Frank Carlson Library

"An intellectual and emotional jigsaw puzzle of a novel for readers of A.S. Byatt's Possession and Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book. Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with...

In 1863, a young Black woman who embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army crosses paths with a Jewish seamstress who helps her discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save. 1863. In New Orleans Stella, an ingenious young Black woman, embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he...

"It is 1934 and the Depression is bearing down when sixteen-year-old Weldon Avery Holland happens upon infamous criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after one of their notorious armed robberies. A confrontation with the outlaws ends as Weldon puts a bullet through the rear window of Clyde's stolen automobile. Ten years later, Second Lieutenant Weldon Holland and his sergeant, Hershel Pine, escape certain death in the Battle of the Bulge and encounter...

"1955 in New York City: the city of instant coffee, bagels at Katz's Deli, new-fangled TVs. But in the Perlmans' walk-up in Chelsea, the past is as close as the present. Rachel came to Manhattan in a wave of displaced Jews who managed to survive the horrors of war. Her Uncle Fritz fleeing with her, Rachel hoped to find freedom from her pain in New York and in the arms of her new American husband, Aaron. But this child of Berlin and daughter of an...

Astonished when her seemingly devoted husband is found murdered in a prostitute's apartment, Susie, a mother of four-year-old triplets, bristles at her neighbors' mixed reactions and tackles everyone from her husband's partners to the DA to restore her family's honor.

A send-up of "Pride and Prejudice" set in a Florida retirement village follows a circle of retirees on a voyage of love and manners.

"Seventy-nine-year-old Esther Kellerman thinks she has a pretty good life. She plays bridge, reads for her book club, and routinely drives her Cadillac DeVille into the mailboxes of her neighbors. Her latest mailbox mishap leads her to the doorstep of some mysterious new residents of her suburban Columbus, Ohio, subdivision. As she introduces herself to Sarah, the elderly woman who answers the door, Esther soon realizes that there's something wrong...

"Berlin, 1933. Leah and Magda have been inseparable for as long as they can remember, and one beautiful summer's day in their courtyard, they vow nothing will ever come between their friendship. But Leah could never have predicted the darkness looming just around the corner... As Hitler comes to power and the Nazi Party gain even more influence, Magda proudly tells Leah she has decided to join the Hitler Youth. Leah's blood runs cold before she begs...

The Nazi oppression whips up a storm of terror, ripping apart the blood sisters Anna, Bernie, Elica, and Dagna. Desperate to be reunited with her husband, Daniel, Elica walks into the dreaded den of the ruthless Gestapo. She's ready to sacrifice anything for their love. Anna and her family find themselves at the mercy of Anna's heart-throb, Ulf. Ulf's obsession with Anna puts him in a quandary--between his loyalty to the Fuhrer and his burning...

-The rise of the Chicago Blues scene fairly shimmers with verve and intensity, and the large, diverse cast of characters is indelibly portrayed with the perfect pitch of a true artist.---Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue The bestselling author of White Collar Girl and What the Lady Wants explores one woman's journey of self-discovery and love set against the backdrop of a musical and social revolution....