Historical Fiction

Wolf Hollow is a middle grade book that made my list of favorite books of 2017. A Newbery Honor winner, this novel blew me away with its spare but insightful, searing writing--especially in the first few chapters, so I was hooked from the start. Twelve-year-old Annabelle is content with her life in school and on her family farm until Betty shows up in town. Betty quickly proves herself a cruel bully who has it out for Annabelle and anyone near her, including Toby, a reclusive World War I veteran who has befriended Annabelle and her family. As the stakes rise, Annabelle's strength and compassion are put to the test.

A woman in 1945 steps through standing stones in Scotland and is transported 200 years back in time to the 1700s Scottish Highlands.

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

My Antonia tells the stories of an orphaned boy from Virginia, Jim Burden, and the elder daughter in a family of Bohemian immigrants, Ántonia Shimerda, who are each brought as children to be pioneers in Nebraska towards the end of the 19th century. Both the pioneers who first break the prairie sod for farming, as well as of the harsh but fertile land itself, feature in this American novel. The first year in the very new place leaves strong impressions in both children, affecting them lifelong. This novel is considered Cather's first masterpiece. Cather was praised for bringing the American West to life and making it personally interesting.

Nineteenth-century American pioneer life was introduced to thousands of young readers by Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved Little House books. With The Birchbark House, award-winning author Louise Erdrich's first novel for young readers, this same slice of history is seen through the eyes of the spirited, 7-year-old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, or Little Frog, so named because her first step was a hop. The sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic on Spirit Island, Omakayas, then only a baby girl, was rescued by a fearless woman named Tallow and welcomed into an Ojibwa family on Lake Superior's Madeline Island, the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. We follow Omakayas and her adopted family through a cycle of four seasons in 1847, including the winter, when a historically documented outbreak of smallpox overtook the island. 

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

In present-day London, Caroline is visiting from the United States and finds an intriguing vial while "mudlarking" in the Thames. A history lover, she researches it and learns it may have belonged to an apothecary from centuries before--one who didn't just heal.

In 1791, Nella helps women find freedom from men who ruin their lives--but she does it in the darkest of ways. When 12-year-old Eliza finds herself in Nella's shop, she is intrigued by her work. Their collaboration could jeopardize not only themselves but also all of the women Nella has helped.

This was a fascinating premise and I enjoyed the path of the stories--especially the one in 1791. A few elements that seemed a little hastily done and didn't quite ring true took me out of the story, which knocked this down a bit for me. 

The Lincoln Highway was my second audiobook listen of an Amor Towles book this year, and though it was much different from A Gentleman in Moscow, with its refined settings and characters, Towles complex storytelling style is just as on-point.

Eighteen-year-old Emmett has just been released from the work farm where he was serving time for involuntary manslaughter. His father has recently died and the family farm in Nebraska has been foreclosed. He and his young brother hatch a plan to drive west and start a new life--but two other boys from the work farm show up with different plants for Emmett.

I went into this expecting a road trip story, and it was--in a way--but the journey was just as unexpected for the reader as it was for Emmett. The story is told from multiple viewpoint and each is surprising and charming. Each character has his or her own agenda and it's fascinating to witness them moving in such opposition to one another. While not a page-turner, exactly, excellent narration, intriguing characters, and unexpected turns kept me listening.

The Red Tent illuminates the lives of women who are only briefly mentioned in the context of the men around them in the Bible. Dinah is more than just the daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph and their many brothers. She is a girl who grows up with four mothers, learning the feminine customs and the skills of midwifery in the red tent to which they all retreat each month. She's also the one whose life determines the fate of the entire family. This fictional imagining of Dinah grants her the hopes, fears, and--most of all--the agency she is denied in the male-centric stories of the Bible. Highly recommended, if only to contemplate the lives of the many, many women who lived their own rich lives alongside those detailed in the Bible.

This massive tome is the third in the Pillars of the Earth series and is set several hundred years after the previous (there are small references to the previous books, but they don't need to be read to follow this story). These books are what I call "soapy historical fiction." They are epic stories that span decades and are filled with drama, conflict, and romance, as well as history. This story takes us back to the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, as well as to France, Spain, and Belgium during the time of the Tudors and the Inquisition.

