Best Historical Fiction

  Hedy Lamarr (born Hedwig Kiesler) (1914-2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. Her invention along with George Antheil wasn’t incorporated by the US Navy until the 1960s; the principles of their work are incorporated into Bluetooth technology. They were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014. 1933, Vienna, Austria. Hedy Kiesler is a successful actress, performing in Sissy, beloved Bavarian Empress Elizabeth, at the famed Theater an der Wien. Friedrich Mandl takes a note of her and pursues her. His company manufactures munitions, and it’s not just what he manufactures, but to whom he sells it. One of his clients is Benito Mussolini. At 19, to Hedy’s surprise she finds Mandl very attractive. Her father agrees to the marriage, seeking security for his daughter against brewing anti-Semitism. And he hopes that this union can bring a protection for his family. They’re not religious, but they’re still Jewish. As soon as the honeymoon follows,...

 Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis; generally recognized as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the 20th century. Until the summer of 2006, an affair between Freud and his sister-in-law was seen as rumor. With new evidence, now it is accepted that it most likely had happened. Despite the new evidence and the focal point of the story being an affair, what this book also brings is a glimpse of a man who dedicated his life to ‘psychoanalysis’ despite so much criticism during his life time. He studied, worked and read. He became world-famous scientist. 1895, Vienna. The story begins with Minna Bernays, who at almost 30 years old is let go from her position as a companion. She is an overeducated lady of her time. After many misfortunes, she learns to make her way in the world; not wanting to get married, the only option left to her is being lady’s companion or governess. As she is let go again, she rem...

 Hannah Gardner Price is a fictional character inspired by the work of Maria Mitchell, the first professional female astronomer in America, and the founding professor of astronomy at Vassar College. In 1847, Maria discovered a comet, which earned her a medal from the King of Denmark. The story starts in 1845, Nantucket. “Hannah’s intention is: to find a comet that no one on Earth had yet seen. It was more than she could reasonably hope for, with no proper observatory, no hope of a higher education, and no instruments but the dear, battered, three foot-long Dolland telescope and her own two eyes.” At 24, she dreams to win the King of Denmark’s prize – a gold medal and generous sum to anyone, who found a new comet. One day, she hears a knock on the front door. It is Isaac Martin, a young, dark-skinned whaler from the Azores, who came to deliver chronometer for her father. He sees “the sextant, the telescope, the books” and asks her to teach him. She sees a reflection of herse...

 Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter and printmaker, who lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. This story begins with Mary at the age of 33. She has been back in Paris for the last two years. As her paintings continue to be rejected for exhibitions, she has been contemplating if she should listen to her father and move back to the States. As she is contemplating, an acquaintance of hers introduces her to Edgar Degas, of whom she’s been a huge admirer. What she doesn’t know is that four years earlier he saw a painting of hers, which showed talent. And he wanted to meet her as well. Degas introduces her to his circle of friends, which include Manet, Monet, Pissaro, Renior and Caillebotte. He also invites her to join their next exhibition. An Exhibition, which they started in order to break away from the traditional Salon. The long awaited exhibition comes and as Degas’ reviews are fl...

 The Albigensian Crusade, better known as the Cathar Crusade (1209-1229), was a 20-year military campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate holy men and women who were known collectively as the friends of God, in the southern region of today’s France known as Languedoc, and earlier as Provincia (the countryside). The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1229 and established terms that eventually annexed the county of Toulouse into the kingdom of France. This story begins in 1241 with people still remembering the bloody crusades. Dolssa is a young gentlewoman. As a young girl her visions begin. After the death of her father, her mother is set to send her to a cloister to be a nun, since her father was against it during his life. She is 13 and already knows that cloistered life is not for her. They quarrel bitterly until the mother relents and now tries to honor her husband’s wish for their daughter to marry and have a family. But Dolssa’s heart is not with a man of ...