Tag Archives: historical fiction

Salt Houses

Salt Houses by Hala Alyan (2017) told the story of one Palestinian family over multiple generations, beginning in the late 1960s through the 2010s, centered around Alia and her husband Asif, who is best friends with Alia’s brother Mustafa. Alia and Mustafa’s mother is forced to leave with the Six-Day War in 1967, and MustafaContinue reading “Salt Houses”

Big Girl

I have complicated feelings about Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (2022). First, I am glad that a novel about the coming of age of a fat, black, young girl in 1990’s Harlem was written. The author did an amazing job with the story of Malaya and her family (her mother, Nyela, is a professor,Continue reading “Big Girl”

A Council of Dolls

Wow. There are few other words that do justice to A Council of Dolls, by Mona Susan Power (publication date August 8, 2023). Told in multiple perspectives over several time periods in the late 1800s and through the 1900s, each of the storylines involves a doll given to the little girl that is the mainContinue reading “A Council of Dolls”

The Sea Elephants

The Sea Elephants (publication date July 11, 2023) by Shastri Akella is the book about grief, queerness, Hindu mythology, and street theatre that I had no idea that I needed. It’s beautifully written, and though it’s not a short book, I wished that I could stay immersed in Shagun world longer. As the book opensContinue reading “The Sea Elephants”

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea (pub. May 30, 2023) by Rita Chang-Eppig is a thoughtful historical novel about life and piracy as experienced by one woman–Shek Yeung–based on the real-life pirate queen who commanded a confederation of pirates in the South China Sea in the early 1800s. As the novel opens, ShekContinue reading “Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea”

The Sweetness of Water

Listening to the critically-acclaimed The Sweetness of Water (2021) by Nathan Harris was like watching a disaster in slow motion. I knew some of the characters were going to be hurt, badly, but the journey was so beautifully written I had to keep listening. George Walker is an old man, a transplanted Northerner in aContinue reading “The Sweetness of Water”

Alice I Have Been

Alice I Have Been (2009) is historical fiction based on the life of Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired the fictional Alice in Wonderland. Full disclosure: I have never read Lewis Carroll’s classic, although I’m aware of the characters and general overview. Alice Liddell was the daughter of an Oxford dean and lived across theContinue reading “Alice I Have Been”

The Cherry Robbers

I highly anticipated reading The Cherry Robbers (publishing today, May 17, 2022) by Sarai Walker, author of Dietland, and I was not disappointed. Walker’s second book is different in tone and subject matter, but it is just as transgressive as Dietland was. There are two storylines: The first is set in the very recent pastContinue reading “The Cherry Robbers”

News of the World

I had no previous knowledge about and didn’t know what to expect of News of the World (2016) by Paulette Jiles. My first clue was the inside cover map of 1870’s Texas and jacket description of an elderly former military man, Captain Jefferson Kidd, being asked to escort a young girl from the Indian TerritoryContinue reading “News of the World”