Book of the month - July 2022
Date Added: 25/06/2022
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
Ariadne, Princess of Crete and daughter of the fearsome King Minos, grows up hearing stories of gods and heroes. But beneath the golden palace something else stirs, the hoofbeats and bellows echoing from the Labyrinth below. Every year its captive, the Minotaur, Ariadne's brother, demands blood. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne sees in him her chance to escape. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that drawing the attention of the mercurial gods may cost her everything. In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to risk everything for love ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?
Our book of the month is Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this exceptional debut novel gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths. You can request your copy through our library catalogue, Arena. Forgotten your PIN? Get it sent to you here. Not a member? You can join online or in a couple of minutes at your local library.
Historical fiction
You can find lots of great historical fiction titles like Ariadne in our libraries. Here are some new and notable books to look out for right now:
• Three sisters become entangled in a tale of treachery, love and murder in Lucy Holland's Sistersong, which retells British folklore through the eyes of the one the tale forgot
• The Manningtree Witches by AK Blakemore is set in England in 1643. Depleted of men since the Civil War began, the women of Manningtree are left to their own devices, but when Matthew Hopkins arrives mistrust and unease seep into their lives
• The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper is the first in a new historical trilogy set in Ancient Pompeii. Amara is a slave at the Wolf Den, the city's infamous brothel. But just because she's a slave now, doesn't mean she intends to remain a slave forever
• From the pleasure palaces and gin-shops of Covent Garden to the elegant townhouses of Mayfair, Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s Daughters of Night follows Caroline Corsham as she seeks justice for a murdered woman whom London society would rather forget
• The Honour of Rome is a stunning novel of courage, camaraderie and deadly enemies, the latest in Simon Scarrow's epic Eagles of the Empire series
• Featuring two of the most famous battles of the Ancient World, The Gates of Athens by Conn Iggulden is a bravura piece of storytelling about a people driven to preserve their freedom at any cost
• The global bestseller Bernard Cornwell returns with his iconic hero, Richard Sharpe in Sharpe's Assassin, set in 1815 in the maze of Paris streets where lines blur between friend and foe
You can find more of the new historical fiction titles coming to our libraries with our Historical Fiction booklist.