Showing results for "Black" in Biographical Fiction

Eighteen-year-old James Douglas can only watch, helpless, as the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace is hanged, drawn, and quartered. Even under the heel of a brutal English conqueror, James' blood-drenched homeland may still have one hope for freedom, the rightful king of the Scots, Robert the Bruce. James swears fealty to the man he believes can lead the fight against English tyranny. The Bruce is soon a fugitive, king in name and nothing more. Scotland is occupied, the Scottish resistance crushed. Yet James believes their cause is not lost. 

Based on a true story, Princess Parasia is torn from her family and trafficked to Germany as a child bride. Tragically widowed, her beauty catches the eye of the most powerful ruler in Christendom, the German Emperor Henry IV. She becomes his wife, a terrible man who answers to no one, or so he believes. Still a teenager her life is a nightmare, but she is not alone. Her step-son Crown Prince Conrad is consumed by revenge as the blaze-haired girl he adores suffers at his father's hands.

Fourteenth-century Scotland suffers under the heel of England's King Edward, and James Douglas refuses to submit to the conqueror. As he wages a scorched-earth guerrilla war to drive out the invader and reclaim his birthright, Edward brings a vast army to crush the Scots. In the midst of the brutal war, even the woman James loves is threatened by his implacable duty.   

James, Lord of Douglas, known to his foes as the Black Douglas, leads a flank of the Scottish army in crushing a vast invading English force at the waters of the Bannockburn. Fresh from battle, James revels in honors heaped on him by the Scots and in the hatred of the enemy. When King Robert the Bruce orders him to push their advantage and force the English to the peace table, they both know the only way James can do so is by fire and the sword - the only language King Edward of England understands. 

A 2025 Audie Awards WINNER | A WOMAN EVOLVE BOOK CLUB PICK | A NORTH CAROLINA READS PICK | A Christy Award WINNER | A 2024 American Fiction Award WINNER | Best Historical Fiction of 2024 (She Reads) | FEATURED IN GMA, WASHINGTON POST, AND ESSENCE | There is only one known queen who truly ruled a...

When 16th-century printers Henri and Bertrand Dubois find a stack of letters among their grandmother's memorabilia, they realize their lives are about to change, for in those missives is incontrovertible proof that the legend of the lost chronicles of King Alfred is no legend at all. Publishing those chronicles would be the coup of a lifetime, elevating not only the brothers' prestige among publishers in two kingdoms but also their position in society. But first, they have to find them.

When dreams collide with war, survival becomes the ultimate performance. In October 1916, eighteen-year-old Josephine Therese Marzynski leaves Boston for Berlin to pursue her dream of studying opera at Germany's most prestigious music conservatory. Living with family friends and immersing herself in German culture, she finds unexpected beauty and friendship in the heart of enemy territory. But when America enters the Great War in April 1917, Josephine's world transforms overnight-from welcomed student to enemy of the state.

Beginning in 1930s Germany and based on their real lives, four cousins as close as siblings—Bettina, Trudi, Gustav, and Gertrud—share the experiences of the young, including first loves, marriages, and children. Bettina, the oldest, struggles to help her parents with their failing business. Trudi dresses in the latest fashions and tries to make everything look beautiful. Gustav is an artist at heart and hopes to one day open a tailoring shop. Gertrud, the youngest, is forced by her parents to keep secrets, but that doesn’t stop her from chasing boys.

The game of life in Middle-Earth hemisphere is often interrupted like breaking news, a sudden reminder to the occupants on the face of the earth that the eye of the queen of the universe is beaming down on humans and mankind like the ray of the Sun.

Experience the unforgettable journey of Black Beauty, a noble horse with a kind and gentle heart, as he recounts his life in Victorian England—from idyllic pastures to bustling city streets. Told from the horse’s point of view, Anna Sewell’s timeless classic offers a powerful reflection on kindness, cruelty, and the deep bond between animals and humans.

In 1877, the Paris art scene is very competitive for men but nearly impossible for thirty-three-year-old Mary Cassatt, an American woman. Bored by traditional methods of painting, she admires the work of avant-garde painters, especially Edgar Degas. So, when Edgar visits Mary's studio to view her paintings, she is exhilarated by his invitation to join him, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and other Impressionists in the collective.

England, 1787. Mary Wollstonecraft is an avowed spinster. At 28, she moves to London to live independently as a writer. With her publication of A Vindication for the Rights of Woman a few short years later, she emerges as a leading figure for women's equality. But when a humiliating faux pas threatens her reputation, Mary travels to Paris to write about the French Revolution, where she unexpectedly falls in love with American adventurer Gilbert Imlay.

The family of Lord Francis Seaforth lives under the shadow of a dark prophecy. Over a century ago, Coinneach Odhar, known as the Brahan Seer, foresaw the demise of the Seaforth line. There is little doubt among Scottish Highlanders that the end of the dynasty is drawing near. Mary Mackenzie, eldest daughter of Lord and Lady Seaforth, is determined to enjoy the privileged life which seems her birthright. But after her father accepts the British governorship of Barbados, Mary experiences an awakening of conscience.

The acclaimed and endlessly entertaining novel about a Navy pilot, based on real events from the author’s life. Vinny Vesta, the hero of Mafia Summer, returns as a dashing Navy pilot in Fighter Squadron 176 in the late 1950s, living a glorious bachelor’s life. But a torrid affair with his copilot’s widow, Kat Pennington, pulls him away from his beloved all-night revels - and back into the family business. As Kat’s mafioso father tries to poison her new relationship, Vinny finds himself at the heart of a major Mafia feud.

Raw, Black and Blue is a fictional love story told through the lens and journals of Tamia, a photographer navigating her relationships and mental health when she returns to her childhood home.

Mandukhai has been given a sacred mission by the spirit of Genghis Khan, but to preserve his empire, she first must keep the Mongol Lords from raising the black banner of war. In a nation torn apart by powerful men, one woman rises. Hear the second book in this award-winning, gritty, dark true story of the life of Mandukhai.

Mustafa was the prince with the most potential of any other, during the 600 plus years’ existence of the Ottoman Empire. He was the hope for the majority of the people living in and out of the empire, to ascend to the throne. His father was Lawmaker Sultan Suleiman, who ruled the empire during the empire's zenith years. He was untouchable, revered, and feared, but once looking past his mighty title, name, and qualifications; study shows that Suleiman made questionable decisions, one of them being the decision to order the execution of his eldest son - Mustafa.

Ronnie Fairchild hates his brother. He always has. Mick’s a bastard. A weight hanging heavy 'round everyone’s neck and a reminder of a wrong never made right. But when their momma dies, leaving a final demand to find his daddy, Ronnie’s going to uncover a whole heap of trouble tracking him down. And when that bombastic journey leads him to a no-good Texan motel with his sorry-for-nothing brother laying wait to settle a debt, by God, there’s going to be hell to pay.

An enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit's legendary neighborhood, a mecca for jazz, sports, and politics, Black Bottom Saints is a powerful blend of fact and imagination reminiscent of E.L. Doctorow's classic novel Ragtime and Marlon James' Man Booker Award-winning...

Aunt Emilia calls Kamar to reveal shocking news as he is battling his murky past. He has to face the atrociousness of the days gone by to find solace in his present ones. When We Were Boys, Book II starts with Young Kamar being separated from his mentally ill guardian, supposedly for his own good. But even after that, Kamar has yet to know what “good” seems like. He has yet to know what a real and loving family feels like — because all he knew was a dysfunctional and nightmarish one. The one that just might shove you in front of a moving vehicle then leave you for dead.