by Piter Akroid (2000)
In this remarkable detective novel Peter Ackroyd investigates the death of Thomas Chatterton, the eighteenth-century poet-forger and genius, whose life ended under mysterious circumstances. Fusing themes of illusion and imagination, delusion and dreams, he weaves back and forth between three centuries, introducing a blazing cast of Dickensian eccentrics and rogues, from the outrageous, gin-sipping Harriet Scrope, an elderly female novelist, to the tragic young poet, Charles Wychwood, seeker of Chatterton's secret... They find more riddles than answers from their search.
Amanda Quick
Targeted by a disabled former spy for the Crown who wrongly believes she is blackmailing his sister, Beatrice Lockwood offers her assistance in tracking down the real culprit and eventually falls for the spy only to find herself hunted by a mad scientist who would resurrect a dead lover.
S.M. Stirling
"Rudi Mackenize, now Artos the First, High King of Montival, and his allies have won several key battles against the Church Universal and Triumphant. But still the war rages on, taking countless lives, ravaging the land once known as the United States of America. Artos and his Queen, Mathilda, must unite the realms into a single kingdom to ensure a lasting peace. If the leaders of the Changed world are to accept Artos as their ruler, he will need to undertake a quest to the Lake at the Heart of the Mountains, and take part in a crowning ceremony--a ceremony binding him to his people, his ancestors, and his land. Then, once he has secured his place and allegiances, Artos can go forward, and lead his forces to the heart of the enemy's territory..."--
Danielle Steel
An ill-fated affair between Kassandra von Gotthard, a married German socialite, and her lover, a Jewish writer, at the beginning of Hitler's ethnic cleansing campaign results in tragedy for Kassandra's children, especially her beautiful daughter Ariana. When her father and brother disappear, Ariana is arrested by the Reich. Facing imprisonment and repeated rape at the hands of unscrupulous soldiers who desire to humble the lovely blond, Ariana jumps at the opportunity to become a cook for a kind Nazi officer. Gradually, the two are able to put the specter of war behind them and fall in love. But calamity strikes again, leaving Ariana alone once more and running for her life. Desperately sick and pregnant, Ariana lands in New York, part of the wave of refugees brought there by relief organizations. Sponsored, then befriended, then betrayed, by the Liebman family, Ariana slowly recovers in time for the Christmas birth of her son. And Noel, a kind man who loves Ariana, gives her the strength to make a life for herself and for him, which she does, finally finding true happiness. Danielle Steel creates a tale of the phases of life and love that we all experience against a brutal background that hopefully will not be experienced ever again. --Alison Trinkle
Chris Bohjalian
"Parallel stories of a woman who falls in love with an Armenian soldier during the Armenian Genocide and a modern-day New Yorker prompted to rediscover her Armenian past"--