Thursday, May 6, 2010

Literary Figures

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees
For the millions who cherish Little Women.... McNees deftly mixes fact and fiction as she imagines a summer lost to history, carefully purged from Louisa's letters and journals, a summer that would change the course of Louisa's writing career--and inspire the story of love and heartbreak between Jo and Teddy "Laurie" Laurence, Jo's devoted neighbor and kindred spirit.

Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
Alice Liddell Hargreave's life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother and widow, she's experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only "Alice." Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year--the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories.
(Sidenote from Amy: Being a huge fan of anything Alice in Wonderland, I recently picked this novel up and absolutely loved it. Even though it is fiction, the author does a wonderful job of blending historical facts with fictional accents.)

Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman
The slow growth of Jane Austen's fame, from niche interest in the mid-nineteenth century to a figure who enjoys the sort of popular affection usually reserved for girl-next-door movie stars, makes a fascinating biography that adds significantly to our image of the beloved novelist.

Churchill by Paul Johnson
For the eminent historian Paul Johnson, Winston Churchill remains an enigma and a challenge. Soldier, parliamentarian, prime minister, orator, painter, writer, husband, and leader-- all of these facets combined to make Churchill one of the most complex and fascinating personalities in history.

No comments:

Post a Comment