Best Historical Fiction

“The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was arguably one of the deadliest diseases in history, second only to the Black Death, yet few people living today are aware of its impact. Fifty million people worldwide are estimated to have died from Spanish flu. That’s staggering number, far more than the number of lives lost in WWI. (…) Philadelphia was one of the hardest-hit American cities, with more than 12,000 dead.” January 1918, the family of Bright with three daughters moves to Philadelphia to live with Mr. Bright’s uncle. The oldest daughter, Evelyn (15), is a bright girl dreaming of becoming a doctor or a philosophy teacher like her favorite teacher. The middle daughter, Maggie (12), befriends two of the neighbor’s boys across the street. The older boy volunteers to be sent to France and fight in the Great War. At the end of 1918, men between ages of 18-45 are forced to register. “Congress has decided the war in Europe can’t be won unless more men are sent over to fight.”  The father at

Set in the second half of the 15th century London, during the time when Edward IV is restored to the throne and later his brother Richard III takes the reign. This story brings to light the world of silkwomen of the 15th century London and their partnership with mercers to do business together. Inevitably, training in the same households and marrying. Isabel, a daughter of silk merchant, gets married to Thomas Claver, a son of wealthy silk family/dynasty. In Isabel’s father’s eyes embroidery of church vestments is the only appropriate thing to do for women her station. Once she marries Thomas, her role changes. She gets to learn the business of silk. She starts from the very bottom, learning “repetitive, menial tasks of retail silkwork first.” Next she accompanies Alice, Thomas’ mother, “to meetings with foreign silk merchants and aristocratic clients.” Then, she travels with Alice “to the trade fairs at Bruges and Antwerp,” where she learns “how to make the large-scale wholesale

This is a story of a young woman who came from impoverished royal family, became Russian tsarina and one of the wealthiest women in the world. In the end, she was forced to flee the country during the Russian Revolution, leaving her penniless and dependent on the charity of the British royal family. This is a story of Princess Dagmar of Denmark, whose eldest son was the last Russian monarch. She marked the history as a resilient woman, who early on learned the Russian language, embraced its people and customs, and devoted her time to charities rather than politics. But when needed she knew how to rule. “Being a member of the imperial family came with obligation. I had discovered mine.” It was administration of the Red Cross. In 1866 Princess Dagmar of Denmark, known as Minnie, agrees to marry Alexander III of Russia. Once in Russia, she converts to Orthodoxy and adopts her new name Maria Feodorovna. “I was no longer the impoverished daughter of a once-negligible family, a princess of

This is a story of a seventeen year old girl who works with her mother at a house of a Jewish family. There she meets an ambitious Jewish boy, who studies at university. Through his cultured world she gets a taste of music and books, which brings them together. Their love is short lived. It happens right before the fall of 1938. Hitler’s regime changes everything and the young lovers get separated. The author paints well a picture of lives restricted by Hitler’s regime, depiction of Dachau camp and lives after war. Her story also evokes human emotions. However, the plot in the first half of the book is weak. It is better developed in the second half. The prose is easy and fluent. The characters are well-developed. The family of the main character is very likable. Overall, I it is an interesting story. However, the plot could be a bit stronger. @Facebook/BestHistoricalFiction  

The author weaves a story of two poets, Frances Osgood – a struggling poet, who meets already a famous and married poet – Edgar Allan Poe. They strike a friendship, which makes them both wish for more. He endured deep personal loss and poverty his whole life. She was disinherited from a privileged family for marring a struggling painter. The voice of Frances Osgood is very believable, her feelings, struggle to succeed in career and overcome hardship of her private life. The author recreates the atmosphere of the 19th century NYC well, with the social gatherings of literary circles and their “conversaziones.” The storyline of a love triangle is not something I’d normally reach for, but I like the author’s writing. This is the third book I’ve read by her. It does take a skill to develop an interesting story around a simple plot.  @Facebook/BestHistoricalFiction

