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Historical Fiction February 2023 |
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| Picture in the Sand by Peter BlaunerWhat it's about: Hoping to convince his radicalized grandson to avoid the mistakes of his own youth, businessman Ali Hassan shares long-held secrets about his activities during a politically tumultuous period of Egyptian history.
Ready for his close-up: the story takes place against the backdrop of the production of Cecil B. DeMille’s epic The Ten Commandments while a young Ali worked on set as the director’s assistant.
Reviewers say: Picture in the Sand is “historical fiction at its absolute best -- heartfelt, anchored in real events, and extremely well told” (Publishers Weekly). |
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The reindeer hunters
by Lars Mytting
Set in 1903, at the new church in Butangen, Norway, Pastor Kai Schweigaard becomes obsessed with finding an ancient tapestry woven by conjoined sisters in the hopes that it will bring him redemption, leading him to a young hunter living in the mountains. 40,000 first printing.
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| The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal MalhotraStarring: Samir, a Hindu perfumer, and Firdaus, a Muslim calligrapher, whose forbidden love story sweeps readers from the early 20th century to the present day.
Read it for: a lush, atmospheric story of cultural, political and personal turmoil surrounding the 1947 Partition of India.
For fans of: Elif Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees, Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, or All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. |
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| The Wintering Place by Kevin McCarthySequel alert: The Wintering Place follows Irish immigrants Thomas and Michael O’Driscoll, who readers first met in Wolves of Eden.
This time: 1867 finds the brothers on the run after deserting the army, struggling to eke out an existence during a harsh winter and avoid more trouble among the other outlaws who cross their path.
Is it for you? The novel’s visceral details are compelling, evocative, and do much to underline the characters’ traumatic experiences, but they may also be off-putting to some readers. |
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| The Seamstress of Sardinia by Bianca PitzornoWhat it is: a moving and engaging coming-of-age story about a determined Sardinian orphan striving to maintain her dignity and independence under circumstances that seem designed to rob her of both.
Read it for: the large cast of well-developed characters; the earnest resolve with which the novels unnamed heroine pursues her goals, interests, and dreams.
About the author: Hans Christian Anderson Award nominee Bianca Pitzorno is an Italian writer best known for her books for children and young adults, and for her translations of authors like J.R.R. Tolkien. |
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An ocean apart
by Sarah Lee
"It's 1954 and, in Barbados, Ruby Haynes spots an advertisement for young women to train as nurses for the new National Health Service in Great Britain. Her sister, Connie, takes some persuading, but soon the sisters are on their way to a new country - and a whole new world of experiences. As they start their training in Hertfordshire, they discover England isn't quite the promised land; for every door that's opened to them, the sisters find many slammed in their faces. And though the girls find friendships with their fellow nurses, Connie struggles with being so far from home, and keeping secret the daughter she has left behind in search of a better life for the both of them . . ."
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The seven moons of Maali Almeida : a novel
by Shehan Karunatilaka
"Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida--war photographer, gambler, and closet queen--has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons tocontact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka"
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By Her Own Design
by Piper Huguley
Who it's about: fashion designer Ann Lowe, who is best known for designing the dress Jacqueline Bouvier wore for her wedding to John F. Kennedy.
How it begins: Several days before the Bouvier-Kennedy wedding a burst pipe in her shop ruins Jackie's dress. Lowe, who has risen from Jim Crow Alabama to become the designer of choice to the society register, reflects on her life while working tirelessly with her staff to create a replacement.
You might also like: Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini, the story of Elizabeth Keckley, another Black woman who dressed a First Lady. To hear from Keckley herself, try her autobiography Behind the Scenes.
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| The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty ZeldisWhat it is: the lyrical and richly detailed story of the complex, overlapping, volatile bonds between three strong women in 1920s Brooklyn.
Starring: Beatrice, a Russian-born Jewish dress shop proprietor newly arrived from New Orleans; Beatrice's protégé Alice, who came north with her mentor; newlywed Catherine, a regular customer of the dress shop whose increasingly close friendship with Beatrice could change things for all three of them forever.
For fans of: The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis; The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Williams. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Quinte West Public Library
7 Creswell Drive
Trenton, Ontario K8V 5R6
613-394-3381www.QWPL.ca |
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