The main conflict is between Catholics and Protestants, and we see the effects of this conflict on everyone from peasants to merchants to royalty. What I love about reading this whole trilogy, spaced hundreds of years apart, is the very strange feeling that comes with realizing that the characters you knew intimately from the previous books have died. All of the events and cares that drove their lives have passed into history and are largely irrelevant to the current story, but they also reverberate through the centuries and shape the lives of future generations. Another book that does this (with a very different story, and in much fewer pages) is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

My Review

I can't say that a story about building a cathedral in Middle Ages England sounded like a riveting premise--but I was wrong. This massive tome is filled with drama and intrigue, evil characters, romance, political maneuvering, and fascinating history. It's a bit of a historical soap opera, on par with Outlander, in the best possible way. Highly readable, hard to put down, and also a bit of a guilty pleasure. The third book in Follett's Kingsbridge series, A Column of Fire, was released in 2017 and the prequel The Evening and Morning in 2020. They reference one another a bit, but each is set several centuries after the last, so reading them all isn't completely necessary. Each is completely immersive and riveting--reading experiences that don't come along often, especially over 800+ page books.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is the story of an intimate friendship between two 19th century Chinese women. At age seven, Lily is matched with her laotang--"old same"--Snow Flower, in a match that is meant to create a lifelong bond between the two. They communicate in a language known only to women through messages written on a fan, breaking through the loneliness of life as a female in China: foot binding, arranged marriage, and motherhood. This is a fascinating look at an aspect of Chinese culture that was new to me, as well as a testament to the power of female friendships.

I chose this book as my cozy read for my 2021 More Joy, Less Stress Reading Challenge after hearing from so many readers that it fit the bill. They were absolutely right! The premise of this book doesn’t seem like much: Penelope discovers that her father’s painting is worth a small fortune. Her adult children have their own ideas about what she should do about the discovery.

The Shell Seekers moves between past and present, revisiting various times in Penelope’s life, including her Bohemian youth during World War II. Penelope is truly an unforgettable character. I loved the slow reveal of her life told over decades and I know that I’ll be rereading this in years to come.

For Kya, the marsh is everything: her home, her family, her safety. Abandoned at a young age, she survives alone, aided only by a poor black couple and a boy who teaches her to read and gives her hope for the future. Over the years, she becomes a local legend--the eccentric "Marsh Girl" who refuses to attend school and avoids most people. Lonely, uneducated, and left behind, she finds respite in her emotional and scientific connection with the wilds of the marsh. But her ties to the marsh, her fear of abandonment, and her inability to connect with people are her undoing. Long-held suspicions find their target when a former high school sports hero is found dead and Kya is named as the prime suspect.

While the marsh setting was not appealing to me at first, Owens (who is a nature writer) brought it to life through Kya's eyes. She made me care deeply about both Kya--a resourceful survivor who also feels endlessly vulnerable--and the marsh as her sacred refuge. This character-driven survival story checked a number of boxes for me and will likely be one of the best books of 2018.

Like this book? Check out 13 Books Like Where the Crawdads Sing

Daughter of Moloka'i is the follow-up to Brennert's 2003 novel Moloka'i, which tells the story of Rachel, a young girl diagnosed with leprosy and forced to live in quarantine in the colony for leprosy patients on the island of Moloka'i. I read Moloka'i a number of years ago and loved it, but I didn't remember a lot about the story. I thought I'd give this a try anyway, and it stands alone well.

Daughter of Moloka'i follows Ruth, the daughter who Rachel was forced to give up--as all leprosy patients were at the time. As a young girl, Ruth is adopted by a Japanese family in Hawai'i. They family makes its way to California, where they build their lives and businesses--until they are ripped from those lives and sent to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

While not as riveting as I remember Moloka'i to be, this was an excellent read that covers a lot of ground. Following Ruth's life takes the reader through the racism against Japanese in the '30s and 40s, to life in the internment camps, to the lives of remote Hawaii'ans, and finally closes the circle on Rachel and Moloka'i. I highly recommend these two books for anyone looking for historical fiction about a little-covered but fascinating topic.

