Historical Fiction California

At the height of California's Gold Rush, men left everything behind for the chance at striking it rich. Now, some 30 years after its peak, gold fever still entices adventurous Easterners like James Macklin Chance, a poor Pennsylvanian who is drawn to California by the dream of lasting wealth - a dream so powerful he'll stop at nothing to see it through.

Family is a stunning, often painfully graphic re-creation of the realities of slavery: black women raped by white masters; black children sold to sustain failing plantations - or to satisfy the whims of a petulant mistress; strong men humiliated, whipped, and beaten because of the color of their skin. But it is also the triumphant story of a mother whose loving spirit transcends the barriers of death and time, allowing her to watch over her children and her children’s children.

A Decade of Love & Faith – Now in One Stunning Collection! For a decade, readers have fallen in love with Katie Wyatt heartwarming stories of faith, friendship, and enduring love. Now, by popular demand, comes The Complete California Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Series!, this newly revised and re-edited edition brings you all 8 beloved books in one captivating boxed set. Experience the Journey of Love, Faith & Second Chances From new beginnings to second chances, from heartbreak to redemption, follow the lives of courageous women and steadfast men as they navigate the challenges of...

A dying man. Ten thousand miles of road. One question that will not let him rest. In August 1784, Father Junípero Serra lies dying in a small adobe cell at the edge of the world. He has walked farther than any missionary in history. He has founded nine missions along the California coast. He has baptized thousands of souls and buried hundreds of children who died from diseases he carried in his breath. Now, with his final hours approaching, he looks back on a life consumed by holy fire—and asks the question he has avoided for fifty years: Did the good outweigh the harm? The Burning Road ...

Oregon Trail - 1848 A careless mistake nearly killed her. Angela lay bleeding and dying in a ravine, far from the wagon train. No one can hear her screams for help. Sent on a foolish mission, lost in the dark wilds, alone and stumbling before she plummets end-over-end to her doom. Her only hope was to survive, then someday she might find her runaway brother in San Francisco. As she cries out into the dark night, she prays for a miracle. Her closest friend Corinne, desperate to find her, will stop at nothing to save her. They have a friendship that no man can separate. Book 2 of the ...

John Steinbeck's powerful evocation of the suffering and hardship caused by the Great Depression, and a panoramic vision of the struggle for the American Dream, The Grapes of Wrath includes a critical introduction by Robert DeMott in Penguin Modern Classics. 'I've done my damndest to rip a...

A historical fiction book set in California during the mid-19th century. Step into the transformative world of the California Gold Rush with "Gold Rush Journey," a captivating narrative that weaves together the author’s personal experiences and the historical backdrop of one of America's most exhilarating eras. Witness the fervor and ambition that sparked a mass migration across the country, driven by dreams of wealth and new beginnings. The story unfolds as it traces the author's adventurous departure from New York, where he embarks on a perilous steamer voyage filled with a colorful ...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken comes a universal underdog story about the horse who came out of nowhere to become a legend. “Fascinating . . . Vivid . . . A first-rate piece of storytelling, leaving us not only with a vivid portrait of a...

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER A timeless, structure-bending classic that explores how actions of individual lives impact the past, present and future—from a postmodern visionary and one of the leading voices in fiction Featuring a new afterword by David Mitchell and a new introduction by...

Winner of the Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's Literature! * "Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant...

Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions - grief, loss, and anger - that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.

The classic Western, now newly repackaged as part of Bantam's Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures program—with never-before-seen material from Louis and his son, Beau L'Amour. "I am Johannes Verne, and I am not afraid." This was the boy's mantra as he plodded through the desert alone, left to die...

"Devastating and necessary. A masterpiece of historical fiction that reads like the American epic we should have learned in school but didn't." In 1873, fifty-two warriors held off the entire United States Army in the lava beds of California. You've never heard their names. That's not an accident. From the bestselling tradition of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD and THE NIGHT WATCHMAN comes an unforgettable novel of resistance, survival, and the American story you were never taught. Captain Jack didn't want war. He wanted his people to survive. When the Modoc Nation was forced onto a reservation ...

It is July 2003. In the middle of its maiden voyage, the luxury cruise ship Emerald Dolphin suddenly catches fire and sinks. What caused it? Why didn't the alarms go off? What was its connection to the revolutionary new engines powering the ship? NUMA special projects director Dirk Pitt races to...

A recent finishing school graduate, 18-year-old Garnet Cameron is desperate for direction. Too driven for the restrictive manners of the upper class, Garnet is naturally drawn to Oliver Hale, a frontier trader from the West. Unlike the men to whom she's accustomed, Oliver treats Garnet as an equal and respects her independence. His tales of adventure on the plains thrill her. And his proposal of marriage is accepted. Then Garnet discovers how ill-prepared she is for the punishing landscape of the Jubilee Trail and the even harsher realities of human nature.

Benedict Cumberbatch reads Franz Kafka's famous story of man-turned-insect, Metamorphosis Winner of AudioFile Earphones...

THE INSTANT BESTSELLER An indelible portrait of girls, the women they become, and that moment in life when everything can go horribly wrong ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, The Guardian, Entertainment Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, Financial Times, Esquire...

First there were roses and the notes in her mailbox signed simply, "Admirer." Then, the accident. One minute Chris Callaway was one of Hollywood's brightest rising stars, starting a new picture that could send her career skyrocketing; the next, she was falling from the unfinished deck of her...

Like the tentacles of an octopus, the railroad in California reached out across the state, grasping everything of value in the state. Based on the bloody Mussel Slough Tragedy - a conflict between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad - The Octopus is a stunning novel chronicling the twilight of the frontier West. A depiction of the tensions between the railroad, the ranchers, and the ranchers’ League. The book emphasizes the control of “forces” - such as the power of railroad monopolies - over individuals.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A gifted writer . . . explores the bonds of sisterhood while powerfully evoking the often nightmarish American immigrant experience.”—USA Today In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, a city of great wealth and glamour, the home of millionaires and beggars...