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Title: Stealing Andrew Jackson's Head

Author: Charles D. Rodenbough

Narrator: Andrew Parrella

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-13

Publisher: All Things That Matter Press, Inc.

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In his obituary in 1899, the New York Times called Samual Worthington Dewey "one of the most picturesque characters in American history". For most of his life, Dewey was referred to in public as a sea captain, but his 92 years were much more eclectic. He collected knowledge and was attracted by persons who shared his acquisitive thirst for experience and learning. Based on the true-life experiences of Samuel W. Dewey, Stealing Andrew Jackson's Head is a fictionalized account of those events, as told by Dewey to eleven-year-old Jake Cooper.

Members Reviews:

The Sea Captain...

Charles Rodenbough in real life played at being a businessman, and succeeded pretty much wherever he turned, but history and learning ranked as his first love and this book, as well as the three others he has authored, spectacularly illustrate that point.

Reared in rural Stokes County, North Carolina, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, he left the Air Force at the age of 26 intending to work toward a doctorate in history and a career as a college professor. Life, and "responsibilities," intervened. He worked in real estate, insurance, headed a travel agency, and participated in various projects in Russia -- but as time flowed on he immersed himself in history, local, state and national, and tentatively at first and increasingly with more confidence began to write about it.

He broke free in 1994 with the publication of his first book, "Governor Alexander Martin: Biography of a North Carolina Revolutionary War Statesman." Since then he has researched, written and honed his craft full time.

You can read of his many projects on Google, on Amazon and elsewhere. Here let's now address the book at hand, Charles Rodenbough's latest novel: "Stealing Andrew Jackson's Head, based on the life of Captain Samuel W. Dewey."

Dewey, cousin of the Admiral, friend of the famous, became a sailor at 14, a ship captain at 15 and for the next 12 years traveled the world. By age 27, his restless mind sought new challenges. Dewey involved himself in canals and railroads, taught himself geology, and became a trader in stocks and land.

As a "mineralogist" he roamed, among other places, the Sauratown Mountains in Stokes County, North Carolina a few miles from Charles Rodenbough's future home. He unearthed in Virginia the largest diamond (up to that time) ever found in America. He wandered the world. He was, for want of a better phrase, a most interesting man.

Captain Samuel W. Dewey is also known to history as the man who cut off Andrew Jackson's head. To explain: when the ship USS Constitution was rebuilt in Boston in 1834, a wooden figure of President Jackson was carved and added to the ship's bow. Many New Englanders, including Dewey at that time, objected to Jackson's politics, and under cover of night, in a rain storm, Dewey rowed out to the ship and sawed off the statue's head.

Most men would have stopped there. Not Dewey. He decided to present the head to Jackson himself. The President was ill at the time so Dewey met with Vice President Martin Van Buren, who passed him on to Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickinson, who after some argument accepted the head.

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Title: The Liar's Daughter

Author: Laurie Graham

Narrator: Rebecca Egan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-13

Publisher: Quercus

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

When Nan Prunty's mother kept an alehouse in Portsmouth she renamed it The Duchess of Prunty, the title she claimed would have been hers had Lord Nelson lived. He was her lover. She saw him die at Trafalgar, or so she says. The details vary according to the amount of drink she's taken. Nan makes her own determined way in life, but always haunted by the wish to know the truth about her father. From the aging seamen at the Greenwich Hospital to the battlefields of the Crimea, Nan discovers the world is full of people with a story about Nelson. There are questions we can never hope to answer. It doesn't stop us asking.

Critic Reviews:

"Perfect for fans of historical fiction" (Bella)

Members Reviews:

An intriguing take on life in the19th century

What made the experience of listening to The Liar's Daughter the most enjoyable?

I have read about Nelson's life, the Victory and his death. This story brought a whole new perspective to Nelson the man. Then there is the huge contrast with the Crimean war, only a decade or so later. It is almost two books in one.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Liar's Daughter?

The meeting between mother and daughter in the horrors of the Crimea.

What does Rebecca Egan bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

The storytellers change (from mother to daughter). The use of different tones of voice mean one always knows who is telling which part of the story.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was stunned by the imagination that linked seemingly disparate storylines, but with a very sure thread.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the concept behind the book as much as the story itself. I like historical novels that are set within actual events.

A great book!

I love books, which take me back into past history and therefore I really enjoyed this book. Thank you!

Excellent.

Both enjoyable and informative. The characters were well portrayed and the detailed historical background equally good. Looking forward to my next Laurie Graham book.

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Title: A Humble Companion

Author: Laurie Graham

Narrator: Annie Aldington

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-13

Publisher: Quercus

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Loyalty tested to the limit. Dangerous secrets to keep. A lifelong friendship between a princess and a commoner.

