Best Historical Fiction

 White Rose was a peaceful resistance group in the Third Reich led by a group of students including siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl at the University of Munich. The group mailed leaflets to random people picked from the phone book, appealing to the “blindness of German people” and spreading “words of resistance, struggle, and hope.” They were mailed from different cities to different cities to “allay suspicion from the home city of Munich and to make the group seem much larger than it was.” Munich, 1938. Sixteen year old Natalya Pertovich notices her Jewish friends disappearing from her life, hiding in their houses to avoid any attention. 1942. Numb to the horrors of war and feeling powerless, she then takes a step and heads to the Russian Front as a volunteer nurse for German Red Cross. There she makes friends, who back in Germany introduce her to the White Rose movement. “Everyone in the White Rose was chosen for their intelligence, their convictions, and their politics…” A...

 Set during a rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. Desiree Clary was the first fiancé of Napoleon and later became the Queen of Sweden. Overshadowed by history, this book sheds a light on her life. Marseille, France, 1794: During the tumultuous times of the French Revolution, when in need, Desiree meets Joseph Bonaparte. He is interested in pursuing her, but when she meets his younger brother Napoleon, she is intrigued with the rough-mannered but well-read and brisk Napoleon rather than the handsome and funny Joseph. Credited with averting a civil war, Napoleon is appointed Commander of the Army of the Interior. As he rises through the leadership of the army in Paris, his letters to Desiree dwindle with each day. From a Parisian journal, she learns about Napoleon courting Josephine de Beauharnais. And if that wasn’t insulting enough, Napoleon corners Desiree to marry a much older man. Duphot proposal is simply jaw-dropping. “Was the man proposing marriage or discussing ...

 Martha Hughes Cannon (1857-1932) was a pioneer woman who knew what mattered to her and she pushed the limits to defy the odds. “Mattie” became one of the first female physicians and America’s first female state senator. She overcame tremendous odds. Wyoming, 1861. Mattie’s family journeys first from Wales and now across the mountains to Salt Lake City. During this journey, they lose Mattie’s sister and father. This experience gives Mattie fire to become a healer. 1873. With her heart racing and “books clutched against her chest” she rushes for her evening courses in chemistry at the University of Deseret. Her diligence and perseverance earn her a place at medical school in Michigan. After completing her medical program in Michigan and Philadelphia, she heads back to Utah to fulfill the meaning of her life – saving lives. She doesn’t want to bear a child after child as her mother did. She wants to save lives. Can polygamy be an answer to her life’s fulfillment? With her g...

 Cesare Borgia (1475-1507) as a boy dreams of becoming a soldier and conqueror like the great Roman conqueror, Giulio Cesare. But his father has a different plan for him – to join the Church and follow in his footsteps. This strategic plan of Rodrigo Borgia is for him to reach his goal of becoming pope. Rome, 1492: Maddalena Moretti is a maid serving in the Holy Father’s house. She takes great pride in it. Now, the death of the Pope Innocent brings her a step closer to another historical event of conclave - choosing the next pope. And she is responsible for gathering servants to prepare the Sistine Chapel for this event; still innocent in her thinking that the process is all guided by God. But she is about to learn how the Vatican really works. Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia has been chosen as the next pope – Pope Alexander VI. And his son Cesare is now an archbishop. His daughter Lucrezia is to marry Giovanni Sforza, Lord of Pesaro. King Charles VIII of France invades the peninsu...

 This fictional story, set against the backdrop of NYC’s Gilded Age, brings the glitter on the outside including Cartier’s jewelry store and his rich clientele, and corruption hidden inside, including mysterious diamond, causing much havoc and mistreatment of less privileged and their injustices. Poor immigrants crammed into tenements contrast drastically with millionaires living in mansions on 5th Ave. NYC, 1910: Vera Garland is the daughter of one of the wealthiest merchants in the city. And she is very ambitious. She chooses profession over marriage. As if married, it was expected of a woman to leave her position (if she had any) behind. And that was not what she wanted to do. She takes a pseudonym of Vee Swann and works as an investigative journalist. Those positions are very limited for women. Women journalists are seen as accidents in the industry, only to be tolerated. Still considered second-class citizens, paid less and treated unfairly in regards to assignments and ...

 Clementine Hozier-Churchill (1885-1977) was a woman of great intelligence, who had skillfully influenced her husband’s political career. London, 1908. Clementine Hozier attracts attention of Winston Churchill by her intellect and responsiveness. He is very impressed with her, stating, “…you listen, understand, and engage with the important issues of our day.” After five months of courtship he proposes. She quickly realizes “that if she wants to play a meaningful part in his life, she must become involved in his political world,” which naturally fits her. And Winston encourages her to take a charge no matter how unusual the issue is, specifically if it’s fit for a woman. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, gets shot in Serbia. The brewing war is now inevitable. The strategic plan of Dardanelles to cut off Turkey from helping Germans fails. Winston Churchill is dismissed from his position of lord admiral. Since he can’t command the war ...

 Camille Claudel (1864-1943) was a French sculptor, recognized for the originality and quality of her work. She had experimented with materials, “demonstrating her immeasurable talent for crafting with difficult materials.” France, 1881. Camille Claudel studies are progressing well. Upon finishing her studies, her mother expects her to find a husband and end the absurd of being an artist. She persuades her father to hire an art tutor. And the new tutor persuades the father to enroll Camille at a school of art in Paris, as females are allowed to attend this school. Her “works show violent contrast, light and its absence, and an intimacy all her own. The very antithesis of Rodin’s style.” He “prefers harmony in his silhouettes and musculature.” Auguste Rodin becomes her tutor. “At last she had met someone as consume with sculpture as she was.” He is an accomplished artist and a skilled teacher, who falls in love with her. She tries to resist him as there is Rose Beuret, h...