Book picks similar to
The Driver's Wife by S.K. Keogh


historical-fiction
long-reads
african-american
historic-fiction-1600s

Stella Stands Alone


A. LaFaye - 2008
    After her father is killed and her mother succumbs to yellow fever, it's up to Stella to run Oak Grove, her family's plantation. Unlike most Southerners, Stella sees herself as equal to the African Americans she works side-by-side with in the cotton fields. The white Southerners reject her, and the freed men can't trust her after generations of enduring the horrors of slavery. So Stella stands alone as she fights to follow through on her father's dream to leave Oak Grove to her and the slaves. His will is nowhere to be found. Now, the bank has foreclosed on the plantation -- and the day of the auction is rapidly approaching. With no legal claim to the land, Stella is confronted with the possibility of losing Oak Grove, the only home she's ever known. In this inspiring novel, A. LaFaye, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, recounts a young woman's struggle to save her family's land and preserve their memory, illuminating the harsh realities faced by women and freed slaves during the turbulent years after the Civil War.

The Slave Master's Son


Tiana Laveen - 2012
    John, a wealthy Richmond, Virginia slave owner's son, and Hannah, the Negro daughter of a protective and loving mother, grew up as playmates, sharing their lives and dreams. Soon a sweet and tumultuous love affair began that grew so strong John would risk everything before relinquishing it. With his reputation in jeopardy, Hannah in his heart, and a father and country firmly against him, John must overcome obstacle after obstacle, some involving incredible violence and cruelty. Along the way he discovers shocking family secrets, buried for years. This historic romance raises the question - Can the love between a beautiful, young slave woman and a wealthy, Confederate slave master's son endure the prevailing ideology of their time?

The Sweetest Thing


Deborah Fletcher Mello - 2014
    Everett "Pop" Donovan was more than their boss, he was a beloved mentor. So they're shocked to learn that Pop left the business to his beautiful, estranged daughter—a woman they know nothing about—and who knows nothing about running a bakery...Harper Donovan intends to sell off Just Desserts as quickly as possible. She has no interest in Memphis, much less sweets. However, handsome Quentin has definitely sparked her appetite—and business aside, the feeling is irresistibly mutual. But soon a powerful, smooth-talking rival appears, vying for Harper's heart and her bakery. Harper might have a taste for Memphis after all—and Quentin might have to prove he's exactly what she craves...

A love So Legendary with Special Introduction Edition (Harvey House Series Book 1)


Ellen Anderson - 2018
    However, the real appeal of Fred Harvey’s industry, the reason so many people still remember his businesses today, is because of the Harvey Girls.Far more than mere waitresses, the Harvey Girls were a group of courageous young women who ventured west to hire on with Mr. Harvey, not really knowing the scope of the challenges they would be facing. Ultimately, these women became the wives, mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, and grandmothers who helped populated the west.Using the work experience they gained at Harvey Houses, they also became some of the country’s first female archaeologists, architects, doctors, lawyers, etc. In truth, Harvey Houses were a springboard for the women who helped shape the western half of the United States, in more ways than one, and this introduction to the series unfolds that riveting story.Then, Book 1 of the Harvey Girl series, A Love So Legendary,�tells the story of the first New Mexico Harvey House, set in the rough and tumble, isolated little town of Raton. When Mary Jane Colter hires on as a Harvey Girl, she has dreams that few women of her day and age are allowed to fulfill.Then she meets Tom Gable, the Raton Harvey House manager, and not only finds the love of a lifetime but a man who might just help her chase her wild dreams. Then a dangerous mystery puts their brand-new relationship to the test and risks their very lives.Love and legend collide as Mary Jane and Tom walk right out of the pages of history and into a timeless romance that could only ever take place in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment. HARVEY HOUSE SERIES BOOK 1 A Love So LegendaryBOOK 2 A Love So UntamedBOOK 3 A Love So FaithfulBOOK 4 A Love So UnstagedBOOK 5 A Love So MiraculousBOOK 6 A Love So HealingBOOK 7 A Love So BoldBOOK 8 A Love So TrueBOOK 9 A Love So DevotedBOOK 10 A Love So EternalBOOK 11 A Love So CourageousBOOK 12 A Love So Enchanting Historical western romance short story series.

