The character, place and time are real – but the story is infused with literary creativity that brings the tale to life. Borrow a fictional biography from the Lititz Public Library.
The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin
Despite her own major achievements as the first licensed female glider pilot in the U.S., Anne Morrow Lindbergh is primarily viewed as Charles Lindbergh’s wife.
Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell
Marrying the much-older King Aethelred II in the year 1002 and surrounded by a treacherous court, sixteen-year-old Emma of Normandy uses her wits to gain friends and protect her station.
Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
As George Mallory attempts to be the first man to conquer Mount Everest in 1924, his wife Ruth waits anxiously at home for news of his return.
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini
Former slave Elizabeth Keckley was dressmaker to Washington’s most elegant women, becoming Mary Todd Lincoln’s confident and loyal friend.
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
When a Cambodian girl’s privileged world is shattered by civil war, starvation and forced labor, she survives by remembering the legends and poems she learned from her father.
A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir
The threats posed by their royal births made the tower of London home to Lady Jane Gray’s younger sister Katherine and Katherine Haute, the illegitimate daughter of Richard III.
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
Zelda married F. Scott Fitzgerald in defiance of her father, abandoning her Alabama roots in favor of a scandalous flapper identity that gains her entry into the literary party scenes of New York, Paris and the French Riviera.
Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones
Beatrice of Savoy, countess of Provence, sent her four beautiful and accomplished daughters to become queens — Marguerite marries King Louis IX of France, Eleonore weds Henry III of England, Sanchia becomes Queen of the Romans and Beatrice assumes the crown as Queen of Sicily.
Mary Coin by Marisa Silver
Inspired by Dorothea Lange’s 1936 Depression-era photograph, this novel interweaves the stories of a young mother raising a family during a cruel economic crisis and a strong-minded photographer facing her own challenges.
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Van Goethem sisters are ballet students struggling for survival after the sudden death of their father when Edgar Degas chooses one sister to pose for a future masterpiece.
Patriot Hearts: A Novel of the Founding Mothers by Barbara Hambly
The triumphs and turmoil of early America are revealed through portraits of four women who played key roles during four presidential administrations — Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings and Dolley Madison.
The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen
Mary Bowser, a freed slave educated in Philadelphia, returns to Virginia to care for her ailing father where she marries and takes employment in the house of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, becoming a spy for the Union forces.
The Queen’s Vow by C.W. Gortner
Sent from court after the death of her father King Juan II, the fate of Isabella of Castile is uncertain until controversy surrounding her father’s heir allows her to take over the throne with the help of her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon.
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Originally published on May 31, 2013 in the Lititz Record Express.