Staff Picks Category: Historical fiction

The giver of stars by Jojo Moyes [Book]

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If you love books and would be saddened to think that some people don’t have access to them, you’ll find this historical fiction Depression-era novel to be a true inspiration. The Giver of Stars is the story of how a handful of dedicated women traverse the sometimes harrowing mountains of Kentucky to deliver books to folks you’ll get to know and care about.

Forbes is pleased to continue the tradition of delivering library materials throughout Northampton, Leeds and Florence. Reach out to outreach@forbeslibrary.org or call 413-587-1019 to learn more.

Cradles of the Reich by Jennifer Coburn [Book]

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Based on historical events in Nazi Germany, this novel follows the lives of three women who intersect at Heim Hochland as part of the Lebensborn breeding program intended to help racially fit women produce Aryan babies for Hitler. Gundi is a university student involved in the resistance who finds herself pregnant by her activist Jewish boyfriend. Hilde is eighteen, underappreciated at home, devoted to Hitler’s regime, and eager to raise her status by having a Nazi official’s baby. Irma is a nurse who lost her fiancé and unborn child during the Great War, discovered her beau concealing a woman in his cellar, and needs the fresh start that working at Heim Hochland offers. Surrounded by looted art and antiques, sustained by the best food available, and subject to the whims of powerful men, these women find connections among the expectant mothers, “apprentice” mothers, and employees of the facility. When Gundi’s child is born with obviously non-Aryan characteristics, she learns of the potential consequences (euthanasia) and must seek help where she can. Parallels may be drawn between Nazi eugenics then and reproductive agency now, and the fundamental sexism of men making decisions about women’s bodies, providing ample topics for discussion groups.

For fans of The Lilac Girls, The Island of Sea Women, Call the Midwife, and World War II women’s stories.

For Those Who Are Lost by Julia Bryan Thomas [Book]

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In the chaos of evacuating children from Guernsey to England in 1940, Lily Carre switches places with her sister Helen, undertaking the care of a pair of children–Henry and Catherine Simon–who are being reluctantly sent away by their mother Ava. Lily wants to escape an unhappy marriage, and Helen wants to remain on Guernsey with their aging parents. Once in England, Lily puts nine-year-old Henry on a train bound for Manchester, where he starts out in a dormitory of evacuees and is eventually sent to a Yorkshire farm for the rest of the war. Lily takes four-year-old Catherine with her to Cornwall, which she arbitrarily chose based on its proximity to the sea and distance from the continent. They find refuge with the assistance of local vicar Peter Ashby and embed themselves in village life, Lily posing as a widow and Catherine’s mother. Following the stories of Lily, Ava, Henry, and Peter during the war, and checking in with Catherine thirty years later, the reader sees several aspects of life during wartime and long term consequences of impulsive decisions.

A sure bet for readers of personal war stories and those who want to know, “What about the women and children?”

The Tsarina’s Daughter by Ellen Alpsten [Book]

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Alpsten’s follow up to Tsarina (2020) focuses on the life of Elizabeth (Lizenka), daughter of Peter the Great and his second wife Catherine I, from her royal childhood through a tumultuous adolescence and young adulthood. Lizenka is charming, beautiful, and beloved, inspiring envy and loyalty among her relations and the Russian people. Political intrigue abounds, with friends and family moving through the court and royal residences as power shifts and people fall in and out of favor. Originally expected to marry Louis XV, Lizenka’s fortunes fall not long after she encounters the Leshy (a forest spirit) on a walk in the woods. The Leshy tells Lizenka her future, and Lizenka returns to the Leshy’s words over the years as each prediction comes true. In addition to foretelling Lizenka’s difficulties, the Leshy also tells of greatness, which comes to fruition just as the volume ends. Students of Russian history will enjoy the attention to detail (see the author’s note for details) and fans of historical fiction based on real people will devour this rich repast, and be left eager for the next book’s conclusion of this trilogy about the Romanovs.

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams [Book]

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Words matter. Williams’ romantic novel places several imaginary characters inside the very real creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. The women who were really involved in that enterprise have left little historical record. The novel’s focus is the lost words: the words of women and the poor that are not recorded in history and the lives of women that go unrecorded and disregarded by academia. The protagonist experiences a series of losses, yet the book is overwhelmingly positive in outlook. A strong sense of place takes the reader to England at the turn of the last century and at the beginnings of World War I.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger [Book]

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The historical and the literary worlds meet in this beautifully written novel, a perfect choice for a book group! The story is rooted in the literary tradition of Huckleberry Finn all while following the path of The Odyssey. The novel takes place during the Great Depression and it revolves around Odie, a 12 year old orphan who runs away from the horrendous boarding school he and his brother have been left in. As Odie and his band of friends make their way towards St. Louis, they encounter a wide array of characters: everyone from a drunken, one eyed farmer who is hiding a family secret, to a faith healer who is able to see the truth behind the lies. The book deals with many hard truths, including the hatred shown to Native Americans throughout American history and the abject poverty of the Hoovervilles that littered the country during the Depression. In the midst of that is a search for meaning, a search for faith, and an understanding that love of friends, family, and home can combat hatred.

