Central Kansas Library System

"Trinidad in the 1940s, nearing the end of American occupation and British colonialism. On a hill overlooking Bell Village sits the Changoor farm, where Dalton and Marlee Changoor live in luxury unrecognizable to those who reside in the farm's shadow. Down below is the barrack, a ramshackle building ... divided into rooms occupied by whole families. Among these families are the Saroops--Hans, Shweta, and their son, Krishna, all three born of the barracks....

"Chi Chi Donatelli and Saverio Armandonada meet one summer on the Jersey shore before World War II. Chi Chi is a talented and ambitious singer-songwriter working in a local blouse factory looking for her big break, while Saverio, a singer already on the rise, is fronting a touring band and has the good looks and smooth vocals that make success seem assured. It isn't long before Saverio becomes Tony Arma and he and Chi Chi form a duo; together they...

"When Lilliana Swope's beloved mother dies, Lilliana gathers her last ounce of courage and flees her abusive husband for the home of her only living relative in the foothills of No Creek, North Carolina. Though Hyacinth Belvidere hasn't seen Lilliana since she was five, she offers her cherished great-niece a safe harbor. Their joyful reunion inspires plans to revive Aunt Hyacinth's estate and open a public library where everyone is welcome, no matter...

"It is September 1940-a year into the war-and as German bombs fall on Britain, fears grow of an impending invasion. Enemy fighter planes blacken the sky around the Epping Forest home of Susan Shepherd and her grandfather, Bertie. After losing her parents to influenza as a child, Susan found comfort in raising homing pigeons with Bertie. All her birds are extraordinary to Susan-loyal, intelligent, beautiful-but none more so than Duchess. Hatched from...

"London, 1942. A killer going by the name of "Crimson Jack" is stalking the wartime streets of London, murdering women on the exact dates of the infamous Jack the Ripper killings of 1888. Has the Ripper somehow returned from the grave? Is the self-styled Crimson Jack a descendant of the original Jack- or merely a madman obsessed with those notorious killings? In desperation, Scotland Yard turns to Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest detective. Surely,...

"London, Fall 1945. Architectural historian Diana Somerville's experience as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park and her knowledge of London's churches intersect in MI6's pursuit of a Russian agent named Eternity. Diana wants nothing more than to begin again with her husband Brent after their separation during the war, but her signing of the Official Secrets Act keeps him at a distance. Brent Somerville, professor of theology at King's College, hopes...

Traces changes in fashion during the 40s and 50s including military styles, utility clothes, Dior glamour, and the modernist look.

One beautiful, hand-tied patchwork quilt is the common thread linking hearts and renewing lives in these two charming Christmas novellas. In the first story, the quilt is lovingly created by a dying woman. In the second story, the quilt is passed on to others who need its comfort.

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Stocking, a German-born Jew, hides in 1940 London, hoping someday to reunite with her family while pretending to be a British citizen. American Lieutenant Wesley Bowers arrives in England the same day as the beginning of the Blitz, which is also the day a bomb penetrate's Audrey's apartment - and doesn't explode. When they meet Audrey must decide whether or not to reveal her true identity and past.--Derived from dust jacket....

"Billy, now an adult with kids of his own, remembers the mistakes and mishaps of his "Forties" childhood. Some, such as an excess intake of pumpkin pie, were his fault, whereas his classmates shared the blame for using pigs to simulate a cattle stampede. This was also true in the case of the infamous marble heist. "Skunk," son of the town's one-eyed barber, is the one responsible for the runaway steam tractor, but it's Eddie, Billy's brother who stage-manages...