Bridge of Scarlet Leaves

Kristina McMorris

Summary

An “impeccably researched and beautifully written” novel about a California marriage threatened by the Japanese internments of WWII (Karen White, New York Times–bestselling author of The Sound of Glass). Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern’s life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother’s best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy. Maddie follows when her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America—at tremendous cost—in this “beautiful, timeless love story . . . McMorris’ words reach right off the page and grab at your heart” (Sarah Jio, New York Times–bestselling author of Blackberry Winter). “Readers of World War II fiction will devour [this] poignant, authentic story.” —Jenna Blum “This gripping story about two ‘brothers’ in arms and a young woman caught in between them hits all the right chords.” —Publishers Weekly “A sweeping yet intimate novel that will please both romantics and lovers of American history.” —Kirkus Reviews

Available since: 02/28/2012.

Other books that might interest you

In Dependence

Sarah Ladipo Manyika

In the early 60s, Tayo Ajayi sails to England from Nigeria to take up a scholarship at Oxford University. There he discovers a whole generation high on visions of a new and better world. He meets Vanessa Richardson, the beautiful daughter of a former colonial officer. Their story, which spans four decades, is a bittersweet tale of a brave but doomed affair and the universal desire to fall truly, madly, and deeply in love.A lyrical and moving story of unfulfilled love fraught with the weight of history, race, and geography and intertwined with questions of belonging, aging, faith, and family secrets, In Dependence explores the complexities of contemporary Africa, its Diaspora, and its interdependence with the rest of the world.

Show book

Disoriental

Négar Djavadi

National Book Award Finalist: “A multigenerational epic of the Sadr family’s life in Iran and their eventual exile . . . Full of surprises” (The Globe and Mail).Winner of the 2019 Albertine Prize and Lambda Literary Award Kimiâ Sadr fled Iran at the age of ten in the company of her mother and sisters to join her father in France. Now twenty-five and facing the future she has built for herself, as well as the prospect of a new generation, Kimiâ is inundated by her own memories and the stories of her ancestors, which come to her in unstoppable, uncontainable waves. In the waiting room of a Parisian fertility clinic, generations of flamboyant Sadrs return to her, including her formidable great-grandfather Montazemolmolk, with his harem of fifty-two wives, and her parents, Darius and Sara, stalwart opponents of each regime that befalls them. It is Kimiâ herself—punk-rock aficionado, storyteller extraordinaire, a Scheherazade of our time, and above all a modern woman divided between family traditions and her own “disorientalization”—who forms the heart of this bestselling and beloved novel, recipient of numerous literary honors.   “Where initially Disoriental seems focused on Kimiâ’s father and his pro-democracy activism—first against the Shah, then the Ayatollah Khomeini—this is truly Kimiâ’s story of disorientation—national, familial and sexual—and finding herself again.” —The Globe and Mail “A tour de force of storytelling . . . Djavadi deftly weaves together the history of 20th-century Iran [and] the spellbinding chronicle of her own ancestors. . . . Perfectly blends historical fact with contemporary themes.” —Library Journal “Riveting . . . Djavadi is an immensely gifted storyteller, and Kimiâ’s tale is especially compelling.” —Booklist (starred review) “A wonder and a pleasure to read.” —Rivka Galchen, author of Atmospheric Disturbances   WINNER 2019 ALBERTINE PRIZE WINNER 2019 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST 2019 CLMP FIRECRACKER AWARD FINALIST 2019 BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD WINNER LE PRIX DU ROMAN NEWS WINNER STYLE PRIZE WINNER 2016 LIRE BEST DEBUT NOVEL WINNER LA PORTE DORÉE PRIZE ONE OF THE GLOBE & MAIL’S BEST BOOKS OF 2018

Show book

The Point of Honor

Joseph Conrad

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, this story features two French Hussar officers, D'Hubert and Feraud. Their quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter, long-drawn out struggle over the following fifteen years, interwoven with the larger conflict that provides its backdrop. At the beginning, Feraud is the one who jealously guards his honor and repeatedly demands satisfaction anew when a duelling encounter ends inconclusively; he aggressively pursues every opportunity to locate and duel his foe. As the story progresses, D'Hubert also finds himself caught up in the contest, unable to back down or walk away. This Conrad short story evidently has its genesis in the real duels that two French Hussar officers fought in the Napoleonic era. Their names were Dupont and Fournier, which Conrad disguised slightly, changing Dupont into D'Hubert and Fournier into Feraud. In 1977, it was turned into a movie, "The Duellists", starring Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel. (summary adapted from Wikipedia)

Show book

Barnaby Rudge (version 2)

Charles Dickens

One of the two Historical novels Charles Dickens wrote, Barnaby Rudge is set around the ‘Gordon’ riots in London in 1780. The story begins in 1775 with Barnaby, his Mother, and his talking Raven Grip, fleeing their home from a blackmailer, and going into hiding. Joe Willet similarly finds he must leave his home to escape his Father’s ire, leaving behind the woman he loves. Five years later these characters, and many others whose lives we have followed, find themselves caught up in the horrific Protestant rioting led by Sir George Gordon. The mob which reaches 100,000 strong, gets out of hand, and there is danger to all in the path of their destruction. Charles Dickens skillfully weaves the lives of his many loving and many wicked characters through the rioting, and shows how this uprising changes so many lives. As a side note, Edgar Allan Poe is said to have been inspired by Barnaby’s raven Grip when he wrote his famous poem,”The Raven”.(Summary by Mil Nicholson)

Show book

After the Funeral - A Hercule...

Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot is called on to investigate the murder of a brother and sister, in this classic Agatha Christie mystery now available in an updated edition with a foreword Sophie Hannah. 
 “He was murdered, wasn’t he?” 
When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered, the extraordinary remark she had made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard’s will, Cora was clearly heard to say, “It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it. But he was murdered, wasn’t he?” 
Did Cora’s accusation a dark truth that sealed her own fate? Or are the siblings’ deaths just tragic coincidences? 
Desperate to know the truth, the Lansquenet’s solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery. For even after the funeral, death isn’t finished yet . . .

Show book

Persuasion

Jane Austen

Jane Austens last ever published work, Persuasion is a tale reconnection, romance and the virtues of maturity.When mature and sensible Anne Elliot's spendthrift father: The Baronet Walter Elliot of Kellynch Hall is forced to rent the property and relocate to Bath due to his arrears, Anne is surprised that the tenant is married to the sister of Captain Frederick Wentworth, a man whom she had been persuaded to break off her engagement with eight years ago.Inevitably this brings the man she had thought forever lost to her back into her personal circle, can she reclaim a love she thinks lost? Will she even try?Narrated by Michael Ward.

Show book