Best Historical Fiction

 Between 1869 and 1948, “100,000 to 130,000 destitute British children between the ages of three and eighteen were taken from England’s streets, orphanages, and homes, and then shipped across the ocean to work in other countries, where it was thought they’d have a chance to lead better lives.” Unfortunately, “there were few to no checks and balances in place.” Some children did benefit, however, most did not. Canada, 2018. When Winnifred is asked by her great-grandson about his family tree, she feels it’s the right time to reveal her story. England, 1936. Fifteen year old Winny finally feels safe and well-fed with a good friend Mary by her side, when they learn that soon they will be traveling to Canada, where families and better lives await them. The story goes back in time and reveals how the children met, involving also Mary’s brother Jack and two brothers, and how the streets became their home. In Canada, things don’t go as they hoped. They get separated. The progra...

 “During the American Revolution, General George Washington employed a ring of spies in and around New York City, the headquarters for the British war effort in North America. These spies identified themselves in their letters by code numbers. One was known as “355,” which stood for “lady.” To date, her true identity remains unknown.” This story imagines such incredible young woman of courageous spirit. Grand Bahama Island, 1776. Fifteen year old Francisca Tasker suffers the loss of her mother. Now, she is left with her abusive stepfather from whom she learned wrecking – helping “ships that had run up on sandbars or reefs as they cruised through the Bahama Channel.” Or if it was too late to assist, they’d dove for sunken spoils. One of those shipwrecks gives her opportunity to escape her brutal stepfather. She assumes the identity of the drowned Emmeline Coates. But she doesn’t know how to do the upper class talk, thus under a pretense of trauma shock she remains mute. She tr...

 This story captures many lives of the Florio family, from their humble beginnings as impoverished shopkeepers to building an empire. The official founder is Vincenzo Florio Sr. (1799-1868). However, the story starts with his father Paolo, who moves family from the mainland of Italy to Sicily and opens a shop in Palermo. After an earthquake in 1799, Paolo moves his family – wife and newborn Vincenzo, and also his brother Ignazio and niece Vittoria, from Bagnara to Palermo. “Venice built her wealth on the spice trade and customs duties.” Now, Paolo wants to trade spices in Palermo. After much struggle, the brothers become known. Their struggles are intertwined with the volatile history of Sicily. Napoleon’s wars have effects across Europe. It is 1817 and everybody is having a rough time. "Now it’s only closed store windows and bolted doors where the British warehouses used to be.” After Napoleon’s defeat, “the island has lost its strategic importance. The harbors are empty. P...

 Set in Paris in 1927, the City of Lights, vibrates with artists of all kinds. However, the story gives the center stage to four ordinary people, who rub elbows with famous artists. By meeting another person, they learn something about themselves. And sometimes what one person needs is simply kindness. Armenian refugee, Souren Balakian, escapes brutality of his native country imposed by invading Turks. “Being forced from their homes and driven eastwards, into the Syrian desert, to die.” He makes his way to Europe, remembering his mother’s words, “there were more than three hundred types of cheese made in France.” And he intended to eat every one of them. When he understands what makes him safe, being invisible, he takes his life in that direction by creating puppets and performing at the Luxembourg Gardens, beneath the chestnut trees where he waits for children to come. Escaping his brutal past and through an encounter with another person, he realizes what he’s been craving the...

 Lucia Joyce (1907-1982) is a talented dancer. Her talents extend to singing, painting, and plying the piano. She is the muse for her father’s books. Despite making her name as a dancer, she is known as James Joyce’s daughter. This story brings a few years of her life, when she is the most successful in her career, trying to be recognized under her own name and not her father’s. These are a short few years before she is diagnosed with mental illness. Paris, 1928. Lucia wants to be recognized for her talents and not her father’s. At 21, she meets young Samuel Beckett, who is teaching English in Paris and who wants to be a great scholar. She is smitten with him from the very beginning. With her hard work of constant dance practices, she becomes one of the greatest dancer and choreographers. Her career develops parallel to her love story, which may not be progressing as fast as her career and as fast as she’d like it. Paris is “the dance center of the world,” where dancers are “...

 Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was a French stage actress and the world’s first modern actress and international celebrity. She did what she set out to do. She made a name for herself. After sold-out performances, she emerges as “a passionate revelation.” This story vividly explores her character. A ferocious woman with unparalleled determination. She is the epitome of what freedom means. She goes through her lows and highs, but she always remembers what fits her spirited character the most – freedom from any constrictions, freedom to be able to express her artistry the way she feels it. In 1853, Sarah’s mother is forced to bring her daughter back to Paris. She is a high-class courtesan. She is cold and has no interest in raising her daughter. Thus, her younger sister, aunt Rosine assumes charge of Sarah. Her education continues at convent, where to her surprise she finds unconditional love and befriends a girl of “uncertain provenance,” like her. There, at eleven yea...

 Helen Joy Davidman (1915-1960) was an American poet and writer. This book brings a vivid portrayal of “a woman diverse, courageous, and complicated, and a woman whom C.S. Lewis loved with all of his being.” They seemed to be ill-matched, but at the end they offered a glimpse at what love truly means. New York, 1946. At thirty-one years old, Joy is a writer, mother, and a wife, who also has to deal with her husband’s infidelity. She realizes that the life she pushed for outside the city is not the life that resonates with her. She misses “the hustle and bustle of the city, the publishing parties and literary gossip.” She dives into “history and philosophy books, with religious texts and pamphlets,” it changes her religious view or rather non-religious. When she comes across a newspaper reporting on in-depth study on another writer and a converted atheist, a man named C.S. Lewis, she dives into his written work, and his works hidden wisdom. Out of hundreds letters, he responds...