It is 1983, and Joe Arneson, is 23-years-old living and living a “normal” life until he starts having vivid dreams that seem to be in someone else’s head. It gets so bad, his family sends him away to a psychiatric hospital. After several months, Pearl, a woman who introduces herself as Joe’s long-lost grandmother, shows up to rescue him, tells him she’s dying of lung cancer, and offers him the job of cleaning out her … Read More “Dovetail by Karen McQuestion” »
Category: Historical Fiction
The Operator is a book primarily about Vivian, a nosey switchboard operator in the Midwest, although we also get snippets of life from her daughter, Charlotte, and Flora, a local woman who has just robbed a local bank (yes, really) and fled to Canada. Vivian always tries to measure up to those around her, including the thoroughly obnoxious and very wealthy granddaughter of the town mayor (who in turn is a bit too obsessed with … Read More “The Operator by Gretchen Berg” »
This book is told in a dual time frame, with Elaine’s story set in London during World War II and Jen’s story set in present-day Spain. Elaine is a typist for the military, typing letters written by POWs and looking for secret messages, when she meets — and falls deeply in love with — famed )real-life) war photographer Robert Capa (aka Bobby) who travels around to photograph men on the front lines. Jen is newly … Read More “The Forgotten Girls by Lizzie Page” »
Answer Creek tells the story of Ada Weeks, a fictional 19-year-old adopted daughter of an undertaker and his wife, who treks across the United States with the fated (and real) Donner Party. If you know anything about the Donner Party, you have a good overview of what happens in this book, although it goes on to also include what happens after the survivors arrive in California. (And if you’re not familiar with the story, a … Read More “Answer Creek by Ashley E. Sweeney” »
This book is told from the perspectives of three women: Sarah, Connie, and Anna. Sarah is a London restaurant owner who leaves her husband (after the police start questioning her about his business practices) and returns to her family home to spend more time with her father. She ends up buying an old house to restore, which used to belong to Connie. Connie is the daughter of the former overseer of the old orphanage and … Read More “The Orphan House by Ann Bennett” »