To Hold the Throne: A Novel of the Last Maccabee Princess and King Herod the Great


Joni Okun - 2019
    To Hold the Throne breathes life into the extraordinary story of King Herod the Great and Mariamne, the last Maccabee Princess, told in alternating points of view. Fueled by shifting political tides in Rome, the Triumvir Marc Antony disrupts the longstanding Maccabee Dynasty of Judea when he crowns Mariamne's new husband, Herod the Great, as King, setting off a firestorm of power-grabbing, betrayal, and tragedy in the quest for the ultimate prize: the throne. Mariamne never surrenders her belief that her brother Aris, scion of the royal line descending from King David, is the rightful King of Judea. She wrestles with her conscience and with family expectations about how far she is willing to go to oust her husband the king, who loves her with great passion even as he grows increasingly paranoid about her fidelity and suspicious of her disloyalty. When a Maccabee family member is found murdered, Mariamne is thrown into a whirlwind of accusations and terror.

Desdemona's Closet: A Christmas Tale


Sabrina B. Scales - 2019
    A tough exterior is her claim to fame, and necessary for the life she lives. But even the toughest have been known to let their guard down at Christmastime. Hilarious by nature, Pharo is the perfect match for Des. And though he wasn’t exactly looking, fate doesn’t care about that. When chance encounters with a stranger happen twice in one day, it's too big to be a coincidence and he's smart enough to know it. Join these two on a hilarious, heart-filled, nutmeg scented journey to love in tight spaces!

Rule and Camryn: A Memphis Love Story


B. Love - 2016
    She closed her heart and vowed to never let love in. Her philosophy – you can’t be hurt by someone you aren’t attached to. So, she lived her life without romantic love. And she was just fine with her lifestyle… until she met Rule.It was no secret… Rule loved the life he was living. He was the King of Memphis. There was one problem – he didn’t have a Queen or an Heir to his throne. His legal throne that is. If there was one thing that he could change about his life that would be it. Rule had had his fair share of women in his short life because of his passion for love and acceptance… but he had yet to find a woman who could truly hold his interest… until Camryn. Even with their first phone conversation he knew there was something different about her. There was something in the tone of her voice as she spoke to him that let him know that she was someone he needed to keep around.When these two head to Vegas for a weeklong trip together Camryn is determined to prove she can live without love, and Rule is determined to prove that she can’t.Who will win? Will Camryn fold and submit to love; or will she end up doing what she’s spent her life avoiding to Rule – lusting and letting go?Read part one of Rule and Camryn’s love story to find out!

The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President's Black Family


Bettye Kearse - 2020
    Without this tradition Bettye Kearse would not have known that she is a descendant of President James Madison and his slave, and half-sister, Coreen. In 1990, Bettye became the eighth-generation griotte for her family. Their credo—“Always remember—you’re a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president”—was intended to be a source of pride, but for her, it echoed with abuses of slavery, including rape and incest.  Confronting those abuses, Bettye embarked on a journey of discovery—of her ancestors, the nation, and herself. She learned that wherever African slaves walked, recorded history silenced their voices and buried their footsteps: beside a slave-holding fortress in Ghana; below a federal building in New York City; and under a brick walkway at James Madison’s Virginia plantation. When Bettye tried to confirm the information her ancestors had passed down, she encountered obstacles at every turn.  Part personal quest, part testimony, part historical correction, The Other Madisons is the saga of an extraordinary American family told by a griotte in search of the whole story.

A Lover's Shame


AlTonya Washington - 2011
    Sabella’s shame over a horrific discovery wreaked havoc on her mind and body. The darkness in Isak’s life had manifested in a more sinister fashion. He was no longer the even tempered peacemaker of his volatile family. While Sabella blamed herself for his brutal transformation, she believed he was better off away from her maybe…hating her. Isak however, harbored no such feelings. In his mind, Sabella was still his wife and he had every intention of getting her back. Explanations would be required and Belle knew she could never share what she’d learned about herself and the ugly truth of her existence.