Stuart's Booker Prize-winning debut novel is a gut-punch of a book. Young Shuggie adores his mother, Agnes, and her beauty and glamour captivate those who meet her. But her alcoholism shapes the lives of Shuggie and his older siblings. Shuggie's philandering father eventually abandons them to a derelict public housing scheme outside of Glasgow, where the kids--and Shuggie most of all--try to manage their mother and her binges.

Filled with relentless, gritty poverty, brutality, and addiction, Shuggie Bain is a difficult read. There is hope and love here, but I think many readers found more of those elements than I did. Stuart is a talent, and the rawness of this reminded me of A Little Life. Recommended if a heavy read is right for you, but there are plenty of trigger warnings to be aware of.

A young woman leaves her husband and arrives at St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Kentucky–usually a temporary stop. After giving birth, she and her daughter stay and make a place for themselves with the nuns, changing cast of pregnant girls, and the groundskeeper. Told from three perspectives, this was Patchett’s debut novel that explores what it means to leave and stay, and the impact of those choices.

In Mengele's Zoo at Auschwitz, people with unique characteristics--albinisn, twins, and dwarfism among them--were singled out for human experiments. Fictional twins Pearl and Stasha devise ways to endure their torture and maintain hope of survival and life outside the Zoo--until one of them disappears. After the camp is liberated, the search for life, normalcy, and each other is paramount. Mischling is not a book for everyone. As with any story about the Holocaust, the horrors endured by so many people are difficult to stomach. While the book could have veered into "torture porn" territory (and fair warning: there are a few descriptions that are hard to take), readers are spared most of the details of the experiments. Instead, we are brought into the small moments, spaces, and relationships of the individuals ripped from their lives and fighting to maintain their own humanity while under the control of others who are determined to strip it from them.

Two twins in Ethiopia are born to an Indian nun and a British surgeon, but they are orphaned after their mother's death and their father's disappearance. Love of the same woman pulls the twins apart, but their bond them back together to reckon with the past. This is an epic story, set across decades and countries, about families, forgiveness, and the nature of healing. I know I loved this book, but I remember very little about it. I'm looking forward to reading it again like it's the first time.

The Color Purple is the story of two sisters--one a missionary to Africa and the other a child wife living in the South--who remain loyal to one another across time, distance, and silence. Beautifully imagined and deeply compassionate, this classic of American literature is rich with passion, pain, inspiration, and an indomitable love of life.

It was a cloudless summer day in the year 1900. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of the secluded volcanic outcropping. Farther, higher, until at last they disappeared. They never returned. . . .

On New Years Eve, 1984, 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish sets out for a party in Manhattan. Wrapped in her mink coat, she walks over 10 miles around the city, meeting all manner of characters and reflecting on a life filled with excitement, challenges, and romance. Once one of the most successful women in advertising in the country, she has lived a life of excitement and witnessed the changing city through the decades. Hailed as a “love letter to city life in all its guts and grandeur,” Lillian may have aged, but like the city she loves, she hasn’t changed entirely.

This oral history of fictional hit classic rock band of the 70s, as told by the band members and people around them, is loosely based on bands such as Fleetwood Mac. Daisy is the wild child singer trying to make it big when she joins up with The Six. With Daisy and Billy Dunne leading the band, they skyrocket to stardom, but the behind-the-scenes are filled with conflict and fueled by drugs, alcohol, sexual tension, and of course, music.

I listened to this one on audio, and it was a major production that included big names such as Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, and Judy Greer. The voice actors were all phenomenal--I really felt like I was listening to an oral history as told by these people. However, I think some of the propulsiveness of the book was lost on me in the listening; I lost track of some of the side characters and occasionally missed storylines. I listened in the same way I might listen to a good NPR story--I was interested, but not riveted.

