I love to be transported back in time by reading historical fiction. It’s my favorite way to learn history and to be able to put today’s struggles and victories into context.
For this month’s book recommendations, I present five terrific historical fiction books.
How to Make a Life by Florence Kraut is a rich, evocative tale that spans decades, generations, and continents. The story begins with Ida and Bessie fleeing a pogrom in Ukraine and follows their journey to the U.S. and then the lives of their children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. The feel of it is almost like a series of linear, strongly interconnected short stories, as the protagonist changes many times in the novel. Kraut does a masterful job of grabbing the reader with each vignette. Following this family over such a span allows for the examination of the effects of trauma over time and conveys a realistic portrayal of the time healing requires. In spite of some very dark moments, the book captures the love and strength of family and the spirit of survival and hope. Check out this interview with the author too.
Toward that Which is Beautiful by Marian O’Shea Wernicke is beautiful on so many levels. First, I mean look at the cover–not that I judge a book by its cover (oh, yes I do). Second, Wernicke’s evocative descriptions of Peru and Bolivia capture such varying landscapes and do so by capturing all the senses and explaining the impact of the landscape on culture. Whew! Third, the main character is a beautiful young nun who very humanly struggles to be her best self and do the right thing. I have never read a book with a nun as the main character and had never realized how stuck in archetypes my impressions of nuns were. This book made the nuns and the priests very relatable people. I felt as though I was learning about a whole new culture in learning about life in a nunnery. Wernicke did a lovely job of writing a story centered around religion that is neither pious nor damning. This is a lovely novel. Enjoy this interview with the author for more.
Set during the Great Depression, The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes is a riveting tale of Alice, a British woman who is swept off her feet by the owner of a coal mine in Kentucky. Once they marry, she moves to Kentucky only to find out her husband isn’t the man she thought he was. Life in Kentucky is very different than her British upbringing, and she has difficulty connecting with her new community. Lonely and bored, she takes a job as a librarian on horseback. The role is physically and emotionally challenging. Through it, though, Alice develops a life-changing friendship with Margery, the town’s feminist rebel. Margery helps her to find the courage to break free of her loveless marriage and take control of her own destiny.
Outlawed by Anna North is strays from pure historical fiction and is more of an alternative history. Though this setting — the Western United States in 1894 — is a real place and time, its premise is entirely fictional. In the world North builds, women are prized for their baby-making abilities. Barren women are at best discarded and at worst hung for witchcraft, as the townspeople believe that embittered barren women curse pregnant women and infants, causing miscarriages and diseases. While fictional, the story explores the historical (and, in some cultures, current) dependence of women on their childbearing success and the unfortunate human tendency to turn victims into criminals. Though Outlawed carries serious themes, the tone of the book is more befitting a Western. You can find a longer review that I wrote here on Book Trib.
Finally, The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott follows two story threads. One storyline follows Olga Ivinskaya, the mistress of Boris Pasternak, who is put in the gulag to punish him for his commentary in Doctor Zhivago which was deemed anti-Soviet by the State. Once her years in the gulag are served, Olga returns to Boris where she serves as his lover, muse, and literary agent. Through her story, we see the intrigue surrounding the publishing of Doctor Zhivago. The other storyline follows Irina and Sally, two typists/CIA agents who help to secure the English edition of Doctor Zhivago and to sneak the book back into the Soviet Union where it is banned. It’s a fascinating glimpse into a unique time and place.