Biographical Fiction

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world....

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls....

Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all....

Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue....

This is the story about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune—a forbidden friendship that changed the world....

It is 1936, and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca....

Her beauty saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in everything else, she overheard the Third Reich's plans while at her husband's side, understanding more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee....

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins....

Inspired by a true story, two teens kidnapped by an African warlord find salvation through love in a powerful and healing historical novel from the #1 bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky and The Last Green Valley....

The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and by whom he has been touched. Inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival....

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary....

From the author of the number one best seller Beneath a Scarlet Sky comes a new historical novel inspired by one family’s incredible story of daring, survival, and triumph....

The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov and his three sons—the impulsive and sensual Dmitri....

In 1580s England, during the Black Plague, a young Latin tutor falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman in this “exceptional historical novel” (The New Yorker) and best-selling winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction....

Dan Freeman, the “spook who sat by the door,” is enlisted in the CIA’s elitist espionage program. Upon mastering agency tactics, however, he drops out to train young Black Chicagoans to combat racism as “Freedom Fighters” in this explosive novel....

Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph....

From the bestselling, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Garden of Evening Mists comes a spellbinding novel about love and betrayal, colonialism and revolution, storytelling and redemption....

1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm....

Under direct orders from Vladimir Lenin, Bolshevik secret police force Anastasia Romanov, along with the entire imperial family, into a damp basement in Siberia....

This richly imagined novel tells the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the book that inspired the iconic film, through the eyes of author L. Frank Baum’s intrepid wife, Maud....

Mitza Maric has always been a little different from other girls. Most 20-year-olds are wives by now, not studying physics at an elite Zurich university with only male students trying to outdo her....

From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women....

The Lioness of Boston is a portrait of what society expected a woman's life to be, shattered by a courageous soul who rebelled and was determined to live on her own terms....

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life....

From the New York Times best-selling authors of America's First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton - a revolutionary woman....

In September of 1892, Oscar Wilde and his family retreated to the idyllic Norfolk countryside for a holiday. His wife, Constance, has every reason to be happy: two beautiful sons, a stellar reputation as an advocate for progressive causes, and a delightfully charming and affectionate husband and father, who is perhaps the most famous man in England. But as an assortment of houseguests arrive, including an aristocratic young wannabe poet named Lord Alfred Douglas, Constance gradually—and then all at once—comes to see that her husband's heart is elsewhere.

Will Self is one of the most inimitable contemporary writers in the English language. In this brilliantly conceived new novel Self turns his forensic eye and technicolor imagination to the troubled life of his mother, Elaine. Standing by the mailbox outside 1100 Hemlock Street in Ithaca, New York, Elaine thinks of her husband and child inside her house and wonders: is this . . . it? As she begins to push back against the strictures of her life in 1950s America, she undertakes a disastrous affair that places her marriage to an Ivy League academic and former Communist Party member in peril.

Her friends included Van Gogh, Degas, and Renoir. Paris celebrated her as a sought-after model, until she picked up the brush herself, at a time when art schools refused to accept female students. By the time Suzanne Valadon was 15 years old, shed been a horse walker, a milliner, a funeral wreath maker, and a circus acrobat, but that was just the beginning of her adventures. Here is her story, along with Ellie's, a modern woman a century later at a crossroads of her life, who pulls Suzanne from the shadows of the past into the light.

In this rich, sweeping novel, Monika Zgustova immerses us in the daily life of this remarkable couple, offering insights into their complex personal and professional relationships, as well as the real people behind characters such as Lolita. Vera considered herself an independent woman, but was she really, when her husband took up so much space? And without Vera, could Nabokov have become one of the twentieth century's greatest writers?

Wilma è il romanzo del "caso Montesi": il fatto di cronaca nera che fece tremare i palazzi del potere nell’Italia del dopoguerra. L’11 aprile 1953, sulla spiaggia di Torvajanica, a circa quaranta chilometri da Roma, il corpo di una giovane donna viene trovato riverso sulla battigia. Il suo nome era Wilma Montesi, una ragazza di ventun anni "con qualche vaga aspirazione cinematografica". In apparenza sembra essersi trattato di uno sfortunato incidente, ma molti particolari non tornano.

La baronessa Melusine von der Schulenburg è giovane, indipendente e ribelle: refrattaria a ogni obbligo, pretende di avere gli stessi diritti dei maschi, vuole studiare, rifiuta sia di prendere marito che di farsi monaca, e sostiene di riuscire a parlare con i morti. Accetta di fare da dama di compagnia alla corte di Hannover solo per incontrare Leibniz, che lì studia. Ma a corte non è facile inserirsi: tutti iniziano a chiamarla, con astio, la Pertica, perché alta e slanciata com’è non è certo una bellezza, e le regole imposte dall’etichetta le tolgono la libertà che andava cercando.