Readers who loved the print version of the book would probably appreciate listening to the audio. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend starting with it in print. If you do happen to love large-cast audiobooks, this might be for you. I later re-read this book in print while watching the television adaptation on Prime Video--highly recommended!

A young girl comes of age in poverty in the foothills of the Appalachians, enduring abuse and trauma but also finding magic in the natural world.

Lauren Wolk writes fantastic middle-grade fiction that I love as an adult reader, and Echo Mountain lived up to my high expectations. After losing everything during the Depression, Ellie and her family move to Echo Mountain in the wilds of Maine. Ellie loves it; she finds freedom in the woods and nature and thrives on the challenges of survival. Her mother and sister resist it. Ellie's joy in the mountain is short-lived when an accident leaves her father in a coma--an accident that Ellie blamed for. Ellie desperately tries outlandish schemes to wake him, and ultimately takes to the mountain in search of an old woman healer known as "the hag."

Wolk's writing is delicious--she has an amazing talent for evoking nature and setting a scene, and she writes children with such sensitivity. Her characters tend to be wise beyond their years, but she never forgets they are children, and she affords them the naivete and innocence they deserve. I loved listening.

Homegoing is an epic generational novel following the family lines of two half-sisters born in Ghana 300 years ago: one is married off to an English slave trader while the other is sold into slavery. Each chapter follows a new descendant of the women, illustrating how events and injustices of the past reverberate through the lives and struggles of future generations. An astonishing, emotional novel that deftly answers the question of how the descendants of slaves continue to be oppressed by the institution of slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic racism, even 150 years after abolition. One of my best reads of 2017.

Starting with a young boy and his beloved little sister in Afghanistan, separated abruptly and set on different paths. One is forever heartbroken, while the other has little memory of the past. Following, then, through the decades and stories of people around the world whose own pasts and choices set them on a course to influence the lives of the two children and others.

Khaled Hosseini weaves a complicated web composed of both strong and loose connections. Sometimes books such as these don't work--the reader has trouble following the connections, or individual stories are abandoned too soon. But Hosseini, as always, is masterful. While there were moments where I had to jog my memory about past characters, particularly when they appear only as glimpses in later stories, I never felt rushed through any one story. The characters are richly developed and the stories are given their space to unfold and reveal their place within the whole. I loved this book and will continue to read anything Hosseini writes.

The tale of two women brought together under oppressive circumstances in Afghanistan.

Set at the time of the dawn of humans during the Ice Age, a natural disaster leaves young Ayla wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan of the Cave Bears. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly. She is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland, but she is taken in and most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat. His hatred for Ayla grows and he is determined to get his revenge.

In The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck paints an indelible portrait of China in the 1920s, when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings. This moving, classic story of the honest farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-Lan is must reading for those who would fully appreciate the sweeping changes that have occurred in the lives of the Chinese people during the last century.

We Were the Lucky Ones is the incredible story of the members of one Jewish family in Poland during World War II--parents, five grown children and their spouses, and their young children--each struggling for survival as the world crumbles around them, sometimes ripping them from their family at a moment's notice.

The story is fictionalized but based on the real experiences of the author's own family, and this is how you do "based on a true story" fiction. While I had to pause for a moment at the start of each chapter and orient myself (because each chapter moves to a different family member), the experiences and emotions kept me rooted in the story with no confusion--a feat, considering the number of characters.

This was not only edge-of-my-seat reading (all the more so knowing that many of the events actually happened), but it was one of the most informative World War II books I've read about the Jewish experience in Poland during the war. One of my best reads of 2018.

Ann Patchett holds the very top spot on my list of favorite authors, and she further cements it with The Dutch House. Set at the end of World War II and told over five decades, this is the story of a brother, Danny, and sister, Maeve, whose stepmother casts them out of the estate of their childhood after their father's death. The house looms large in their memories and their relationship, and they revisit it in various ways over the years, never quite able release its hold and its secrets.