Nellie Welches life changes for ever when shes proposed as companion to Princess Sophia, daughter of mad King George III and Queen Charlotte. Taken into the heart of the family, Nellie is privy to the innermost secrets of the wayward House of Hanover.

From the first rumblings of the French Revolution to the beginnings of the railway age, Nellie charts their story as she and Princess Sofy support each other through the ups and downs of their extraordinary lives.

Critic Reviews:

"It's a perfect book for a sunny day in the garden... Laurie Graham takes us once again into places we never thought we'd get to - and no matter how wonderful or horrible the people there are, they're always really touching and funny" (Paul Magrs)

Members Reviews:

A book to entertain, enjoy and enlighten.

This book came highly recommended by a British friend and I soon found out why. The story of a middle-class 13 year old

girl who is engaged to be a companion to the next to youngest of King George III's daughters -Princess Sophia. because

of all the chaos in the large family (15 children!) Sophia is lost down the lower end of the scale, not in line for succession

to the throne, has a mother who is worn out by childbearing, and a father who, famously, is "Mad King George" - slowly

sinking into dementia. She badly needs more than a companion, she needs a friend. She has an instant rapport with

her new friend who knows how to be discreet. This book is a real page turner and a fascinating portrayal of life from 1788

on into the reign of Queen Victoria and the old age of both main characters.

I am listing it as a "top favorite" for 2013 and am ordering

extra copies to give as Christmas gifts. Laurie Graham is a writer to cultivate. Her "Being Kennedys" was also excellent.

Great, great read and story!!!!!!!

Highly recommended!!! Wonderful writing. Historical fiction - at its best. You will learn history, enjoy colorful characters, and with just an added touch of wit!!!! Love all her books and this one is up to her usual excellent standards. Another great historical fiction on Amazon is The Partisan by William Jarvis. This book too is based on an actual person in history. It too has interesting male and female characters. Based during WWII, you will learn about betrayal, love, and survival!!! Both books deserve A++++++++

Charming Story

I bought this book as a joke since my name is Laurie Graham, intending to simply place this in my guest-room as an amusement -- but the joke was on me. It's a great story, engaging, based on historical accounts of the royalty of this era. The characters are well-drawn and people I'd like to know. Not a saccharine moment in the book. I'm proud to share my name with this author. Well worth the read.

Most enjoyable

I have only just discovered Laurie Graham as an author and I am thrilled. I read the Grand Duchess of Nowhere and loved it, so I purchased this on kindle. I wasn't disappointed. An easy read, but having said that, also very informative. If you like English history have a look at this.

Three Stars

I did not enjoy this book by Laurie Graham as much as I did the others.

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Title: Textures of Life

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Hortense Calisher

Narrator: Nancy Linari

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-22-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A study in motives, conflicts, ambitions, and fears as idealistic young newlyweds face unanticipated realities Hortense Calisher's second novel is a multigenerational story of art, family, and marriage. Opening with Liz and David's wedding and chronicling the first four years of their life together, Calisher follows the couple through their evolution into erudite, anti-materialist artists. They move into a sparse downtown Manhattan loft, prideful of their rebellious choice to lead lives unfettered by possessions. As time passes, they realize that their unbridled optimism is slowly being abraded by the disappointments of reality. With the ambiguously pleasant news that Elizabeth's mother and David's father, both widowed, are finding new love together, Calisher further explores the couple's interplay and draws piercing parallels between the idealism of youth and the sagacity of old age.

Textures of Life

Members Reviews:

Classic, timeless

The subject - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters - seems simple enough. But under Calisher's hands it becomes more complex, a beautiful tapestry. In an ornate, near voluptuous style reminiscent of Henry James, she spins a story of newlyweds David and Elizabeth. Both are artists, at least in spirit, and represent the artistic life in New York City in the late fifties, early sixties. The story covers only about four years, but in that time these two come up against the realities of daily living and the responsibilities of adulthood, and parenthood too, after their daughter May is born. They have found what they think is the perfect abode in a loft in an old converted piano factory and they design and remodel the space to suit their needs and temperaments. But this "blue heaven" space turns out to harbor a deadly threat to their baby, A nearly invisible dust rising up from the stoneworks on the lower level exacerbates little May's hidden asthma, causing periodic seizures and life-threatening attacks. A subtext, or parallel story, concerns that of their parents, both widowed, who marry each other. David's father, Nicholas, has a heart condition and has lived a careful, almost precarious life for a dozen years or so. When he marries Elizabeth's mother, Margot, he marvels at this new lease on life, telling his son that the "surprises just keep on coming." The interplay between the generations is key to this story, and Calisher skilfully interweaves their lives, although they live on opposite coasts - the older couple in California. It is only after his father's death that David begins to see how closely they have been, and still are, all connected.

"He saw. If one could imagine a loom, or looms innumerable, warp-and-woof radiating everywhere, perhaps not even from a center. The texture was so tight that one could never see, even over as much as four years of it, where any one part had begun."