Amistad: Tie-In Edition


Joyce Annette Barnes - 1997
    This text is based on the actual incident surrounding the rebellion aboard the slave ship Amistad and the subsequent trial in the US courts.

Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America


Evan Carton - 2006
    Yet he is poorly understood and most commonly described in stereotypes -- as a madman, martyr, or enigma. Not until Patriotic Treason has a biography or history brought him so fully to life, in scintillating prose and moving detail, making his life and legacy -- and the staggering sacrifices he made for his ideals-fascinatingly relevant to today's issues of social justice and to defining the line between activism and terrorism. Vividly re-creating the world in which Brown and his compatriots lived with a combination of scrupulous original research, new perspectives, and a sensitive historical imagination, Patriotic Treason narrates the dramatic life of the first U.S. citizen committed to absolute racial equality. Here are his friendships (Brown lived, worked, ate, and fought alongside African Americans, in defiance of the culture around him), his family (he turned his twenty children by two wives into a dedicated militia), and his ideals (inspired by the Declaration of Independence and the Golden Rule, he collaborated with black leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, and Harriet Tubman to overthrow slavery). Evan Carton captures the complex, tragic, and provocative story of Brown the committed abolitionist, Brown the tender yet demanding and often absent father and husband, and Brown the radical American patriot who attacked the American state in the name of American principles. Through new research into archives, attention to overlooked family letters, and reinterpretation of documents and events, Carton essentially reveals a missing link in American history. A wrenching family saga, Patriotic Treason positions John Brown at the heart of our most profound and enduring national debates. As definitions of patriotism and treason are fiercely contested, as some criticize religious extremism while others mourn religion's decline, and as race relations in America remain unresolved, John Brown's story speaks to us as never before, reminding us that one courageous individual can change the course of history.

Prince's Black Surprise Princess


Ciara Cole - 2018
     Duty. Honor. Succession. Legacy. My regal life in a nutshell. I never intended to break procedure. To shirk responsibility. To break a necessary arrangement… But desperate times called for drastic measures. It was accidental how I met her. Alice. The African American maid in my family’s palace. And it was just as unintentional to fall for her. For those dusky sienna eyes… Silky black curls… Warm brown skin… Neither heaven nor hell could keep me from having her. Our secret affair always had an expiry date. I was betrothed to another. But whatever f@#ked up plan we loosely had went to the wayside. Fast. Alice got kidnapped by mistake. And pandemonium reigned down. Now, even if I can rescue her, I need to make a choice… My kingdom or Alice? This steamy BWWM royal romance includes a torrid love affair between a royal and his maid; it also includes a beautiful little princess that is the result of their love.

The Baby He Never Knew


Tasha Blue - 2018
    Or so he thought. This was because the young playboy was totally unaware that he was actually the father of a 4 year old boy. Breanna Webb was not sure if she wanted Kevin involved in her child's life. And to this point, they had already done pretty well without him. However, fate would soon intervene and Breanna would have to introduce Kevin to the baby he never knew... Could Breanna and Kevin possibly work through their differences and actually become a family? Or was this meeting going to end in tears and heartbreak in more ways than one? This is a unique spin on the typical billionaire romance book. Expect to get completely enthralled in this dramatic and emotional romance novel.

Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice


Paula Byrne - 2014
     The illegitimate daughter of a captain in the Royal Navy and an enslaved African woman, Dido Belle was sent to live with her great-uncle, the Earl of Mansfield, one of the most powerful men of the time and a leading opponent of slavery. Growing up in his lavish estate, Dido was raised as a sister and companion to her white cousin, Elizabeth. When a joint portrait of the girls, commissioned by Mansfield, was unveiled, eighteenth-century England was shocked to see a black woman and white woman depicted as equals. Inspired by the painting, Belle vividly brings to life this extraordinary woman caught between two worlds, and illuminates the great civil rights question of her age: the fight to end slavery.

Whisper Something Sweet


Deatri King-Bey - 2007
    Sinfully seductive, his voice aroused needs in her that no toy could fill. Since he was thousands of miles away, she thought it was safe to indulge in late night calls that left her in a state of orgasmic euphoria. Then one morning he showed up in her office, and the real fun began.