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Sun of blood and ruin / by Lares, Mariely,author.;
In sixteenth-century New Spain, witchcraft is punishable by death, indigenous temples have been destroyed, and tales of mythical creatures that once roamed the land have become whispers in the night. Hidden behind a mask, Pantera uses her magic and legendary swordplay skills to fight the tyranny of Spanish rule. To all who know her, Leonora de las Casas Tlazohtzin never leaves the palace and is promised to the heir of the Spanish throne. The respectable, law-abiding Lady Leonora faints at the sight of blood and would rather be caught dead than meddle in court affairs. No one suspects that Leonora and Pantera are the same person. Leonora's charade is tragically good, and with magic running through her veins, she is nearly invincible. Nearly. Despite her mastery, she is destined to die young in battle, as predicted by a seer. When an ancient prophecy of destruction threatens to come true, Leonora -- and therefore Pantera -- is forced to decide: surrender the mask or fight to the end. Knowing she is doomed to a short life, she is tempted to take the former option. But the legendary Pantera is destined for more than an early grave, and once she discovers the truth of her origins, not even death will stop her.
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Novels.; Magic; Man-woman relationships; Prophecies; Vigilantes; Vigilantes; Witches; Women heroes; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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House of Hunger / by Henderson, Alexis,author.;
"WANTED: Bloodmaid of exceptional taste. Must have a keen proclivity for life's finer pleasures. Girls of weak will need not apply. A young woman is drawn into the upper echelons of a society where blood is power in this dark and enthralling gothic novel from the author of The Year of the Witching. Marion Shaw has been raised in the slums, where want and deprivation is all she knows. Despite longing to leave the city and its miseries, she has no real hope of escape until the day she spots a peculiar listing in the newspaper seeking a bloodmaid. Though she knows little about the far north-where wealthy nobles live in luxury and drink the blood of those in their service-Marion applies to the position. In a matter of days, she finds herself the newest bloodmaid at the notorious House of Hunger. There, Marion is swept into a world of dark debauchery-and at the center of it all is her. Countess Lisavet, who presides over this hedonistic court, is loved and feared in equal measure. She takes a special interest in Marion. Lisavet is magnetic, and Marion is eager to please her new mistress. But when her fellow bloodmaids begin to go missing in the night, Marion is thrust into a vicious game of cat and mouse. She'll need to learn the rules of her new home-and fast-or its halls will soon become her grave"--
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Vampire fiction.; Novels.; Demonology; Good and evil; Nobility; Vampires; Women household employees;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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An indiscreet princess : a novel of Queen Victoria's defiant daughter / by Blalock, Georgie,1974-author.;
As the fourth daughter of the perpetually in-mourning Queen Victoria, Princess Louise's life is more a gilded prison than a fairy tale. Expected to sit quietly next to her mother with down-cast eyes, Louise vows to escape the stultifying royal court. Blessed with beauty, artistic talent, and a common touch, she creates a life outside the walled-in existence of the palace grounds by attending the National Art Training School--where she shockingly learns to sculpt nude models while falling passionately in love with famed sculptor Joseph Edgar Boehm.But even as Louise cultivates a life outside the palace, she is constantly reminded that even royal rebels must heed the call of duty--and for a princess that means marriage. Refusing to leave England, she agrees to a match with the Duke of Argyll, and although her heart belongs to another, she is determined to act out her public role perfectly, even if her private life teeters on the brink of scandal. But when a near fatal accident forces Louise back under her mother's iron rule, she realizes she must choose: give in to the grief of lost love or find the strength to fight for her unconventional life.
