Hardman, the well-known chronicler of the House of Windsor (Queen of Our Times, Her Majesty, etc.), predictably opens with a review of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and of the extravagant funeral that followed her death. Then the author moves on to Charles’ early command of the royal household, coronation, and initial acts and decisions. For …
Of the 10.7 million Africans displaced to the Americas between the 16th and late 19th centuries, 103 landed in Alabama in July 1860 on the Clotilda. Infamous as the last slave ship to arrive in the U.S., the Clotilda has been the subject of several recent histories and a documentary, which, along with rich archival …
Emily Wilde has refused the marriage proposal of her former academic rival, Wendell Bambleby, because she would be mad to marry a deposed faerie king disguised as a human. But she has devoted herself to finding a door into his kingdom, which would allow him to take back the realm stolen from him by his …
As a brown-skinned young protagonist, sporting cornrows and a lavender beret, ponders the nature of creativity, palette and brush in hand, artists from around the world and throughout history respond. Pointing to God’s finger on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the child wonders if art must be perfect. Michelangelo assures the child, “You can make your …
Austrian writer Helfer explores the life of her father, Josef, in this work of autofiction. The child of a single mother—a maid in the household of his biological father—Josef is a bright child who grows up in poverty and, initially, without educational advantages. A local builder allows him access to his own home library, and …
Still mourning the loss of her husband and healing from the car crash that took Brian’s life, Kate Mulligan is ready to turn the page. So when she inherits her great-uncle Stan’s orchard, she leaves her home in Pittsburgh for rural Orchardville. Working in a cidery has given her the tools she needs to turn …
Roy DeCarava (1919-2009) gets off work, and now his “time is his own.” He loads a roll of film in his camera and pays attention to what he sees around him in Harlem. Relying on his senses, he takes in the city. With his camera, he captures a variety of sights. A boy drawing on the …
In a straightforward, childlike voice accompanied by charmingly naïve mixed-media illustrations, a pale-skinned narrator with long red hair recounts the story of a scraped knee and its aftermath. A few days after a fall and “you-know-what” dripping down the child’s leg, a humungous scab forms. Though adults reassure the child that it will go away …
Science and nature journalist Boyle opens in 1943 with the Marine invasion of the Japanese-held island of Tarawa. Planners expected high tide to allow landing craft to pass over the reefs. Stuck, the soldiers were forced to wade to shore under fire, and more than 1,000 were killed. The lesson: Ignore the Moon at your …
Elyse Santiago is a beautiful young woman with a traumatic past. Having killed the man who sexually abused her by feeding him toxic sap from the manchineel plant when she was 12 years old, Elyse now shares her ongoing fascination with all things botanical with her devoted base of Instagram followers. Her best friend, Stella, …