Editorial Content for Bronze Drum: A Novel of Sisters and War
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The crisp but poetic prose of Phong Nguyen’s BRONZE DRUM resounds with a deep, sonorous boom. It retells the story of Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị, two real Vietnamese sisters who led thousands of women against the conquering Han Chinese. This tale, a riveting work of historical fiction, is one that won’t be easily forgotten.
"This tale, a riveting work of historical fiction, is one that won’t be easily forgotten."
Teaser
In 40 CE, in the Au Lac region of ancient Vietnam, two daughters of a Vietnamese Lord fill their days training, studying and trying to stay true to Vietnamese traditions. While Trung Trac is disciplined and wise, always excelling in her duty, Trung Nhi is fierce and free-spirited, more concerned with spending time in the gardens and with lovers. But these sisters' lives --- and the lives of their people --- are shadowed by the oppressive rule of the Han Chinese. When Trung Trac and Trung Nhi's father is executed, their world comes crashing down around them. With no men to save them against the Han's encroaching regime, they must rise and unite the women of Vietnam into an army.
Promo
In 40 CE, in the Au Lac region of ancient Vietnam, two daughters of a Vietnamese Lord fill their days training, studying and trying to stay true to Vietnamese traditions. While Trung Trac is disciplined and wise, always excelling in her duty, Trung Nhi is fierce and free-spirited, more concerned with spending time in the gardens and with lovers. But these sisters' lives --- and the lives of their people --- are shadowed by the oppressive rule of the Han Chinese. When Trung Trac and Trung Nhi's father is executed, their world comes crashing down around them. With no men to save them against the Han's encroaching regime, they must rise and unite the women of Vietnam into an army.
About the Book
A “gripping historical adventure” of ancient Vietnam based on the true story of two warrior sisters who raised an army of women to overthrow the Han Chinese and rule as kings over a united people, for readers of CIRCE and THE NIGHT TIGER (Booklist).
Gather around, children of Chu Dien, and be brave.
For even to listen to the story of the Trung Sisters is,
in these troubled times, a dangerous act.
In 40 CE, in the Au Lac region of ancient Vietnam, two daughters of a Vietnamese Lord fill their days training, studying and trying to stay true to Vietnamese traditions. While Trung Trac is disciplined and wise, always excelling in her duty, Trung Nhi is fierce and free spirited, more concerned with spending time in the gardens and with lovers.
But these sisters' lives --- and the lives of their people --- are shadowed by the oppressive rule of the Han Chinese. They are forced to adopt Confucian teachings, secure marriages and pay ever‑increasing taxes. As the peoples' frustration boils over, the country comes ever closer to the edge of war.
When Trung Trac and Trung Nhi's father is executed, their world comes crashing down around them. With no men to save them against the Han's encroaching regime, they must rise and unite the women of Vietnam into an army. Solidifying their status as champions of women and Vietnam, they usher in a period of freedom and independence for their people.
Vivid, lyrical and filled with adventure, BRONZE DRUM is a true story of standing up for one's people, culture and country that has been passed down through generations of Vietnamese families through oral tradition. Phong Nguyen's breathtaking novel takes these real women out of legends and celebrates their loves, losses and resilience in this inspirational story of women's strength and power even in the face of the greatest obstacles.
Audiobook available, read by Quyen Ngo
October 2022 Bookaccino Live Event
September 13, 2022
In this newsletter, you will find books releasing the weeks of September 12th and September 19th that we think will be of interest to Bookreporter.com readers, along with Bonus News, where we call out a contest, feature or review that we want to let you know about so you have it on your radar.
This week, we are calling attention to our review of Jamie Fiore Higgins' eye-opening memoir, BULLY MARKET, which will be a Bookreporter.com Bets On pick. This rare, riveting insider’s account on Wall Street is an updated LIAR'S POKER, where greed coupled with misogyny and discrimination enforces a culture of exclusion in the upper echelons of Goldman Sachs.
