Best Historical Fiction

  The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle is based on true events – when clothes rationing during WWII leaves young brides in challenging situations, a group of women comes up with an idea to start a charity to give out white wedding dresses. In the process, they lift spirits and learn resilience. England, 1942. In the village of Aldhurst, as Grace is preparing for her wedding, she finds her mother’s wedding dress visibly damaged by moths, and in need of mending. Thus, she seeks help with the Sewing Circle. In London, Cressida Westcott, a noted couturier, has just lost her home and her design house in the London Blitz. She is forced to seek shelter with her estranged family in Aldhurst. Estrange from her family, because she is a woman of strong character, who broke from conventions and that put a rift between her and her brother, the late owner of Aldhurst Manor. Violet Westcott is ecstatic to have her famous aunt at the manor, but at the same time she receives conscription letter, which i...

  This haunting story of Anja follows her mother, Freydis Eiriksdottir, from Vinland saga - a strong-willed woman, who defied the odds of her society.  Greenland, 1012 AD. Anja Freydisdottir secretly has been resenting her mother and praising her father for his warmth and kindness. Not knowing that she’s been deceived by her conniving father, she, at the age of fifteen, is about to find out how deceitful he is when he sells her for the highest dowry, which he will be pocketing according to the agreement reached before Anja was born. In exchange, her mother gains freedom from her father. Anja has been hearing whispers about her mother’s adventures in Vinland, and supposedly her brutality. The side Anja picks is very clear. But she is strong headed like her mother, and with her mother’s push she defies the expectations of her society when opportunity strikes. Anja’s journey takes her to Vinland, with quite a different turn. In Greenland, she witnesses some brutality towards wome...

  Inspired by real events. Iceland, 1829. The District Commissioner Blondal pays a visit to a District Officer Jonsdottir, forcing him and his family to keep someone in custody in their tiny hut until execution. Agnes is being accused of murder and is being moved to an isolated farm in northern Iceland to await her execution. Reverend Toti agreed “to visit the condemned woman, and he had questioned his decision every day since.” Margaret, Jonsdottir’s wife, disapproves of being forced to shelter a convict. But she is very practical and Agnes, who was a servant once, is being made useful and put to many daily chores. In a tiny hut where the whole family lives, Agnes shares her story with Reverend Toti. When he listens to her story, the whole family does, as it is hard not to in such small space. Upon hearing her version of the story and seeing her every day’s hard work and her being knowledgeable and helpful in dire situations with other people, they start questioning the accusation...

  The year is 1920, in an unnamed country in South America. Violeta is born into Del Valles family with five boys, a father who takes risky ventures, and mother who refuses to socialize. Violeta relates her story in a form of a letter to someone she dearly loves. Through her eyes, we see dramatic changes in a span of one person’s lifetime. When the stock market crashes in September 1929, her father’s bold decisions leave the family in a dire situation. The oldest son, Jose Antonio, turns out to be the rock of the family, taking the lead and responsibility to provide for the family. Violeta’s is the character of a woman who exemplifies a life lived to the fullest, despite all the challenges life serves her. And it brings quite many of them. She lives through political revolutions, tyranny, economic downfalls, and the natural disasters of earthquakes and pandemics. She is born into privilege, and with the Great Depression she tastes poverty, while being quick at adapting to circumsta...

  In a remote mountain farmstead in Norway, Edvard tries to come to terms with his past. He lost his parents when he was three years old and never learned anything about them, after which was raised by his grandfather, who just passed away. Now, Edvard is handed a letter and with it a coffin, which in itself is a masterful piece of art. The letter explains he is to decide whether or not the coffin should be used. Edvard suspects the coffin was sent by his great-uncle Einar and sees it as a message - since his grandfather refused Einar permission to see Edvard on his tenth birthday, as two brothers were estranged. A priest adds another piece to the mystery, he knows of an argument between his great-uncle and his mother. He traced that argument to a mysterious inheritance. When Edvard starts unearthing the secrets of the past, the search takes him to Shetland Islands where he tries to find out answers to what happened in 1971. The lead takes him to a hairdresser who cut his great-unc...

  The Cape Doctor recreates a most remarkable journey, inspired by the life of Dr. James Miranda Barry, a trailblazer of remarkable convictions, who studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, possible only to the disguise as a male. Early 1800’s: Margaret, with her mother, leaves Ireland for London, where her mother’s brother lives. The brother’s friend takes Margaret under his wing and gives her education. His library is claimed to be the best one in London; and it’s where she finds a book about the Practice of Midwifery. The brother’s friend recognizes Margaret’s gift for learning and suggests for Margaret to disguise herself as a boy in order to study medicine. Thus, Margaret becomes Jonathan Mirandus Perry. In Edinburgh, under the cover-up, she lacks the sense of belonging. She also recognizes that she would never be safe to linger in any place, thus she chooses to be a military surgeon. As a military surgeon, her post takes her to Cape Town in South Africa. A place...

  Beijing, 1839. Jiang Shi-Rong is a newly appointed secretary by the well-known official Lin, who has been given a mission of great importance by the emperor. All measures are to be taken to eradicate illegal opium, and Jiang is to help Lin achieve that. Calcutta, India. An English merchant, John Trader, is eager to get his foot into the trade with China. Many get rich quickly by supplying China with opium in exchange for tea. When John arrives in Canton region, where foreign merchants are allowed to trade, he arrives right at the time, when Chinese officials are cracking down on illegal trade. The first Opium War sets the events for this story, where in the Canton region we meet the first array of characters, including a young woman struggling with the rigid traditions of China. Mei-Ling lives with her in-laws where strict rules are imposed by her mother-in-law. Mei-Ling knows she needs to give birth to a boy, otherwise she may never see her baby-girl, and she knows the rumors wh...