

Eighty-eight-year-old narrator Liv opens the tale with a reflection on her present circumstances, the post-apartheid world, and memories good and bad that might pass with her. Her observations of the importance of preserving these experiences for future generations do not go unnoted: "We learn history from survivors' horrific nightmares? Is this all we have to share? Nightmare stories. Our century was one of struggle and strife. Perhaps I've lived too long? I'm forgetting the beauty of life; I'm forgetting the joy, the love, and the surprises."

As the saga evolves, it becomes a template for other scattered South African Jewish family experiences, revealing the social, political, and emotional ties that are all tested by history and life. Liv's first-person introduction leads to third-person descriptions of the 1960s in South Africa and the events which unfold to present new challenges to her family. The timeline that moves from past to present is clearly identified in chapter headers that keep readers on track about the changing milieu which propels Liv and her family in new directions.

Relatively little fiction has been written about Jewish experiences in South Africa. This fact, combined with Janet Levine's enticing attention to capturing life under a repressive White South African government and its lasting impact on the psyches of all strata of society, makes for a story that is rich in historical detail, compelling in its social examination, and cemented by family and characters that face difficult decisions on how to live their lives and reflect their values and ideals.

Libraries (especially those strong in cross-cultural fictional explorations of Jewish communities and experience in history) will find Liv's Secrets a thought-provoking, delightful exploration that ideally will find its way to discussion groups interested in South African history and Jewish cultural experience in particular.

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