A Duty To The Dead by Charles Todd

Bess Crawford is a young nurse struggling to keep wounded soldiers alive during the horrific years of WW1. When tending a dying soldier, she promises him she will deliver a message to one of his brothers back in England. Keeping this promise proves to be an arduous task as she is embroiled in the secretive miasma of his very troubled family.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Really enjoyed this story. A love story set in a fascinating historical context. It is about a young woman who is a WPA packhorse librarian who brings books to isolated folks in Kentucky. She is also a blue-skinned person who endures a tremendous amount of racism. I immediately googled what a blue-skinned person is, and that story is captivating. The third issue comes up at the end of the book, and I will not spoil the tale by mentioning it. Bluet is a developed character who exhibits dedication, love, and compassion for her profession and the people she serves. Recommended.

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

The story begins in the early 1950's Iran when a fledgling Democracy vies against U.S. Sanctioned monarchy. A young woman raised by progressive parents visits weekly a stationery shop that also sells books. There she meets a young man whose life path has already been determined by his mother. Despite this, they fall in love and determine to marry.  Then a sad, eventful day in 1953 leads to their separation for multiple decades. It reveals the pain and anguish which can extrude from the past to manipulate and damage the future of a beloved child. It is a poignant story of enduring love that tugs at the heart and explores the capriciousness of fate and the implacable existence of the evil intent of a terribly damaged soul.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan

What a wonderful story. I feel like I took up residence in an ordinary yet also extraordinary English village during the early years of WW2 that was left occupied by mostly women since so many of the men were off fighting the Nazis. A woman newly arrived to live in the Village urges the reconstitution of the village choir, now with only female voices and leads them to triumphant success. As this marvelous narrative unfolds in the various voices of the members of the choir, the remarkable lives of women left on the home front are revealed with poignancy and heart. Their resilience in the presence of daily struggles and periodic bombings is conveyed so well leading the reader to a new level of understanding of an oft unimaginable time in history. Savor!

Never Victorious, Never Defeated by Taylor Caldwell

This was a difficult book to read. I read an Ann Rand book in high school. This reminded me so much of that book. I felt despair because it encapsulated so much of what I fear. Corporate greed controlling our government, no longer a Democracy. Was it ever? The Robber Barons robbed our country of its Democracy. This book was published in 1954 and provides a story of the Gilded Age. And yet, as I watched a PBS documentary about the Gilded Age, I realized not much had changed. Still the 1%, the lobbyists, government for the wealthy, the working poor, an unfortunate majority supporting the rich in 2019.