Readalikes: If you enjoyed February's selection . . .

If you enjoyed Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin by Jill Lepore, then you might like this wide variety of titles suggested by our discussion group members: Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick for an idea of what Jane's life was like during the siege of Boston; Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World by Maya Jasanoff for an understanding of the issues that divided Ben Franklin and his son William, Patriot and Loyalist, during the Revolutionary War; George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger for a portrait of other citizens who helped to shape the emerging nation, who might have faded out of the historical record if not for the work of historians studying the lives of ordinary people; The Invention of Wings: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd about Charleston's Grimke sisters and their enslaved handmaid that brings to life the restrictions on the lives and aspirations of women and enslaved Africans even a century after the Revolution; Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn for an understanding of how issues like gender and literacy affect women's lives today; and Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff for another example of a biography written with very little source material to draw from that builds a portrait of a woman by coloring in her historical and cultural background.