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Tag: historical fiction

Historical Fiction New Release – The Road to Delano

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The Road to Delano
By John DeSimone
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Release Date: March 10, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction

The novel is set in Delano in 1968. Two Delano teenagers are the protagonists, both high school seniors. Jack Duncan dreams of playing college baseball and leaving the political turmoil of the agricultural town Delano behind. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died ten years earlier, he’s suspected that his mother has been hiding the truth from him about the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. With his family’s property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it. On the road, an old friend of his father shows up with evidence that Jack’s father was murdered. Armed with this new information, Jack embarks on a mission to discover the entire truth, not just about his father but the corruption endemic in the Central Valley.

Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian Sanchez, the son of a boycotting fieldworker who works closely with Cesar Chavez. The boys’ dangerous plan to rescue the Duncan family farm leaves Adrian in a catastrophic situation, and Jack must step up to the plate and rescue his family and his friend before he can make his escape from Delano.

The Road to Delano is the path Jack and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, their destiny.

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About the Author:

John DeSimone is a novelist, memoirist, and editor. He’s co-authored bestselling memoirs, The Broken Circle: A memoir of escaping Afghanistan, and others. He taught writing as an adjunct professor at Biola University and has worked as a freelance editor and writer for nearly twenty years. His novel, The Road to Delano, is a coming of age novel set during the Delano grape strike led by Cesar Chavez. BookSirens said, “It’s more than a little Steinbeck, in a good way….” He lives in Claremont, Ca, and can be found on Goodreads and at http://www.johndesimone.com

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Coming in February: The Victory Garden

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From the bestselling author of The Tuscan Child comes a beautiful and heart-rending novel of a woman’s love and sacrifice during the First World War.

As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage.

When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman who devoted her life to her herbal garden. The journals inspire Emily, and in the wake of devastating news, they are her saving grace. Emily’s lover has not only died a hero but has left her terrified—and with child. Since no one knows that Emily was never married, she adopts the charade of a war widow.

As Emily learns more about the volatile power of healing with herbs, the found journals will bring her to the brink of disaster, but may open a path to her destiny.

Reader Reviews

“Interesting story from England during WWI. Emily Bryce is about to be 21 and really needs to feel more like an adult. She has two very protective parents who because they already have lost a son to the war are very wary of letting Emily become the grown-up she desires to be.

Everything begins to change when she visits a recovery center with her very restrictive mother. She meets a young man, Robbie Kerr, from Australia who was shot down in his plane. Emily feels a real warmth with Robbie and they look to become a couple . But when Robbie heals, he will be back off to the war.Emily realizes that it is time to break away from her restrictive parents and so she first volunteers at a recuperative center but they don’t have a place for her. And so she voluhteers as a ‘land girl’ …..someone who will work at a farm . There are many places for women doing farm work because so many men are away fighting the war. And this will turn out to be the turning point in her life.

Per usual Bowen will draw you into a fascinating story and you can ‘almost ‘ feel like you are actually there.” – Dr. Stephen M. Bank

“This is the first non-mystery book by Rhys Bowen I have read. I am a huge fan of her mysteries because I love the accessible style, her capable ability to render a historical setting and world to life and her characters. Such memorable characters.

The Victory Garden proves that Bowen can write with easy elasticity in any genre. While I found the book lacked a certain emotional depth; it was still a worthy snapshot of one woman’s experience during a time when women were seen to have much more agency ( while the men were at war) and yet little ability to decide their own fate at all. It is in the crux of this double standard we find Emily, a 21 year old who works as a land girl and back breakingly does her bit for the war effort even while mourning the soldier she loved and lost.

It is the female friendships and sphere that rounded out Bowen’s usual talent for character and I was impressed by how quickly I fell into their world, their quirks and dialogue.

This is not so much a romance between a woman and a man; rather a woman and possibilities when all seems hopeless and uncertain and the makeshift community she becomes a part of.” – Rachel McMillan, Reviewer

“It’s May of 1918 in Devonshire, England, WWI has been raging for almost 4 years and Emily Bryce is about to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. She is also about to celebrate her independence and become her own person. Her family has suffered the hardships of war, having lost their only son and brother to Emily, Freddie. Now with only one child, both parents have sheltered and over protected their daughter, her mother only wanting to have Emily marry “well.” Yet in one instant moment, that is all about to change and Emily’s life will never be the same again.

Bored with the tedium of life that is her everyday existence and wanting to do her part for England, Emily signs up to become a land girl, working on farms that no longer have the man power necessary to harvest and supply food for the country. Yet that is not all that she encounters, as she has fallen in love with a “fly boy” from Australia, a young man that captures her heart.

