All in Historical Fiction
When I started this book I knew absolutely nothing about Mt. Everest or any of the people who have climbed it. I had no idea who the first person was to make it to the top. But even if you are someone who knows a lot of Everest history, I think this will still be an extremely enjoyable book, just a bit less suspenseful.
I know I review a lot of historical fiction, and I am currently pushing myself to read The Emperor of All Maladies (a tome about cancer) because I couldn’t remember the last non-fiction, non-memoir I had read. However, I couldn’t notreview The Marriage of Opposites, because I LOVED it!
In my continuing quest to learn more Canadian history without actually picking up a textbook, Jane Urquhart is becoming one of my favorite authors. I absolutely loved her book Away about several generations of Irish women and their family’s immigration to Canada. The Stone Carvers is similarly well written, if slightly less absorbing.
Have you noticed how many wonderful novels have been published recently about women and the various interesting roles they played during the World Wars? FromThe Nightengale by Kristen Hannah to The Women In The Castle by Jessica Shattuck toManhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan to Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly to Atomic City Girlsby Janet Beard, we can now experience through historical fiction some of the important ways women contributed to the war efforts. The most recent book I’ve read in this genre and absolutely loved is The Alice Network.
Anita Shreve was one of my favorite authors for a while. Every time I saw that she had published a new book, I’d happily buy it and enjoy every minute reading it. (Remember The Pilot’s Wife? Fortune’s Rocks?) For the past few years, I hadn’t been aware of any new books by her until The Stars Are Fire.
Beginning on the day of Queen Victoria’s death,Falling Angels tells the story of two households with wildly differing philosophies as they navigate the changing world of London in mourning and beyond. The relationship between the two families begins, very appropriately, in a graveyard, when they discover their family plots are side by side.
It wasn’t until I got to the end of this book that I realized how it came to be. My assumption was that Goodwin wrote the novel and then was asked to turn it into a mini-series. Come to find out, she was writing the mini-series when someone suggested to her that she should novelize her scripts and sell that too. I mention this because, if you have seen the BBC/PBS mini-series, you probably don’t need to bother reading the book.
My wonderful husband gave me The Vineyard for Christmas based on the fact that we both love all things wine-related, and the back of the book mentions a love story. And although these qualifications are more than enough for me to read something (as a youngster I would pick anything with a pink cover), neither the vineyard nor the love story showed up until the final third of the book. That warning aside, I enjoyed The Vineyard, though it took a while for me to warm up to it.
As most of my family know, I have made it my goal since moving to Canada almost three years ago, to read more Canadian fiction. I like getting a sense of the country’s history without actually having to read a history book. So I was excited to receive Clara Callan, a winner of the Governor Generals Award, for Christmas this year.
I loved this book and am so grateful to my friend Jane for recommending it! Described as having the atmosphere of a “noir thriller,” Manhattan Beach follows the life of Anna Kerrigan, from when she is a little girl and tagging along with her beloved father on some questionable business deals, through his disappearance when she is 12-years-old.
Right off the bat I want to say that this Giller Prize winner is deserving of the honor, and well worth the lengthy commitment. Thien’s prose is gorgeous and evocative and the story subject was one completely foreign to me.
This may be my favorite book that I’ve read all summer – and I’ve read some really good books! I love everything about the novel: the characters, the storyline, the plot, the writing and the unexpected ending. It is a joy to read from beginning to end.
From the author of Room, you will not want to put this book down. The story follows an English nurse named Lib, who has been hired by a small town in Ireland to watch an 11-year-old girl who has reportedly been living without food for over four months. Most in the town believe this to be a miracle, but Lib is tasked with watching closely for any trickery, before the girl can be declared officially miraculous.
Set in 1799, this is the captivating tale of a Dutchman who, in a quest to win his beloved’s hand in marriage, embarks on a five- year expedition with the Dutch East Indies Company to Nagasaki, Japan, that country’s only port open to trade with the west at that time.
