Best Historical Fiction

 This book is a phenomenal pick for YA, introducing them to both the French Revolution, inspired by the American Revolution, and also to a young heroine born into privilege, torn by the revolution and inspired by women voicing their opinions and putting words into action. Paris, 1792. From the prison cell, nineteen-year-old aristocrat Helene d’Aubign reveals her story. 1783. Ten-year-old Helene receives lessons from a female governess, who also introduces her to a world she’s being sheltered from. A world of science and reason, but this part is their secret. The governess leads Helene to socializing and formal conversation, where she meets Hugo. He talks about slavery in Saint Dominique and who “advocates for the freedom of Blacks in the Caribbean.” She is also introduced to the talks about “starving Parisian children and the Declaration of the Rights of Man.” She learns the word revolutionary and questions - could the daughter of a marquis be a revolutionary? 1789. Powers are sh...

 Set in late 18th century London. This story brings a time when the British Empire was a dominating colonial power, bringing exotic animals from around the world for the first time to the amusement of the public. The animals are out of place as much as its protagonist, a six-feet tall woman, who prefers short hair and wearing pants. So much out of place that they create a special bond. Lillian has been working as a maid for almost twenty years and feels her life dull and her being so out of place. When she sees an advertisement for Grady’s Menagerie, something inside her stirs. The world gains colors all of a sudden. Grady, the owner of the menagerie, needs help. When he sees a very tall woman visiting his menagerie every Sunday afternoon, he sees the right person to help him out. She says yes and becomes his help. He also suggests for her to cut her hair and wear pants. Henry Featherstone, the animal doctor, holds a fascination for the cockfight. At one such event, he notices a ...

  It is our choice “to be a small pebble on the path to the peaceful existence among people of different races and socioeconomic status.” And that’s what this story explores. NYC, Tuesday, October 29, 1929 – the stock market has crashed. Nashville, Tennessee. Eight hours earlier. Lorena ‘Rena’ Leland is celebrating her sixteenth-birthday today. An aspiring writer with a diary in her hand, she dreams of writing for one of the major magazines in NYC after college. 1936. Her family is broke and broken as many others. Many are homeless and starving. The government creates projects to provide jobs to those in most dire situations. The irony of those who govern at the state capitol is that their windows overlook the Hell’s Half Acre, where the poorest have lived for decades. After seven years, without a degree and with lack of jobs, Rena takes a position as a writer interviewing former slaves to preserve their stories. She is assigned to Mrs. Washington, who lives at the Hell’s Half Acre...

 Mary Mallon (1869-1938), so called Typhoid Mary, was an Irish immigrant who came to New York. “She began as a laundress, but with an innate talent for cooking, Mary ascended the domestic-service ladder and worked as a cook for upper-class families.” However, in 1907 it was discovered that she was the first “healthy carrier” of Typhoid Fever in America. “To prevent Mary from further spreading the disease, the New York Department of Health isolated her on North Brother Island for three years. A condition of her release was that she never cook professionally again.” Had she used her second chance wisely? New York, 1907. Mary Mallon, a cook for a prominent NYC family is removed from her employment and quarantined. It is “alleged that she has been passing Typhoid Fever through her cooking, though she manifests no signs of the disease herself.” She truly believes that there is nothing wrong with her and she is having a hard time reconciling with the injustice done to her. “She’d gone ...