September 13, 2022
This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that we know people will be talking about this fall. Read more about it, and enter our Fall Preview Contest by Wednesday, September 14th at noon ET for a chance to win one of five copies of ANYWHERE YOU RUN by Wanda M. Morris, which releases on October 25th. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!
Editorial Content for The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Historical fiction, like any other form of fiction, has its rulebook, and the author flouts it at his or her peril. While the author can --- and almost certainly does --- take liberties with history, there are serious, prudential limitations in doing so. One can’t, for example, write about Davy Crockett and then not have him die at the Alamo. (Well, you can, but then you’ve left the precincts of historical fiction for the broad pastures of alternative history, which in turn has its own rules.) Read More
Teaser
Sage Winters’ twin sister, Rosemary, died from pneumonia six years ago. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage’s stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet, despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn’t die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could have imagined.
Promo
Sage Winters’ twin sister, Rosemary, died from pneumonia six years ago. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage’s stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet, despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn’t die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could have imagined.
About the Book
Girl, Interrupted meets "American Horror Story" in 1970s Staten Island, as New York Times bestselling author Ellen Marie Wiseman blends fact, fiction and urban legend for a haunting story about a young woman mistakenly imprisoned at Willowbrook State School, the real-life institution later shuttered for its heartbreaking abuses.
Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different, even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary --- awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears --- seemed to need more protection from the world.
Six years after Rosemary’s death from pneumonia, Sage, now 16, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage’s stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet, despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn’t die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing.
Sage knows little about Willowbrook. It’s always been a place shrouded by rumor and mystery. A place local parents threaten to send misbehaving kids. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could have imagined.
Audiobook available, read by Morgan Hallett
Editorial Content for Back to the Garden
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In the prologue to Laurie R. King’s BACK TO THE GARDEN, a man in an Army poncho watches as a strange car approaches his homestead on a rainy night. Exiting the vehicle is an individual who resembles a junior partner at a law firm. He’s looking for Rob Gardener, and the man in the poncho responds, “Has the Old Bastard finally died?” This scene from the past kicks off the family saga of the Gardener Estate that is at the heart of this novel, which jumps back and forth in time as secrets are uncovered and revealed. Read More
Teaser
A magnificent house, vast formal gardens, a golden family that shaped California, and a colorful past filled with now-famous artists: the Gardener Estate was a 12th-century Eden. And now, just as the Estate is preparing to move into a new future, restoration work on some of its art digs up a grim relic of the home’s past: a human skull, hidden away for decades. Inspector Raquel Laing has her work cut out for her. Fifty years ago, the Estate’s young heir, Rob Gardener, turned his palatial home into a counterculture commune of peace, love and equality. But that was also a time when serial killers preyed on innocents --- monsters like The Highwayman, whose case has just surged back into the public eye. Could the skull belong to one of his victims?
Promo
A magnificent house, vast formal gardens, a golden family that shaped California, and a colorful past filled with now-famous artists: the Gardener Estate was a 12th-century Eden. And now, just as the Estate is preparing to move into a new future, restoration work on some of its art digs up a grim relic of the home’s past: a human skull, hidden away for decades. Inspector Raquel Laing has her work cut out for her. Fifty years ago, the Estate’s young heir, Rob Gardener, turned his palatial home into a counterculture commune of peace, love and equality. But that was also a time when serial killers preyed on innocents --- monsters like The Highwayman, whose case has just surged back into the public eye. Could the skull belong to one of his victims?
About the Book
A 50-year-old cold case involving California royalty comes back to life --- with potentially fatal consequences --- in this gripping stand-alone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series.
A magnificent house, vast formal gardens, a golden family that shaped California and a colorful past filled with now-famous artists: the Gardener Estate was a 20th-century Eden.
And now, just as the Estate is preparing to move into a new future, restoration work on some of its art digs up a grim relic of the home’s past: a human skull, hidden away for decades.
Inspector Raquel Laing has her work cut out for her. Fifty years ago, the Estate’s young heir, Rob Gardener, turned his palatial home into a counterculture commune of peace, love and equality. But that was also a time when serial killers preyed on innocents --- monsters like The Highwayman, whose case has just surged back into the public eye.