This book was first published in 1963 and has been long out of print but it has a kind of timeless widsom and beauty that makes it classic. I'm glad I finally found it and read it. - Tim Bazzett, author of PINHEAD: A LOVE STORY

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Title: In Counteraction, Vanderbilt!

Subtitle: A Counter Corner Drama

Author: F. L. Light

Narrator: Media Kitchen Books

Format: Unabridged

Length: 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-21-13

Publisher: Rapid Traffic Press

Ratings: 2 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In 1863, under the instigation of his former associate, Daniel Drew, the New York State Legislature betrayed Commodore Vanderbilt, withdrawing the permit for his extension of the Harlem Railroad. The lawmakers and Drew then shorted Harlem stock. This play of counteraction portrays the most competitive businessman of the nineteenth century.

Light with Shakespearean popularity Should be regarded as a galaxy.

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Title: Dead Man's Hand

Author: Pati Nagle

Narrator: Joe Geoffrey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-18-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Only one will leave the final table...alive.

Wild Bill Hickok awakens to the feel of flesh crawling onto his bones. Alive again, in the graveyard in Deadwood on a cold October night, he has an irresistible compulsion to go to Atlantic City. There, in the mysterious and magical Black Queen casino, he joins a rogues gallery of resurrected scoundrels, all gamblers who were murdered like himself.

Will the father of organized crime revert to his bad habits and attempt to take over the Queen? Will Wild Bill finally find out if those aces and eights are winners? Five murdered men sit down to a poker tournament for the highest possible stakes: the right to stay alive.

Editorial Reviews:

Performer Joe Geoffrey has the kind of low, rumbling, Texan voice that makes you feel like youre riding horseback through a long summers evening listening to a man whos seen it all. Who better to perform Patti Nagles delicious work of Americana fantasy, Dead Mans Hand?

The hero of the story is Wild Bill Hickok, that quintessential ghost of the old west who died in the midst of a poker game while he held black aces and eights: the "dead mans hand". In Nagles imagination, Hickok wakes up in modern times and heads to Atlantic City, where he meets a bunch of resurrected outlaws ready for one epic game of poker. Part Field of Dreams, part Connecticut Yankee in reverse, this is one fun-filled ride.

Members Reviews:

... with a magical twist in a poker setting- I loved it! A fun read with well developed characters ...

Historical figures with a magical twist in a poker setting- I loved it! A fun read with well developed characters you get to know and care about (or dislike!) Unexpected from start to finish, yet every page good. No need to define the genre; you'll find it hard to put down.

lovely ghost novel

Five murdered poker players from different eras are brought back from the dead for one last tournament. The prize is life itself.

The book opens with Wild Bill Hickok finding himself pulled from the grave, his bones clothing themselves with flesh and the flesh with clothes. The reader follows along with Bill as he tries to work out what's going on and why he feels an urge to go to Atlantic City, although the reader has an advantage over him in being able to recognise the present day and just how much time has passed. Another four men from different time periods have the same experience, although one is so recently dead that he is able to convince friends and family that he'd been kidnapped and held incommunicado for several years. As they gradually assemble, they discover that they have been revived for the greatest poker tournament in history - between the greatest players, no matter when they lived.

The result is an atmospheric blend of ghost story and mystery, with some superb world-building going into the strange casino that has revived the men. The characters are well developed, and it's a joy to watch their interaction, and their different reactions to the present day. Those reactions are driven in part by their different reasons for wanting the prize; not just a new life in a recreated body, but what they want to do with that life. A chance at love, a chance at revenge, fascination with this new world they find themselves in...

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Title: Devil's Acre

Author: Matthew Plampin

Narrator: Lewis Hancock

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-03-13

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

A novel of intrigue, violence and conflicted loyalties from the author of The Street Philosopher.

Spring, 1853. After a triumphant display at the Great Exhibition in London, the legendary American entrepreneur and inventor Colonel Samuel Colt expands his gun-making business into England. He acquires a riverside warehouse in Pimlico and sets about converting it into a pistol works capable of mass producing his patented revolvers on an unprecedented scale - aware that the prospect of war with Russia means huge profits.

The young, ambitious Edward Lowry is hired by Colt to act as his London secretary. Although initially impressed by the Colonel's dynamic approach to his trade, Edward comes to suspect that the American's intentions in the Metropolis are not all they appear. Meanwhile, the secretary becomes romantically involved with Caroline Knox, a headstrong woman from the machine floor - who he discovers is caught up in a plot to steal revolvers from the factory's stores.

Among the workforce Colt has gathered from the seething mass of London's poor are a gang of desperate Irish immigrants, embittered refugees from the potato famine, who intend to use these stolen six-shooters for a political assassination in the name of revenge. As pistols start to go missing, divided loyalties and hidden agendas make the gun-maker's factory the setting for a tense story of intrigue, betrayal and murder.

