1. Death By Petticoat: American History Myths Debunked by Mary Miley Theobald
Several myths repeated by history teachers and museum docents are debunked.
2. The Color of Our Sky by Amita Trasi
Tara returns to Bombay after years living in America, determined to find the young girl her father had taken in from a village and whom she had befriended when she was younger. The girl, Mukta, had been kidnapped from their apartment and Tara had believed her dead until paperwork she discovered after her father’s death proved otherwise. She wants to find the girl who was like a sister to her…and who she may have wronged.
Mukta grows up the daughter of a temple prostitute, destined to become one herself. Her mother tries to free her from that life and so Mukta is sent to Bombay to have a chance at something better. She finds friendship and possibilities with Tara until she is kidnapped one night. As she is forced into being essentially a sex slave, she thinks of the joy she had just being a child with Tara and finds the strength to persevere.
3. In the Light of the Garden by Heather Burch
After the death of her beloved grandfather, Charity Baxter inherits his mansion on an island in the Florida Keys as well as his pottery making business. She decides to stay and starts to make a life for herself, forming a little family with her neighbor, Dalton, her great-uncle and a young runaway named Daisy. All need healing in some way. Will they find it in Charity’s garden—especially the weeping willow on her property?
4. From Sand to Ash by Amy Harmon
Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco have known each other since children. As they grew up, they grew closer—but Angelo has always been destined for the priesthood, the only profession considered for him since he had a deformed leg, so their love was never meant to be. The situation became worse as fascism took hold in Italy and Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany, for Eva and her family are Jewish. Angelo is ordained and uses the power of the Church to help save Jewish people in Italy as the Nazis take over. As Angelo does everything he can to protect Eva, she does everything she can to resist the Nazis. They play a dangerous game with the Nazis…and each other.
5. The Saturday Evening Girls Club by Jane Healey
Set in Boston at the turn of the last century, the book follows four young immigrants as they try to realize their American dream while dealing with parents who hold onto the traditions of the Old World. Caprice wants to own her own shop and be a successful businesswoman while her father wants her to marry a nice Sicilian boy and have babies. Ada is pursuing her education, attending college while hiding it from her strict Russian Jewish father. Thea is caught between the customs of America and her family’s wish for her to use a matchmaker for marriage. And Maria watches her mother waste away as her father drinks away what little money they have, vowing to have a better life than that. Their lives all converge at the Saturday Evening Girls Club, a weekly meeting for immigrant girls to gain knowledge and experience in this Brave New World.
So those were my top 5 books of 2017. I can't wait to see what 2018 brings!
Happy New Year!
