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THE WAITING GAME

One of our recommended books is The Waiting Game by Nicola Clark

A colorful and authoritative narrative history of the often-overlooked–yet hugely influential–figures of the Tudor court: the ladies-in-waiting.

Every Tudor Queen had ladies-in-waiting. They were her confidantes and her chaperones. Only the Queen’s ladies had the right to enter her most private chambers, spending hours helping her to get dressed and undressed, caring for her clothes and jewels, listening to her secrets. But they also held a unique power. A quiet word behind the scenes, an appropriately timed gift, a well-negotiated marriage alliance were all forms of political agency wielded expertly by women.

The Waiting Game explores the daily lives of ladies-in-waiting,

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SWEET VIDALIA

One of our recommended books is Sweet Vidalia by Lisa Sandlin

This life-affirming novel explores marriage, community, and the power of dignity for a fifty-seven-year-old woman forced to rebuild her life, unexpectedly and alone, in 1960s Texas–perfect for readers of Elizabeth Strout, Bonnie Garmus, and Anne Tyler.

It’s 1964 and Eliza Kratke is mostly content. Married thirty years, she is long settled in Bayard, Texas with two grown children, a nice house, a little dog, and a routine. But her husband has a secret, and Eliza has not been brave enough to demand to know what it is.

So when her husband dies suddenly, the ground doesn’t just shift under Eliza’s feet–it falls away entirely,

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FLORES AND MISS PAULA

A wry, tender novel about a Peruvian immigrant mother and a millennial daughter who have one final chance to find common ground

Thirty-something Flores and her mother, Paula, still live in the same Brooklyn apartment, but that may be the only thing they have in common. It’s been nearly three years since they lost beloved husband and father Martín, who had always been the bridge between them. One day, cleaning beneath his urn, Flores discovers a note written in her mother’s handwriting: Perdóname si te falle. Recuerda que siempre te quise. (“Forgive me if I failed you.

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MAISIE DOBBS

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of Maisie Dobbs

A dazzling collector’s edition of the bestselling mystery classic to celebrate the conclusion of the iconic Maisie Dobbs series.

With an elegant paper-over-board cover with copper foil, matching printed endpapers, and an afterword from the author, this hardcover is the perfect holiday gift for crime fiction fans.

Maisie Dobbs got her start as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton, soon became her patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan’s friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite,

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THERE BUT FOR GRACE

There but for Grace, a novel described by Margot Livesey as “a lovely, witty deeply absorbing novel,” chronicles one woman’s mission to challenge the stereotypes about “older” women. She does so with grace, wit, and a no-holds-barred feistiness that will engage readers of all ages. Fifty-three-year-old Grace Winthrop Hobbes is newly divorced with two college-age kids, an eccentric octogenarian mother, a stalled novel-in-progress, and a sex drive that is coming out of hibernation with a vengeance. Refusing to go gently into the dark night of abstinence and retreat, and tired of sexual double standards, Grace makes a vow to seize life’s bull by the horns.

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THE MINIATURIST’S ASSISTANT

One of our recommended books is The Miniaturist's Assistant by Katherine Scott Crawford

When an art conservationist in historic Charleston unearths a familiar face in a 200 year-old miniature portrait and realizes she’s lived more than one life, she must fight to stay true to herself as she races to reconcile her complicated past, solve an art mystery, and save the people she loves across two different lifetimes. A romantic and brainy timeslip novel sure to appeal to fans of Diana Gabaldon and Deborah Harkness, The Miniaturist’s Assistant explores the mystery of time, how our choices ripple throughout history, and what it means to be a fully realized woman—in any century.

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