Category Archives: Historical Fiction

Crow Mary: A novel by Kathleen Grissom

20 Monday May 2024

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I enjoyed this glimpse into the life of a courageous and strong Native American woman who married a white fur trader in the 1870’s and found herself caught between two cultures. 

“Crow Mary is a richly detailed story of a woman caught between two cultures. You’ll be captivated by Mary’s strength and determination as she struggles to save her family and her people from destruction. A compassionate and deeply satisfying novel.”  —Sandra Dallas, New York Times best-selling author of Where Coyotes How

“Grissom offers an ambitious account of bravery and initiative inspired by the true story of a Crow woman who married a white man in late-19th-century Montana…With a flashback-heavy narrative, Grissom effectively conveys how Mary’s Crow childhood stays with her over the course of her new life. This moving story of one woman’s grit, survival, and resilience will keep readers turning the pages.”—Publishers Weekly

“My favorite novels shine a light on women that history books have forgotten. Over twenty years ago, Kathleen Grissom heard about an incredible woman named Goes First, and Crow Mary isworth the wait. While reading Crow Mary, I couldn’t help but think of My Antonia by Willa Cather, and the debt we owe to the women who came before us.”  —Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library

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The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

26 Tuesday Mar 2024

Posted by in Biographical fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, murder, mystery, nature, United States

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I loved this work of historical fiction, based on the true story of a midwife in 18th century Maine. When an accused rapist is found dead, Martha Ballard and her family are drawn into the mystery of what happened, much of it involving Martha and her work.

“A richly satisfying drama . . . A vivid, exciting page-turner from one of our most interesting authors of historical fiction.” –Kirkus, starred review

“Gripping. . . Examines the ripple effects of a crime in a small community—and paints a striking portrait of a woman devoted to healing and justice. . . Lawhon draws on the real Martha Ballard’s diary to construct her narrative, which contains a number of breathless twists and a large cast of hardscrabble characters. . . Lawhon’s novel is a riveting story of small-town justice and a fitting tribute to a quiet, determined heroine.” –Shelf Awareness, starred review

“Compelling . . .a most uncozy mystery that addresses the unbalanced power dynamics of men and women, rich and poor.” –NPR, Weekend Edition

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The Wildest Sun by Asha Lemmie

13 Wednesday Mar 2024

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Author of Fifty Words for Rain, Lemmie takes us from Paris, to NYC, Cuba, and Key West in the footsteps of one sassy, spirited protagonist who is convinced her father is the famous Ernest Hemingway.

“The Wildest Sun is an emotional, hypnotizing, and powerful ride.”—Shondaland, “The Best Books for December 2023”

“From France to Cuba, from war to revolution, The Wildest Sun is a moving meditation on the stories we tell others, the stories we tell ourselves, and how we break free of the past in order to write a brighter future. Simply marvelous!” —Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library

“The Wildest Sun is an epic quest for identity and a tender search for selfhood as a woman and a writer. Asha Lemmie is a master of the heart and with her we meet the vulnerable Delphine as she searches for the larger-than-life man who might be her father. Through decades and across continents, The Wildest Sun is an inspiring and compelling novel. Lemmie’s insightful observations into the writers life with its hopes, fears, and creativity is the lifeblood of this courageous journey for the truth.” —Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times Bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

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North Woods by Daniel Mason 

06 Wednesday Mar 2024

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, History, United States

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Follow the history of a New England house from early colonial days to the present. Each chapter focuses on the house’s different inhabitants, including lots of colorful characters. This is a strange, intriguing story with beautiful writing.

“Readers, too, will find themselves in an entrancing fictional realm . . . Like the house at its center, a book that is multitudinous and magical.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . Each chapter germinates its own form while sending out tendrils that entwine beneath the surface of the novel . . . As [Mason] floats through thrillers, a bit of comic noir, erotic paranormal fiction and other genres, it’s hard to imagine there is anything he can’t do . . .”—The Washington Post

“Each arc is beautifully, heartbreakingly conveyed, stitching together subtle connections across time. This astonishes.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“North Woods is the most original and spellbinding novel I’ve read in ages. Mason makes bramble, brush, and orchard come alive with the spirits of their unforgettable former inhabitants. Their lives . . . had me glued to my seat.”—Abraham Verghese, New York Times bestselling author of The Covenant of Water

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This Other Eden by Paul Harding

28 Wednesday Feb 2024

Posted by in crimes against, Fiction, Historical Fiction, United States

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The book is a mere 221 pages but the exquisite sentences can be very long, some almost a paragraph.  An unusual book about a little known island off the coast of Maine that became one of the first racially integrated towns in the Northeast.

“Stunning…You could imagine lots of ways a historical novel about this horror might be written, but none of them would give you a sense of the strange spell of This Other Eden―its dynamism, bravado and melancholy. Harding’s style has been called ‘Faulknerian’ and maybe that’s apt, given his penchant for sometimes paragraph-long sentences that collapse past and present…[An] intense wonder of a historical novel.”― Maureen Corrigan, NPR

“Harding’s third novel revisits an appalling moment in Maine history…[A] brief book that carries the weight of history. A moving account of community and displacement.”― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Pulitzer winner Harding (Tinkers) suffuses deep feeling into this understated yet wrenching story…It’s a remarkable achievement.”― Publishers Weekly (starred review)

[T]his gorgeously limned portrait about family bonds, the loss of innocence, the insidious effects of racism, and the innate worthiness of individual lives will resonate long afterward.”― Booklist (starred review)

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House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng 

21 Wednesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, murder and investigation

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Tan Twan Eng has been one of my top historical fiction writers forever. His new book is exquisitely written based on historical events in 1921 and the Havelin couple are living in the Cassowary House in the Straits Settlement of Penang.  Old friend, Somerset Maugham comes to stay with them for an extended visit looking for new material for his next book – I was immersed in the setting, the times, and the book’s upheaval of events for several blissful days.

