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The beautiful people : a novel / by Gable, Michelle,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."It's 1961, and for Margo Hightower, everything is about to change. True, her engagement is off, her family has fallen in scandal, and she's completely broke. But she's just been hired as an assistant to photographer Slim Aarons--famous for his vibrant pictures of high society, royalty, and Hollywood stars--and she knows this opportunity is her ticket to something better. From the bright beaches of Acapulco to glitzy parties in New York, Margo is thrown headfirst into the glamorous jet-set world she so covets, observing its ways from behind the camera as Slim's sidekick. There's Jackie Kennedy, Truman Capote and his Swans, a host of Vanderbilts. Beautiful people in beautiful places. But when they land in Palm Beach, a scene with few rules and many riches, the lines between work and play begin to blur. As Margo becomes swept up in the city's social circle--and into a friendship with heiress and rising fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer--the golden life seems increasingly in reach. Until she finds herself entangeled in a complicated web of loyalties and secrets that could bring it all crashing down ... "--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Celebrities; Man-woman relationships; Nineteen sixties; Photographers; Photography; Secrecy; Women photographers;

The stolen book of Evelyn Aubrey / by Burdick, Serena,author.;
When she discovers that her great-great-grandmother was the author Evelyn Aubrey, whose shocking disappearance in 1898 led London society to believe she was murdered, Abigail journeys to England in search of answers, suspecting Evelyn wrote a new chapter of her life to take charge of her future.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Family secrets; Missing persons; Women authors;

Anatomy : a love story / by Schwartz, Dana.;
Hazel Sinnett is a medical student in 19th century Scotland who, after being kicked out because of her gender, works with new attractive acquaintance Jack Currer to procure dead bodies to study, but they soon discover secrets buried in the heart of Edinburgh society.LSC
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Love stories.; Gothic fiction.; Women medical students; Grave robbing; Body snatching; Human dissection; Secrecy; Secret societies;

Project Duchess / by Jeffries, Sabrina.;
The first book in a series set in England in the early 1800s about an oft-widowed mother's grown children, who blaze through society in their quest for the truth about their fathers... and in the process find that love just might conquer all.
Subjects: Romance fiction.; Historical fiction.; Stepfamilies; Parent and adult child; Widows; Man-woman relationships; Inheritance and succession;

Haunted hibiscus / by Childs, Laura,author.;
"Tea maven Theodosia Browning brews up trouble in the latest Tea Shop Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Laura Childs. It is the week before Halloween and Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop, and her tea sommelier, Drayton, are ghosting through the dusk of a cool Charleston evening on their way to the old Bouchard Mansion. Known as the Gray Ghost, this dilapidated place was recently bequeathed to the Heritage Society, and tonight heralds the grand opening of their literary and historical themed haunted house. Though Timothy Neville, the patriarch of the Heritage Society, is not thrilled with the fund-raising idea, it is the perfect venue for his grandniece, Willow French, to sign copies of her new book, Carolina Crimes & Creepers. But amid a parade of characters dressed as Edgar Allan Poe, Lady Macbeth, and the Headless Horseman, Willow's body is suddenly tossed from the third-floor tower room and left to dangle at the end of a rope. Police come screaming in and Theodosia's boyfriend, Detective Pete Riley, is sent to Willow's apartment to investigate. But minutes later, he is shot and wounded by a shadowy intruder. Timothy begs Theodosia to investigate, and shaken by Riley's assault, she readily agrees. Now, she questions members of the Heritage Society and a man who claims the mansion is rightfully his, as well as Willow's book publisher and her fiancé, all while hosting a Sherlock Holmes tea and catering several others. But the Gray Ghost holds many secrets, as do several other key suspects, while this murder mystery plays out on the eve of Halloween"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Recipes.; Browning, Theodosia (Fictitious character); Women detectives; Murder; Tearooms; Tea trade;

The Colony Club : a novel / by Noble, Shelley,author.;
"From New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble comes a thrilling historical novel about the inception of the Colony Club, the first women's club of its kind, set against the dazzling backdrop of Gilded Age New York"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Biographical fiction.; Novels.; De Wolfe, Elsie, 1865-1950; Harriman, Florence Jaffray, 1870-1967; Colony Club (New York, N.Y.); Architects; Interior decorators; Women architects; Women; Women's rights;

The difference / by Endicott, Marina,1958-author.;
From one of our most critically acclaimed and beloved storytellers comes a sweeping novel set on board the Morning Light, a Nova Scotian merchant ship sailing through the South Pacific in 1912. Kay and Thea are half-sisters, separated in age by almost twenty years, but deeply attached. When their stern father dies, Thea returns to Nova Scotia for her long-promised marriage to the captain of the Morning Light. But she cannot abandon her orphaned young sister, so Kay too embarks on a life-changing voyage to the other side of the world. At the heart of The Difference is a crystallizing moment in Micronesia: Thea, still mourning a miscarriage, forms a bond with a young boy from a remote island and takes him on board as her own son. Over time, the repercussions of this act force Kay, who considers the boy her brother, to examine her own assumptions--which are increasingly at odds with those of society around her--about what is forgivable and what is right. Inspired by a true story, Endicott shows us a now-vanished world in all its wonder, and in its darkness, prejudice and difficulty, too. She also brilliantly illuminates our present time through Kay's examination of the idea of "difference"--between people, classes, continents, cultures, customs and species. The Difference is a breathtaking novel by a writer with an astonishing ability to bring past worlds vividly to life while revealing the moral complexity of our own.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Domestic fiction.; Sisters; Life change events; Ocean travel; Interethnic adoption; Difference (Psychology);

The personal librarian / by Benedict, Marie,author.; Murray, Victoria Christopher,author.;
"The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian-who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray. In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white-her complexion is dark because she is African American. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go-for the protection of her family and her legacy-to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Greene, Belle da Costa; Pierpont Morgan Library; African American women; Passing (Identity); Women librarians;

The house of doors : a novel / by Tan, Twan Eng,1972-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."It's 1921, and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert's, comes to stay. Willie Somerset Maugham is one of the greatest writers of his day, but he's beleaguered by an unhappy marriage, ill-health, and business interests that have gone badly awry. He is also struggling to write. The more Lesley's friendship with Willie grows, the more clearly she see him as he is--a man who has no choice but to mask his true self. As Willie prepares to leave and face his demons, Lesley confides secrets of her own, including how she came to know the charismatic Dr. Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighting to overthrow the imperial dynasty of China. And more scandalous still, she reveals her connection to the case of an Englishwoman charged with murder in the Kuala Lumpur courts--a tragedy drawn from fact, and worthy of fiction."--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Biographical fiction.; Gay fiction.; Novels.; Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965; Proudlock, Ethel; Sun, Yat-sen, 1866-1925; Authors, English; Friendship; Gay authors; Gay men; Interpersonal relations; Married people; Secrecy; Triangles (Interpersonal relations);

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies / by Goodman, Alison,author.;
"A high society amateur detective at the heart of Regency London uses her wits and invisibility as an 'old maid' to protect other women in a new and fiercely feminist historical mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Alison Goodman. Lady Augusta Colebrook, "Gus," is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend's goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband. The sisters set out to Caroline's country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. With Lord Evan injured and unconscious, the sisters have no choice but to bring him on their mission to save Caroline. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan. Back in London, Gus can't stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need -- society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Aristocracy (Social class); Kidnapping; Sisters; Twins;