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Historical Fiction April 2022 |
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| Carolina Built by Kianna AlexanderWhat it is: a well-researched imagined biography of real-life entrepreneur and real estate magnate Josephine N. Leary.
Set in: Edenton, North Carolina, the coastal town where Josephine was born into slavery and eventually built her financial empire after the Civil War.
Reviewers say: Josephine's "inspiring story transcends one life in the years after emancipation to encompass all women who take the chance to secure their own happiness" (Booklist). |
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| Don't Cry for Me by Daniel BlackWhat it's about: Jacob Swinton is on his deathbed, where he begins writing a letter to his estranged gay son Isaac in which he explores the ups and downs of their relationship, family history, and the complexities of Black masculinity.
Read it for: the evocative portraits of Jim Crow Arkansas and Civil Rights era Kansas City; the "quiet intimacy" (Library Journal) and reflective tone in which the story is told.
About the author: Daniel Black is a professor at Clark Atlanta University whose previous novels include They Tell Me of a Home and Perfect Peace. |
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| Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by André Lewis CarterThe premise: Desperate to get out of Orlando after accidentally snitching on his volatile drug-runner boss "Mr. Mike", Afro-Cuban petty criminal César Alvarez joins the Navy, despite the racial tensions plaguing the recently desegregated armed forces and the certainty that he will be sent to fight in the still-raging Vietnam War.
The problem: Thanks to his protégé's "betrayal" Mr. Mike is now facing his own legal troubles, but he's offered a chance to avoid jail time if he joins the military. Unfortunately, Mr. Mike and César are both headed to Manila and eventually, the close quarters of the USS Kitty Hawk. |
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| Black Cloud Rising by David Wright FaladéWhat it is: the richly detailed, thought-provoking story of a Union Army brigade made up of recently emancipated Black men and their journey through Confederate-occupied Virginia in 1863.
Starring: the brigade's leader Sergeant Richard Etheridge, a mixed-race man struggling to balance his zeal to destroy slavery, his complex feelings about his slave-owning white father, and his disappointment in the deeply entrenched racism of the Union Army.
Reviewers say: Black Cloud Rising is a "triumphant examination of U.S. history and race relations at a crucial juncture, as seen through the eyes of the well-wrought, ever-questing Etheridge" (Library Journal). |
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| Chorus by Rebecca KauffmanWhat it is: the lyrical and character-driven story of the seven Shaw siblings, each of whom shares their perspectives on two defining moments in their lives -- one of the siblings' teenage pregnancy and their mother's mysterious early death.
Where it's set: the Shaw family farm in rural Virginia between 1903 and 1959.
Reviewers say: Chorus is "a superbly executed saga" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth MacnealWhat it's about: Nell has always been stared at in her small English village thanks to the mottled birthmarks that cover her body, but fate gives her the chance for attention on her own terms after her father sells her to a traveling circus and its proprietor lets her perform acrobatic stunts instead of being a sideshow attraction.
Read it for: Nell's indefatigable spirit; the sense of foreboding that builds as Nell becomes the most popular act in the circus; the thought-provoking juxtaposition between the story's Victorian setting and the modern questions raised about autonomy and media manipulation. |
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Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny ZhangWhat it's about: Daiyu never wanted to be like the tragic heroine for whom she was named, revered for her beauty and cursed with heartbreak. But when she is kidnapped and smuggled across an ocean from China to America, Daiyu must relinquish the home and future she imagined for herself. Read it for: previously untold history surrounding the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, along with a dash of Chinese folklore. |
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The Diamond Eyeby Kate QuinnThe plot: a lethal hunter of Nazis is sent to America on a goodwill tour, where she forms an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. When & where: in 1937 in the snowbound city of Kiev (now known as Kyiv), wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son--but Hitler's invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. The real woman: Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper credited with 309 sniper kills, and an advocate for women's rights. |
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A Woman of Endurance by Dahlma Llanos-FigueroaWhat it's about: Pola, a deeply spiritual African woman, is captured and sold to a Puerto Rican plantation to breed future slaves. Read it for: the seldom discussed Puerto Rican Atlantic Slave Trade. At a time when importing humans from Africa had been prohibited by the Spanish Crown, Pola and other slave women provide their master with babies who are immediately taken away and sold on the auction block. Is it for you? The sexual violence Pola endures is horrific. Just FYI. |
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| The Matchmaker by Paul VidichWhat it is: an atmospheric and intricately plotted story about the personal fallout of international politics during the Cold War.
Starring: Anne Simpson, a translator working in West Berlin; Anne's husband Stephen, a piano tuner who goes on an unusually high number of work-related trips on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Reviewers say: "Intrigue, murder, and vengeance make for a darkly enjoyable read" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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