Critic Reviews:

Praise for The Street Philosopher:

"A galloping good story" (The Times)

"Lust, avarice, envy, revenge all play their part in this brilliantly told, well-paced story, which also begs the question, so relevant today, of just how close to action journalists and recorders of war should be allowed" (Daily Mail)

"Plampin's historical research is impressive, as is his command of detail.his true gift of descriptive power" (Independent on Sunday)

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Title: Three Brothers

Author: Peter Ackroyd

Narrator: Daniel Weyman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-03-13

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Three Brothers follows the fortunes of Harry, Daniel, and Sam Hanway, born on a postwar council estate in Camden Town. Marked out from the start by curious coincidence, each boy is forced to make his own way in the world - a world of dodgy deals and big business, of criminal gangs and crooked landlords, of newspaper magnates, back-biters, and petty thieves.

London is the backdrop and the connecting fabric of these three lives, reinforcing Ackroyds grand theme that place and history create, surround, and engulf us. From bustling, cut-throat Fleet Street to hallowed London publishing houses, from the wealth and corruption of Chelsea to the smoky shadows of Limehouse and Hackney, this is an exploration of the city, peering down its streets, riding on its underground, and drinking in its pubs and clubs. Everything is possible - not only in the new freedom of the 1960s but also in Londons timeless past.

Members Reviews:

An intriguing and original story

This was an intriguing story in a quiet and original way. A week later I am still thinking about the plot and characters. The complexities of ordinary people are not laboured and the links in the plot between people are delicate and believable. As time goes by I think this book could become one of the memorable downloads of the year.

I am aware that an apparently less than enthusiastic review using highly charged language might not encourage someone to try a novel - the reviews on audible seem to get ever more extreme - but this book is definitely worth listening to.

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Title: The Outcasts

Author: Kathleen Kent

Narrator: Ellen Archer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-01-13

Publisher: Headline Digital

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

From the author of The Heretics Daughter, an epic Texan adventure of love, loss, and kinship - for any fan of True Grit; for any reader or listener of the best-selling Geraldine Brooks.

Greed. Desire. Death. Love.

It's the 19th century on the Gulf Coast of Texas, a time of opportunity and lawlessness. Lucinda: intelligent, passionate, wily and courageous - a woman who braves her affliction and risks her own life to pursue her lover, a man as charismatic as he is ruthless.

Nate: pure of heart, and with a strong sense of justice - a Texas policeman who belies his gentle nature to fight and seek the truth.

Bill: a killer who has claimed the lives of men, women and children across the frontier. A man who knows what he wants and will do anything to claim it.

The Outcasts. A disparate group of men who have made a living out of violence, and a woman who will stop at nothing to prove herself.

Members Reviews:

Great literary historical fiction

Great literary historical fiction, this book has wonderful character development and some surprising plot twists in the setting of post Civil War era. Highly recommended.

A little bit " Cold Mountain," a little bit "East of Eden"

The first quarter of the novel had only occasionally interesting passages, but then the two parts of the story began to come together. I kept thinking that if my father were still alive, he'd love this story . You get the story from two sides , female and male. You get a story that really tells you about evil--though from a removed perspective. You also learn what makes a woman become evil. Wonderful ending that brought it all together. A book to love and remember! The reader is wonderful if you're a listener. Highly recommended!

A wonderful read

I picked up this book after reading Kathleen Kent's 'The Dime' which I loved. The Outcasts was also exceptional. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of life in Texas and surrounding states after the Civil War and thought the story itself was great. I was moved by the character's successes and failures throughout the book.

this was good, but mostly predictable and not nearly as well ...

Compared to Kathleen Kent's other novel Heretics Daughter, this was good, but mostly predictable and not nearly as well researched. It is more of a beach read. Currently reading The Traitor's Wife by Kent that is excellent.

Historical fiction at its best. Ms

Kent weaves the stories of her characters together in surprising and suspenseful ways. Historical fiction at its best. Ms. Kent came to our book club to tell us about her inspiration for this novel.

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Title: A Crown of Despair

Author: Jenny Mandeville

Narrator: Patience Tomlinson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-01-13

Publisher: Soundings

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Having sent his last wife to the block, the tyrannical Henry VIII sets his lustful sights upon an innocent and unworldly gentlewoman, the recently widowed, Katherine Parr. In mourning for her late husband, and yet desperately in love with another, Katherine is forced to choose between the man she loves and a crown of despair.

In the years that follow, as Henry's terrified sixth wife and queen, she battles to contain her fear and revulsion of her bloated and monstrous new husband. The real threat of execution and the humiliation that she endures only strengthens Katherine's resolve that somehow she will escape the gruesome fate of her predecessors and ultimately be with the man she loves.