HONOLULU by Alan Brennert
At least at the beginning of the 20th century, Korean fathers prized their male children as they would carry on the family name. Female children, whose sole purpose is to serve their brothers, fathers and husbands, languish without an education. This partly explains how the protagonist in this novel, HONOLULU, was named Regret. Not satisfied with her lot, Regret longs to read, write, learn English and not live in the shadow of her male family members.
May 22, 2009
Tags: 1920s, Diaspora, Honolulu, immigration, Time Period Posted in: 20th Century, Award Winning Author, Book Club Choice, Facing History, Fiction based on Time Period, Hawaii, Multicultural, immigration 
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CABAL OF THE WESTFORD KNIGHT by David S. Brody
Did Templar Knights come to America a hundred years before Columbus? Was their Scot leader, Prince Henry Sinclair, entrusted with a sacred treasure he determined to keep safe in the New World? Did his second-in-command, Sir James, die during their exploration of the territories now within the northwest corridor of the U.S. and lower Canada? Was that dead knight’s grave much more than merely a memorial to him? What happened to Prince Henry?
April 18, 2009
Tags: Templar, Thriller, Time Period Posted in: 14th Century, NE & New York No Comments
REVELATION by C. J. Sansom
C. J. Sansom’s Revelation takes place in 1543, a tumultuous year in English history. Religious fanaticism is on the rise among Protestants and Catholics alike; Henry VIII, who is ailing, has been urging Lady Catherine Parr to become his sixth wife, but she is reluctant to accept his proposal; the chasm between rich and poor is huge, with filthy, starving, and often mentally ill beggars crowding the thoroughfares…In this, the fourth installment in Sansom’s splendid series, the narrator, forty-year old lawyer Matthew Shardlake, seems to have finally found peace of mind.
April 16, 2009
Tags: Mystery, Time Period Posted in: Lawyer, Sleuth Series, Tudor, murder mystery No Comments