“Exquisite . . . Tan takes on a behemoth task here: combining sensational fact and intimate fiction in a British colonial Asian setting complicated by white privilege, politics, social hypocrisy, gender inequity, racism, homophobia, and more . . . [He] succeeds in delivering another intricate literary gift.” ―Booklist, Starred Review

“The House of Doors is brilliantly observed and full of memorable characters. It is so well-written, everything so effortlessly dramatized, the narrative so well structured and paced, that this is a book that will mesmerize readers far into the future.” ―Colm Tóibín, author of THE MAGICIAN

“In this bold historical fiction, he courageously exposes his motherland’s flaws, exploring thorny issues of race, racism, gender and gender preference, bigotry, infidelity, and colonial power in richly mannered, atmospheric, and expressive prose, which is simply beautiful . . . no one can argue with the ambition, ardency, and achievement of Eng’s complex latest. “- Air Mail

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The Postcard by Anne Berest; translated from the French by Tina Kover   

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

Posted by in Biographical fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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“January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Anne Berest’s maternal great-grandparents, Ephraïm and Emma, and their children, Noémie and Jacques—all killed at Auschwitz.” (amazon)  Who sent the postcard and why? This was an illuminating read  – the best book I have read this year.

★ “Electrifying…Berest is aware that she’s relating a tragedy, but her narration rejects the impulse to let her family members’ stories rest at that…Acknowledging both the horrors of the Holocaust and the humanity of those it targeted, The Postcard is a commanding family memoir.”—Foreword reviews (starred review)

“Moving…Ms. Berest has done her research, artfully weaving grim facts and figures into her family history…Let’s hope that a book like this, which encompasses both the monstrosities of the past and the dangers of the present, will guard us from complacency.”—Heller McAlpin, The Wall Street Journal

“Powerful, meticulously imagined… The Postcard (translated into a lucid and precise English by Tina Kover) takes its readers on a deep dive into one Jewish family’s history, and, inextricably, into the devastating history of the Holocaust in France… [A] powerful literary work… that contains a single grand-scale act of self-discovery and many moments of historical illumination.”—Julie Orringer, The New York Times Book Review 

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The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

27 Saturday Jan 2024

Posted by in detective, Fiction, Historical Fiction, mystery, United States

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“The thing about picking a handful of berries is that each one is different—some are sweet, some sour, some extra juicy. The Berry Pickers is just like a handful of berries. It’s an unassuming novel filled with so much sweet, so much sour, so much juice. Reading this book, I was only ever hungry when it ended.” —Morgan Talty, author of Night of the Living Rez

“The strength of Amanda Peters’s novel lies in its understanding of how trauma spreads through a life and a family, and its depiction of the challenges facing Indigenous people . . . [A] powerful message about truth, forgiveness and healing.” —Marion Winik, The Washington Post

“A harrowing tale of Indigenous family separation . . . [Peters] excels in writing characters for whom we can’t help rooting . . . With The Berry Pickers, Peters takes on the monumental task of giving witness to people who suffered through racist attempts of erasure like her Mi’kmaw ancestors.—Eric Nguyen, The New York Times Book Review

“Peters beautifully explores loss, grief, hope, and the invisible tether that keeps families intact even when they are ripped apart. A poignant debut from a writer to watch.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A marvelous debut. The Berry Pickers has all the passion of a first book but also the finely developed skill of a well-practiced storyteller. …The Berry Pickers is a triumph.” —Katherena Vermette, author of The Strangers

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Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash 

20 Monday Nov 2023

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, Historical Fiction

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As World War II begins, a young English girl is sent to live in Boston for her own safety. She forms close bonds with her adoptive family, but knows she’ll return to London and her parents eventually. Following these characters over several years and countries, this is a beautifully written story with a New England connection.

“What a wonderful novel! I loved Beatrix as a girl, discovering America, and perhaps even more as a young woman, back in post-war London. Spence-Ash writes with such insight about her characters on both sides of the Atlantic and she is a mistress of suspense. I was deeply sorry to reach the last page.”―Margot Livesey, author of The Boy in the Field

“A young’s woman’s family loyalties are divided as she leaves her London home for Boston during WWII in Spence-Ash’s magnetic debut… Readers will be riveted.”―Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review

“This gorgeous novel, about the profound impact on children and families of even the most benign forms of displacement, marks the debut of a very gifted writer. I adored Laura Spence-Ash’s characters and deeply admired her precise, resonant prose. Beyond That, the Sea is a marvel.”―Ann Packer, author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and The Children’s Crusade

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Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton 

22 Friday Sep 2023

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, United States

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This is a disturbing look at slavery through the lens of forced conception and birth as a means to increase wealth for slave owners. Peyton’s use of language is beautiful and powerful

“Engaging, arresting…. Peyton positions Night Wherever We Go in conversation with contemporary novels that reimagine the expansion of possibilities for Black enslaved people in the American South…. [Night Wherever We Go] asks us to remember that our personal history—acting with whatever power, big or small, we have in our reach—transforms our communities, too.” — Boston Globe

“A powerful and inspired achievement. Tracey Rose Peyton gives voice to the enslaved women of this nation’s past who have, for far too long, had their voices gone unheard in the annals of history. She does them justice and then some. This one is not to be missed.” — Nathan Harris, author of The Sweetness of Water

“Night Wherever We Go is extraordinary: a beautiful book about harrowing things, beautiful because of its understanding of humanity, its astonishing language, and the plain brilliance of its author. I’m not sure I’ve recovered from the experience of reading it, or ever will, or ever should.” — Elizabeth McCracken, author of The Souvenir Museum

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