Historical Biographical Fiction

Right before talking pictures slug Tinsel Town in the jaw, a luminous silent screen star converts her private estate into the Garden of Allah Hotel. The lush grounds soon become a haven for Hollywood hopefuls to meet, drink, and revel through the night. George Cukor is in the pool, Tallulah Bankhead is at the bar, and Scott Fitzgerald is sneaking off to a bungalow with Sheilah Graham while Madame Alla Nazimova keeps watch behind her lace curtains.

From author Kimberly Cutter comes the story of Jehanne d'Arc-the girl who led an army, the peasant who crowned a king, and the maid who became a legend.

Nancy Moser spotlights Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her struggle for love against all odds. Long confined by baffling ailments, Elizabeth dispels her gloom throughBible meditation, prayer, and writing. But as she and a kind gentleman exchange letters in 1845, his fondness for her poetry takes an unexpected turn - inspiring her secret sonnets and dreams.

A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law—a prosecutor and a madam—who team up to bring down notorious mob boss Lucky Luciano in 1930s New York, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian. Eunice Carter...

A scandalous affair. A power struggle for the throne. A sensational rivalry between an English queen and an American social climber. In this electrifying novel, the New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue tells the story of the Abdication of Edward VIII—and the two women...

Summer, 1926. Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Hadley, take refuge from the blazing heat of Paris in a villa in the south of France. They swim and play bridge, and drink gin with abandon. But wherever they go they are accompanied by the glamorous and irrepressible Fife. Fife is Hadley's best friend. She is also Ernest's lover. Hadley is the first Mrs. Hemingway, but neither she nor Fife will be the last. Each Mrs. Hemingway thought their love would last forever; each one was wrong.

Dorothy Draper has one last chance to prove she chose the right course for her life. With the restoration of The Greenbrier resort at her fingertips, Dorothy aspires to give new life to a place that’s sentimental to her, and to bring a new spark to interior design. In 1908, young Dorothy...

Chicago, 1920s: Movie starlet Silver Dollar Tabor's glittering life shatters after a brutal attack awakens a hidden self. Plunging into the city's dangerous underworld of burlesque speakeasies, she blurs the lines between ambition and destruction, testing her love for screenwriter Carl. This Jazz Age, Prohibition-era tale explores the dark side of fame and the fragility of identity.

Winner, Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Fiction Vine National Canadian Jewish Book Awards (Fiction), Shortlist Inspired by the true story of a dangerous atomic weapon and the man who designed it, here is a stunning novel of morality, creation, and loss from the acclaimed author of The Honey...

Charlotte learns the truth behind the execution of the Royal Romanov family of Russia, revealed to her by the surviving grandson of Tsar Nicholas II, the last full blood Prince of Russia. One of the World's biggest mysteries and tragic events is uncovered after a century of numerous speculations. She must face the threats and dangers from the governments in power wanting to keep the truth hidden. Should she tell the world the secrets being buried or stay silent as the shadow group behind the Monarchies of Europe insists?

Beginning in 1930s Germany and based on their real lives, four cousins as close as siblings—Bettina, Trudi, Gustav, and Gertrud—share the experiences of the young, including first loves, marriages, and children. Bettina, the oldest, struggles to help her parents with their failing business. Trudi dresses in the latest fashions and tries to make everything look beautiful. Gustav is an artist at heart and hopes to one day open a tailoring shop. Gertrud, the youngest, is forced by her parents to keep secrets, but that doesn’t stop her from chasing boys.

Night after night jostling crowds clamour for entry to Edinburgh’s Theatre Royal with one name on their lips: the Real Mackay. But who is he? The answer leaps out of this meticulously researched historical novel which plunges the listener into the weird and wonderful golden era of Scottish national drama, seen through the eyes of Charles Mackay and his family.

Der isländische Dichter Jónas Hallgrímsson gilt als das größte Talent seiner Generation. Als er 1845 im fernen Kopenhagen nach einem schweren Sturz ins Hospital muss, ahnt er, dass seine Tage gezählt sind. Viele Menschen, Gelehrte, Dichter und Politiker besuchen ihn, und so erlebt Jónas auf dem Krankenbett noch einmal sein bewegtes Leben. Er erinnert sich an þóra, seine große, unerfüllte Liebe, und an das dramatische Schicksal seines Jugendfreundes, des Hirtenjungen Keli, der einst im Hörgárdalur in Nordisland spurlos verschwand.

London, 1987: Als Rose den Nachlass ihrer Mutter sichtet, entdeckt sie, dass diese ein Adoptivkind war. Bei der Recherche nach ihrer Herkunft stößt Rose auf einen Hinweis, der sie zu einem von Anna Freuds Kriegswaisenhäusern führt. Dort betreut 1945 die aus Wien geflüchtete Jüdin Helen sechs Kinder aus Theresienstadt, nicht ahnend, dass sie mit einem kleinen Mädchen schicksalhaft verbunden ist. Erst Jahrzehnte später wird Rose die dramatische Wahrheit herausfinden und erkennen, dass in ihr die Geschichte einer bedingungslosen Freundschaft weiterlebt.

This Splash Read collection includes eight historical fiction short stories about S.T.E.M. pioneers. The stories are "Mary Jackson Builds a Wind Tunnel", "Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Crushes Smallpox", "Caroline and William Herschel Explore the Stars", "George Dantzig and the Unsolvable Problem", "Albert Einstein Teaches Himself Math", "Neil Armstrong and Popsicle Sticks", "Arthur Fry Invents Post-It Notes", and "Notch Learns to Code".

Er galt als das bestgehütete Geheimnis der Bundesrepublik: der Bunker der Bundesregierung. Abgeschirmt von der Öffentlichkeit, tief in den Weinbergen an der Ahr, plante man den Fall "Rot". Ein neunzehn Kilometer langes Tunnelsystem war bereit, im Ernstfall den führenden Politikern des Landes Zuflucht vor dem Atomkrieg zu bieten. Von hier aus sollten zehntausend Beamte Deutschland weiterregieren. Als Reporter hat sich Michael Preute im Jahr 1983 aufgemacht, um die Geheimnisse dieses Bauwerks zu lüften. Er kam in die Eifel und ging nicht mehr von hier fort.

Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling. But oh...

It is December, 1648, and England faces one of the greatest crises in its history. Bands of renegade soldiers and broken men roam the countryside, looting, burning, and raping. In Parliament, former allies are torn apart after six years of bloody conflict. John Swynfen, a rising young MP and one of the leaders of the moderate party, is working for peace, but only if safeguards can be established to protect Parliament and control the powers of the king. Ranged against him and his friends are Oliver Cromwell and his son-in-law Henry Ireton, intent on seizing power by the sword.

David and Sara Kirke live in a time of upheaval under the reign of King Charles I, who gives, then takes. He gives David the nod of approval to range up and down the French Canadian shores, burning colonies and pillaging ships that are loaded with goods meant for the French. When Louis XIII of France shouts his outrage, King Charles reneges. He takes David’s prizes and returns them to the French, putting David and his family in dire straits. Undeterred, David and Sara will not be denied. After years, the king relents.

The Quest of the Fish-Dog Skin is a story of the adventures of two Indian boys or, rather, of an Indian boy and a white boy, Indian. These two set forth from the lodges of the Blackfeet, in company with an older Indian who acts as their guide, philosopher, and friend, on a far quest to the salt water to find the medicine-animal that is called "fish-dog" because it lives only in the water, swimming like a fish, yet has the face of a dog and barks like a dog.