historical fiction

‘The Hired Man’ by Sandra Dallas; historical fiction about the dust bowl and tragedy

/ Pamela Kramer

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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‘Moonlight Runner’ by Karen Robards is historical fiction at its best

/ Pamela Kramer

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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‘The Fourth Princess’ by Janie Chang is fabulous historical fiction

/ Pamela Kramer

Well-written historical fiction immerses us into the past as surely as a movie might pictorially show us a scene. In “The Fourth Princess,” author Janie Chang takes us to China in 1911, and we learn about the Boxer Rebellion and the endangered Imperial dynasty. The action is set in Shanghai, and the story is cleverly told through two points of view. Liu Lisan (first names are second in China) is an orphan taken in by a wealthy bachelor from a very important family. She was educated at private schools, but wants to make her own way in the world. The other main character, Caroline Stanton, is a newly arrived wealthy American who wants to hire a secretary to help her with her social obligations. Instead of hiring an American, she decides that a Chinese secretary might be more useful.

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‘Keeper of Lost Children’ by Sadeqa Johnson is emotionally and historically riveting

/ Pamela Kramer

I’m a huge fan of Sadeqa Johnson, and this new novel is as emotionally riveting and filled with fascinating — and often horrifying — historical details, as her novel “Yellow Wife.” The three main characters are all very different individuals: Ethel is a married Black woman living in post-war Germany in 1950 with her husband who is in the military. Ozzie is a Black teenager, only 19, when he volunteers in the Army. He is heading to Germany in 1950, and he’s optimistically hoping to be able to use his intellect in Army Intelligence. And then there’s Sophia, who is 16. She finds out that she was selected to receive a scholarship to integrate a posh private high school, but she’s worried her parents won’t let her go because they need her help on the farm. Her story begins in 1965.

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‘The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter’ by Brionni Nwosu is a stunning story spanning centuries

/ Pamela Kramer

With her debut novel, “The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter,” author Brionni Nwosu presents a stunningly beautiful story about a woman who makes a deal with Death. The result is that the title character, Nella Carter, evades her own imminent death and becomes immortal. Her quest is to prove to Death that there are enough worthwhile humans, humans who are kind and good and loving, that Death should not end all human lives and start the human race anew.

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‘Death at a Highland Wedding” by Kelley Armstrong

/ Pamela Kramer

The newest entry into the delightful time-travel murder mystery series by Kelley Armstrong, “Death at a Highland Wedding,” might be my favorite of the four books in the “Rip Through Time” series. In this mystery, Mallory Atkinson, a 21st century Canadian detective who has traveled in time back to the 1870s, journeys with her employer and his family and friends to Scotland for the wedding of Hugh McCreadie’s sister.

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‘The Devil in Oxford; a Ruby Vaughn Mystery’ by Jess Armstrong

/ Pamela Kramer

This is the third novel in the Ruby Vaughn Mystery series, and as is suggested by the title, “A Devil in Oxford,” the setting is Oxford, England, in the days before Christmas, 1922. While the main character, Ruby Vaughn is an American, she spent time in France during WWI and now lives in Exeter with the charming octogenarian Mr. Owen; Mrs. Penrose, their clever and admirable housekeeper; and a black cat. In each novel Ruby travels to a different location where she stumbles on a murder that she is compelled to solve.

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‘The Missing Pages’ by Alyson Richman is an ode to love and loss

/ Pamela Kramer

The Missing Pages” by Alyson Richman is a perfect title for a novel about love, loss, and those who adore books. Bibliophiles are smitten by the scent of paper and ink; they love to sit in the peaceful silence of libraries and peruse vast selections of books; they love to meet other bibliophiles and talk books. And sometimes, as in this beautifully narrated story, they fall in love. There is much loss in these pages, but there is also much love.

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‘The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes’ by Chanel Cleeton is about love of books, romantic love, and love of freedom

/ Pamela Kramer

A novel is at the heart of “The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes,” the lost story being a book that one of the main characters, Eva Fuentes, wrote; but this heartfelt story is really about many things. In it, author Chanel Cleeton creates three main characters who live at different times but all of whom share a deep, abiding love of books.

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‘A Dark and Deadly Journey’ by Julia Kelly is the third in the espionage-filled Evelyne Redfern series

/ Pamela Kramer

“A Dark and Deadly Journey,” may be the third installment of Julia Kelly’s Evelyne Redfern Mysteries, but it’s the first time Evelyne travels internationally in her job with British Intelligence. She must investigate the disappearance of a trusted informant from Portugal. Because the novel is set in the middle of WWII, and Evelyne and her partner David are sent to Lisbon to find this important informant, Evelyne’s first person narration gives us an on-the-ground look at what life was like in Portugal because of its neutral status during the war.

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