Book picks similar to
Hearts of Iron by Scott James Magner


foreworld
historical-fiction
fantasy
audiobooks

Orphan Train: by Christina Baker Kline -- Sidekick


BookBuddy - 2014
    Do not buy this reading Sidekick if you are looking for a full copy of this great book. In this sidekick of Orphan Train, you'll find a chapter-by-chapter guide to walk you through the book's major events, as well as character breakdowns and major symbol analyses. Despite the 74-year difference in age, Vivien and Molly find something in each other that allows them both to begin healing. Orphan Train is a touching look at the importance of what people carry with them and the legacy of trauma. Readers will feel heartbreak and joy as the narratives of these two strong women unfold. A sentimental novel that interweaves the stories of two women who carry the burden of the past with them, Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train is also a compelling look at a little-known chapter of American history. When 17-year-old Molly must complete 50 hours of community service, she is hired to clean out 91-year-old Vivien Daly's attic. A foster child, a Native American, and a goth, Molly has felt alienated for most of her life, and she's built up emotional barriers to protect herself. Vivien, an orphan sent by train to live a life of indentured servitude, also bears the scars of solitude and alienation. The two recognize each other as kindred spirits, and a powerful friendship blossoms despite the generational differences. In Orphan Train, Kline tells a compelling story from dual perspectives, playing with tense and perspective to clue readers in to who is narrating the story.

Spider Rain: An Emmett Love Western


John Locke - 2016
     PRELIMINARY COMMENTS: “The excruciatingly long wait for Spider Rain is finally over, and it doesn’t disappoint! Poor Emmett appears to be the only sane person in Dodge, and that makes for lots of laughs. Of course, precocious little Scarlett—my favorite character—outdoes herself, yet again.” “Of all the books John Locke writes, the westerns are my favorites. Spider Rain—announced a year ago—is here at last. I was mildly annoyed the author wrote and published two other books while writing this one, but he says the westerns are a labor of love, and maybe what makes them so special is the extra time he puts into writing them. Spider Rain will give you at least one smile per page. It’s Locke at his best.” “John has confided this might be his last western. I sincerely hope that’s not the case, because reading these books is like spending quality time with your favorite friends and family. Spider Rain is funny and sad and hopeful and crazy and good-hearted and I loved every minute of it.”

Home for Christmas


Lizzie Lane - 2014
    Robert is the nephew of a Lord, and Lydia a mere doctor’s daughter – and a German doctor at that. While her parentage is no hindrance to their relationship in peacetime, when war is declared Robert’s family makes it clear they no longer approve of the match. With no means of contacting Robert on the Western Front, Lydia volunteers herself, joining the Red Cross. But her love affair with Robert has had more than one consequence…

The King Within


Nandini Sengupta - 2017
    Novel set in 3rd and 4th century India

Blood on the Blade


Griff Hosker - 2018
    Their world is thrown upside down when the King of Norway colludes with their jarl to take over their home. They flee to the land north of Mercia. Hoping for a life free from the tyranny of a king they have to fight Danes and Saxons. When King Harald of Norway sends ships to destroy them then the Clan of the Fox is forced to flee to the newly discovered land of ice and fire. They travel beyond sight of land into an uncharted ocean to face a future which is uncertain. Their only certainty lies that their navigator, Erik. He is their only chance to find a new home.

Heartbreak in the Valleys


Francesca Capaldi - 2020
    For young housemaid, Anwen Rhys, life is hard in the Welsh mining village of Dorcalon, deep in the Rhymney Valley. She cares for her ill mother and beloved younger sister Sara, all while shielding them from her father’s drunken, violent temper. Anwen comforts herself with her love for childhood sweetheart, Idris Hughes, away fighting in the Great War.Yet when Idris returns, he is a changed man; no longer the innocent boy she loved, he is harder, more distant, quickly breaking off their engagement. And when tragedy once again strikes her family, Anwen’s heart is completely broken.But when an explosion at the pit brings unimaginable heartache to Dorcalon, Anwen and Idris put their feelings aside to unite their mining community.In the midst of despair, can Anwen find hope again? And will she ever find the happiness she deserves?

The Custom of the Army


Diana Gabaldon - 2010
    After a high society electric-eel party leads to a duel that ends badly, Lord John Grey feels the need to lie low for a while. Conveniently, before starting his new commission in His Majesty’s army, Lord John receives an urgent summons. An old friend from the military, Charlie Carruthers, is facing court-martial in Canada, and has called upon Lord John to serve as his character witness. Grey voyages to the New World—a land rife with savages (many of them on his own side) and cleft by war—where he soon finds that he must defend not only his friend’s life but his own.

Blood of Kings


Andrew James - 2013
    But there is treachery afoot, and Cyrus's life is in danger. When Darius, dispossessed prince of the Royal House of Parsa, tries to save the King of Kings, he is arrested and falsely condemned for treason.In a fast paced tale of love, betrayal, war and revenge, Blood of Kings sweeps the reader up on an epic journey from the mud brick cities of Ancient Persia to the burning heart of Pharaoh's Egypt.Packed full of dramatic and authentic battle scenes, it recreates the sweat, blood and fear of ancient warfare, as Persia smashes Egypt's army and brings the reign of the Pharaohs to a violent end.But it is also a book that will delight Herodotus fans, bringing the ancient Greek historian's characters to life like never before, as it follows the doomed 'lost army of Cambyses' into the Libyan Desert, marching towards a fate that would baffle archaeologists for millennia to come.