I've read many sibling books in 2019, and Danny and Maeve's relationship is unique and special. Patchett deftly examines their commitment to one another and the differences in their perceptions of their youth, despite how intertwined their lives are. I've seen this described as a "dark fairy tale," which isn't always my thing, but the larger-than-life house and evil stepmother, among other things, definitely add fairy tale elements, without taking it over the top.

Whew. How to describe this ambitious, doorstopper, genre-bender of a book? Here goes:

Cloud Cuckoo Land is a genre-bender that combines historical fiction, science fiction, and contemporary eco-fiction with a through-line of Greek mythology for an epic mash-up dedicated to librarians and book lovers.

Can you imagine? I couldn't, but Anthony Doerr did--and surprisingly successfully. I won't bother with trying to describe each storyline--they're too disparate-seeming for brief descriptions to be any real draw. Rest assured that they do eventually come together. Doerr will benefit from the trust of readers who loved All the Light We Cannot See--I am one of them, and I considered giving up on Cloud Cuckoo Land early on, but for this trust.

He did succeed in drawing me in and making me care about each of these characters and stories (except the Greek myth that connected them. I'm not a fan of mythology and this one seemed particularly ridiculous.).

The myth and some nagging questions left unanswered bumped this down a bit for me (at 640 pages, another few would not have hurt anything). This will not be a book pressed into everyone's hands, like ATLYCS was, but for a dedicated reader ready for a wild ride, Doerr makes it work.

This historical fiction novel, set in dual time periods, takes us to England during World War II and 20 years later in London. In 1960, we meet Hazel, who works in a rare bookshop and opens a package to find a story--but it's not just any story. It’s one about a fantastical land that she made up as a teen for her 5-year-old sister, Flora, 20 years ago. No one else ever knew about it.

In 1939, she and Flora were evacuated from London to the countryside, where they would escape to Hazel’s made-up land of Whisperwood. One day on the banks of the Thames, Flora disappeared, and Hazel has been wracked with guilt and longing ever since. Could the existence of this book mean Flora is still alive?

While I don't read many WWII books anymore, this mystery was interesting. It did drag in the middle, though and I was impatient for the resolution–which then felt like it came too abruptly, so it was an odd mix of pacing. I didn't always love the style of prose (overly flowery, in places), but I loved many of the characters and their relationships. On the whole, a very uneven read for me.

I absolutely loved this retelling of the Little House on the Prairie book, from Caroline "Ma" Ingalls' perspective. When I read and re-read the books as a child, Ma didn't particularly stand out. She was just solid and steadfast, always the voice of reason and sure of what needed to be done (except maybe in the face of Indians, where her weaknesses and prejudices came out). This book moves through familiar scenes while highlighting the challenges and uncertainties of being a young, pregnant mother, alone on the prairie with only her wanderlust-filled husband and three- and five-year-old daughters. Only now, as a mother of daughters of similar ages, do I realize what a terrifying feat this was (and just how young Laura and Mary really were!). Miller's prose is lovely and provides a wonderful grown-up dose of nostalgia. Highly recommended for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

In this sequel to The War that Saved My Life, Ada Smith has surgery to fix her club foot. But the surgery was the easy part; getting over the trauma of the years of shame and captivity wrought by her cruel mother is harder. When her mother is killed in the Blitz, her feelings are even more complicated. Accepting that she is safe from her mother and loved by Susan Smith, her adoptive mother, doesn't come easy--particularly when safety is far from guaranteed in World War II England. As she struggles with her own demons, she realizes that she is not the only one struggling. The close quarters brought about by the war also bring Ada to a new definition of family--one she may finally be able to accept.

To say I love these books is an understatement; this sequel was just as good as the first book. Ada is a character you want to thrive, in spite of her faults, and Susan is so wonderfully patient in the face of Ada's difficulties--even while dealing with her own. Bradley presents the realities of World War II in a straightforward way, without getting too graphic about some of the horrors--just the right level for a middle grade audience. I'm not sure where the story could go from here, but I'd love a third in the series, just to spend more time with these characters.

February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns, alone, to the crypt several times to hold his boy’s body. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie’s soul.

Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who's "saying" the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, they choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. "To despair was to wish back for something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable." Forty years later the stories and history continue.

Body & Soul tells the story of Claude Rawlings, a piano prodigy discovered by chance as a six-year-old on his lonely wanderings through New York. Left largely to himself while his mother drives a taxi, Claude picks out tunes on a piano and befriends the owner of a music store. His genius propels him to fame and riches--and eventually into a crisis of creativity and obsession common with brilliant artists. It's been a number of years since I read this, but I remember it as sweeping and completely immersive.

Nantucket is again the backdrop for this story from Elin Hilderbrand, in her first foray into historical fiction. In the tumultuous summer of 1969, four siblings each have their own struggles. One is pregnant with twins in Boston, another has a foot in the civil rights movement but is pursuing her independence on Martha's Vineyard, another is deployed in Vietnam, and the fourth is a young teen on Nantucket with her mother and grandmother.

This was an enjoyable enough audio listen, but I'm not sure if I would have stuck with this one in print. Most of the storylines did not feel as propulsive as they could have. While there were high-stakes issues, most fizzled a bit. It felt like a meander through a family's island summer that happened to be studded by a few dramas and backdropped by a particularly rocky year in U.S. history.

Siblings Cash, Fitch, and Bird are each wrestling with their own struggles. Cash is trying to make sure he doesn’t fail seventh grade again. Fitch fights his own anger. And Bird wants only to go to space–if only to escape the world while carving her place in it. In addition to their individual struggles, their volatile home life weighs heavy on each of them.

Their teacher, Ms. Solonga, pushes her students to figuratively put themselves on the upcoming Challenger launch with a class simulation. She herself applied for the Teacher in Space program, and her enthusiasm wasn’t dimmed by not winning the spot. Bird latches on to the dream, idolizing astronaut Judith Resnick and dreaming of the day she would be on the shuttle. And then the worst happens.

I was a little young to remember much about the Challenger explosion, but this lovely book brought me back to the 80s, to wonderful teachers (I later had a high school teacher who had also applied for Teacher in Space, and who did an excellent space simulation project with us), and to big childhood dreams. A wonderful audiobook listen.

Elsa Martinelli is a farm wife in Texas in the 1930s. When drought and relentless dust storms threaten their health and livelihoods, her husband leaves. With her children's health declining, she decides to take them to California in search of the promise of work and a better life. But when they arrive, they find they are anything but welcome, and they face a new kind of fight for their survival.

I've put off reading this book this year, knowing it would be bleak--and it was. The discrimination, exploitation, and kick-'em-when-they're-down mentality toward people who are suffering was as alive in the 1930s as it is today. But Hannah also tells a riveting tale with an interesting perspective, and Julia Whelan's narration is, as always, spot on. I highly recommend this on audio.

After the loss of her parents, Adelaide MacNeill is sent from her home in Prince Edward Island to the Lakeside Ladies Academy in Connecticut. She bonds with Ruth, Susannah, and especially Dorothy (Dot), but Dot and Adelaide fall out when they fall in love with the same man--who faces his own challenges when the community rejects him and his German family during the Great War. Seventeen years later, Rosaline Murray is looking back on her years in school, certain she can never go back and be Adelaide MacNeill again.

This is apparently Christian fiction, which is not really my thing, but the touch is light enough that I didn't pick up on it until well into the story. The years in school stretched on a bit long here, before getting to some of the later years that were more interesting (to me) historically--especially some Canadian history that I wasn't very familiar with. In addition, this is also based on a real girls' school and on a correspondence between Lucy Maud Montgomery (author of Anne of Green Gables) and an orphan girl. There were definitely some things of interest here in this women-focused historical fiction, but for me, it falls into the range of "good, not great."

Based on a true case from 1843, the story focuses on Grace Marks, a young woman who at the age of 16, was convicted of the murders of her employer, Mr. Kinnear, and a fellow housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery. Her alleged accomplice, James McDermott, was also employed in Kinnear’s home. The two were arrested in a hotel not long after the murders, wearing the victim’s clothes and carrying valuable items stolen from the home. Grace insists she has no memory of the key events.