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Louise, Princess, Duchess of Argyll, 1848-1939; Courts and courtiers; Man-woman relationships; Nobility; Princesses;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Emperor of Rome : ruling the ancient Roman world / by Beard, Mary,1955-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome, from its slightly shabby Iron Age origins to its reign as the undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean. Now, drawing on more than thirty years of teaching and writing about Roman history, Beard turns to the emperors who ruled the Roman Empire, beginning with Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) and taking us through the nearly three centuries--and some thirty emperors--that separate him from the boy-king Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Yet Emperor of Rome is not your typical chronological account of Roman rulers, one emperor after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius. Instead, Beard asks different, often larger and more probing questions: What power did emperors actually have? Was the Roman palace really so bloodstained? What kind of jokes did Augustus tell? And for that matter, what really happened, for example, between the emperor Hadrian and his beloved Antinous? Effortlessly combining the epic with the quotidian, Beard tracks the emperor down at home, at the races, on his travels, even on his way to heaven. Along the way, Beard explores Roman fictions of imperial power, overturning many of the assumptions that we hold as gospel, not the least of them the perception that emperors one and all were orchestrators of extreme brutality and cruelty. Here Beard introduces us to the emperor's wives and lovers, rivals and slaves, court jesters and soldiers, and the ordinary people who pressed begging letters into his hand--whose chamber pot disputes were adjudicated by Augustus, and whose budgets were approved by Vespasian, himself the son of a tax collector. With its finely nuanced portrayal of sex, class, and politics, Emperor of Rome goes directly to the heart of Roman fantasies (and our own) about what it was to be Roman at its richest, most luxurious, most extreme, most powerful, and most deadly, offering an account of Roman history as it has never been presented before."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Emperors; Emperors;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Kingdom of shadow and light / by Moning, Karen Marie,author.;
"MacKayla Lane faces the ultimate threat when war breaks out between the kingdoms of shadow and light, as the #1 New York Times bestselling Fever series races to an explosive revelation. From the moment MacKayla Lane arrived in Dublin to hunt her sister's murderer, she's had to fight one dangerous battle after the next: to survive, to secure power, to keep her city safe, to protect the people she loves. The matter of who's good and who's evil can be decided by the answer to a single question: Whose side are you on? Now, as High Queen of the Fae, Mac faces her greatest challenge yet: ruling the very race she was born to hunt and kill--a race that wants her dead yesterday, so they can put a pure-blooded Fae queen on the throne. But challenges with her subjects are the least of her concerns when an ancient, deadly foe resurfaces, changing not only the rules of the game but the very game itself, initiating a catastrophic sequence of events that have devastating consequences and leave Mac questioning everything she's ever learned and everyone she's ever loved. Now begins an an epic battle between Mortal and Fae, Seelie and Unseelie, would-be kings and would-be queens, with possession of the Unseelie King's virtually unlimited power and the fate of humanity at stake. From the exquisite, deadly gardens of the High Queen's court, to long-forgotten truths found in the Sacred Grove of Creation, from the erotic bed of her enigmatic, powerful lover to the darkest, seductive reaches of the Unseelie kingdom, Mac's final journey takes her places no human has been before, and only one human could possibly survive ... One who's willing to sacrifice everything"--
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Paranormal fiction.; Fairies; Good and evil; Mythology, Celtic;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Prequel : an American fight against Fascism / by Maddow, Rachel,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 327-362) and index."Rachel Maddow traces the fight to preserve American democracy back to World War II, when a handful of committed public servants and brave private citizens thwarted far-right plotters trying to steer our nation toward an alliance with the Nazis. Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens' confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule. That effort worked -- tongue and groove -- alongside an ultra-right paramilitary movement that stockpiled bombs and weapons and trained for mass murder and violent insurrection. At the same time, a handful of extraordinary activists and journalists were tracking the scheme, exposing it even as it was unfolding. In 1941 the U.S. Department of Justice finally made a frontal attack, identifying the key plotters, finding their backers, and prosecuting dozens in federal court. None of it went as planned. While the scheme has been remembered in history -- if at all -- as the work of fringe players, in reality it involved a large number of some of the country's most influential elected officials. Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation. That failure of the legal system had consequences. The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades. But the heroic efforts of the activists, journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose the insurrectionists also make for a deeply resonant, deeply relevant tale in our own disquieting times"--
Subjects: Antisemitism; Disinformation; Fascism; National socialism; Nazis; Right-wing extremists; Trials (Sedition); World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Princess of Dune / by Herbert, Brian,author.; Anderson, Kevin J.,author.;
