Search:

Results 41 to 50 of 58 | « previous |

Ella A Novel [electronic resource] : by Richards, Diane.aut; cloudLibrary;
In the vein of The Paris Wife and The Personal Librarian comes this debut novel, a magnificent work of “biographical fiction” that reimagines the turbulent and triumphant early years of Ella Fitzgerald, arguably the greatest singer of the twentieth century. When fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald’s mother dies at the height of the Depression in 1932, the teenager goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. When the law finally catches up, the “ungovernable” adolescent is incarcerated in the New York Training School for Girls in upstate New York—a wicked prison infamous for its harsh treatment of inmates, especially Black ones. Determined to be free, Ella escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she is forced to dance for pennies on the street. Looking for a break into show business, Ella draws straws to appear at the Apollo Theater’s Amateur Night on November 21, 1934. Rather than perform a dance routine directly after “The World Famous Edwards Sisters” number, the homeless Ella, wearing men’s galoshes a size too big, risks everything when she decides to sing Judy instead. Four years later, at barely twenty-one, Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America. Diane Richards’ Ella Fitzgerald is inspiring and intriguing—an emotionally rich, psychologically complex character, a flawed mother and wife who struggles with deep emotional scars and trauma and battles racism, sexism, and colorism as she learns to find her voice on the stage. Ella takes us from the brothels, speakeasys, and streets of Depression-era New York City to the grand hotel suites where Ella, now older and wiser, looks back on her life and finally confronts the demons from childhood that torment her. Compelling and rich in historical detail, Ella is a remarkable debut novel about an extraordinary woman.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Contemporary Women; Biographical; Historical; Contemporary Women;
© 2024., HarperCollins,
unAPI

The Royal Windsor secret : a novel / by Wells, Christine,author.;
Could she be the secret daughter of the Prince of Wales? In this dazzling novel, a young woman seeks to discover the truth about her mysterious past. Cleo Davenport has heard the whispers: the murmured conversations that end abruptly the second she walks into a room. Told she was an orphan, she knows the rumour - that her father is none other than the Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne. And at her childhood home at Cairo's Shepheard's Hotel, where royals, rulers, and the wealthy live, they even called her "The Princess.'' But her life is turned upside down when she turns 17. Sent to London under the chaperonage of her very proper aunt, she's told it's time to learn manners and make her debut. But Cleo's life can't be confined to a ballroom. She longs for independence and a career as a jewelry designer for Cartier, but she cannot move forward until she finds out about her past.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Windsor, Edward, Duke of, 1894-1972; Debutantes; Family secrets; Illegitimate children of royalty;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The golden gate / by Chua, Amy,author.;
"Amy Chua's debut novel, The Golden Gate, is a sweeping, evocative, and compelling historical thriller that paints a vibrant portrait of a California buffeted by the turbulent crosswinds of a world at war and a society about to undergo massive change. In Berkeley, California, in 1944, Homicide Detective Al Sullivan has just left the swanky Claremont Hotel after a drink in the bar when a presidential candidate is assassinated in one of the rooms upstairs. A rich industrialist with enemies among the anarchist factions on the far left, Walter Wilkinson could have been targeted by any number of groups. But strangely, Sullivan's investigation brings up the specter of another tragedy at the Claremont, ten years earlier: the death of seven-year-old Iris Stafford, a member of the Bainbridge family, one of the wealthiest in all of San Francisco. Some say she haunts the Claremont still. The many threads of the case keep leading Sullivan back to the three remaining Bainbridge heiresses, now adults: Iris's sister, Isabella, and her cousins Cassie and Nicole. Determined not to let anything distract him from the truth-not the powerful influence of Bainbridges' grandmother, or the political aspirations of Berkeley's district attorney, or the interest of China's First Lady Madame Chiang Kai-Shek in his findings-Sullivan follows his investigation to its devastating conclusion. Chua's page-turning debut brings to life a historical era rife with turbulent social forces and groundbreaking forensic advances, when race and class defined the very essence of power, sex, and justice, and introduces a fascinating character in Detective Sullivan, a mixed race former Army officer who is still reckoning with his own history"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Murder; Presidential candidates; Racially mixed people;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The Hollywood spy / by MacNeal, Susan Elia,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."Maggie Hope is off to Hollywood to solve a crime that hits too close to home--and confront the very evil she thought she had left behind in Europe--as the acclaimed World War II mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Susan Elia MacNeal continues. Los Angeles, 1943. As the Allies beat back the Nazis in the Mediterranean and the United States military slowly closes in on Tokyo, Walt Disney cranks out wartime propaganda