There are a lot of wonderful debuts coming to DBRL in April, especially if you are a fan of historical fiction! Please visit our catalog for a longer list of authors making their debuts this month.
“Between Earth and Sky” by Amanda Skenandore
After the Indian Wars, the “savage-taming” Stover School was created to assimilate the children of nearby reservations by robbing them of their language, customs, and even their names. Asku — renamed Harry Muskrat — was once the most promising student at the boarding school, but is now accused of murdering a federal agent.
Alma Mitchell, a childhood friend of Asku’s, convinces her lawyer husband to defend him, believing that he could never commit murder, no matter how cold and bitter he has become as an outsider in two worlds — the white world and his own. But to help Asku, Alma must revisit the painful secrets of her childhood.
“My Oxford Year” by Julia Whelan
Ella Durran’s life goal was to study at Oxford, which she accomplishes on a Rhodes Scholarship. Once in England, she’s offered an amazing job working remotely on the US presidential campaign, with the stipulation that she return to DC at the end of her Oxford year.
Feeling confident about her future, Ella begins a casual fling with her English literature professor, Oxford local Jamie Davenport. But when she discovers a secret of Jamie’s, she must choose between a suddenly risky future with the man she’s falling in love with and the future she’s always dreamed of.
A movie based on the book is already in development by Temple Hill Entertainment.
“We Own the Sky” by Luke Allnutt
Rob and Anna Coates are living the perfect life until their son Jack is diagnosed with cancer. Confronted with the possibility that Jack may die, their marriage grows increasingly strained as Rob and Anna struggle to cope with their new tragic reality in vastly different ways. Rob becomes obsessed with the possibility of an experimental treatment that Anna isn’t interested in pursuing, while his wife blames herself of Jack’s illness.
After Rob’s quest for a radical treatment fails, he turns to photography as a way to deal with his grief and fear of the future, posting photos online of the places he and Jack used to visit together.
“Speakeasy” by Alisa Smith
During WWII Lena Stillman decodes Japanese communications for the Canadian government, but her criminal past threatens to catch up with her. Her former lover, bank robber Bill Bagley, begins sending her messages from death row threatening to expose her involvement in his gang.
Lena’s story alternates with that of 1930s gang member Byron Godfrey, who was recruited by Bagley from a life of dull respectability, in this historical thriller.
