Does everyone know that the Goodreads Choice Awards are going on right now? These are the possible picks for best historical fiction:
A novel about a silent film star and her "chaperone" with plenty of 20s and 30s culture, feminism, and change of the times. Sounds like an awesome story.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
A novel about a man who, after surviving the sinking of his ship, seizes the opportunity to shed his past by assuming the identity of a ship-mate that died. When he reaches port, he finds that the man whose identity he assumed has a far worse past than the one he was trying to escape.
Total awesomesauce premise, right?
Full Goodreads blurb here.
An ode to Jane Eyre, set in the 1950s and 60s.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
The sixth installment in a series entitled The Saxon Stories about the making of England in the Viking era.
(How have I never heard of this series before? I've GOT to read this!)
Full Goodreads blurb here.
A novel about a childless couple that moves to a homestead in the Alaskan wilderness in the 20s. Their marriage is crumbling and one day they make their long-desire child out of snow. The next day, the snow child is gone from where they left it, and a strange, mystical girl starts showing herself from the woods. It's half history, half fairy tale. This one was already on my TBR list. I believe the reviews about it were very mixed, but it's an interesting premise nonetheless.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Barcelona, 1957. A tale of secrets, intrigue, emotion, and mystery.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
The tale of two young people who fall in love and, due to circumstances outside their control, are forced apart. They both end up trying to make separate lives for themselves in America, but their destinies will intertwine and change their worlds forever.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Berlin, 1939. A young trumpet-player who is both German and black is arrested and never heard from again. For fifty years, the only witness refuses to speak of what happened that day.
"Half-Blood Blues is an electric, heart-breaking story about music, race, love and loyalty, and the sacrifices we ask of ourselves, and demand of others, in the name of art." (From Goodreads. Fully blurb here.)
This totally sounds like my kind of story!
A novel about a girl born into slavery on a plantation into unique circumstances, who finds herself caught between her owners and her cultural inheritance.
"Compelling, tragic, comic, tender and mystical... Combines the historical significance of Kathryn Stockett's The Help with the wisdom of Toni Morrison's Beloved." —Minneapolis Star Tribune
Full Goodreads blurb here.
1845. New York City forms its first police force. The great potato famine hits Ireland. These two seemingly disparate events will change New York City. Forever. (From Goodreads. Full blurb here.)
This is a tale of a "copper" of the newly minted NY police force and a dark mystery. I totally got into the BBC series Copper this year. I loved it in all its heart-rending tragedy, so this is a must-read for me!
Another must-read for me! I love lighthouses, so any premise that includes one I'm down for. This also has characters that have been through the Great War, the tragedy of an empty womb, and a mysterious boat that washes up carrying a dead man and a squalling infant. Yeah, I gotta read that.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
1959, England. A young girl sees a stranger come up to her family home, then witnesses a crime. Fifty years later she returns to her family home to confront old mysteries and ghosts.
My description doesn't do it justice. Be sure to read the full Goodreads blurb for this one. It sounds awesome!
A story of the horrible choices that were forced on people under Nazi control during WWII and finding the courage to forgive sixty years later.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
The story of an Armenian man and an American woman who meet amidst the horrors of WWI, concurrent with the story of their granddaughter discovering it.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Book 2 in the Wolf Hall series which deals with the life of Anne Boelyn who was married to King Henry VIII. This book covers the time after they're married, when Catharine dies in exile, and Anne's farce of a trial.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Don't these all sounds great? Unfortunately, I've been focusing so much on dystopian these past few months that I've only read a handful of historical fiction. Though a few of these are on my TBR list, I haven't actually read any of them. *Hangs head in shame.* So, my first New Years Resolution will be to make a list of Historical Fiction to read for next year. It will include all these (or for the series at least the first one in the series) as well as a few others I've been meaning to get around to.
Will you vote for any of these? Have you read any of them? What did you think?
Other fun historical fiction posts: Atticus Finch as president? See Goodreads choice picks for other genres.
A novel about a silent film star and her "chaperone" with plenty of 20s and 30s culture, feminism, and change of the times. Sounds like an awesome story.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
A novel about a man who, after surviving the sinking of his ship, seizes the opportunity to shed his past by assuming the identity of a ship-mate that died. When he reaches port, he finds that the man whose identity he assumed has a far worse past than the one he was trying to escape.
Total awesomesauce premise, right?
Full Goodreads blurb here.
An ode to Jane Eyre, set in the 1950s and 60s.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
The sixth installment in a series entitled The Saxon Stories about the making of England in the Viking era.
(How have I never heard of this series before? I've GOT to read this!)
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Barcelona, 1957. A tale of secrets, intrigue, emotion, and mystery.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
The tale of two young people who fall in love and, due to circumstances outside their control, are forced apart. They both end up trying to make separate lives for themselves in America, but their destinies will intertwine and change their worlds forever.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
"Half-Blood Blues is an electric, heart-breaking story about music, race, love and loyalty, and the sacrifices we ask of ourselves, and demand of others, in the name of art." (From Goodreads. Fully blurb here.)
This totally sounds like my kind of story!
A novel about a girl born into slavery on a plantation into unique circumstances, who finds herself caught between her owners and her cultural inheritance.
"Compelling, tragic, comic, tender and mystical... Combines the historical significance of Kathryn Stockett's The Help with the wisdom of Toni Morrison's Beloved." —Minneapolis Star Tribune
Full Goodreads blurb here.
1845. New York City forms its first police force. The great potato famine hits Ireland. These two seemingly disparate events will change New York City. Forever. (From Goodreads. Full blurb here.)
This is a tale of a "copper" of the newly minted NY police force and a dark mystery. I totally got into the BBC series Copper this year. I loved it in all its heart-rending tragedy, so this is a must-read for me!
Full Goodreads blurb here.
1959, England. A young girl sees a stranger come up to her family home, then witnesses a crime. Fifty years later she returns to her family home to confront old mysteries and ghosts.
My description doesn't do it justice. Be sure to read the full Goodreads blurb for this one. It sounds awesome!
A story of the horrible choices that were forced on people under Nazi control during WWII and finding the courage to forgive sixty years later.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
The story of an Armenian man and an American woman who meet amidst the horrors of WWI, concurrent with the story of their granddaughter discovering it.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Book 2 in the Wolf Hall series which deals with the life of Anne Boelyn who was married to King Henry VIII. This book covers the time after they're married, when Catharine dies in exile, and Anne's farce of a trial.
Full Goodreads blurb here.
Don't these all sounds great? Unfortunately, I've been focusing so much on dystopian these past few months that I've only read a handful of historical fiction. Though a few of these are on my TBR list, I haven't actually read any of them. *Hangs head in shame.* So, my first New Years Resolution will be to make a list of Historical Fiction to read for next year. It will include all these (or for the series at least the first one in the series) as well as a few others I've been meaning to get around to.
Will you vote for any of these? Have you read any of them? What did you think?
Other fun historical fiction posts: Atticus Finch as president? See Goodreads choice picks for other genres.
Wow, I need to read all of these! I might start a historical fiction reading kick--sounds like so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI know, right? I can't wait to get to these. Thanks for stopping by Meredith! :D
Delete"The Shoemakers Wife" title sounds so simple, but the plot sounds really interesting.
ReplyDeleteGreat list. I have read a few, and plan on reading some of the others. I just wish that "Quest for the Lost Name" by George Makris would have made it to the list. Great thriller/historical fiction. The kind of book that grabs you from the very first line and keeps you going till the end.
ReplyDeletehttp://questforthelostname.com/