Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Historical Fiction

This is the classic story of the young Theseus - Prince of Troizen, King of Eleusis and Athens, slayer of the Minotaur. Mary Renault's powerful novel captures the modern imagination by weaving myth, legend, history, and fiction into the story of a young hero's search for his destiny, or moira. If you like The King Must Die, try The Bull from the Sea.

In 1920s China, the Peking opera was luxurious entertainment for the privileged class—but only children from the poorest families were sent to opera schools to train as actors. Xiao Douzi is brought to an opera school—and abandoned there by his mother, a prostitute who can no longer care for him. With seeds of bitterness sown in his soul, the nine-year-old boy endures hardships and misery to learn and perfect his craft. The novel focuses on the all-consuming love Xiao Douzi holds for the boy he befriends, and the beautiful female courtesan who comes between them.

It is 1947 when Joseph Burke, ex-Marine, ex-husband, ex-somebody–is hired as a bodyguard to protect Lauren Roach, 25 and spoiled rotten. The unlikely duo becomes entangled with Burke’s boyhood hero, color-barrier breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson, in a story that is both thrilling and engaging. It is in the historical character Jackie Robinson that Mr. Parker finds inspiration and Joseph Burke may find his redemption. This is a work of fiction about a real man. Most of what I’ve written I’ve made up. I have, however, attempted to render Jackie Robinson accurately. As he was, or as I imagined him to be, in 1947, when I was turning 15, and he was changing the world. The rest is altogether fiction. It may be more Burke’s story then Jackie’s story. But, without Jackie, Burke would have had no story. And neither would I. Robert B Parker.

Amidst the upheaval of the French Revolution, former aristocrat Charles Darnay becomes wrongly tangled in unfortunate events, endangering his freedom and family. Sidney Carton, a cynical lawyer who squandered his life away, seeks to redress his unhappiness through Darnay's beautiful wife, Lucie. A work of historical fiction by one of the world's greatest writers, A Tale of Two Cities is a story about love, chaos, sacrifice, and redemption.

Merlin the Enchanter, prophet and visionary, adviser to kings: Here is the story of how he rears Arthur, the future Christmas King, in remote secrecy, safe from the warring kings and Saxons who plot against his father, King Uther. Told in the voice of Merlin himself, this tale bristles with all the suspense and intrigue of fifth-century Britain.

All he wanted was enough whiskey to forget. Ravaged by grief after a car crash killed his cherished wife and unborn child, Chase Tyler has abandoned his family business. He'd hit the rodeo circuit and the bars with equal disregard for his life, unwilling to face his pain and move on - until a bad-tempered bull and a lady from the past forced him to.... All she wanted was his love. Marcie Johns had known Chase all her life, and had been driving the car when it crashed.

In a timeless tale of misguided romance and heartbreak, Jane Austen's first novel of love and marriage is seen through the eyes of two very different heroines, the Dashwood sisters—cautious, level-headed Elinor and impulsive lively Marianne—one representing sense and the other sensibility.

On February 14, 1944, Caroline Thomas said goodbye to her beloved husband, a Navy pilot sent to the Pacific. For half a century, she waited for him to return— until a miracle happened and she received his "Last Valentine." Their son, Neil Thomas, Jr., wants to share the powerful message of his parents' tragic, yet triumphant, 50-year love story with the world. When Neil meets Susan Allison— a skeptical reporter who is looking for the perfect story about true love— neither of them expects that the story of Neil's parents will bring them together in a love as powerful as her dreams.

A 19th century novel that defied the repressive moral conventions of Victorian England. Young Tess Durbeyfield comes from an impoverished home. Her father, desperate to alleviate the family's financial plight, presses his daughter into work for the wealthy D'Urbervilles. But in doing so, Tess meets the manipulative Alec, who forces himself upon her. And though Tess later meets a kinder man who proposes marriage, her salvation is jeopardized when she reveals to him her troubled past.

This rich and nuanced portrait of eighteenth-century China follows a Chinese girl's path to enlightenment. At the midpoint of the Manchus' long sway over the largest empire in China's history, a young girl stands reluctantly on the brink of womanhood. Lotus, the Empress Dowager's servant, decides to follow a spiritual path through the Forbidden City. She travels down routes of erotic fancy in search of a place called Mandala, where life's troubles are left behind.