Now, eight years later, McDermott has been executed and Grace remains in prison. She often assists in the prison governor’s home, providing visitors with opportunities to gawk at the famed murderess. Some community members believe in her innocence and bring in psychiatrist Dr. Simon Jordan to draw out lost moments of Grace’s memory in the hopes of exonerating her. Read my full review of both the book and Netflix series.

I have such mixed feelings about this story about Hemingway's third wife, Martha Gellhorn, and her efforts to forge her own identity as a writer. Paula McClain's writing is excellent, and at the start of this novel I was captivated. The question of what drew Gellhorn to Hemingway, beyond his fame, loomed large for me. I started to get a little bored about 2/3 of the way through when the story started to drag. But towards the end: redemption! I was again captivated. Maybe when it comes to Hemingway, what I'm looking for is a little more "ruin" (I'm not a fan, #sorrynotsorry), and when it comes to Gellhorn, she shone when she was exercising her independence. Many other bloggers have loved this without reserve, so it's worth checking out if you have an interest in Hemingway and/or Gellhorn.

Memoirs of a Geisha is a fascinating fictional look at the life of one geisha. Chiyo is sold to a geisha house at a young age, enduring difficult training and brutal treatment with the aim of becoming a geisha. The role involves artistry, entertainment, companionship, and is--at the time--essentially prostitution cloaked in an elegant veneer. The paradox of a geisha's life is her role of servitude coupled with her power over men. Chiyo--now Sayuri--spends her life devoted to beguiling men and becomes one of the most celebrated geishas in Japan. As World War II changes Japan, the role of the geisha will also be forever changed.

Powered by the dreams and struggles of three generations, The Thorn Birds is the epic saga of a family rooted in the Australian sheep country. At the story's heart is the love of Meggie Cleary, who can never possess the man she desperately adores, and Ralph de Bricassart, who rises from parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican...but whose passion for Meggie will follow him all the days of his life.

Hedy Lamarr was a famous beauty and screen actress in the golden age of Hollywood, but few knew about her passion for science and invention--and what drove her to innovate. Ending a promising stage career in Vienna to marry a munitions dealers and protect her family as anti-Semitism and fascism closed in on Austria, Lamarr found herself imprisoned--and privy to insider conversations of the Third Reich. Upon her escape to Hollywood, she becomes a star but is plagued by a sense of duty to use her knowledge. And so begins a quest to assist the Allies with an invention that could change the course of the war--if they'll listen to a woman.

The Only Woman in the Room is a riveting fictional account of woman previously only known for her beauty and acting. Benedict makes real the life of a charismatic woman who refuses to be one dimensional and whose innovations contributed to the technologies we now use every day. Read my full review. 

Another story of siblings in the 60s, Mrs. Everything follows two sisters, Jo and Bethie, whose childhood roles flip after several traumas. Jo, once a tomboy, becomes a suburban mother, while previously traditional and feminine Bethie jumps into the counterculture.

While not as strong as several other sibling and family dramas I've read in 2019--Jo's evolution in particular never quite gelled for me--Mrs. Everything is a solid offering with interesting characters and relationships that evolve over decades. If you enjoyed book like The Last Romantics or Commonwealth, this might be a good one for you.

In 1906 San Francisco, 15-year-old Vera hovers on the edges of the movers and players. The secret daughter of a mysterious brothel madam, Vera longs for her mother’s affection. Vera’s sharp wit is her only hope–and is key to her survival when the earthquake rips through the city, leaving it burning. Determined to find her missing mother, she assembles a rag-tag group to find a path forward, with both the fires and the crack-down on the city’s corruption closing in.

Vera is a singular character, vivid and memorable. This was fast-paced, character-driven historical fiction with a unique perspective on a major event that shaped San Francisco. I loved it.

Hosseini's debut novel was not only the introduction of a new author, but it was also many readers' first foray into Afghanistan. The innocent friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant takes a dark turn with one horrific incident, forever changing their relationship and their lives. Hosseini brings both the people and the country of Afghanistan to life, and while my favorite of his is A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner is still a stunning and essential read.

