These four stunning reads will make you see history as you’ve never had before. Check out the thrilling sequel to The Unseen will take you into a Nazi-occupied Norway, a mystery that finds the Bronte sisters working as detectives, the poignant sequel to The Golem and the Jinni which weaves between World War I and the start of the twentieth century, and the journey that was taken across Africa to return Dr. Livingstone’s body back to England.

White Shadow (The Barroy Chronicles)
by Roy Jacobsen
272 pages, $16.95

In this is the sequel to The Unseen, Ingrid Barroy finds herself alone on Barroy island and faces a reality worse than the war she experienced as a child. The Nazis have occupied Norway and soon bodies wash ashore following the bombing of a vessel that held prisoners of war from Russia. When one of those prisoners manages to survive, his presence gives Ingrid the company she’s always craved, but this reality isn’t a fairy tale. Ingrid knows the penalties she faces for keeping him a secret and knows the German authorities will be angry, but it’s worth the risk, and so is the journey she must endure following her punishment for protecting him. She’s been cast away from the island she calls home and is provided with a gift that will help her against the setting of war and those running from threats of famine.

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The Diabolical Bones (A Bronte Sisters Mystery)
by Bella Ellis
336 pages, $16.00

Anne, Emily, and Charlotte Bronte are sisters that each have a love of literature that drives them as they send their poetry out to publishers in hopes of making their dreams of one day writing a novel come true. When the sisters aren’t spending their time writing, they’re seeking out their next case to pursue in their agency Bell Brothers and Company. As luck would have it, their housekeeper reveals the discovery of bones found in the chimney of an old farmhouse and gives them a warning along with informing them of a rumor about Clifton Bradshaw. The man was believed to have traded his soul to the devil in exchange for great wealth. The three sisters see an opportunity and take it upon themselves to investigate but the search for answers won’t be easy after they learn that this may be part of a larger trap set with evil intentions.

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The Hidden Palace: A Novel of the Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker
480 pages, $28.99

Chava and Ahmad’s lives are revisited in this amazing sequel to The Golem and the Jinni. Chava is a woman made from clay which is a being known as a golem. She has the unique ability to hear the thoughts and feel the longings of others which drives her to help them. Ahmad has his own problems as a former jinni struggling to live life as a man after losing the freedom that came from exploring the desert. The fear of exposure causes these two from letting others discover their true identities and choose to pass as immigrants trying to make it in Manhattan during the 1900s. The two haven’t deciphered what they mean to each other but they know that not only are their lives entwined, they’ve also influenced people around them. Sophia Winston is an heiress living on Park Avenue who is suffering from a strange cold-induced infliction after having contact with Ahmad. In hopes to fix her problem, she takes a trip to the Middle East which allows her to meet a banished jinni named Dima. In New York, Kreindel is a little girl that has brought the golem Yossele to life with her father while being unaware of what awaits her in her future such as living in an orphanage where the golem will be her only source of protection. The Hidden Place weaves between the time periods of World War I and the start of the twentieth century with everyone’s lives connected.

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Out of Darkness, Shining Light
by Petina Gappah
320 pages, $17.00

This is a powerful exploration of nineteenth-century Africa and the adventure that various men and women took to bring the body of missionary and explorer, Dr. Livingstone, across the continent. Their journey takes them over fifteen hundred miles as they work to deliver his body, along with his papers and maps, back to England. The story is told through the perspective of Dr. Livingstone’s clever cook Halima and freed slave Jacob Wainwright in a tale that brings to life the hypocrisy found in slavery and colonization. Gappah also details the hypocrisy that can be found within the heart and delivers a story that provides reasons to celebrate such as loyalty, resilience, and love.

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