Little is a novel by Edward Carey. "The wry, macabre,
unforgettable tale of an ambitious orphan in Revolutionary Paris,
befriended by royalty and radicals, who transforms herself into the
legendary Madame Tussaud. In 1761, a tiny, odd-looking girl
named Marie is born in a village in Switzerland. After the death of her
parents, she is apprenticed to an eccentric wax sculptor and whisked off
to the seamy streets of Paris, where they meet a domineering widow and
her quiet, pale son. Together, they convert an abandoned monkey house
into an exhibition hall for wax heads, and the spectacle becomes a
sensation. As word of her artistic talent spreads, Marie is called to
Versailles, where she tutors a princess and saves Marie Antoinette in
childbirth. But outside the palace walls, Paris is roiling: The
revolutionary mob is demanding heads, and . . . at the wax museum, heads
are what they do." (from Goodreads.com)
In A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl, by Jean Thompson, "we see these women and their trials, small and large: social slights
and heartbreaks; marital disappointments and infidelities; familial
dysfunction; mortality. Spanning from World War II to the present,
Thompson reveals a matrilineal love story that is so perfectly grounded
in our time—a story of three women regressing, stalling, and yes,
evolving, over decades. One of the burning questions she asks is: by
serving her family, is a woman destined to repeat the mistakes of
previous generations, or can she transcend the expectations of a place,
and a time? Can she truly be free? Evelyn, Laura, and Grace are
the glue that binds their family together. Tethered to their small
Midwestern town—by choice or chance—Jean Thompson seamlessly weaves
together the stories of the Wise women with humanity and elegance,
through their heartbreaks, setbacks, triumphs, and tragedies." (from Goodreads.com)
"B. A. Shapiro has made the historical art thriller her own. In The Collector’s Apprentice,
she gives us an unforgettable tale about the lengths to which people
will go for their obsession, whether it be art, money, love, or
vengeance. It’s the summer of
1922, and nineteen-year-old Paulien Mertens finds herself in
Paris—broke, disowned, and completely alone. Everyone in Belgium,
including her own family, believes she stole millions in a sophisticated
con game perpetrated by her then-fiancé, George Everard. To protect
herself from the law and the wrath of those who lost everything, she
creates a new identity, a Frenchwoman named Vivienne Gregsby, and sets
out to recover her father’s art collection, prove her innocence—and
exact revenge on George." (from Goodreads.com)
The Kennedy Debutante is a novel by Kerri Maher.
"London, 1938.
The effervescent "It girl" of London society since her father was named
the ambassador, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy moves in rarified circles,
rubbing satin-covered elbows with some of the 20th century's most
powerful figures. Eager to escape the watchful eye of her strict mother,
Rose, the antics of her older brothers, Jack and Joe, and the erratic
behavior of her sister Rosemary, Kick is ready to strike out on her own
and is soon swept off her feet by Billy Hartington, the future Duke of
Devonshire. But their love is forbidden, as Kick's devout Catholic
family and Billy's staunchly Protestant one would never approve their
match. When war breaks like a tidal wave across her world, Billy is
ripped from her arms as the Kennedys are forced to return to the States.
Kick gets work as a journalist and joins the Red Cross to get back to
England, where she will have to decide where her true loyalties lie—with
family or with love . . ." (from Goodreads.com)
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