Books of Note

“The Women” is a historical fiction novel set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. It follows military nurse Frances “Frankie” McGrath as she leaves her illustrious family on Coronado Island, California, and enters the muddy trenches — and even muddier aftermath — of the war.

As the civil rights movement roils the nation, in a quiet Illinois city, Wilbert Walters goes solo to uplift his race by launching Aurora Sundowners Track Club for marginalized Black girls. He sets out to teach the fundamentals of excellence and to prepare his athletes to thrive in a world preset to believe they are extraneous. On the way, they take Junior Olympic medals.

This is a historical fiction novel set in Victorian London (1895) about three women who find freedom and sisterhood in a secret book club hosted by the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess. The club provides a sanctuary where they can discuss forbidden, empowering books and confront the oppressive societal expectations, abusive marriages, and dangerous secrets that threaten their lives, including the risk of being committed to an asylum. 

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.

“A historical fiction novel set in a 1950s Washington, D.C. women’s boardinghouse, focusing on the unlikely friendships that form among its diverse residents, including a mysterious widow, a former baseball player, and a police officer’s daughter, all while navigating the paranoia of the McCarthy era and a central murder mystery. The story explores themes of female friendship, secrets, racism, and political persecution through the unique perspectives of its characters, who form a tight-knit group known as the “Briar Club”. 

This was a One Book Schaumburg.