My favorite kind of historical fiction is one in which the story is based on real facts, and thus while enjoying a great story, I am also learning about history. Ariel Lawhon is perhaps the queen of historical fiction, so it seems quite fitting that her newest novel is titled, “The Pirate Queen.” It’s a complex novel about Ireland in the 16th Century, a country consisting of clans and chieftains, rivals and infighting, but above all, a refusal to surrender to England.
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In her latest novel, “Under the Ghost Moon,” Lyn Liao Butler shares her cultural heritage with readers as we meet Joey, the daughter of two Taiwanese physicians. It’s through Joey’s narrative that we learn about Taiwan’s oft-violent history, and the sacrifices that many made to ensure a democratic government. Joey’s journey begins when her last living relative, her brother, dies.
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From almost the first page, Sarah Pekkanen’s “The Women in White” is both compelling and gripping. From the start we feel connected to the main character Riley. Her first person narrative in the present grounds us as we read some chapters narrated in third person about the four other women who are also at the center of this fascinating story about research into psychic abilities.
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In Jo Piazza’s “The Parisian Heist,” we don’t meet the brilliant artist Vincent Van Gogh, but we learn a lot about him through the fictionalized character of his sister-in-law Jo Van Gogh and the completely fictional character of a friend, Claire Donadieu. Piazza alternates the narrative between Jo Van Gogh’s real battle to get Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings to be seen and admired and — ultimately — valued, and a modern day thriller about three art students who find they’ve been invited to participate in one of the strangest heists in history.
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Historical fiction is a favorite for many readers and for many reasons. When the fiction part is gripping and engaging, we get to learn about history while enjoying a fabulous novel. And that’s what “The Windsor Affair” accomplishes in spades. It’s the fictional account of two real women who were married to British kings, and whose relationship could only be described as fraught with hostility and bitterness from both parties.
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Romances are romances, right? Not exactly, as Eloisa James proves so beautifully in her latest novel, “The Last Lady B.” It seems the antithesis of romance when Genevieve agrees to marry Lord Burnsby, whom her father describes on the first page as “a nasty old goat with three dead wives.” Her groom is older than her father, but unlike her father, he’s extremely wealthy and willing to offer her sister Rosie a dowry, without which Rosie will not be able to marry a titled gentleman. Because while love is all well and good, without money, love was nothing at that time and in their social class.
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One of the joys of reading is starting a book and being hooked from the first page, and with “Off the Record,” author Sara Goodman Confino accomplishes that and more. This enchanting story features Judy Greenberg, who in 1962 has graduated from college with a degree in journalism. Unlike her college peers, Judy is not interested in an MRS. Instead, she is determined to have a career as a journalist — and not one who writes about “women’s issues” like getting stains out of tablecloths or child rearing.
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“An Ordinary Sort of Evil” is the fifth book in the very clever “Rip Through Time” series by Kelley Armstrong. It’s as gripping and engaging as the earlier novels. The main character, Mallory Mitchell (Atkinson) is the first person narrator, and that narrative device helps us understand her thoughts as she recognizes the necessity of behaving like a 19th century housemaid-turned-assistant even though she’s really a 21st century police detective. The other main character is Dr. Duncan Gray.
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“The Calamity Club” by Kathryn Stockett is many things: it’s a riveting historical fiction, it’s a powerful narrative about struggles to survive during the Depression, it’s a shocking glimpse into the treatment of women during the 1930s, and it’s about the different ways women fight to survive in a world that’s filled with oppression, denigration and condescension.
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Well-written, gripping historical fiction like “The Hired Man” takes us back to another place and time and allows us to experience that setting through the eyes, and usually meticulous research of the author. Sandra Dallas takes us back to Colorado in 1937, during the time of the Dust Bowl, when instead of rain falling from the sky, dirt blew in from neighboring states blanketing the ground and covering everything with layers of dirt and grit. Thanks to her careful, detailed descriptions we can almost feel the grit in our mouths and eyes as a storm blankets the town with dirt.
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Karen Robards’ brilliance lies in her ability to take historical events, add fictional characters, and wring us dry emotionally as her strong, independent female protagonists march through important historical events risking everything to follow their beliefs. “The Moonlight Runner” takes us to Ireland in 1918. The Great War, as they called World War I, has just ended, but instead of being felled by a German-speaking enemy, people are being killed by an invisible organism known as the Spanish flu. Living in a small Irish town on the coast is Rynn Carmichael.
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I really hadn’t heard of Frances Perkins, Secretary Perkins, Madam Secretary, Fannie Perkins, or Mrs. Paul Wilson, as the first female cabinet secretary was called at various times in her life. And that’s a shame, because this woman shattered glass ceilings over and over during her lifetime.
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