What's New Wednesday: A Look at Next Week's New Releases

Pub. Date: February 1, 2010

Format: Paperback, 581pp

Synopsis: (From the Publisher)

If you like romance based on historical fact, you'll love Island of the Swans, which is the ficitonalized story of Jane Maxwell, a woman of influence during the mid-17th century. Set in Scotland, it follows Jane through the tragedy of losing her life-long love Thomas Fraser, through her marriage to the Duke of Gordon and Thomas' eventual return. A very satisfying read for lovers of history, which isn't surprising since Ciji is a Harvard-educated historian.

Pub. Date: February 1, 2010

Format: Hardcover, 292pp

Synopsis: (From the Publisher)

In Greek mythology, Alcestis is known as the good wife; she loved her husband so much that she died to save his life and was sent to the underworld in his place. In this poetic and vividly imagined debut, Katharine Beutner gives voice to the woman behind the ideal, bringing to life the world of Mycenaean Greece, a world peopled by capricious gods, where royal women are confined to the palace grounds and passed as possessions from father to husband.
Alcestis tells of a childhood spent with her sisters in the bedchamber where her mother died giving birth to her and of her marriage at the age of fifteen to Admetus, the young king of Pherae, a man she barely knows, who is kind but whose heart belongs to a god. She also tells the part of the story that’s never been told: What happened to Alcestis in the three days she spent in the underworld before being rescued by Heracles? In the realm of the dead, Alcestis falls in love with the goddess Persephone and discovers the true horror and beauty of death.

 

Pub. Date: February 2, 2010
Format: Paperback, 352pp

Synopsis:(From the Publisher)

Before Juliet Capelletti lie two futures: a traditionally loveless marriage to her father's business partner, or the fulfillment of her poetic dreams, inspired by the great Dante. Unlike her beloved friend Lucrezia, who looks forward to her arranged marriage, Juliet has a wild, romantic imagination that knows not the bounds of her great family's stalwart keep.

The latter path is hers for the taking when Juliet meets Romeo Monticecco, a soulful young man seeking peace between their warring families. A dreamer himself, Romeo is unstoppable, once he determines to capture the heart of the remarkable woman foretold in his stars. The breathless intrigue that ensues is the stuff of beloved legend. But those familiar with Shakespeare's muse know only half the story...

Pub. Date: February 2, 2010
Format: Paperback, 416pp

Synopsis: (From the Publisher)

A #1 bestseller in the UK comes to America—a sweeping historical novel about adventurous Rosa Barr, who travels to the Crimean battlefield in 1854 with Florence Nightingale's nursing corps.