Could the skull belong to one of his victims?
To Raquel --- a woman who knows all about colorful pasts --- the bones clearly seem linked to The Highwayman. But as she dives into the Estate’s archives to look for signs of his presence, what she unearths begins to take on a dark reality all of its own.
Everything she finds keeps bringing her back to Rob Gardener himself. While he might be a gray-haired recluse now, back then he was a troubled young Vietnam vet whose girlfriend vanished after a midsummer festival at the Estate.
But a lot of people seem to have disappeared from the Gardener Estate that summer when the commune mysteriously fell apart: a young woman, her child and Rob’s brother, Fort.
The pressure is on, and Raquel needs to solve this case --- before The Highwayman slips away or another Gardener vanishes.
Audiobook available, read by Vivienne Leheny
Editorial Content for The Bad Angel Brothers
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Three years separate the Belanger brothers. However, the age gap between Cal and Frank is the smallest and most insignificant difference one can say about them. Younger brother Cal likes a simple life; he’s most content when out prospecting for gold and gems, existing in nature, uncomplicated by the burden of possessions. Frank, on the other hand, craves the almighty buck. But more so he craves control, and he will manipulate, cheat and lie to achieve it. To be totally honest, what Frank wants most is to control Cal. Read More
Teaser
Cal has always lived in the shadow of his manipulative and domineering brother, Frank, who was doted upon by their mother and beloved by the girls in their small New England hometown --- including Cal’s own girlfriends. In an attempt to escape Frank’s intrusive presence, Cal pursues a different kind of freedom in the world’s wild spaces, prospecting for gold and precious minerals. Soon he is dripping in wealth, his pockets full of gold nuggets and emeralds, but the money means far less to him than his independence. As Cal’s success grows, so too does Frank’s power and his influence in Cal’s affairs, the devastating threat he creates at the center of his little brother’s life. When Frank decides to commit the ultimate betrayal, Cal is left with only one, final solution.
Promo
Cal has always lived in the shadow of his manipulative and domineering brother, Frank, who was doted upon by their mother and beloved by the girls in their small New England hometown --- including Cal’s own girlfriends. In an attempt to escape Frank’s intrusive presence, Cal pursues a different kind of freedom in the world’s wild spaces, prospecting for gold and precious minerals. Soon he is dripping in wealth, his pockets full of gold nuggets and emeralds, but the money means far less to him than his independence. As Cal’s success grows, so too does Frank’s power and his influence in Cal’s affairs, the devastating threat he creates at the center of his little brother’s life. When Frank decides to commit the ultimate betrayal, Cal is left with only one, final solution.
About the Book
From the legendary American master Paul Theroux comes a brilliant new novel of chilling psychological depth, the tale of a younger brother whose lifelong rivalry with his older brother --- a powerful lawyer with a pattern of gleefully vicious betrayals --- culminates in the ultimate plan: murder.
Cal has always lived in the shadow of his manipulative and domineering brother, Frank, who was doted upon by their mother and beloved by the girls in their small New England hometown --- including Cal’s own girlfriends. In an attempt to escape Frank’s intrusive presence, Cal pursues a different kind of freedom in the world’s wild spaces, prospecting for gold and precious minerals everywhere from the heat of the desert at the Mexican border to the Alaskan chill, to central Africa and Colombian mines where he will meet the love of his life, Vida. Soon he is dripping in wealth, his pockets full of gold nuggets and emeralds but the money means far less to him than his independence.
To Frank, however, “Cash is king.” As Cal’s success grows, so too does Frank’s power and his influence in Cal’s affairs, the devastating threat he creates at the center of his little brother’s life. And, ultimately, when Frank decides to commit the ultimate betrayal, Cal is left with only one, final solution.
Few writers have as keen an eye for human nature as the inimitable Paul Theroux, and this riveting tale of adventure, betrayal and the true cost of family bonds is an unmissable new work from one of America’s most distinguished and beloved novelists.
Audiobook available, read by Joe Knezevich