Jean's house; Cheryl presented
CHOSEN: ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA by Isabelle Allende
Descriptions and images from http://titlewave.com
Island beneath the sea by Isabel Allende 2010; 457 pages (3 votes) (4) Cheryl broke tie vote with Prodigal Summer
Translation of: La isla bajo el mar. Zarite, who is known as Tete, born to an African mother she has never known and a white sailor, survives a brutal childhood and grows up to find comfort in the music and culture of her fellow slaves, and when Toulouse Valmorain purchases young Tete for his bride, both of their lives become intertwined in surprising ways, particularly when they both end up in New Orleans.
The zookeeper's wife by Diane Ackerman; 2007; 323 pages (3 votes) (2)
Relates the story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, Christian zookeepers at the Warsaw Zoo, who helped save the lives of approximately three hundred Polish Jews during World War II by housing and feeding them on zoo grounds and teaching them how to "pass" as Aryan.
Valley Forge : George Washington and the crucible of victory by Newt Gringich 2010; 433 pages (1 vote)
A novelization of the events at Valley Forge that depicts Washington and his demoralized army in 1777, when they lived through the winter at the camp, enduring cold and starvation before being joined by Baron von Steuben, a volunteer from Germany who helps Washington mold the army into a force capable of taking on the British.
Nashville Chrome by Rick Bass 2010; 253 pages (1 vote)
A fictional account of the rise and success of Maxine, Bonnie, and Jim Ed Brown, whose music topped the country and pop charts in the late 1950s and 1960s.
The Forever Queen by Helen Hollick (3 votes) (1)
In 1002 England, Saxon queen Emma must take charge when her husband and king, Aether, fails to deal with the threat to their kingdom by Danish Vikings led by Swein Forkbeard and his son.
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver 2001; 444 pages (4 votes) (2)
The coming of summer to Appalachia's Zebulon Mountain brings a blossoming in nature as well as in the lives of reclusive wildlife biologist Deanna Wolfe, young hunter Eddie Bondo, transplanted city-girl Lusa Landowski, and a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors.
