Checking around the internet for news and insights on the historical fiction front recently and found lots of books to add to my TBR pile.
The American Library Association published its 2015 reading list with these offerings in the historical fiction category:
Winner
“Bitter Greens” by Kate Forsyth (Thomas Dunne) I have a copy signed by the author!
Read-alikes
“In the Company of the Courtesan” by Sarah Dunant (Random House)
“The Girls at the Kingfisher Club” by Genevieve Valentine (Atria)
“The Moon and the Sun” by Vonda McIntyre (Pocket)
Short List
“Flight of the Sparrow” by Amy Belding Brown (NAL)
“Hild” by Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
“Wayfaring Stranger” by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)
“The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress” by Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday)
The long list for the Walter Scott award for historical fiction was announced. I’ve read two — The Miniaturist and Arctic Summer — and I know which of those would be my preference.
- The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis
- The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry
- The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
- The Lie by Helen Dunmore
- Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre
- In the Wolf’s Mouth by Adam Foulds
- Mr Mac and Me by Esther Freud
- Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut
- Wake by Anna Hope
- The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
- The Undertaking by Audrey Magee
- A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie
- The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak
- The Ten Thousand Things by John Spurling
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
The Historical Novel Society published a lengthy list of upcoming novels for 2015. If you have a look, you’ll find everything from ancient Rome to the 1960s. Lots to anticipate from debut authors and established favourites.
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction and blogs about all aspects of the genre at A Writer of History. Her latest novel, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE is set in WWI France and is available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. Her debut novel, UNRAVELLED: Two wars. Two affairs. One marriage. is also available from these retailers.
Mary can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.
3 Responses
Thank you for sharing this list! I have some reading to do 🙂
Overwhelming … all these on top of an ocean of lovely books from past years worth another read and the sequels and other books by authors I liked. The only book I recognize (yes ze for you in NA ) is “The Miniaturist”.
Just started “Unholy Crusade” by Dennis Wheatley first published in 1967. The first sentence has some promise of help in my own book writing. – “Adam Fallstrum Gordon had come to Mexico to collect material for a book.” Thought I ought to read it before it is recycled as one of my five books for every new one I purchase. I’ll let you know how I get on and whether I get past the first 100 pages out of 383,
Great list! I would recommend Magdala by Valerie Gross, it’s been my favorite read of the year so far. magdalathebook.com for it’s info. I need to get reading to get through this list!