Set in the 15th century Spain, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella: the time of the New Inquisition, the reconquest of Granada from Moors, the expulsion of all Jews from Spain, and Christopher Columbus’s so-called discovery of the Western Hemisphere. The story touches upon the dilemma of Jewish conversos – forced to convert or leave; viewed suspiciously by Catholics and questioningly by Jews.  It is a story of Luis de Santangel, a man “caught between competing faiths, social classes, and loyalties…” Luis de Santangel, chancellor to the court of King Ferdinand, is from a family of Jewish conversos. His ancestry gets revealed by a Jewish scribe, whom he befriends. When Santangel receives documents from a sailor by the name of Christopher Columbus, which don’t make sense to him, he passes them to the Jewish scribe. While the meaning of documents gets revealed, a deeper friendship develops between two men. The story of Santangel from Zaragoza, N Spain, is intertwined with the stor

Set in the Middle Ages (1098-1179), this is a true story of a fascinating woman Hildegard von Bingen also known as Saint Hildegard and Sibyl of the Rhine. She was a German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary, and polymath. Hildegard von Bingen is promised to the church at the age of eight as a companion to a young woman, who chooses to be entombed in a small room. Cold and hungry young Hildegard, living the life she didn’t choose, dreams of roaming the forest and the happy times she spent with her brother. Through a screen she becomes a friend with a young monk, who tells her that she can find her happiness even here. One night she receives a vision from a Lady, who tells her, “You are here for a purpose, though you don’t understand it yet.” And that’s where she’s starting to see some meaning in her life, even though living behind the walls never makes sense to her. After 30 years, when the sainted magistra dies, Hildegard sees an opportunit

In 1889, at 324 meters, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure in the world. Gustave Eiffel at the time of construction of the Eiffel Tower was already a well-known engineer. The tower was the most controversial structure of its time while being build. Once finished, it became the most popular and famous construction, solidifying Gustave Eiffel’s fame. But who designed the Eiffel Tower? It was Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin. This book explores a little-known figure of Emile Nouguier. The archives reveal very little of Nouguier’s life. His education at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and his achievements in architecture and civil engineering are facts, but the rest of his private life is attractively imagined in this story. He never married. The story is set between 1886 and 1889 against the background of building the controversial Eiffel Tower, bringing renowned names of Parisian society. In Glasgow, Caitriona Wallace, 31, is a widow and due to poor financial management, she

The story intertwines the lives of characters from four different families and social classes moving back and forth in time across centuries, bringing backdrop of French history, its class distinction, and an insight on building such icons as the Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower. Roland de Cygne comes from aristocratic family. He is a descendant from D’Artagnan, famous Musketeer, and hero Roland. At the age of fifteen not knowing his direction in life, he is being reminded of the 13th century Roland’s story – returning home to run the estate. Few years later, he is asked to attend dinner with Blanchard family. At first he is not comfortable mingling with bourgeoisie class, but his life takes a turn he has never expected.  Jules Blanchard is a well-set man of a solid family fortune. He has two sons and one daughter. His younger son, Marc, is an artist who takes part in a new artistic movement Art Nouveau, at the time seen by some as vulgar, especially aristocrats. Jacques Le Sourd c

This is a story of two historical characters: an early 16th century German reformer, Martin Luther, who believes that “God’s mercy is not for sale. It’s free…” and a woman, Katharina von Bora, noble knight’s daughter, who becomes a nun, due to a lack of dowry to get married, as this is “the surest way to get to heaven.”  He is an excommunicated monk, who attracts crowds wherever he moves, such is his pure remarkable love for God, “…given freely, not forced.” She with the other nuns flee the convent as words of Luther reach many cloisters about “cloistered life wasn’t necessary for their soul’s salvation.” He “awakens their desires that had been forced into slumber.” Now they want to experience the new words preached by Luther, “…Marriage is not only honorable but necessary…Men and women, who were created for it…” The fleeing nuns find shelter at a monastery, where Luther resides. He feels responsible for finding them new homes and that’s what he does. Except for a bossy woman from a

