The book is based on
one of the most obliquely sinister poems ever written, “My Last Duchess” by
Robert Browning—one of my favorite poems, so I couldn’t wait to read it.
O’Farrell tells the dark story that Browning only hinted at. I loved the
artistry in this novel—hints, clues, and significant imagery. The plot is so
gripping that I had to race through to discover how this thriller set in
Renaissance Italy would end.
WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.
“I could not stop reading this incredible true story.” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick)
"O’Farrell pulls out little threads of historical detail to weave this story of a precocious girl sensitive to the contradictions of her station...You may know the history, and you may think you…
The really unusual setting for this book is a Ukrainian
village that has been decimated by war and is inhabited by only two people.
It
illustrates the absurdity of war, and it made me think hard about how I would
survive in similar circumstances—living without heat or electricity or contact
with the outside world. It gave me a window into the terrifying circumstances
under which many people are living today.
I found it impossible not to care
about the main character, a simple man who wants to do nothing more than raise
his bees in peace, but is surrounded by conflict and unimaginable loss.
With a warm yet political humor, Ukraine’s most famous novelist presents a balanced and illuminating portrait of modern conflict.
Little Starhorodivka, a village of three streets, lies in Ukraine's Grey Zone, the no-man's-land between loyalist and separatist forces. Thanks to the lukewarm war of sporadic violence and constant propaganda that has been dragging on for years, only two residents remain: retired safety inspector turned beekeeper Sergey Sergeyich and Pashka, a rival from his schooldays. With little food and no electricity, under constant threat of bombardment, Sergeyich's one remaining pleasure is his bees. As spring approaches, he knows he must take…
This historical novel is set in 17th century
Colonial America, and the main character is a runaway servant girl who flees
into the forest from the Jamestown settlement where people are dying of disease
and famine.
I was stunned by Groff’s ability to put herself inside the mind and
body of her sole character, and to imagine with incredible detail the young
woman’s experiences in the wild, some of them horrific and some transcendent.
The actual historical event at Jamestown that inspired the book was a
revelation to me.
'Exhilarating' GUARDIAN 'Her writing has a timeless quality' THE TIMES '[Has] a visionary quality' OBSERVER
A profound and explosive novel about a spirited girl alone in the wilderness, trying to survive
A servant girl escapes from a settlement. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief of everything that her own civilization has taught her.
The Vaster Wilds is a work of raw and prophetic power…
In the year 1012, England’s Norman-born Queen
Emma has been ten years wed to an aging, ruthless, haunted King Æthelred. The marriage is a bitterly unhappy one, between a queen who
seeks to create her own sphere of influence within the court and a suspicious
king who eyes her efforts with hostility and resentment. But royal discord
shifts to grudging alliance when Cnut of Denmark, with the secret collusion of
his English concubine Elgiva, invades England at the head of a massive Viking
army.
Amid the chaos of war, Emma must outwit a fierce enemy whose goal is
conquest and outmaneuver the cunning Elgiva, who threatens all those whom Emma
loves.