and the Cocoanut Grove is alive with jazz and swing each night. But behind this sunny façade lies a darker reality. Somewhere in the lush foothills of Hollywood, a woman floats, lifeless, in the pool of one of California's trendiest hotels. When American-born secret agent and British spy Maggie Hope learns that this woman was engaged to her old flame, John Sterling, and that he suspects her death was no accident, intuition tells her he's right. Leaving London under siege--not to mention flying thousands of miles--is a lot to ask. But John was once the love of Maggie's life . . . and she won't say no. Maggie is shocked to find Los Angeles as divided as Europe itself--the Zoot Suit Riots loom large and the Ku Klux Klan casts a long shadow. As she marvels at the hatred in her home country, she can't help but wonder what it will be like to see her lost love once again. But there is little time to dwell on memories once she starts digging into the case. As she traces a web of deception from the infamous Garden of Allah Hotel to the iconic Carthay Theater, she discovers things aren't always the way things appear in the movies--and the political situation in America is more complicated, and dangerous, than the newsreels would have them all believe"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; Spy fiction.; Hope, Maggie (Fictitious character); Women spies; Undercover operations; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The Wharton plot : a novel / by Fredericks, Mariah,author.;
"New York City, 1911. Edith Wharton, almost equally famed for her novels and her sharp tongue, is bone-tired of Manhattan. Finding herself at a crossroads with both her marriage and her writing, she makes the decision to leave America, her publisher, and her loveless marriage. And then, dashing novelist David Graham Phillips - a writer with often notorious ideas about society and women's place in it - is shot to death outside the Princeton Club. Edith herself met the man only once, when the two formed a mutual distaste over tea in the Palm Court of the Belmont hotel. When Phillips is killed, Edith's life takes another turn. His sister is convinced Graham was killed by someone determined to stop the publication of his next book, which promised to uncover secrets that powerful people would rather stayed hidden. Though unconvinced, Edith is curious. What kind of book could push someone to kill? Inspired by a true story, The Wharton Plot follows Edith Wharton through the fading years of the Gilded Age in a city she once loved so well, telling a taut tale of fame, love, and murder, as she becomes obsessed with solving a crime"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Biographical fiction.; Novels.; Phillips, David Graham, 1867-1911; Wharton, Edith, 1862-1937; Murder; Women authors;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Evergreen / by Hirahara, Naomi,1962-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."Los Angeles, 1946: It's been two years since Aki Ito and her family were released from Manzanar detention center and resettled in Chicago with other Japanese Americans. Now the Itos have finally been allowed to return home to California--but nothing is as they left it. The entire Japanese American community is starting from scratch, with thousands of people living in dismal refugee camps while they struggle to find new houses and jobs in over-crowded Los Angeles. Aki is working as a nurse's aide at the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights when an elderly Issei man is admitted with suspicious injuries. When she seeks out his son, she is shocked to recognize her husband's best friend, Babe Watanabe. Could Babe be guilty of elder abuse? Only a few days later, Little Tokyo is rocked by a murder at the low-income hotel where the Watanabes have been staying. When the cops start sniffing around Aki's home, she begins to worry that the violence tearing through her community might threaten her family. What secrets have the Watanabes been hiding, and can Aki protect her husband from getting tangled up in their mess?"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Communities; Japanese Americans; Murder; Secrecy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Stella / by Würger, Takis,1985-author.; Schillinger, Liesl,translator.; translation of:Würger, Takis,1985-Stella.English.;
"In 1942, Friedrich, an even-keeled but unworldly young man, arrives in Berlin from bucolic Switzerland with dreams of becoming an artist. At a life drawing class, he is hypnotized by the beautiful model, Kristin, who soon becomes his energetic yet enigmatic guide to the bustling and cosmopolitan city, escorting him to underground jazz clubs where they drink cognac, dance, and kiss. The war feels far away to Friedrich, who falls in love with Kristin as they spend time together in his rooms at the Grand Hotel, but as the months pass, the mood in the city darkens as the Nazis tighten their hold on Berlin, terrorizing any who are deemed foes of the Reich. One day, Kristin comes back to Friedrich's rooms in tears, battered and bruised. She tells him that her real name is Stella, and that she is Jewish, passing for Aryan. More disturbing still, she has troubling connections with the Gestapo that Friedrich does not fully understand. As Friedrich confronts Stella's unimaginable choices, he finds himself woefully unprepared for the history he is living through. Based in part on a real historical character, Stella sets a tortured love story against the backdrop of wartime Berlin, and powerfully explores questions of naiveté, young love, betrayal, and the horrors of history"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Goldschlag, Stella; World War, 1939-1945; Man-woman relationships;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Cooking for Picasso : a novel / by Aubray, Camille,author.;
