Sometimes I get in the mood for historical fiction from certain time periods. Sometimes I want World War II historical fiction, other times I’m in the mood for the American Revolution, and other times I want something from ancient times.
Today I am sharing 3 books that take place in the first century. I tend to shy away from reading too much from this time period because it’s just so ancient…. How could I possibly relate to it? But even historical fiction about ancients times can be both gripping and relatable when well done so check out the following titles to see if any sound good to you!
The Medicus by Ruth Downie
When a young slave girl is brought into this first century hospital with a broken arm and nearly dead, no one seems concerned; that is except for Ruso, or the Medicus as he is better known, an army doctor who finds himself down on his luck in an outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. In a moment of weakness, Ruso purchases this young slave girl from her abusive owner only to find that not only does she refuse to talk to him, but she can’t seem to cook or perform any of the household tasks one would expect of a slave in her position. To Ruso, something does not seem right about this girl and before Ruso knows it he is playing the amateur sleuth, trying to piece together the deaths of the young prostitutes working out of the local bar. Where will all this searching lead him? Will he ever get his slave girl to tell him the truth about herself?
Pontius Pilate by Paul L. Maier
This is a book about the politician Pontius Pilate—yes, The Pontius Pilate—the one who washed his hands of the crowd’s decision to crucify Jesus. It is so easy to demonize this man; the phrase “washing my hands of it,” almost always means standing aside and watching as something we believe to be wrong takes place. However, like a lot of events in history, this pivotal event that Pilate plays a part in was hardly a black or white issue. There were many political tensions running through the area at the time; the Jews had so many laws that made no sense to the Roman ruling class. The event with Jesus was not the first time Pilate had to deal with difficult situations with the Jews. This book is based on as much fact as we have from those times and then gently fleshed out to create a compelling narrative. I found it very engrossing and interesting!
Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
We’ve all heard of Cleopatra but what about her daughter? After Cleopatra commits suicide she leaves behind three children who have to go on living on their own, penniless, and without a country to call their own. Our main character Selene, her twin brother Helios, and their six year old brother, are taken to Rome where they are to be raised in Caesar’s house. While being allowed to live is undeniably a good thing, every move they make is watched closely and could lead to their demise. Young Selene must use all the cunning she possesses to keep her brothers safe in order give them all a shot at a better future. Can Selene makes friends in this foreign country?
While this book is probably more fiction than fact (given that we simply don’t have good records from that time) Lily of the Nile paints a portrait of what life would have looked like, as well as the challenges of three children brought up as royalty having to then conform to the expectations set on them by a different culture. Where is the line between conforming and losing one’s identity?
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You all know I love historical fiction, and my favorite is usually American Historical Fiction, meaning of course, that it is set in America. However, I have read several World War 2 historical fiction books lately that I really enjoyed and they all happened to be set in England. If you are looking for some World War 2 historical fiction check out some of these titles!
The Last Night in London
This book opens in 2019 as journalist Maddie Warner travels to England to work on an article in which she gets to interview the famous model Precious Dubose about the fashions and times of World War II and the impact the war made on fashion. The elderly Precious is known to not like to open up to people but she sees something worth opening to in young Maddie. Perhaps this is because Precious, like Maddie, has secrets that run deep buried in her past.
The contrasting storyline takes us back to right before the war in 1939 when Precious Dubose is a young model who recently arrived in England, sharing a flat with her fellow model and friend, Eva Harlow. Eva is desperately trying to better her station in life which means leaving her past as far behind her as she can. This becomes imperative for Eva to do as she starts to develop a relationship with the handsome and socially elite, Graham St. John. However, Eva’s secrets aren’t as well hidden as she would like and before she knows it Eva is blackmailed into being an informant lest her secrets, as well as the very lives of those she hold dear, become threatened.
Secrets of a Charmed Life
Emily has dreams of becoming a wedding dress designer. She is actively pursuing these dreams at the age of 15 when she lands a job in a local wedding dress shop. However, such dreams may have to wait as World War II is underway and Britain has come under attack with threats of bombing from Germany. Still being underage, Emmy and her seven-year-old little sister, Julia, are sent to live in the country. This means Emmy has to leave her job at the wedding dress makers which she is loath to do.
Then one day Emmy receives a letter from her old boss inviting her to come to London and meet her boss’s brother—a well-known costume designer who may be willing to tutor Emmy and enormously enhance her career opportunities. Emmy determines to sneak away from this house in the country in the middle of the night to make this meeting—but problems arise for Emmy when Julia discovers her plans and threatens to give Emmy away, unless Emmy takes Julia with her.