This book is well written, it shares the value of friendship when the world is being torn apart. As you follow along, you see the rise of independent women, those who now can stand on their own two feet, not only because they have no choice, but with the end of WWI times had changed, values that were once “tried and true” were no longer being adhered to.

With heartwarming and memorable characters, “The Victory Garden” was an enjoyable read. I read this book in one day, because once I started I had to finish it, I couldn’t put it down. I only wish this would be book one as part of a series.” – Artisan Writing Blog

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About the Author:

Rhys Bowen is the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Royal Spyness Series, Molly Murphy Mysteries, and Constable Evans. She has won the Agatha Best Novel Award and has been nominated for the Edgar Best Novel. Rhys’s titles have received rave reviews around the globe.

On March 1, 2017, Rhys is excited to announce the publication of her first big stand-alone thriller, In Farleigh Field, set in World War Two at an English stately home. It has already received stellar reviews.

Rhys currently writes two mystery series, the atmospheric Molly Murphy novels, about a feisty Irish immigrant in 1900s New York City, and the funny and sexy Royal Spyness mysteries, about a penniless minor royal in 1930s Britain. Her books have made bestseller lists, garnered many awards, nominations, and starred reviews. She was born in England and married into a family with historic royal connections. She now divides her time between California and Arizona.

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Rachel’s Search – Historical & Literary Fiction At Its Best

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What does the second coming of the Klan portend for Satilla County? Is it one more sign evil is winning? Setting out to find answers, a northern-born young journalist experiences life in the deep South, the struggle to survive for whites and blacks. Her search turns personal and horrific when her best friend disappears.

Boston born journalist Rachel Mellon sees the second coming of the Klan in 1915 as more fuel on a fire already burning out of control, not only in Satilla County but around the world. To her, the new South appears to be as bad as the old, or worse. Challenged by her editor, she goes out to experience life for herself out there in the pine woods. She finds poor whites and even poorer blacks struggling to survive against great odds. She finds suffering and hatred but also hope and love. When best friend Eve disappears, Rachel’s search turns personal and horrific.

Reader Reviews

“Rachel’s Search by Oscar Patton is a historical novel about life in a small Georgia town in 1915. Told through the eyes of a young female journalist raised in Boston it paints a picture of a close community of farmers, tenant farmers and business owners.

The KKK had essentially been erradicated in 1870 and declared a terrorist organization by the Federal Government. In 1915 it begins to make a comeback based on lies about it’s true ideology. Claiming to be a “religious” organization similar to Free Masons (a blatant lie) it states it is being formed to protect women, stop bootlegging (prohibition was in full force), provide spiritual guidance and for the betterment of society.

Before the KKK takes hold Satilla County is a community where the black and white citizens have a comfortable relationship with each other. Although they are “separate but equal” there is friendly interaction between everyone in society no matter what race or social standing a person comes from. Once the KKK takes hold that disappears and trust erodes.

Rachel is journalist and an outsider. When she starts writing editorials condemning the klan and everything it stands for she is threatened. Through her eyes the reader sees the erosion of trust and friendships. Life becomes precarious for the black community and those in the white community who refuse to be a part of a racist organization clearly run by bullies, deviants and elitists. During this time Rachel’s best friend Eve disappears without a trace. With time ticking Rachel and the rest of the community begin to search for the missing woman.

I enjoyed this book. I didn’t know the klan had been erradicated and made a resurgence in the early 1900’s. The storyline is really well developed and movies along effortlessly. The author exposes the true nature of the klan and it’s destructive influence on a community that had been living in peace with each other. He points out that those who are die hard klan members are what Hillary called “a basket of deplorables.” (I will clarify I disagree with her use of it to describe Trump supporters but it is a true description of the klan.)

Character development is well done. Rachel comes across as a smart and capable woman. I’m sure she is the image of many women of her time in the suffragette movement. This is really her story so the fact that other characters are not as well developed does nothing to take away from the story.

I recommend this book. There is history that I believe most people are unaware of. It also gives the reader a glimpse inside the klan and shows what leverage they use to recruit members. Seeing the changes that happen in a small Georgia town once the klan starts to take hold was eye opening and informative.“ – Seraphina, Reviewer

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About the Author:

Oscar Patton is the author of the Satilla County series of novels. He says, “I use history, memory, and imagination to create regional stories with universal, timeless themes. As William Faulkner put it, I write about the ‘human heart in conflict with itself.’”

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