Best Historical Fiction

  The Boy reimagines the story of Alexander Cooke who played the female roles of Shakespeare’s plays. Alexander “Sander” Cooke is the most celebrated boy player in the Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s theatre company. His portrayal of female roles made him the toast of London. But now at the cusp of adulthood his future is uncertain. Sander’s theatrical triumphs catch the first attention of Francis Bacon – philosopher and one of the greatest minds of their time. But what catches his next attention is Sander’s original question, only to discover quickly the truth that Sander is not his would-be acolyte. It’s someone else. Joan Buckler is Sander’s best friend. While Sander wishes for more than friendship, she craves knowledge. Something that is unattainable for a woman of her time. From childhood, she had interest in botany and using plants for medicinal purposes. She became an experimental botanist under a guide of two experts, who already recognized her early on as a ...

  The Queens of Crime bring five powerful women crime writers who demand recognition of their mystery genre. It is inspired by a true story of Dorothy Sayers’ own life. London, 1931. The five great female writers come together and form Detection Club - an organization of mystery writers created due to lack of consideration for their work as literature. Dorothy L. Sayers leads the group which includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. Their goal is to elevate the mystery genre so the detective novels are seen as good as literary fiction. But in the male dominated world, their club rather causes them to be even more ostracized. To prove their worth, they decide to solve a real-life murder. Recently, the murder case of May Daniels, a young English nurse, resurfaced as her body was found in a park in France. Four months earlier, she disappeared into thin-air in France, after stepping into a bathroom at the train station before bounding for England...