Having made their way back to England, Emmy leaves Julia in their mother’s flat while she goes to her meeting. Partway through her meeting, the blitz starts. Emmy is frantic to get back to Julia but it is not easy to make one’s way through a city being riddled with bombs. When Emmy at last gets back to their flat—Julia is gone. Will they both make it through the blitz and be reunited again?
In America we remember the shortages, rationing, and those on the home front were forced to practice but the Brits had it far worse. Imagine sending away your child for their safely in a time of war, not knowing if you would ever see them again, not knowing who you would lose in the nightly bombings. This novel brought to my attention more of the destruction of Britain than I ever gave thought to before now.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Beth had one of the best minds in the country so why is she in an insane asylum now? She remembers the events leading up to her being taken, kicking and screaming, to the asylum but something still isn’t making sense—there is a missing piece of the puzzle. Will her two once-closest friends come to her rescue?
Osla, Mab, and Beth are friends working together at Bletchley Park, a British intelligence building, where they all work on secret undercover operations to break the German enigma. What happens to split them apart?
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
I listened to this as an audiobook and I couldn’t stop! Told from the rotating perspective of three women, the author, Pam Jenoff, does a great job of keeping you enthralled through the entire tale. This is a story about the women spies, stationed in France, who worked for the British intelligence during World War II. One wrong move could mean death, not just for one of the spies, but for all in their network. The women are working diligently and making progress when a few odd things start to occur—it seems there may be a spy among them….
A decade later, young Grace Heasley discovers an unattended valise tucked under a bench at Grand Central Station. Opening it she finds 12 photographs of young women, around her own age. Grace impulsively tucks the photos into her purse and leaves. Overcome with guilt for stealing the photos, Grace returns later that day hoping to replace the photos, but the valise is gone!
Grace now begins to feel a responsibility to the girls in the photos and pressure to seek out the owner of the valise, a task that proves near impossible. Why were their pictures being carried about in a suitcase? Grace can’t stop her inquisitive nature and so begins her journey to get to the bottom of this mystery, a journey that ends up being much more than Grace bargained for.
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What I love about historical fiction is how it can bring to life little-known events and shed light on overlooked people. We hear so much about the men throughout history but as the saying goes, “Behind every great man is a great woman.” While this may, or may not be completely true, here are several books about the wives of some of history’s famous men.
The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin
This is a book about the life of Charles Lindbergh’s wife. You have no doubt heard about Charles Lindbergh (the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic), but have you heard about his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh? Anne was the daughter of an affluent family and an aviator in her own right also. This book, told in the first person, is about Anne’s life growing up and how she came to be Mrs. Lindbergh. I found this book fascinating as I knew only a little about Charles Lindbergh and nothing about his wife; however, if you are hoping for a book that goes to great lengths to investigate the disappearance of their baby this book does not offer that. What it does offer is a glimpse into the life of a woman who was remarkable apart from the man to whom she was married.
I mentioned this book in my post (books I have been enjoying lately) , but this is a story of Joy Davidman Lewis. Joy was stuck in a loveless marriage with an abusive and cheating husband. They had two young boys. On a whim, she decided to write to C. S. Lewis with some spiritual questions she had. He wrote back and, being a writer and poet herself, Joy and C. S. Lewis discover they have a lot in common. C. S. Lewis invites her to visit England. As her marriage continues to deteriorate, Joy finally travels to England and her friendship with C. S. Lewis deepens. They have totally different backgrounds and lifestyles yet they find a deep friendship birthed in their mutual love of literature and philosophy. I really enjoyed this peak into C. S. Lewis’s personal life and I learned a lot!
In an age where money was everything and society was a game to play, Alva Smith is starting out on the bottom rung. With her mother dead and her family’s once prestigious wealth depleting quickly after the Civil War, Alva needs to hurry and land an eligible husband before it is too late. Not only does Alva manage to marry one of the richest men in America, William Kissam Vanderbilt, but she plays the games and climbs the social ladder. Seen by some as a cold and calculating woman, Alva doesn’t seem to care what people think. All she knows is that even being married into the wealthiest family in the country isn’t enough—she needs to land at the top of New York’s social elite if she really wants to secure her place in society. But at what cost?