Bleak House [Book]

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Though the title, age, and overall length (almost 1000 pages!) of this book may turn some readers away, this classic is well worth a read! Dickens’ writing style is evident in full force here and his lengthy descriptions of everything from fog to court judges contain beautiful insights and nuanced observations. It is the characters of this book that really shine though; fans of everything from Anna Karenina to Bridgerton will love the wide array of expertly named characters. From the somber and mysterious Lady Deadlock, to the cold and calculating Tulkinghorn, readers are pulled into the drama of the court case that the whole story centers around. There are twists and turns, triumphs and tragedies; a perfect book for a rainy day and an intrepid reader!

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly [Book]

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Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten [Book]

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Catherine Alexeyevna (Catherine I) was the second wife of Peter the Great, a woman who progressed from humble origins as a serf to Empress of all the Russias in her short life. The first woman to rule Russia in her own right, she was by the side of the man whose legacy of modernizing Russia in the early 18th century is well-documented in popular culture. Lesser known is the sometimes bloody story of the woman who spent more than twenty years coddling, supporting, and challenging him. Ellen Alpsten’s debut novel relates a compelling if unverified story of Catherine’s (then known as Marta) early years before she entered Peter’s orbit and became his companion and, later, wife. Catherine bore him twelve children, only two of whom lived to adulthood. She traveled with him to the front in his various wars over many years. She was a constant in his life through successes, failures, triumphs, disappointments, and numerous mistresses. She was the best thing that ever happened to him, and the one person who could soothe his rages and return him to reason. Illuminating the realities of life in premodern Russia and the growth and changes brought about in the Petrine Era, It’s a fascinating and extraordinary ride from slavery to royalty for an incredible woman.

“Fiction about real people” is a great genre for readers who like history and also like to listen in on conversations. Offer this to fans of historical fiction, Russia, political intrigue, and powerful women.

The Glass House by Beatrice Colin [Book]

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Disappointed artist Antonia McCulloch is going through the motions with her distant husband when her previously unknown sister-in-law and niece unexpectedly arrive on her doorstep. Antonia has been managing Balmarra, the family estate, since her father’s death, and never expected to hear from her estranged brother again. Cicely Pick has packed herself and her daughter Kitty up to travel from Darjeeling, India to Scotland in pursuit of her husband’s right to the family home. He’s in need of financial support, and she intends to sell Balmarra and the assets therein to fund his continued botanical expeditions in Asia. As Antonia and Cicely become acquainted, their mutual suspicions give way to tentative friendship. Cicely is a novel addition to village society, and strikes up an ill-advised flirtation with a wealthy neighbor. Neither of the women’s husbands seems invested in the future of the estate, and none of them anticipate what they eventually learn from the family solicitors. Balmarra itself is another character in the story, filled with family treasures and portraits, with a spectacular glass house on the grounds containing rare plant specimens from all over the world.

Offer this to fans of historical fiction, women’s stories, botany, and Scotland.

Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin [Book]

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Austin’s debut novel expands on scholarly speculation that Branwell Brontë (brother to authors Anne, Charlotte, and Emily) had a passionate affair with Lydia Robinson, a married lady whose son Branwell tutored while Anne was governess to her daughters. Lydia is vain, aging, and longs for excitement. Branwell is young, passionate, and misguided. The story is told from Lydia’s viewpoint; we learn she grieves the recent losses of her mother and her youngest daughter, and is challenged by the management of her living children, interference from her mother-in-law, and her disinterested husband. We are privy to her flights of fancy as she imagines becoming involved with the much-younger Branwell and resists her urges, until she doesn’t. They begin an affair, communicating through a servant and meeting in an abandoned cottage to indulge their attraction. The scandal that follows exacerbates Branwell’s mental fragility and changes the lives of both families.

Offer this to fans of Victorian literature, readers who like their historical fiction populated with real people, and those who prefer their romances without happy endings.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan [Book]

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In 14th-century China, a fortune-teller reveals to twelve-year-old Zhu Chongba that he is destined to achieve greatness. But when he dies in a bandit raid on their impoverished village, his younger sister assumes his identity and his fate in order to achieve the thing she wants above all else: to survive. She Who Became the Sun is a beautifully written, character-driven story that follows the new Zhu Chongba as she fights to keep her secret and her life in a world upended by war and rebellion in the aftermath of the collapse of the Mongol Empire. Shelley Parker-Chan seamlessly weaves fantasy, humor, and romance into a queer historical military fantasy unlike anything else on the shelf.