"For readers of Paula McLain, Nancy Horan, and Melanie Benjamin, this captivating novel is inspired by a little-known interlude in the artist's life. The French Riviera, spring 1936: It's off-season in the lovely seaside village of Juan-les-Pins, where seventeen-year-old Ondine cooks with her mother in the kitchen of their family-owned Cafe Paradis. A mysterious new patron who's slipped out of Paris and is traveling under a different name has made an unusual request--to have his lunch served to him at thenearby villa he's secretly rented, where he wishes to remain incognito. Pablo Picasso is at a momentous crossroads in his personal and professional life--and for him, art and women are always entwined. The spirited Ondine, chafing under her family's authority and nursing a broken heart, is just beginning to discover her own talents and appetites. Her encounter with Picasso will continue to affect her life for many decades onward, as the great artist and the talented young chef each pursue their own passions and destiny. New York, present day: Celine, a Hollywood makeup artist who's come home for the holidays, learns from her mother, Julie, that Grandmother Ondine once cooked for Picasso. Prompted by her mother's enigmatic stories and the hint of more family secrets yet to be uncovered, Celine carries out Julie's wishes and embarks on a voyage to the very town where Ondine and Picasso first met. In the lush, heady atmosphere of the Côte d'Azur, and with the help of several eccentric fellow guests attending a rigorous cooking class at her hotel, Celine discovers truths about art, culture, cuisine, and love that enable her to embrace her own future. Featuring an array of both fictional characters and the French Riviera's most famous historical residents,set against the breathtaking scenery of the South of France, Cooking for Picasso is a touching, delectable, and wise story, illuminating the powers of trust, money, art, and creativity in the choices that men and women make, as they seek a path toward love, success, and joie de vivre."--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973; Women cooks; Cooking;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The Hazelbourne ladies motorcycle and flying club : a novel / by Simonson, Helen,author.;
"Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Her mother has just passed away, her brother is newly married, and now that the Great War is over, she has been asked to give up managing the estate she helped to run when the men all joined the army. It is suggested to her that she become a governess. But first, she will act as caretaker to Mrs. Fog, an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside resort. Constance is soon swept up in the social whirl of the Meredith Hotel and its colorful inhabitants, most notably, Poppy Wirrall. Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and manages a ladies' motorcycle club. She and her friends welcome Constance into their circle, despite the differences in their stations-Poppy is, for all her empowered modernity, the daughter of a land-owning gentleman, while Constance has only weeks before she must find a position and a home. Constance soon learns, however, that not everything is as it seems in this pocket of English high society. As her connection to this new group deepens and she makes a powerful impression on Poppy's recalcitrant but handsome brother-a former fighter pilot who recently lost a leg in battle-old secrets come to light. Soon, the women are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are likely to be revoked as the country settles into a hard-won peace"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Bildungsromans.; Novels.; Man-woman relationships; Motorcycle taxi drivers; Motorcycles; Sex role; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The other side of silence / by Kerr, Philip,author.;
"Once I'd been a good detective in Kripo, but that was a while ago, before the criminals wore smart gray uniforms and nearly everyone locked up was innocent. Being a Berlin cop in 1942 was a little like putting down mousetraps in a cage full of tigers. The war is over. Bernie Gunther, our sardonic former Berlin homicide detective and unwilling SS officer, is now living on the French Riviera. It is 1956 and Bernie is the go-to guy at the Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, the man you turn to for touring tips or if you need a fourth for bridge. As it happens, a local writer needs just that, someone to fill the fourth seat in a regular game that is the usual evening diversion at the Villa Mauresque. Not just any writer. Perhaps the richest and most famous living writer in the world: W. Somerset Maugham. And it turns out it is not just a bridge partner that he needs; it's some professional advice. Maugham is being blackmailed--perhaps because of his unorthodox lifestyle. Or perhaps because of something in his past, because once upon a time, Maugham worked for the British secret service, and the people now blackmailing him are spies. As Gunther fans know, all roads lead back to the viper's nest that was Hitler's Third Reich and to the killing fields that spread like a disease across Europe. Even in 1956, peace has not come to the continent: now the Soviets have the H-bomb and spies from every major power feel free to make all of Europe their personal playground"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Mystery fiction.; Gunther, Bernhard (Fictitious character); Private investigators;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Results 41 to 50 of 58 | « previous |