If you read my post, Should You Read My Dear Hamilton If You Didn’t Love America’s First Daughter, then you know I have mixed feelings about this author. I loved one of her books and really didn’t care for one of her others—so what was I going to think about this one? Turns out I loved it! The story rotates from the points of view of three different women during the periods of the 1780s, WW I, and WW II. In 1774, we meet Adrienne de Noailles, or Adrienne Lafayette as she is better known, who is the wife of the Marquis de Lafa. Adrienne was a kind woman of stalwart courage. Not only would France’s history be much different without this woman but so would America’s. We then travel to 1914 where we meet Beatrice Chanler who decides to get involved in the war effort which could possibly involve turning Lafayette’s home into an orphanage; and then we meet Marthe who is presently serving as a school teacher to the ill children who reside in Lafayette’s once home, now school for ill children. How this chateau has played a part in such varied history is truly fascinating!
This is a story about Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln and the friendship that was forged between her and her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley. Mary’s childhood was an indulgent one, growing up among affluent in Tennessee’s high society. Elizabeth was a former slave who had learned to make a way in the world for herself with her talent as a seamstress, buying her own freedom in the process. Though Mary’s life may have been one of affluence, it was not without its struggles, struggles that culminated during the Civil War years as Mary led her life married to the man who was leading the Civil War, a war in which Mary’s entire family was on the opposing side. Add to that losing a son (her second child to not survive to adulthood) during her husband’s time in office and we can see some of the factors as to why Mary received the nickname of “That Female Hellcat”. With her husband preoccupied with the war, Mary leans heavily on her friendship with Elizabeth.
I hope, if you decide to pick up any of these titles, you will enjoy them and gain a little more rounded view of history. If you do decide to pick up any of these titles, I encourage you to use the affiliate link in this post. This is a way you can tangibly support this blog—and at no extra cost to you!
Real quick! Before I get started with the actual post, I just wanted to drop in and mention that if after reading this post you decided to purchase any of these titles I ask that you consider doing so through the affiliate links provided. Doing so will not increase the cost of the book to you, and it is a tangible way you can support and help me be able to keep bringing you these posts each week! Thanks in advance, and now- on to the good stuff!
The Shape of Mercy
This was the first book I read by Ms. Meissner and it is about one of my favorite time periods—the Salem Witch trials!
Lauren wants to make her own way in the world; she does not want to rely on her family’s wealth and connections to cushion her life. This leads Lauren to take a job from 83-year-old Abigail Boyles transcribing journal entries of one of Abigail’s ancestors—a victim of the Salem Witch—Mercy Hayworth.
As Lauren starts to transcribe the journal entries, she finds herself enraptured with Mercy’s life. Lauren also realizes that the secrets contained in Mercy’s journal are still playing a part in Abigail’s life today. Lauren also realizes that she may, in a subtler way, be doing some of the same things that the accusers did to Mercy, to the people in her own life. How will she respond moving forward?
Secrets of a Charmed Life
Emily has dreams of becoming a wedding dress designer, a dream she is actively pursuing at the age of 15 when she lands a job in a local wedding dress shop. However, such dreams may have to wait as World War II is underway and Britain has come under attack with threats of bombing from Germany. Still being underage, Emily and her seven-year-old little sister, Julia, are sent to live in the country. This means Emily has to leave her job at the wedding dressmakers, which she is loath to do.
One day Emily receives a letter from her old boss inviting her to come to London to meet her boss’s brother who is a well-known costume designer and who may be willing to tutor Emily and enormously enhance her career opportunities. Emily determines to sneak away from this house in the country in the middle of the night to make this meeting—but problems arise when Julia discovers her plans and threatens to give Emily away, unless Emily takes Julia with her.
Having made their way back to England, Emily leaves Julia in their mother’s flat while she goes to her meeting. Part way through her meeting the blitz starts. Emily is frantic to get back to Julia but it is not easy to make way through a city being riddled with bombs. When Emily at last gets back to their flat, Julia is gone. Will they both make it through the blitz and will they ever be reunited again?
In America we remember the shortages and rationing those on the home front were forced to practice but the Brits had it far worse. Imagine sending away your child for their safely in a time of war not knowing if you would ever see them again, not knowing who you would lose in the nightly bombings. This novel brought to my attention more of the destruction of Britain than I ever gave thought to.
As Bright as Heaven
I devoted a whole post to this book, read As Bright As Heaven here, but to give you an overview, this is about a family who moves to Philadelphia right before the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918. The father has just taken a job working in his uncle’s mortuary. Then the influenza comes to their town. They are overwhelmed with the dead, dying and the ill people. It is hard to walk the line between caring for the ill and keeping themselves safe. The main character, young Maggie, and her mother try to do their part and go out delivering food to some of the people their town. It is on one of these excursions that Maggie finds an abandoned baby boy and falls in love; she wants him to replace the infant brother the family lost just before they moved. But this infant may not be as abandoned as Maggie first thought…. Will the past come back to haunt them?
