Category: historical fiction
Land of Hope by Paul C. R. Monk is the third and final book in the Huguenot Connection trilogy. It picks up shortly after the end of the previous book with Jeanne continuing her journey to England. Her and Paul are traveling through Europe to a port where they can catch a ship. However, their…
Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon is a story of dichotomies as it is both an incredibly motivating and uplifting story but also incredibly sad and heartbreaking. Based loosely on true events it tells the story of Nancy Wake, a reporter turned smuggler and spy who was on the ground in France during WWII. Told…
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn was simply incredible. The story opens in 1947 days before Princess Elizabeth is set to marry Prince Phillip, Osla Kendall is the former girlfriend of Phillip who now works as a columnist for Tatler. As she is preparing herself for attending the wedding she receives an unusual letter written…
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally is the slightly fictionalized true story of Oskar Schindler. In the lead up to the Second World War he was an industrialist who managed to own an enamel factory where he was allowed to employ Jewish workers from the Kracow ghetto. At first he stayed concentrated on actually running a…
The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons is sad but still heartwarming. In 1938 Gertie Bingham is mourning the loss of her husband and struggling to run their bookstore that no longer feels the same. Thinking about retiring Gertie ends up postponing when her longtime friend Charles convinces her to instead take in a…
Ukraine: Year One is the first book in the Fallout of War series by H. Peter Alesso. It tells the story of Commander James Fairbanks and his wife who are sent to assess and report on the condition of events in Ukraine in 2021 as they prepare for a Russian invasion. James works alongside the…
The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan is a book that is mildly sad and heartbreaking but also immensely inspiring and uplifting. It tells the story of three different young women and their interactions with a library at the height of WWII. Juliet has just been hired as a deputy head librarian for the Bethnal Green…
Circle of Days is the newest work of historical fiction by Ken Follett and it is brilliant. It tells a story about Stonehenge and its creation through the eyes of the people who built it. Joia is a young woman who becomes a priestess at the monument due to her wish to learn more about…
- Kennedy Assassination, The Civil Rights Movement, The Cold War, The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Iron Curtain
I was absolutely enthralled with Edge of Eternity, the final book in the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett. It opens in the early 1960’s with George Jakes, son of Greg Peshkov, participating in the Freedom Rides. From there it follows his career working with Bobby Kennedy in the Justice Department. At the same time it…
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Story by James McBride is a sad, poignant and moving novel. The story opens with a body being discovered when some construction is started and there is some difficulty identifying the body though many in the area seem to have some idea how it got there. It then goes back…