I can’t believe it but unfortunately summer is almost gone! The summer is winding down, school will be starting for the kids soon, and it can make us feel like summer is over but—I’m fighting this feeling! According to the calendar, we still have well over a month until fall (September 21st) and hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will still have time to sit outside and enjoy our books late into the evening.
If you are like me and still hoping to squeeze in some more summer reading, check out these titles to see if any pique your interest!
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
Inspired by a true story, The Book of Lost Names is the true story of Eva Abrams, a Jewish Holocaust survivor. As a graduate student in 1942 Eva is forced to flee Paris for a small town in the Free Zone of France. While there, Eva is offered to use her artistic abilities to help forge papers to help smuggle Jewish children out of France and into neutral Switzerland. Eva soon discovers that erasing names comes with a price—she and Remi (her handsome partner in the endeavor) devise a way to help preserve the heritage of these children. Now, years later, the book of code names has resurfaced and it is up to Eva alone to tell the story hidden within its pages.
Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor
Beautiful Little Fools is a twist off of the Great Gatsby. Told after Gatsby’s death, this is the backstory, told by alternating views of the women we know from The Great Gatsby, as to why Jay Gatsby was found dead … and why there was a diamond studded bobby pin found in the bushes near the pool where Gatsby was found dead. Frank Charles is the detective investigating this case even though the case has officially been closed? Something about it just doesn’t sit well with him and he senses one of the women is lying to him. But which woman is the liar and what is she trying to hide?
Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton
I have been a huge fan of Ms. Cleeton’s other books (check out my post on her books Next Year in Havana and When We Left Cuba here) and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one! This story continues to tell the story of the Perez family, who we met in Next Year in Havana and When We Left Cuba, told this time from the perspective of the eldest daughter, Isabel. Isabel has always been the reliable and responsible one of the family. She is now married to a wealthy American and is living in Palm Springs, Florida when she becomes troubled by the seeming disappearance of her wild and impulsive sister, Beatriz. Iasbel decides to take off to Spain where Beatriz is currently living to find her sister. However, while there, she happens upon a mysterious photograph of her, her mother, and a man she has never seen before which was taken in Spain. When Isabel confronts her mother about it, her mother insists that they’ve never been to Spain leaving Isabel with yet another mystery to try to unravel.
Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan
This story tells of the sinking of the ship, the Pulaski, known as the Titanic of the South. In 1838, the Pulaski was advertised as a safe way to travel in style with only one night out at sea. What a fateful night it was—culminating in the boiler of the ship exploding and approximately 130 of the 190 passengers dying! This story alternates between telling the story of Augusta Longstreet and Lily Forsyth, who were passengers on the ship and Everly, a modern day history professor, who has been asked to curate a new museum exhibit of this event. Everly is eager to delve into the research to discover the truth of what happened that night, however in doing so, she will have to face her own ghosts in a past that she would rather forget.
I hope these titles will help you relax and drink in the last bit of summer that is left! As always, if you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe to our email list so you never miss a post and if you have enjoyed this post, please share.
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End of Summer Historical Fiction Round 2021