Far from the untouchable images of heaven-gazing saints, the apostle Paul ruthlessly focused on his earthly duty to build God’s Church. Before his dramatic conversion he had violently tried to stamp out a heretical sect of Jews–the first Christians. But Paul’s encounter with Christ turned his boundless energy to building the young and fragile Church into an established and enduring body.

Der Roman über eine abenteuerliche Flucht, der auf der wahren Geschichte des Autors Matthias Lisse - bekannt als Autor spannender und erfolgreicher historischer Romane unter dem Pseudonym Mac P. Lorne - basiert, und gleichermaßen eine anrührende Familiengeschichte: Berlin 13. August 1961. Der Traum vom "Arbeiter- und Bauernparadies" ist ausgeträumt, und wie viele andere haben Wolfgang Leipold und seine Frau nur ein Ziel: die DDR, zusammen mit ihrem kleinen Sohn Marcus, so schnell wie möglich zu verlassen.

When Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Òsogùn, thirteen-year-old Àjàyí's life is split in two. Before, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient Yorùbá gods of forest and water, earth and sky. When Malian slave traders invaded the Nigerian town of Òsogùn, thirteen-year-old Àjàyí's life is split in two. Before, there was his childhood, surrounded by friends and family, watched over by the ancient Yorùbá gods of forest and water, earth and sky.

The mother of the revolutionary firebrand Malcolm X was a Grenadian woman born at the turn of the 20th century in a small rural community in a deeply colonial society where access to education had only just begun for the children of working people. She emigrated to Canada and then the USA, where she became involved in the struggle for Black civil rights led by Marcus Garvey.

Maxine Gamble's journey seems to be full of unexpected twists and turns. As she navigates through family life, a career in healthcare, intimacy issues betrayal, and losses, her path seems clearer day after day. Along the way, she encounters a lot she didn't expect. After experiencing a devastating fall-out in her childhood home, Maxine is determined to keep her own family from being torn apart. The challenges of being a medical caregiver continue to fuel this single mom's drive to push past politics, prejudice, and career advancement issues.

Somehow they find themselves in Hot Springs, Arkansas, but why? At thirteen, Rosalia suffers a sexual assault and her reputation is damaged in her hometown of Gliewitz, Germany. She must choose between a life of rejection or a sojourn into the wild, unknown land of Arkansas, where a young man awaits who will marry her. Her journey during the mid-1800s takes the listener across the Atlantic Ocean where she is almost kidnapped by a gentleman who conceals his true career: sex trafficking of hapless immigrant women in transit to America.

Элис Чейн повезло: она выиграла шанс обучаться в самом престижном университете страны и целых шесть лет, несмотря на слабое сердце, выгрызала в граните наук тоннель в свое светлое будущее. Она верила, что справится. Но жизнь полетела кувырком, когда в ночном клубе, а затем в лекционной аудитории Элис столкнулась с профессором Джеральдом Риверсом — гениальным разработчиком искусственного интеллекта, повесой и весьма эпатажной личностью. И чем больше Элис его узнавала, тем труднее казалась задача не влюбиться в этого человека всем своим больным сердцем.

An immigrant arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, falls into a job at a famous hedge fund, and is startled to discover how business is done on Wall Street. His observations of American culture and finance are jarring, surreal, and hilarious. The author worked directly for George Soros and launched funds with several other Soros alumni. In addition to his career in finance, he founded and continues to host one of the largest veteran fundraisers in New York.

Nicht wenige halten diese Biographie Stefan Zweigs für sein Meisterwerk. Frankreich zwischen 1792 und 1815 wird unter der Zweigschen Wortgewalt zu einem atemberaubenden Monument. Die einzelnen Figuren von Robespierre über Napoleon bis Ludwig XVIII lässt Stefan Zweig für uns in brillanter Schärfe lebendig werden. Der eigentliche Gegenstand seiner Biographie – Joseph Fouché – bettet sich ein in das gewaltige historische Drama dieser Zeit. Und von Seite zu Seite nötigt uns dieser amoralische Verräter aus Leidenschaft für seine Überlebensfähigkeit mehr Respekt ab.

