The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey: A Novel by Serena Burdick

 

 The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey: A Novel by Serena Burdick. Park Row Books, 2022. Adult fiction.

   Abigail lives in 2006 California with grandparents. Her mother died when she was younger and she never knew her father. She feels at odds with herself and her future. When she finds hidden information about her family, she goes to England to the manor house where apparently her great great grandmother disappeared in the early 1900's. Was Evelyn Aubrey really murdered by by her husband, a famous author, as London society at the time believed? In the quest for more information, Abby learns more about her family and herself.

The King's Pleasure: A Novel of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

 

 The King's Pleasure: A Novel of Henry VIII by Alison Weir. Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, 202. Historical fiction.

    While Alison Weir has focused prior works on the six wives of English ruler Henry VIII, this hefty novel focuses on the king himself. From childhood, Henry was a golden boy with riches and castles and power at his disposal. The ups and downs of his love life are described in a straight forward manner and readers who are not familiar with his life will easily be caught up-to-date. The difficulties with Wolsey, Cranmer, and More are explored and show how Henry got himself into such troubles with the religious leaders of his day. His quest for a male heir became the dominating focus of his life and it only feels ironic that his daughter Elizabeth I became one of the best and most long lasting monarchs in English history. 

Emily's House: A Novel by Amy Belding Brown

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 Emily's House: A Novel by Amy Belding Brown. Berkley, 2021. Adult historical fiction.

   Although Margaret Maher, at 27, plans to go West to run a boarding house near her brothers, she takes a job as a maid in Amherst, Massachusetts in order to save money for the trip. The job is at the Dickinson home. The years fold into each other as Margaret gets to know the family, especially Emily. Margaret is courted by fellow Irishman Patrick Quinn, but his views on Irish independence frighten Margaret. She ultimately helps save hundreds of poems that Emily Dickinson has written. In this fictional account, Margaret outlives most of the Dickinson family and does finally have her own life. An author's note confirms which characters and events are real and which are made up or changed slightly to move the tale along. Fans of Emily's work will definitely enjoy this addition to stories about the famous reclusive poet.

The Marlow Murder Club: A Novel by Robert Thorogood

 

  The Marlow Murder Club: A Novel by Robert Thorogood. Poisoned Pen Press, 2021, 2022. Originally published in Great Britain. Adult mystery. 

When seventy-seven year old Judith Potts hears a disturbance at a neighbor's, she finds herself enmeshed in a murder investigation. The local vicar's wife and another woman who is a dogwalker by trade also get involved.  The murders continue and Detective Sargeant Tanika Malik finds she can learn a great deal from these witty, smart, women. The small English town of Marlow will never be the same! 

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The Blackhouse: A Novel by Carole Johnstone

 

  The Blackhouse: A Novel by Carole Johnstone. Scribner, 2023. Adult mystery. 

   When Maggie McKay was five years old, she and her mother went to a small island in Scotland. Maggie announced to everyone that a man on Kilmeray had been murdered. The upset and turmoil the little girl caused in the village was enormous. Twenty years later, her mother has just died and Maggie, a journalist, returns to find out what really happened when she was a child.  Many of the people are still there and resent the opening of closed matters. Can Maggie find out what happened without putting herself in danger? Can she manage being bipolar and deal with her own grief? Might she even find love? The storms rage in more than the sea! 

The Body in the Web by Katherine Hall Page

 

 The Body in the Web by Katherine Hall Page. A Faith Fairchild Mystery. William Morrow, 2023. Adult Mystery.

    In her 26th book in this award winning series about a caterer who is the wife of a minister in a small town, it's pandemic time. The children are home and cocooning with their parents. The neighbors are trying to take care of the elderly. And, everyone is learning to Zoom meetings. But, when the local art teacher is targeted in a town meeting online, things are not as they seem. Soon, the woman is discovered dead. Of course, Faith Fairchild knew her well and wants to find out what really happened. 

If you have not been reading Katherine Hall Page, start at the beginning with her very first Faith Fairchild book. Over the years, Faith and her family and friends have become part of our lives. Yes, there's always a murder, but Faith is so friendly and smart and family oriented that we just fall right into the little town of Aleford, Massachusetts. And, since Faith is a caterer, there are always the yummiest recipes at the end of the books! 

I Could Not Do Otherwise: The Remarkable Life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker by Sara Latta

 

I Could Not Do Otherwise: The Remarkable Life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker by Sara Latta. Minneapolis: Zest Books , an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, 2022. Adult nonfiction, biography.

    Best known as a surgeon and a spy for the Union in the American Civil War, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, lived her life on her own terms. She became a doctor when their was little acceptance for women to study medicine. She never wore the corsets and  voluminous skirts of her contemporaries, but wore trousers under short skirts or coats. Dr. Walker broke gender norms and often spoke out about women's and civil rights. She received a Congressional Medal of Honor only to have it stripped away, but she never stopped wearing her medal until her death in 1919. She knew she deserved the honor and she was right.  In 1977, her Congressional Medal of Honor was reinstated. 

    This book not only tells Walker's story, but includes information about other feminists and activists such as Amelia Bloomer, Elizabeth Walker, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Belva Lockwood, and Carrie Nation. It is a primer really about feminism and would make a good introduction for young adults to the times and people covered. 

The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World by Paul Fisher

 

 The Grand Affair: John Singer Sargent in His World by Paul Fisher. Farrar Straus and Giroux, 479 pages.  Adult nonfiction, biography.

   Artist John Singer Sargent, born in the mid 1800's, was part of a family that travelled extensively. Although considered an American by many, he was actually born in Florence and lived some years in and out of other parts of the world. Not really a loner, but really not part of a group, Sargent lived his life on his own terms. By the time he died in April, 1925, he left drawings and paintings that have found their ways into private collections as well as the most prestigious art museums all over the world. Among them and perhaps best known are his large paintings of high society women, but this book shows the depth of his work featuring other nature and other subjects. 

   Fisher has done his research and it shows. (The notes in the back of the book are pages 385-479 and interested readers will find it is a joy to read these details).  Shining lights on much of Sargent's public persona and his rather secretive private life, the author manages to, forgive the pun, paint a more well rounded picture of Sargent's life than has been available in the past. Included are many illustrations of Sargent's works. It is illuminating to read about many of them in detail and then see the works themselves. Fisher clearly show how the world was changing and how the art world changed, too.