Effie Jones, a former slave, escaped to the Union side as a child. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife, she learned to read and write, to tolerate the sight of blood and broken bodies, and to forget what is too painful to bear. Now a young freedwoman, she returns to New Orleans and earns her living as an embalmer, her steady hand and skillful incisions compensating for her white employer's shortcomings. Encounters with a charismatic state legislator...

"Synopsis:Escaping the constraints of life as a village schoolmistress, Lilia Brooke bursts into London and into Paul Harris's orderly life, shattering his belief that women are gentle creatures who need protection. Lilia wants to change women's lives by advocating for the vote, free unions, and contraception. Paul, an Anglican priest, has a big ambition of his own: to become the youngest dean of St. John's Cathedral. Lilia doesn't believe in God,...

"In this timely and witty combination of So You've Been Publicly Shamed and Where'd You Go, Bernadette? a viral photo of a politician's wife's "feminine hygiene malfunction" catapults her to unwanted fame in a story that's both a satire of social media stardom and internet activism, and a tender mother-daughter tale. Kathleen Held's life is turned upside down when she arrives home to find her house on fire and her husband on the front lawn in his...