Best Historical Fiction

  Marvelous recreates the true story behind the Beauty and the Beast legend. In 1547, on the island of Tenerife, a young boy named Pedro Gonsalvus notices that he is treated differently by other children. They don’t play with him as they play together, and they call him La Bestia as his body and face are covered in hair. Then suddenly, he is snatched from the island. King Henri of France is given a gift for his coronation. It is a hairy boy delivered in a cage. The king is fond of children, and he teaches the boy French. The boy learns the language quickly, and loves the smiles the king dots on him. When Catherine D’Aubray’s father’s ship sinks, his fortune and her dowry are gone. A marriage is arranged for her to Monsieur Savage as he is known at the French court. The characters of Pedro and Catherine are gorgeously developed in the first half of the story. His emotions are very raw and touching, his hunger for experiencing friendship, craving company, to be needed, wanted, truste...

 The End of Drum-Time explores the cultural clashes among the Nordic people. Sami people, also called Lapps, kept being pushed up north above the Arctic Circle as no one wanted to bother with them and wanted them out of the way. Sami received some freedom in the north as they crossed the borders with their reindeers. But with time, the Christian settlers started dominating even this most norther land. With their domination, they were suppressing Sami traditions. Set in the middle of 19th century Sweden. The characters are superbly developed. We meet an array of very interesting characters. Lars Levi is the pastor, who seems to be affected by the death of his son. His sermons have become wild, supposedly affecting some people with sickness. Curiosity got hold of some people filling the church as they wanted to see who’d go crazy next. Henrik in his store sells alcohol illegally. He came to this remote area and would have left the same day if he had money. But he got fooled by his un...