"Set two years before Dune: Princess of Dune is the never-before-told story of two key women in the life of Paul Muad'Dib-Princess Irulan, his wife in name only, and Paul's true love, the Fremen Chani. Both women become central to Paul's galaxy-spanning Imperial reign. Raised in the Imperial court and born to be a political bargaining chip, Irulan was sent at an early age to be trained as a Bene Gesserit Sister. As Princess Royal, she also learned important lessons from her father-the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. Now of marriageable age, Princess Irulan sees the machinations of the many factions vying for power-the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, the Spacing Guild, the Imperial throne, and a ruthless rebellion in the Imperial military. The young woman has a wise and independent streak and is determined to become much more than a pawn to be moved about on anyone's gameboard. Meanwhile, on Arrakis, Chani-the daughter of Liet-Kynes, the Imperial Planetologist who serves under the harsh rule of House Harkonnen-is trained in the Fremen mystical ways by an ancient Reverend Mother. Brought up to believe in her father's ecological dream of a green Arrakis, she follows Liet around to Imperial testing stations, surviving the many hazards of desert life. Chani soon learns the harsh cost of Fremen dreams and obligations under the oppressive boot heel of the long Harkonnen occupation"--
Subjects: Science fiction.; Novels.; Dune (Imaginary place); Life on other planets; Man-woman relationships; Nobility; Princesses;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The case of the married woman : Caroline Norton and her fight for women's justice / by Fraser, Antonia,1932-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Poet, pamphleteer and artist's muse, Caroline Norton dazzled nineteenth-century society with her vivacity and intelligence. After her marriage in 1828 to the MP George Norton, she continued to attract friends and admirers to her salon in Westminster, which included the young Disraeli. Most prominent among her admirers was the widowed Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. Racked with jealousy, George Norton took the Prime Minister to court, suing him for damages on account of his 'Criminal Conversation' (adultery) with Caroline. A dramatic trial followed. Despite the unexpected and sensational result - acquittal - Norton legally denied Caroline access to her three children under seven. He also claimed her income as an author for himself, since the copyrights of a married woman belonged to her husband. Yet Caroline refused to despair. Beset by the personal cruelties perpetrated by her husband and a society whose rules were set against her, she chose to fight, not surrender. She channelled her energies in an area of much-needed reform: the rights of a married woman and specifically those of a mother. Over the next few years she campaigned tirelessly, achieving her first landmark victory with the Infant Custody Act of 1839. Provisions which are now taken for granted, such as the right of a mother to have access to her own children, owe much to Caroline, who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society from the privileged to the dispossessed. Award-winning historian Antonia Fraser brilliantly portrays a woman, at once courageous and compassionate, who refused to be curbed by the personal and political constraints of her time"--Publisher's description.
Subjects: Biographies.; Norton, Caroline Sheridan, 1808-1877.; Authors, English; Women authors, English; Women's rights; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The last grand duchess : a novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and revolution / by Turnbull, Bryn,author.;
Includes bibliographical references.This sweeping novel takes readers behind palace walls to see the end of Imperial Russia through the eyes of Olga Nikolaevna Romanov, the first daughter of the last tsar. Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for the great dynasties of Europe. But even as unrest simmers in the capital, Olga is content to live within the confines of the sheltered life her parents have built for her and her three sisters: hiding from the world on account of their mother's ill health, their brother Alexei's secret affliction, and rising controversy over Father Grigori Rasputin, the priest on whom the tsarina has come to rely. Olga's only escape from the seclusion of Alexander Palace comes from the grand tea parties her aunt hosts amid the shadow court of Saint Petersburg--a world of opulent ballrooms, scandalous flirtation, and whispered conversation. But as war approaches, the palaces of Russia are transformed. Olga and her sisters trade their gowns for nursing habits, assisting in surgeriesand tending to the wounded bodies and minds of Russia's military officers. As troubling rumors about her parents trickle in from the front, Olga dares to hope that a budding romance might survive whatever the future may hold. But when tensions run high and supplies run low, the controversy over Rasputin grows into fiery protest, and calls for revolution threaten to end three hundred years of Romanov rule. At turns glittering and harrowing,The Last Grand Duchessis a story about dynasty, duty, and love, but above all, it's the story of a family who would choose devotion to each other over everything--including their lives.
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1868-1918; Olʹga Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess, daughter of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1895-1918; Romanov, House of;
Available copies: 2 / Total copies: 2
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The maker of swans / by O'Donnell, Paraic,author.;
"In the dead of night, shots ring out over the grounds of a sprawling English estate. The world-weary butler Eustace recognizes the gunman-his longtime employer, Mr. Crowe-and knows he must think and act quickly. Who is the man lying dead on the lawn? Who is the woman in his company? Can he clean up his master's mess like he always has before? Or will this bring a new kind of reckoning? Mr. Crowe was once famed for his gifts-unaccountable gifts, known only to the members of a secretive order. Protected and privileged, he was courted by countesses and great men of letters. But he has long since retreated from that glittering world, living alone but for Eustace and Clara, his mysterious young ward. He has been content to live quietly, his great library gathering dust and his once magnificent gardens growing wild. He has left the past behind. Until now. Because there are rules, even for Mr. Crowe and his kind, that cannot be broken. And this single night of passion and violence will have consequences, stirring shadows from the past and threatening those in his care. He and the faithful Eustace will be tested as never before. So too will Clara, whose own extraordinary gifts remain hidden, even from herself. If she is to save them all, she must learn to use them quickly and unlock the secret of who she is. It is a secret beyond imagining. A secret that will change everything"--
Subjects: Paranormal fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Aristocracy (Social class); Murder; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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