I think what made me fall in love with history is when I found out that it’s not about names and dates, but rather people, places and events. I fell in love with history, and have learned a lot, through historical fiction. When you can imagine the story being told, unfolding on the streets that you are already familiar with, you will remember the history that happened there! Below are 3 really good, gripping historical fiction books that happened in Pittsburgh!
Consecrated Dust
What is better than a book that opens with a Christmas sleigh ride through the snow at the beginning of the Victorian era? Clara is young, beautiful, and being rushed to marry by her mother, as a daughter of well bred parents should be. Her mother doesn’t approve of Clara’s longtime friendship with Annie, daughter of an Irish immigrant family that has started working at the Arsenal in Lawrenceville. Clara can’t stand the thought of marrying Edgar; the wealthy businessman and suitor her parents have picked out for her. Clara likes the thought of marrying James- though not wealthy but definitely a handsome suitor who is smitten with Clara. Their relationship will have to withstand a war, and a battle against her parents as Clara faces pressure to marry Edgar. Pressure only grows for Clara as her father, a doctor for the Union in the war, is captured and money becomes very tight for the family- Clara will have to make a decision as to how best to help her family.
In the center of day to day life in Lawrenceville is the arsenal- in full production for the war effort. Then one devastating day there is an explosion and life will be forever altered for all of the characters in the book; and not everyone will make it out of the war alive.
As soon as I opened Consecrated dust I found myself being pulled into a bygone world. The stage is set, we see a world of both the elite, and working class, two different worlds- both affected by the start of the civil war. This book depicts not only what life was like on the battle front but also how life changed on the homefront too. We hear about World War One and how life changed on the home front but we don’t hear much about what life was like, especially in the cities, during the civil war. As someone who is familiar with Pittsburgh I loved hearing about how the city looked at the time of the civil war. I will never walk down the streets of Lawrenceville again without thinking about the Arsenal and the explosion that happened there over 150 years ago.
Carnegie’s Maid
Written by a Pittsburgher, this is the untold story of a woman who may have influenced one of the most influential men of the late 1800s. Little is known about Clara Kelley, the Irish maid who came to America and by a twist of fate ends up gaining employment in the Carnegie household. The only problem is the Carnegie’s don’t know who Clara really is- she is not the maid they thought they were hiring. Having to work doubly hard to keep her job while maintaining the false facade that she is who they think she is, she starts to build a friendship with Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie sees himself in Clara’s sharp intellect and business acumen. It is she that reminds him of where he came from, and it just might be she that inspires him to eventually give away all of his millions.
The Secrets of Flight
Contrasting from the present day to the 1940’s this story is told by alternating perspectives of a young girl in present day Pittsburgh, to a now old woman who was one of the first female pilots during World War Two who stepped up to serve her country in the war effort. You will not get bored reading this book. The author does a great job of spinning enough threads throughout the book that you are continually intrigued as to what will happen next but not so many threads that you can’t keep track of where the story is heading.
Most people are not aware of the female pilot program instituted during World War Two. We are not taught about how the women in this program had to learn to navigate not only the stresses of learning how to pilot a plane but also how they had to survive and navigate sabotage from male pilots who were not on board with this program. Neither are we really familiar with the racism here in the US against Jews at this same time. We hear about how there was much racism against Germans and Japanese people in the states at this time but sadly the Jews were not always welcome either. This book brings to light often buried tensions that were also at play during World War Two.
Not only were they books well researched historical fiction, they were also really good stories. I didn’t want to pull them down and I found myself getting caught up in the characters’ lives. If you want to learn more about history but don’t want to feel like you are learning try one of these books and get lost in their pages!