Owl Abridged
  • ARC,  Book Review,  Historical,  Romance

    A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin

    Internationally bestselling author Sophie Irwin brings us another fresh, witty take on a romantic escape led by a deeply lovable heroine determined to start living on her own terms When shy Miss Eliza Balfour married the austere Earl of Somerset, twenty years her senior, it was the match of the season–no matter that he was not the husband Eliza would have chosen. But ten years later, Eliza is widowed. And at eight and twenty years, she is suddenly left titled, rich, and, for the first time in her life, utterly in control of her own future. Instead of living out her mourning quietly, Eliza heads to Bath with her cousin…

  • ARC,  Book Review,  Historical,  Non-Fiction

    Madwoman by Louisa Treger

    Based on a true story, a spellbinding historical novel about the world’s first female investigative journalist, Nellie Bly. In 1887, young Nellie Bly sets out for New York and a career in journalism, determined to make her way as a serious reporter, whatever that may take. But life in the city is tougher than she imagined. Down to her last dime and desperate to prove her worth, she comes up with a dangerous plan: to fake insanity and have herself committed to the asylum on Blackwell’s Island. There, she will work undercover to expose the asylum’s wretched conditions. But when the asylum door swings shut behind her, she finds herself…

  • Book Review,  Historical

    Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

    “There could only be a few winners and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones.” Pachinko is a historical fiction novel taking place in Korea and Japan during the years of Japanese colonialism in Korea (and the years beyond). The story follows Sunja, a young Korean woman who accepts an offer of marriage from a kind minister after falling pregnant and discovering her lover is already married. The newlyweds immigrate to Japan and what follows is a dramatic, heartfelt saga of a family enduring prejudice and surviving in a land where they are not welcomed. I loved…