This is a story of a true character, probably never explored before.  A young girl, Katherine Ashley, dreams of something bigger than living a country life and giving births. During a hunting accident near her house, Thomas Cromwell, powerful man of King Henry VIII’s court, is looking for help. He quickly recognizes a potential when he meets Kat. He sees somebody he can trust and use to spy for him. She arrives at the court at the time when the first Queen is being replaced by Anne Boleyn. She survives the court intrigues for many years, witnessing further Queen replacements, until the sixth and the last Queen dies. Her biggest joy is to see her charge, Princess Elizabeth, become a Queen, who at early age already recognizes “the power of the common folk, the very backbone of England,” who yearns for religious tolerance.  It is an interesting view, hearing a story from the one who was probably the closest to Elizabeth, her “earthly mother.” It sheds a light at a different angle

Who invented the light bulb? This story brings the biggest lawsuits of its time, a $1 billion case, simply called Edison vs Westinghouse, known in history as “War of Currents.” It is 1888 and a few well-known streets in America have electricity: Wall St, Madison Ave, 34th St. “The issue before them: U.S. Letters Patent No. 223,898, granted to Thomas Edison on January 27, 1880, which described the invention of an “incandescent electric lamp.” Quickly nicknamed the Light Bulb Patent by the press, it was without question the most valuable patent ever granted in the history of the United States. And George Westinghouse was accused of infringing on it.” George Westinghouse hires a young talented lawyer Paul Cravath, because no experienced-lawyer wanted to take a losing case.  Paul collects all the help he can get. He tracks down Reginald Fessenden, an inventor, who once worked for Thomas Edison, but then was fired suddenly. Next is Nikola Tesla, a talented inventor, who also once worked f

“Little is known of Cathar faith, and most of it only from the point of view of its enemies. They worshiped Christ, were pacifists, vegetarians, with strict rules of poverty, work, chastity, charity. They believed that humans were fallen angels.  Pope Innocent III called for a Christian Crusade against another Christian group. The largest army ever seen in Europe, perhaps as many as three hundred thousand men, gathered in the Languedoc region, which is now the south of France, to fight the heretics – the Cathars. Events came to a head on May 13, 1243, when the French laid siege to the fortress of Montsegur. It was one of the longest sieges in history, lasting some ten months. Two hundred Good Christians, the cream of the Cathar Church, were trapped on the mountaintop, together with a protecting garrison. In January of 1244 the Cathars, seeing the end was near, smuggled their treasure of gold and money off the mountaintop and hid it “underground.” They held out for another six weeks,

The story is told through the eyes and heart of Rembrandt’s daughter, Cornelia. Very little is known about her. The woven story is a pure imagination of the author. There are two plots set apart by a few years. In the first one, Cornelia is a seven year old girl with her mom still living. In the second, she is coming of age when girls start thinking about marriage, her mom is gone, and her half-brother is getting married. In both stories, the famous painter is already struggling, passed his prime fame, because he chose the work he sees through God, showing light in his painting, using thick texture, which is being seen as out of style by rich customers. With simple prose, the author makes the girl’s feelings real, her pain of her father never marrying her mother, her father never acknowledging her or painting her, or teaching her to paint. Her pain of her father never taking interest in her and at the same time forbidding her the love she yearns for a young in-training painter from a

John Knox (1514-1572) was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of Protestant Reformation.  The story is told by a young follower resolved to protect John Knox. It starts with Knox at the age of 32 and already as being a wanted man. He is caught up in events that involved the murder of Cardinal Beaton in 1546 and intervention of the Queen Regent. He is besieged in a castle by French soldiers. They lose the battle with the French forces and are taken as galley slaves.  After hard labor and anchoring at Seine and Loire River, in 1549 they anchor at Thames River and to their astonishment they are set free. Not able to return to Scotland as Queen Regent wants Knox at the stake, he is asked to preach in London.  Soon after Knox notices “Under every steeple and on every street corner there remains so much popish deception and false doctrine.” And already making a name for himself as Thundering Scott, he is moved north closer to Scottish border “to remove him far from center of influence…and ce