It is 1757, the third year of the French and Indian War. Deep in the forests of New York State, the brave woodsman Hawkeye and his loyal Mohican friends become involved in the bloody French and Indian War. Hawkeye, a colonial scout, Chingachgook, the Mohican chief, and Uncas, his son, risk their lives to guide two English sisters through hostile territory and evade the evil Huron chief, Magua, who is determined to destroy them. The thrilling events that lead to the final tragic confrontation between rival war parties create an unforgettable, spine-tingling picture of life on the frontier.

It is 1792, during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. An English aristocrat regarded as an ineffectual fop is actually a master of disguises who—with a small band of dedicated friends—undertakes dangerous missions to save members of the French nobility from the guillotine. His friends and foes know him only as the Scarlet Pimpernel. But the ruthless French agent Chauvelin is sworn to hunt him down and uncover his identity.

Considered by many critics to be Jane Austen's finest achievement, Emma is the witty classic about youthful hubris and matchmaking gone awry. Emma Woodhouse, a privileged young lady with little to occupy her time, imagines that she dominates those around her in the small town of Highbury, but her inept matchmaking creates problems for herself and others.

Jean Valjean is one of society's victims. A poor but honest peasant, he is caught stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family and is sent to prison. By the time of his eventual release, he has become a hardened criminal, but his friendship with the saintly Monseigneur Bienvenu gives him another chance at life. This new, respectable life is precarious, for Valjean is still sought by the law, in the person of the implacable Inspector Javert.

Life has always been a banquet for Sappho, one to be savored to the fullest. Following a magnificent destiny, her strange and sensual odyssey has carried her to the far corners of the ancient world, from Delphi to Egypt, to the Land of the Amazons, and the realm of Hades. For Sappho, it was always about love—love that seduced her into a plot to depose a dictator, and love that made her trade an unwanted marriage bed of a despised and drunken husband for a seemingly endless series of lovers, both male and female.

Best-selling sportswriter Peter Golenbock knew Mickey Mantle, as well as many of Mantle's friends, family members, and teammates. While Mickey was a good person at heart, he had a dark side that went far beyond his well-known alcoholism and infidelities. In Golenbock's shocking and revealing first novel, 7, Mickey tells the hidden story of his life as a baseball hero and asks for forgiveness from his friends and family. In this fictional portrait, Mantle, now in heaven, needs to unburden himself of all the horrible things he did and understand for himself why he did them.

At the end of the 19th century, fourteen-year-old Ántonia Shimerda has realized the immigrant's dream. She has just arrived in rural Nebraska with her Bohemian (Czech) family at the same time as ten-year-old Jim Burden, an orphan sent to live with his grandparents. While Jim's family is prosperous and steady, the Shimerdas quickly find themselves mired in poverty and struggle to make ends meet. But they live near to each other (by pioneer standards), and the two youngsters become close. Ántonia's warmth belongs to the land and the people who love her. For Jim, Ántonia is home.

One of America's funniest comedians, Carl Reiner, tells of a young man's frustrations as a machinist's helper who tries to break into show business. The semi-autobiographical novel details the bumpy journey as the aspiring actor tries to extricate himself from his overly protective parents—and his two girlfriends. Enter Laughing is a heartwarming, laugh-out-loud, and relatable story of a young man with love in his heart and grease paint on his face—a tale that guarantees to have listeners exit laughing.

This outstanding collection of Civil War stories includes "The Little Regiment" by Stephen Crane, "The Die Hard" by Stephen Vincent Benet, "The Brothers" by Louisa May Alcott, "One of the Missing" by Ambrose Bierce, "The Valley Was Still" by Manly Wade Wellman, "The Unknown Soldier" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, "The Lamp of Psyche" by Edith Wharton, "How Stonewall Came Back" by James Warner, "The Locket" by Kate Chopin, and "The Face" by Ed Gorman.

The novel traces the impact of a single, scandalous act on the lives of three community members: the tragic, defiant Hester Prynne, the tortured Reverend Dimmesdale and the vengeful Chillingsworth. A philosophical exploration of man's struggle with guilt, sin, and pride, Hawthorne's masterpiece remains a cornerstone of American literature.