Best of
Historical

1953

Mara, Daughter of the Nile


Eloise Jarvis McGraw - 1953
    In order to gain it, she finds herself playing the dangerous role of double spy for two arch enemies—each of whom supports a contender for the throne of Egypt.Against her will, Mara finds herself falling in love with one of her masters, the noble Sheftu, and she starts to believe in his plans of restoring Thutmose III to the throne. But just when Mara is ready to offer Sheftu her help and her heart, her duplicity is discovered, and a battle ensues in which both Mara's life and the fate of Egypt are at stake.

The Young Hornblower Omnibus: Mr Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower and Hornblower and the Hotspur


C.S. Forester - 1953
    But he was soon to gain his sea legs.Amid battle, action and adventure he proves himself time and time again - courageous in danger, resourceful in moments of difficulty and decisive in times of trouble. The reader stands right beside him as he prepares to fight his first duel, feels the heat as he battles to control a blazing ship and shares his horror as he experiences for the first time the panic of the Plague.C.S. Forester's classic Hornblower books are now lavishly adapted for the screen in a major new ITV series.This omnibus edition contains: Mr Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower and Hornblower and the 'Hotspur'.

The Charioteer


Mary Renault - 1953
    There he befriends the young, bright Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. As they find solace and companionship together in the idyllic surroundings of the hospital, their friendship blooms into a discreet, chaste romance. Then one day, Ralph Lanyon, a mentor from Laurie’s schoolboy days, suddenly reappears in Laurie’s life, and draws him into a tight-knit social circle of world-weary gay men. Laurie is forced to choose between the sweet ideals of innocence and the distinct pleasures of experience. Originally published in the United States in 1959, The Charioteer is a bold, unapologetic portrayal of male homosexuality during World War II that stands with Gore Vidal’s The City and the Pillar and Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories as a monumental work in gay literature.

Cotillion


Georgette Heyer - 1953
    But Kitty was in no hurry to conclude such a contract. By hook or by crook she meant to go to London, where anything might happen and very often did...

Step to the Music


Phyllis A. Whitney - 1953
    Her Southern mother's allegiance is divided, her father feels the North is right. Her dear friends Douglas and Stuart McIntyre, returned from the South, have no wish to fight their southern friends. Into this confusion comes her cousin, Lorena; pretty and Southern.Grand Mistress Phyllis A. Whitney dedicates this historic work of youth fiction to her daughter, Georgia.

Born Of The People


Luis Taruc - 1953
    

The Red Doe


Drayton Mayrant - 1953
    Historical novel with just a touch of romance.

Sarfarosh


Gunvantray Acharya - 1953
    To accomplish his life goal, he had left home and had become a pirate. He would attack ships transporting slaves from one country to another, release them and rehabilitate them. His attacks were so swift that Arabs compared it to a falcon’s attacks. They called him shakra-al-bahar, which later became popular as Sakkarbar.

Brother Dusty-Feet


Rosemary Sutcliff - 1953
    In Elizabethan England, eleven-year-old Hugh Copplestone runs away from the home of his cruel aunt to seek his fortune in the company of strolling players who travel throughout the countryside.

The Jacksons of Tennessee


Marguerite Vance - 1953