Historical fiction
Josephine’s Garden
by Stephanie Parkyn,
Allen & Unwin
It’s 1794 in France and the nation is steeped in the blood of the Revolution. Three months earlier Rose de Beauharnais was imprisoned in Les Carmes and sentenced to death, her husband an alleged traitor. Now the day of reckoning has come. Alexandre has already been executed and Rose’s date with the guillotine is up. As she tries to calm her nerves, the doors of the prison are thrown open. She and all those within these walls are free. But less than a decade later, Rose is back in a different sort of prison, married to Napoleon Bonaparte, her name changed to Empress Josephine of France. In her gilded cage, her only escape is tending her garden, and the friendship of two other women who become her touchstones. A fascinating insight into the woman whose sexual prowess was famous and whom Napoleon ultimately divorced.
THE LIGHT AFTER THE WAR
by Anita Abriel, Simon & Schuster Vera and friend Edith are the lucky ones as they arrive in Naples in 1946. This novel was inspired by the author’s mother’s experiences escaping from a train heading for Auschwitz, a memory that haunts this story at every turn. The girls’ mothers threw them from the carriage and in doing so saved their lives. Now they must fend for themselves. After the war, Vera finds work with the US Embassy in Italy where she falls for a dashing captain. But when he disappears, she and Edith embark on a lengthy journey to Ellis Island, Caracas and finally Sydney.
A MURDER AT MALABAR HILL
by Sujata Massey,
Allen & Unwin
Inspired by pioneering lawyer Cornelia Sorabji, this delightful murder mystery, the first in a series, takes us to the streets of 1920s Bombay. Our heroine is Miss Perveen Mistry, who in joining her father’s law firm has become one of very few female lawyers in India. She must execute the will of a wealthy mill owner, but very quickly Perveen senses something is wrong.
THE PARIS MODEL
by Alexandra Joel, HarperCollins
Grace Woods goes from outback sheep station to modelling for Christian Dior in Paris. Her new world is glamorous and exciting and when she meets dishy Philippe Boyer she is walking on air. But Philippe is involved in international espionage and soon so is Grace, risking her life.