Translator Aylmer Maude, Louise Maude
Publisher: Good Press
War and Peace is a novel interspersed with chapters on history and philosophy by Leo Tolstoy. It narrates the French incursion of Russia, while telling the stories of five Russian upper-class families.
57 BC. The fearsome Belgae have gathered a great army to oppose Rome, and Fronto and the legions assemble once more to take Caesar's war against the most dangerous tribes in the northern world.While the legions battle the Celts in the fiercest war of Caesar's career, the plots and conspiracies against him, both at Rome and among his own army, become ever deeper and more dangerous.Show book
Three engrossing historical novels—in one volume—bring the Plantagenets and the splendor and scheming of twelfth-century Europe to vivid life. In The Fatal Crown, set against the seething political intrigues of twelfth-century Europe, two royal heirs surrender to passion as they vie for the most glittering, treacherous prize of all: the English throne. At twenty-five, the widowed Maud must marry once again, this time to fourteen-year-old Geoffrey Plantagenet. But it is with Stephen of Blois, Maud’s fiercest rival for the British throne, that the headstrong princess discovers the true meaning of desire. In Beloved Enemy, Aquitaine is under the French king’s safekeeping, and Eleanor, the Duke of Aquitaine’s eldest daughter, knows she must wed Prince Louis in order to insure the future of her beloved duchy. Fiercely independent, filled with untapped desire, the woman who would be queen must provide Louis VII, her monkish husband, with heirs. But it is young Henry of Anjou who catches Eleanor’s eye—and sets fire to her heart. And in Gilded Cages, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry Plantagenet—whose marriage was born of power, politics, and an all-consuming, fiery love—rule a vast kingdom. At first they work to unify and repair their war-torn lands—before being torn apart by intrigue, adultery, and deadly revenge.Show book
A battle-scarred father. A disillusioned daughter. Can a grieving widower rebuild his splintered family to find peace at last? South Dakota, 1949. WWII veteran John Smith longs for the life he lost after the tragic death of his wife during childbirth. But in the desperation to provide for his two small children, he is manipulated into an unsuitable marriage by a young woman with a dark neurosis. Tormented by his own grief and the ravages of war, John is blind to his children’s turmoil and pain. Washington State, 1964. John’s sixteen-year-old daughter Calla dreams of a life beyond her vindictive stepmother. Forced to care for her younger siblings with a list of household demands larger than she is tall, Calla knows it’s only a matter of time until she can escape the abuse and begin anew at college. But her dreams crumble when her heartless stepmother claims the college fund for her own selfish purposes. As John fears he is too late to stop the war within his home, Calla vows to build a new life worth living. Can John survive the consequences of war on the home front? Can Calla find the strength to rediscover the meaning of family? A Man Called Smith is the heartwarming and heart wrenching story following the life of John Smith. If you like courageous characters and narratives told over multiple generations, then you’ll love Tanya E. Williams’ emotional tale.Show book
What happens when an American girl of Eurasian descent finds herself suddenly immersed in all facets of her Armenian ancestry? “Destiny of Dreams” follows the painfully poignant, true story of a teenager and her grandfather, retracing loving, learning, and terrifying footprints of the past. While survival remains center stage, love and courage must emerge, or all will be both lost and forgotten. The author reveals her Armenian roots in this haunting historical novel, chronicling her family members’ love, strength, and resolve to both survive and thrive in treacherous times. Reflecting the traumas suffered by all people displaced from their original homelands, this Armenian story focuses on one family’s challenge to find light in the dark days of the waning Ottoman Empire. Anyone with the diaspora in their family heritage will relate. Whether thinking of Jewish people from Israel, Africans scattered through slavery, Armenians fleeing annihilation in Turkey, so-called boat people escaping Asia, or Syrians fleeing life-threatening violence in their own nation, humans continue to rise up in the face of the toughest times. Who would emerge from extraordinarily desperate places, and how could they choose to set positive examples of humanity during highly inhumane times? Set in the early 1900s and flashing forward to the 1960s, the story’s themes ring with tolerance and intolerance, dreams and destroyers, family and friends, amidst challenges that eerily parallel life in current judgmental scenarios.Written for Young Adult and Adult audiences, the book contains some explicit descriptions and a couple of disturbing, though not graphic, violent scenes. While not gratuitous, the depictions may be unsuitable for young readers.Show book
Continuing the romantic multigenerational saga by a New York Times–bestselling author whose novels have sold over 100 million copies. The Song of the Siren: Carlotta, the love child of Priscilla Eversleigh and Jocelyn Frinton, grows up in the shadow of war during the reign of Queen Anne. When she’s abducted by the charismatic Jacobite leader Lord Hessenfield, they fall into a passionate affair. After she’s released, the pregnant Carlotta marries to save her daughter Clarissa’s legitimacy, but plunges into reckless affairs with other men—including the man beloved by her half sister, Damaris. Even as the half sisters are torn apart by their passion for the same man, they are bound by their love for Clarissa. The Drop of the Dice: Not unlike her mother, Clarissa Field loses her heart to Jacobite rebel, Dickon Frenshaw. But 1715 England is a dangerous place to be a young woman in love. Dickon is caught and exiled to Virginia, and Clarissa is married off to rakish soldier Lance Clavering. Caught between two men, she must navigate scandal, treachery, and betrayal. As civil strife threatens to ignite revolution, Clarissa is accused of being a spy. She faces a terrible choice, and must transform her life to prepare her daughter, Zipporah, for her legacy. The Adulteress: Happily married, Zipporah Ransome journeys from Clavering Court to her family’s ancestral home in Eversleigh. But at nearby Enderby House, a mysterious place connected to her notorious grandmother Carlotta, Zipporah discovers untapped desires—and the price of their fulfillment. Unable to resist the sensual charms of enigmatic Frenchman Gerard d’Aubigné, Zipporah is swept up in an affair that leaves her with a haunting secret. Soon her life begins to mirror Carlotta’s, as scandal, violence, and deception threaten to destroy her home. No one, especially not Zipporah and her daughter, will be left unscathed.Show book
“A Jewish man flees 1938 Germany only to find a new and unexpected nightmare” in Guatemala, in this tale of dark humor and desperate suspense (Publishers Weekly). In 1938, as Samuel Berkow’s tramp steamer from Germany approaches Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, he is full of hope that he will be able to find a family member and begin to remake his life in the new world. But in this sweltering, chaotic, and hostile port town, he will have to face down many obstacles—including himself—before he can hope to truly escape . . . “Unger’s sharp prose deftly conveys Samuel’s frustrations and confusions as he encounters characters like a troublesome dwarf, a volatile American fruit company manager, a crazed ex-priest, and a friendly telegraph operator who all offer help with one hand but uncertainty with the other.” —Publishers Weekly “Evoking both Kafka and Conrad, Unger’s character study of a broken man in a culture broken by a ravenous corporation makes compelling reading.” —Booklist “Unger’s tale utterly seduces with its mix of the exotic and the familiar.” —Toronto StarShow book