As well as being a compelling story, I enjoyed the unique look at the 1918 influenza as told from the point of view of the undertaker’s family. It is so easy, when we look at past events such as this, to focus on the horrific loss of life, but we sometimes forget to look at the horrific events that the living had to endure during the same time.
The Nature of Fragile Things
The Nature of Fragile Things centers around the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. As the book opens, the main character, Sophie, is being interrogated by the U.S. Marshall concerning the whereabouts of her husband who has been missing since the day of the earthquake. The Marshall wants to know why Sophie waited so long to go to the police about her missing husband—what kind of wife waits six weeks to report that her husband is missing?
Sophie is an immigrant from Ireland, turned mail order bride. She answers an advertisement that a widower is in need of a wife to help him raise his young daughter. Sophie goes, excited to be a loving mother to young Cat, but things don’t seem quite right with her new husband. Sophie writes off his reticence as he is still grieving the loss of his late wife but as more and more things begin to surface Sophie finds it hard to ignore all of these things… . Moreover, Sophie is afraid that her husband’s secrets could be the undoing of her own secrets that she desperately wants to keep hidden.
I have always enjoyed the books I have read by Susan Meissner but this one pulled me into the story exceptionally quickly and held my interest! Over the years I have read a little about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 but this book was a good peak into what life really looked like for the people living there in the days immediately following the quake.
By now you probably know that historical fiction is my favorite genre, but every now and then I stray and pick up something from a different genre. My feeling when I do this? Well, I usually enjoy the book, but not quite as much as I enjoy my historical fiction. I think some of this has to do with the fact that, very broadly speaking, historical fiction tends to be a little cleaner of a read than your average book. I find that there tends to be more foul language and more adult content in the books I’ve picked up outside of the historical fiction genre than I typically come across in historical fiction. That being said, I still found the following titles to be gripping reads with convoluted plots that kept me guessing so if you are looking for a few more titles to add to your reading list, check out the ones I am listing below.
Disclosure
Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!
The Hundred Year House by Rebecca Makkai
I read a description of this book that said that we aren’t sure if the house was haunted or if the residents within the house were haunting it. … I did not think there was much of anything about the house being haunted but there were lots of pieces that keep me guessing, puzzling out how everything fits together until the very last page—and even then there were a few things that made me wonder. The Hundred Year House begins in 1999, right before we flip over to the new millennia; then we are transported back in time. We become acquainted with the current residents of the house. We are then transported back to the 1950s, and the people who lived there at that time and the tragedy that happens. Next we are transported to the 1920s when the house was a retreat for artists. Lastly, we visit the house at its conception in 1900 when the house’s tragic history all began.
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
This book is young adult fiction and is a retelling of Lady Jane Gray’s story—until the authors decide to take a different route than the actual history—with a bit of fantasy tossed in. I have to say fantasy is really not my thing … at all! However, I really enjoyed this book! It was written by three different authors which I think always makes for good plot twists and great humor. This book made me laugh out loud a few times! If you are looking for a twist on history with some quirky characters and a lighthearted read, you’ll enjoy this one!
The People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
Rarely do I ever read contemporary romance; I just want more going on in my book than a love story, especially because, how many love stories have you ever read in which you couldn’t guess the ending? But, the joy is in the journey. … The people we meet on vacation is a story about two friends, Poppy and Alex, who have been best friends since their freshman year of college. Every year since then they have taken a summer vacation together until one year something happens and their friendship falls apart. Two years later Poppy wants to rekindle their friendship but they haven’t spoken in two years. She decides to contact Alex to see if Alex would go on one more vacation with her as her date to her brother’s wedding. Alex agrees but will this vacation be a dream come true or a nightmare? Will they be able to save their friendship or will things only turn out worse?
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Maybe it was because I read this book at the perfect time of year (early fall when the weather is just starting to turn cool and makes you want to curl up with a cozy mystery) but I really enjoyed this murder mystery set in present day England. Marianna Andros is a group therapist with troubles of her own. She becomes even more troubled when her niece’s friend is murdered at the college where her niece (Zoe) is attending and where Marianna herself attended. She gets hooked into trying to solve the murder and is becoming increasingly convinced that one of her niece’s teachers may be to blame. Things get even worse when another one of her niece’s friends ends up dead—killed in exactly the same manner as the other. Will Marinna be able to put the pieces together before something happens to her niece or herself?
