Historical Fiction Well

1931. Fifteen-year-old Kate witnesses her mother, Millicent, push a stranger from a station platform into the path of an oncoming train. There was no warning, seemingly no reason and absolutely no remorse. 1940. Exactly nine years later, Kate returns to the station and notices a tramp laying flowers on the exact spot that the murder was committed; the identity of the victim still remains unknown.

As the Civil War swirls closer to her home in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, 13-year-old India Moody is tutored by a young scholar who sparks her interest in biology, chemistry, and college. But when India's father goes missing, she searches for him on the ghastly Antietam battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland.

Introduce your children to the magic of Shakespeare with these 20 favorite tales. Although simplified, these lively stories don't underestimate young readers; they keep the complexity, twists of plot, and turns of fate found in the originals.

“The Gimmicks is a gorgeous epic that astounds with its scope and beauty. With empathy and humor, McCormick unravels the ties between brotherhood and betrayal, love and abandonment, and the fictions we create to live with the pain of the past. This novel will blow you away.”—Brit Bennett...

In the dark shadow of the Prophecy Mountains lies the ramshackle town of Rattlesnake Wells, where dreamers come to make their fortunes, and desperados come to die. The streets of this little settlement are slick with mud and stained with blood, and it will fall to Bob Hatfield to sweep them clean. The town marshal, Hatfield has a young man’s face, but his eyes are those of a killer. He is a good man, but he has a secret that weighs on his soul.

Abigail Walker, a young woman from rural South Carolina, is on the cusp of womanhood, aching to be able to run wild as the younger children do, yet yearning for things she has yet to understand. Awkward and unsure of herself, Abby is flustered when she meets Harvey Nicholas, a cadet from Clemson College. As summer begins, Abby finds herself constantly in the company of Harvey and falling quickly in love with him. But as rumors of war begin to reach the States, Abby begins to fear what may come for her older brother and Harvey.

All alone in a girls’ school in Bath. This is not how Frances Littleworth imagined she’d celebrate Christmas. But when a handsome stranger unexpectedly collapses on the doorstep, the kind-hearted schoolteacher decides to take him in and nurse him back to health. At least it won’t feel quite so lonesome on Christmas, with this fever-garbling stranger to tend to. When the grateful but mysterious convalescent insists she hire him as a drawing master, Frances hesitates. For this man’s flirtatious charm is a dangerous threat to the careful order of her life—and her well-guarded heart.

Bluebell was sold to Victoria Knight, a well-known Storyville madam, at the tender age of eleven. Now at 19, Bell is numbed to her life - until an optimistic preacher named Teddy Sullivan comes to New Orleans, intent on saving the sinful souls of the South. Teddy is instantly drawn to the petite brunette with sad eyes and longs to rescue her. Bell, however, decides that saving her friends from selling themselves in the Storyville cribs is more important than saving herself.

It is the summer of 1898. Professor Concordia Wells is eager to accompany her friend, Pinkerton Detective Penelope Hamilton, on a cross-country train trip to San Francisco. But Concordia should know there is no such thing as a free ride. When the Pinkerton Agency switches assignments at the last minute, she and Miss Hamilton have their work cut out for them. Fellow passengers prove to be both help and hindrance: a lady reporter in hiding, a con man...and a corpse or two.

In this audiobook, master storyteller Jim Weiss introduces young listeners to some of the most fascinating people and events of the Middle Ages. Attila the Hun makes an empire shake with fear. Sir William Marshall outfights every opponent - yet shows mercy even to his enemies. Hildegard of Bingen writes beautiful music - and writes advice letters to kings and queens! Muhammad changes the map of the world, and inspires a faith that guides millions of people. Eleanor of Aquitaine fights for power in a world ruled by men. Moses Maimonides heals illnesses of the body and the spirit.

She bought him to work her farm. His obedience taught her to be free. On route to Virginia to answer God’s call to preach, Gabriel Mackenzie is captured by pirates and sold as an indentured servant. Grieving the loss of her family, Mercy Wakefield is not looking for romance; just a strong back and two good hands to work her farm. But, Gabriel’s claims of being taken against his will and his kind manners and good looks chip away at her resolve, and she begins to care about him.

In 1465 a simple pocketful of herbs could get you burned at the stake, but Luccia Alimenti, daughter of one of the legendary women doctors called Salernistas, travels Europe secretly distributing medical texts to midwives and herbalists. Despite dodging the Inquisition and battling the Plague with her beloved Irish godmother, Luccia finds love as well as heartbreak. Pushed to the edge, however, she must use her skill as an archer to rescue women being taken to the pyre.

Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter is rooted not only in the horrific reality of institutional slavery but also in the historical fact of Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings (here represented by the character Currer). In William Wells Brown’s telling, Currer has two daughters by Jefferson, Clotel and Althesa. Both become Jefferson’s legal property when they are born, and both wind up at auction - along with their mother - when Jefferson dies.

H.G. Wells sets forth an intriguing first-hand observation of Italy, France, and Britain under severe duress during the "War to End All Wars," World War I. He insightfully examines the technological effects of modern warfare, particularly the introduction of the tank and aerial bombing on human nature.

Edmund Winters' life has been laid out for him by his ambitious father: he had to do whatever it takes to get away from his trade-bound roots and prove himself every inch a gentleman. If that requires marrying the haughty daughter of a local grandee, a loveless match is a small price to pay for acceptance by the ton. His youthful rebellion long forgotten, he is now planning to carry his late father's plans out. However, these are thrown into disarray when the living, breathing, and captivatingly beautiful reminder of that youthful rebellion arrives in Morwood Hall.

Based on the true life adventures of the charming Swiss nobleman Baron Christoph de Graffenried, and his founding of New Bern, the second oldest town in North Carolina, in 1710, Knight of the Purple Ribbon is filled with drama, romance, and suspense. Penned by his descendant, Jennifer Leigh Wells, this sweeping historic novel follows de Graffenried as he goes from being the reckless black sheep of his illustrious family to the head of a colonial settlement, carved out of the wilderness, with his beautiful, spirited bride at his side.

The Duke and Duchess, with their infant son, are living in a pretty villa on the outskirts of the royal township of Versailles, preparing for Antonia's court presentation. With them is Lord Vallentine—kicked out of his home by his pregnant wife—and Martin Ellicott, who receives news from the Duke that changes his life forever.

Its the summer of 1944 and British soldier Frank Marshall awaits his orders. As he tries his best to forget the war at the local village pub, drinking his favorite pint Archers Ale he meets the young barmaid June Jefferson. They soon fall in love. Unexpectedly, Frank is told his division is heading to Portsmouth for the liberation of Europe.

Listen to the fictionalized account of Kajsa Svensson Runeberg, an emigrant wife who recounts, through her diary, how she and her family built up a farm on the unsettled Kansas prairie from 1868 to 1888. This historical fiction is based on the actual Swedish woman who homesteaded the author's childhood home and is the first of the four book Butter in the Well series.

A story of slaves. Based on fact, embellished in empathy. Main character Nicholas. Born on a plantation in 1767. Taken from his mother aged seven, by his Masters’ worker Barn, who heads up the boys for the Moloch cult. Nicholas is initiated. Seeds are sown for Nicholas to become a deranged psychotic. He has a penchant for white females.