This is the true story of my Great-Grandfather George Calloway, a slave in Cleveland, Tennessee, before and during the Civil War. It is written as historical fiction, based on George’s life, and stories I heard growing up. It is a tale of determination, perseverance, and achievement. George protected his family through war, famine, and plague; he risked his life repeatedly to protect his owner’s family, and thus his own wife and children. More fact than fiction, George’s story has also been my journey, grappling with the humiliation of slavery.

Ginevra Bompiani ha attraversato il Novecento da trottatore, all’insegna della cultura e dell’impegno sociale. La incontriamo nelle prime pagine insieme a N., adolescente somala di cui è tutrice legale, con cui trascorre “giorni ciarlieri” e “altri che aprono una piccola voragine nel suo passato e nel mio presente”. Nel loro dialogo, fatto più di gesti e sensazioni che di parole, Ginevra Bompiani torna spesso con il pensiero al proprio passato: l’essere figlia di uno dei principali editori italiani, l’infanzia tra Milano e Vigevano, la guerra e una pace da scoprire.

En la tierra de los «niños radiactivos», las frutas monstruosas de la Zona, los cielos rojos y los hombres alcohólicos, enfermos o desorientados, las mujeres resisten haciendo de la cotidianidad un refugio. Desde la Buenos Aires a la que emigró con su familia, Natalia Litvinova rompe el silencio de su madre para reconstruir en Luciérnaga toda una estirpe acallada.

La guerra ha terminado. España está en ruinas. En el cementerio de Alicante exhuman los restos de José Antonio Primo de Rivera. Sus camaradas falangistas van a llevarlo a hombros hasta enterrarlo en El Escorial, morada de reyes, sepulcro imperial. Durante once días y diez noches, el cortejo fantasmagórico avanzará por pueblos y ciudades entre hogueras, escarcha, brazos enhiestos y propaganda: una epopeya fascista de 467 kilómetros para demostrar quién manda en la nueva España.

Lo sacrificó todo para salvar a los que más la necesitaban. Descubre una de las historias de valor y sacrificio más inspiradoras y poco conocidas de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Corrie ten Boom, una relojera holandesa, transformó desinteresadamente su hogar en un escondite para albergar a judíos durante las feroces redadas de la Gestapo. Aunque los nazis sospechaban lo que Corrie y su familia hacían, nunca pudieron encontrar a quienes se ocultaban en la casa.

El retrato de formación de uno de los escritores más sólidos de la narrativa española. Ignacio Martínez de Pisón fue niño en el Logroño de los sesenta, muchacho en la Zaragoza de los setenta y aprendiz de novelista en la Barcelona de los ochenta. La primera parte de su vida es la de un chico cualquiera, nacido en el seno de una familia feliz hasta la temprana muerte de su padre; años cruciales de los que se nutre su mundo literario.

Narrated by the talented Jon McNally and published by Audiobook Publishing Services, "A Passion for Tom" offers a deeply immersive journey into the life of Thomas Stearns Eliot ("Tom")—a young American poet navigating the complexities of 1920s London. As he struggles with mental instability and the pursuit of literary greatness, Tom finds himself entwined in relationships that both inspire and torment him.

"Era l’anno in cui sarebbe dovuto finire il mondo. L’anno in cui si sentì spesso dire: "Non siamo la Grecia". Infatti, non siamo la Grecia. Per questo ne abbiamo bisogno." Una taverna invisibile dalla strada: dentro, pochi tavoli, luci basse, fumo e bicchieri di retsina sempre vuoti. Suoni di risate, confidenze, insulti a mezza bocca. Poi tutto tace. Una melodia sale nell’attesa come una malattia, sospinta da un martellare di chitarre e buzuki, e una voce si leva infine sopra a tutto: è il rebetiko, il blues dei greci; colonna sonora di una nazione, lato di brace della vita.

Easy Does It, the Story of Mac is a biographical novel written by the late Doctor William D. Silkworth MD about an alcoholic named Mac who recovers from alcoholism in Alcoholics Anonymous. Mac seeks help from a church pastor know throughout the text as the Padre. Together they learn all about Mac’s alcoholism and the Padre helps Mac along as Mac finds sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous. In the course of the novel the listener learns in depth about alcoholism and alcoholics anonymous in altogether human terms.

Feeling life is slipping him by, an American agriculturalist heads to Vietnam to try and make a difference in the lives of the people as part of President Johnson's 'Hearts and Minds' campaign. There is just one big problem - there's a war going on. Eddie joins a small group of civilian advisors chosen to work with local farmers to help make Vietnam once again self-sufficient in rice. He is drawn to the adventure, the challenge, and the opportunity to make a difference, but he is leaving some problems behind.