I agree with this statement 100% - “Acclaimed as a brilliant historian, Tracy Borman proves with this thrilling debut novel that she is also a born storyteller.”  Brief history: King James VI of Scotland, after the death of Elizabeth I, becomes also King James I of England and Ireland, becoming the first monarch to be called the King of Great Britain.  This story begins with his reign of England in 1603 as the first monarch of the House of Stuart. He is talented, but his reign is marked with witch-hunting and prosecuting Catholics, and the latter leads to the Gunpowder Plot – conspiracy to assassinate him. Frances Gorges, fictional character, of noble birth, at the English court helps to nurse the dying Queen Elizabeth. Her journey, as an herbalist tending to sick, begins with encouragement of Revered Samuels. “His skill at healing was renowned…” He teaches her about the herbs and its healing powers. Her eagerness to learn about herbs comes very naturally and takes her on an ex

This historical romance, set mostly in the first part of the 19th century, is filled with substance which makes this book interesting.  Aurore Dupin, pen name George Sand, is a descendant of Augustus II, King of Poland. She is not happy in her marriage. She moves to Paris, where she craves freedom and ability to express herself. “I wanted to immerse myself in a life of writing, the life of an artist. I wanted to be like the bohemians, who cared nothing for the opinions of others.” After her first publishing rejection, she finds hope with Henri Latouche, who recognizes her raw talent and guides her toward success. Her first romantic affair with another writer Jules Sandeau influences her writing, even though down the line she becomes a much greater success than him. As her romances continue, the story loses its essence for short moments. But as it is intertwined with her childhood story it continues to hold pretty well, revealing how her childhood and her relationship with her mother

This story is set during the 17th century Netherlands, period known as the Dutch Golden Age, and during that time art was among the most acclaimed in the world. The story briefly weaves in such artists as Rembrandt and Vermeer, focusing majorly on the Dutch Porcelain.  It starts in 1654 in a small village of De Rijp. The fictional heroine, Catrin, after the death of her husband, moves out of her village, which is unheard of. She follows her dream to be in a city. She sells all her belongings and the only thing she takes with her is the talent for painting. She dreams of having her own business of painting pottery. In Amsterdam, Catrin takes a job as a housekeeper to the successful Van Nulandt merchant family. As a merchant he trades with China, bringing exquisite porcelain. No one in Europe knows how to make it. And what catches Catrin’s eye are the figures and landscape painted on big vases. But when the past catches up with her, she moves to Delft with recommendations from Van

The book begins in the 17th century with a tiny Indian fishing village on the forested island of Manna hata, with a Dutch family of Van Dyck and continues through next generations. It is a time, when Dutch traders arrive here to make their fortunes and giving the island a new name of New Amsterdam.  When English fight for the control of the colonies and take over the city, they rename it to New York. The English oppression and taxation makes them unpopular, which leads to rebellion. Sons of Liberty fight for their independence from England. Father and son of Van Dyck find themselves on opposite sides. One remains Loyalist, the other becomes Patriot. When the immigrants are woven into the story, they add a lot of flavor, particularly Mary O’Donnell and her friend Gretchen Keller. Later Italian family of Caruso immigrates through Ellis Island to NYC, making their new home at Little Italy. The story is even further enriched with Jewish family of Adler. The story touches upon history of

Did Mileva Mavic, Albert Einstein’s first wife, contribute to developing Einstein’s theories? This subject is hotly debated. What is undisputable a fact that she was a genius in her own way. Brilliant mathematician studying at university when it was unheard of for women. Mileva Mavic, a remarkable woman of petit frame with genius mind comes from an Eastern European country of Serbia looked upon as inferior to such country as Switzerland where she makes home now. It is October 1896, she starts studying at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic of Zurich. She is the fifth woman to be admitted to this school. Making her way in a male dominated world is not an easy path. But what keeps her motivated are her father’s words: “Be bold, you are a wise one.” As her male colleagues are only trying to be civil to her, her only chance of finding a lab partner in physics is Albert Einstein, who treats her as equal. Early on, she is recognized by Albert as a brilliant mathematician and physicist. Their par