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I believe I have mentioned this before but January is rarely a month where I hit the ground running. I settle into the new year rather than jump into it. As someone who settles in and focuses on their new year’s goals little-by-little, I find myself still reflecting and thinking a lot about the past year; and, of course, these thoughts include reflections on all the books that I read last year.
Below is a list of several books that I read last year that stood out to me. These are ones that, nearing a year later, I still vividly remember and think, “Oh I loved that book!”. These are not necessarily new titles that you have never heard me discuss before—although a few of them are—but rather they are the ones that I most likely would recommend to friends and family so I am sharing them with you too!
Early American History
The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd
This book is set in 1739 and is fleshed out American history. Ms. Boyd took excerpts from the letters of the main character, Eliza Lucas, and true life events to craft this narrative. Eliza was a 16 year old girl growing up in South Carolina on a plantation. Her father was a merchant with aspirations in the West Indies; he left his young daughter in charge of not just one but all three of the family’s plantations. Having heavily mortgaged his properties in order to pursue his political aspirations, Eliza is left trying to make ends meet and to turn a profit on the plantations. To do this, she decided to try to raising indigo—something never before attempted in America. If she is successful, she saves her family. If she isn’t, the family’s future is at stake, including her having to marry, not for love, but to the highest bidder—making her a low dowry bride.
Revolutionary War Books
The Revolutionary War is my favorite time period from American history. In late winter/early spring, my husband and I got hooked watching a Netflix series called, “Turn,” about the spies George Washington employed to help defeat the British. “Turn” was based on real people and real events. The show doesn’t strictly follow the facts, of course, but it got me curious and did wonderful things for my reading life during one of the dreariest times of the year.
Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi
This book is based on the events of the revolution that Washington’s spy ring help effect. This particular narrative is based on who the mysterious “lady” agent could be that was supposed to have played an active role in the Culper spy ring. The true identity of the lady agent remains a secret—in fact there are discussions as to whether a lady agent existed at all! The events of this book are true while the story itself is a work of fiction; it is gripping fiction indeed! If you are looking for a book with all the classic elements of spying, adventure, close calls and a dash of romance, this is one you won’t regret reading!
George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
This is a fact based, fast paced account of what we know about the men in the Culper spy ring. To try and decipher what is fact and what is fiction about the Culper spy ring, I recommend reading this title as an introduction, not a conclusive study, of the spy ring.
355: A Novel, The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring by Kit Sergeant
This novel is closely based on the facts of three women who participated as information carriers during the Revolutionary War. I would say it is more of a portrayal of events than a story with a plot. Imagine trying to gather information on the British and safely transfer that information of the Americans—all while having the British living in your home and watching your every move!
My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
This was a slower paced book than I am apt to typically count as one of my very favorites, but I really enjoyed the book’s slower pace and ability to pull me into the events. I knew very little about the Hamiltons prior to reading this book so I found it very informative. This book also shed light on how turbulent it was starting out as a new nation—the nation almost didn’t make it.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
This book will keep you on the edge of your seat with the storylines of three women who helped crack the German enigma. Beth is brilliant, one of the best minds to work on the enigma. Mab has secrets she desperately wants to keep hidden. Osla wants to be seen as more than a silly debutante. A few years after the end of the war, the three friends who worked on the enigma have had a falling out. Beth has somehow ended up in an insane asylum and she needs her friends’ help to escape before a surgery ruins her mind forever. A note from Beth reaches Osla and Osla wants to help Beth, but Mab is bitter from something that happened during the war. Will Osla and Mab devise a plan to rescue Beth before it is too late? What did happen during the war to tear this group of friends apart?
Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson
This is a story that takes place in Italy during World War II. Nina is sent with a man, Nico, who she doesn’t know, to live under the guise of being his wife in his family’s home.
It is a rocky situation from the start—she is blamed as the reason her pseudo husband left seminary, something the entire family was immensely proud of Nico for achieving. Things start to smooth out but stress is always high as Nico’s exploits to help rescue Jewish people frequently take him away from his home … a fact that does not escape the notice of the Nazis who are stationed in their little village.
Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan
This is a fictionalized account of a real event, the sinking of a ship called the Pulaski that later came to be known as The Titanic of the South. Everly is a young historian who has been recruited to work on the Pulaski exhibit at the museum. Everly stumbles onto the stories of a few young women who were aboard the Pulaski and instantly becomes intrigued—what happened to these women after that fateful night? Everly falls into the research. However, digging up the past also means that she will have to dig through her own personal history and come face-to-face with working through the death of her best friend—something for which she feels terribly responsible.