After the Roses


Shayne Parkinson - 2015
    For a brief period, Daisy’s world once again seems a safe and settled one.But no one returns unscathed from such a war, although not all wounds leave obvious signs. And hard on the heels of the Armistice comes a new, invisible enemy that will strike much closer to home: a lethal epidemic of influenza.Till now, Daisy has shared her dream of some day becoming a doctor with only one person: her beloved cousin Eddie. Her hopes for the future must be set aside while events are buffeting her family; and the best education her little school can offer aims no further than producing capable farmers and useful wives. Pursuing her dream will be no easy task for Daisy."After the Roses" is the sequel to "Daisy's War".

Cloisterman – an epic chronicle of love and loyalty in Tudor England


Juliet Dymoke - 1973
     A new Tudor monarch has just been crowned: a handsome, energetic king. His court, so different from his father’s, is a glamorous, seductive magnet to ambitious young noblemen from across the country. One such man is Julian Allard who has fled a monastic life in Northumberland to seek love, fame and fortune at the court of Henry VIII. But when his beloved marries another and the King proves to be a temperamental master, Julian’s idyllic life at court begins to fall apart. Dismissing the advice of friends and the wise heads around him, he finds himself on a path to self-destruction, believing only in the dark prophesy of a fortune teller. Cloisterman is powerful Tudor chronicle from a master storyteller. Juliet Dymoke’s portrayal of life at the court of Henry VIII at an exciting time of intellectual and artistic promise, is compelling, moving and utterly convincing.

Born in a Treacherous time


Jacqui Murray - 2018
    It is a time in history when they are relentlessly annihilated by predators, nature, their own people, and the next iteration of man. To make it worse, Lucy’s band hates her. She is their leader’s new mate and they don’t understand her odd actions, don’t like her strange looks, and don’t trust her past. To survive, she cobbles together an unusual alliance with an orphaned child, a beleaguered protodog who’s lost his pack, and a man who was supposed to be dead.Born in a Treacherous Time is prehistoric fiction written in the spirit of Jean Auel. Lucy is tenacious and inventive no matter the danger, unrelenting in her stubbornness to provide a future for her child, with a foresight you wouldn’t think existed in earliest man. You’ll close this book understanding why man not only survived our wild beginnings but thrived, ultimately to become who we are today.This is a spin-off of To Hunt a Sub’s Lucy (the ancient female who mentored the female protagonist)

The Black Mountains


Janet Tanner - 1981
    Charlotte, James and their seven children are independent spirits, united by strong family values.Living in a mining community is never easy, and when the shadow of impending war threatens, they must pull together to face the hardship to come. Can this close-knit family overcome whatever tragedy life throws at them?The Black Mountains, a moving saga of love, happiness and heartbreak, is perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Katie Flynn. ‘Sensitive and exceptionally polished’ Manchester Evening News The Hillsbridge Sagas The Black Mountains The Emerald Valley The Hills and the Valley A Family Affair

In the Heart of the Garden


Helene Wiggin - 1998
    She is unaware that around every corner myriad family secrets from the past unfold. From a Saxon clearing to a monastery, Tudor dwelling to the present day, this sacred plot has nurtured her ancestors. Generations of Bagshott women have found refuge and solace tending it through years of plague, civil war and beyond. This is their story.

Wagons West


Russell J. Atwater - 2020
    Their first day out reveals how wrong he is and the perilous dangers of the Santa Fe Trail.It would have been a massacre but for Trent and Pat MacLeod.Trent favors a Sharps .50 caliber buffalo rifle, while his younger brother Pat packs two Texas Navy Colts. They both prove deadly and a force to be reckoned with.The Cowans and the McLeod brothers’ forge a bond those first few days, sustained in part by Trent’s attraction to the eighteen-year-old Becky Cowan. His overtures are not returned.The brothers join the Cowans on their hazardous journey west as they face harsh conditions, bandits and Indian attacks. Will their oxen survive the trip? Will the man Bruce Cowan is fleeing catch up with them? Should they take the Cimarron Cutoff through the desert or stick with the Santa Fe Trail through the mountains?Even with the help of Trent and Pat, the Cowans are forced to learn quickly to survive the rigorous demands of the Wild West.

47 Ronin


Dimetrios C. Manolatos - 2010
    We are born and raised to serve our lord and shogun. Our code dictates selflessness and death to be more honorable than failure, whether on the battlefield or even over the most insignificant dispute.In eighteenth-century Japan, the lord of a samurai clan is sentenced to death for an assault on castle grounds. As dictated by law, the clan must exact revenge on the one responsible for their lord’s death. However due to circumstances, the shogun forbids any such act, placing a band of masterless samurai at odds with themselves and the martial code by which they live and die. After much trial and hardship, the clan does the unthinkable and defies the shogun’s mandate in order to fulfill their duty to their late lord. In doing so, these legendary warriors will be forever remembered for inspiring the Way of the Warrior back into the hearts of their countrymen.If you like historical novels set in old Japan, martial arts action adventure stories or samurai films, discover 47 Ronin.