Ayşe Kulin — Last Train to Istanbul: Dramatic WWII Story (Book Review)
Well-loved Turkish author Ayşe Kulin illustrates another angle on the early years of World War II in her 2002 book Last Train to Istanbul. (Translated to English in 2013.) The story is set partly in Turkey and partly in the Nazi-occupied French cities of Paris and...The Language of Threads from Gail Tsukiyama—Women of the Silk Book #2 (Book Review)
The Language of Threads is a continuation of Gail Tsukiyama’s excellent book Women of the Silk. I’m glad to have read both in sequence, which immersed me in the main character’s entire life. In the first book, Pei is taken from her small China village, sold to work...M.L. Stedman — The Light Between Oceans: An Unthinkable Dilemma (Book Review)
M.L. Stedman creates historical fiction based around a unthinkable choice in The Light Between Oceans. Set in the years between the World Wars and along the coast of South West Australia, it’s a unique period piece. And the choice its main characters make reverberates...Gail Tsukiyama — Women of the Silk delivers Historical Fiction set in China (Book Review)
In Women of the Silk, a 1991 book from Gail Tsukiyama, times are hard. It’s China in the late 1920s and especially in the small villages nature and politics affect everyone. Our main character is a young girl named Pei. As the story opens, she’s about six, and her...Kerry Greenwood and Phryne Fisher: Cocaine Blues is Historical Mystery Par Excellence (Book Review)
Author Kerry Greenwood introduces a new mystery heroine in her 2012 book, Cocaine Blues. Phryne Fisher is different from a typical late 1920’s female sleuth in many ways. First, she’s based in Melbourne, Australia instead of the more typical New York, London, or...C.J. Sansom: Dissolution—A Chilly Tudor Era Mystery (Book Review)
C.J. Sansom creates an unlikely hero in his character Matthew Shardlake. In Dissolution, the time is Tudor England, and Shardlake is a lawyer working in the service of Thomas Cromwell. He’s just two degrees from King Henry VIII. But he’s still just a lowly guy charged...Boys in Two Unique Coming-of-Age Books
Reading two books about two boys in very different eras and situations warmed my heart at the start of this cold, dark winter. I began Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis with my 10-year-old granddaughter. And then I started The Absolutely True Diary of a...The Arctic Fury–Part Courtroom, Part Adventure—by Greer Macallister (Book Review)
The Arctic Fury, the latest from Greer Macallister, is a hybrid of adventure and courtroom drama. The story centers around Virginia Reeve, who leads a group of women north into Canada and towards the Northwest Territories in 1853. If you look on a map today, you see...The Sandcastle Girls: Heartbreaking Historical Fiction from Chris Bohjalian (Book Review)
In The Sandcastle Girls, Chris Bohjalian crafts a skilled and sad historical fiction novel. It centers on the little-known Armenian genocide around the time of World War I. Tragically, the Ottoman government expelled and mass murdered 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey...Three Brief Audiobooks with #OwnVoices
In between longer reads, I often pick brief Audible Originals or other short audiobooks. This group of three #ownvoices reads are about women whose lives illustrate the realities of being black and brown in a difficult world. Proof of Love by Chisa Hutchinson...The Nickel Boys: Reality-based Historical Fiction in the Jim Crow South from Colson Whitehead (Book Review)
The Nickel Boys is the third Colson Whitehead book I’ve read. It’s a joy to watch his skill as a writer improve each time. Of course, two of the three won Pulitzer Prizes, so I’m not the only one noticing. And this book evoked a range of emotions from cheers to jeers...Margaret Walker, Classic Southern Historical Fiction and Jubilee (Book Review)
Reviewing Jubilee by Margaret Walker, a classic piece of historical fiction, is a daunting thing. Walker crafts a story, “inspired by the memories of her maternal grandmother, Elvira Ware Dozier.” (see source below) The main character is Vyry, a woman born on a...Book Review: Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Carol Rifka Brunt created a debut novel with a huge emotional wallop. Tell the Wolves I’m Home hits the pain of teen years, family tensions, grief, and a looming virus. It’s set in the 1980s, when AIDS was just coming into the national consciousness. June, our 14-year...Book Review: Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell
Author David Morrell skillfully blends history and mystery in his 2013 novel, Murder as a Fine Art. Morrell uses real-life historical figures and inserts them into likely situations. Plus, he bases events on the history surrounding their lives. In addition, he...Book Review: The Edge of Nowhere by C.H. Armstrong
Author C.H. Armstrong writes a compelling deep dive into Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl years in the early twentieth century. In The Edge of Nowhere, her main character is Victoria Hastings. And, my goodness, she does not lead an easy life. The book is a letter from Victoria to...Bookshop.Org Affiliate
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