In the dawning light of a late-summer morning, the people of lower Manhattan stand hushed, staring up in disbelief at the Twin Towers. It is August 1974, and a mysterious tightrope walker is running, dancing, leaping between the towers, suspended a quarter mile above the ground. In the streets below, a slew of ordinary lives become extraordinary in bestselling novelist Colum McCann’s stunningly intricate portrait of a city and its people.

When Leni's father, a traumatized Vietnam veteran, uproots her and her mother Cora to claim land left to them in Alaska, she expects yet another difficult adjustment to school but hopes for a new beginning with her family. What she finds instead is a landscape that enchants even while it endangers, a community that both confounds and comes together, and an unexpected camaraderie with her only classmate. The long, dark winter, however, proves to be her father's undoing. Cora and Leni live on edge, attempting to build a life while avoiding the blows from his next drunken outburst.

Hannah brings Alaska to life and manages to evoke feelings of vast expansiveness, possibility, and oppressive isolation. About three-quarters of this book had me captivated; the characters were well-drawn and realistic, and the landscape provided endless mysteries and surprises. The last quarter, however, felt rushed and several events rang less true than the rest of the story. I can't dismiss this one entirely but I do wish it had ended stronger.

I was intrigued by the premise and setting of this historical fiction novel, set in 1612 England at the time of the Pendle Witch Trials, in which ten people (eight women and two men) were executed for witchcraft. The story follows a young noblewoman, Fleetwood Shuttleworth, who is pregnant for the fourth time, after three previous devastating losses. She now fears for both her own and the child's life and enlists the help of a young midwife named Alice Grey, who has associations with some families who have been accused of witchcraft. Soon Alice herself is caught up in the accusations, and Fleetwood must save Alice to save herself.

I was not familiar with the Pendle Witch Trials before reading this book, and a dive down a Wikipedia wormhole assures me that the major events and people in this book were all real--including Fleetwood Shuttleworth and Alice Grey. Grey's story is not well-documented, and this is where Hall imagined her friendship with Fleetwood and the events surrounding her arrest and trial.

I have to admit that this deft imagining of events around Alice Grey inserted into the larger factual narrative improves my view of this book--it was quite skillfully done. I also appreciated the various ways that women's powerlessness were portrayed--and how these accusations played into keeping them subservient. However, The Familiars was a slow read for me, and the overall story of the witchcraft accusations was hard to follow when most of the main accused and accusers were not characters in the book--they were just names, and there were a lot of them. A few odd turns of phrase were distracting (some felt too modern, others felt dropped in because they were fitting to the period), giving the writing an uneven feel. An interesting read for the history, but I wished for a closer look at more of the women affected.

An elderly woman recalls her years living in a glitzy theater as a teenager in the 1940s.

Historical fiction set in Hawaii, when people diagnosed with leprosy were sent to live out their lives on Moloka'i.

Following their mother’s death, twins Benny and Byron come together to listen to an audio recording she left them, along with a Caribbean black cake that they are told to eat when the time is right. But first, they must listen: to a history their mother never shared, that began when she was a teen on an island and unfolds in a shocking tale of murder, escape, and abuse—as well as long-held secrets about her own identity and the true nature of their family.

Black Cake is a masterful exploration of generational trauma and how fear can shape lives. Alongside the family narrative is a fascinating food-centered exploration of culture, tradition, and origin, and how those things are changed and shaped over generations. The one will be on many best-of-2022 lists, and it deserves the praise.

Three women, from three different centuries, turn to the wonders of nature to save themselves. Kate, in 2019, flees her abusive partner and hides in her great-aunt's woodsy cottage, where she discovers secrets about the women who came before. Violet, in 1942, longs to be a scientist but is constrained by her wealthy family's expectations. Altha, in 1619, is on trial for witchcraft, accused in the death of a local farmer.

I loved this novel that explores misogyny and violence against women, alongside their own paths to empowerment. Make no mistake--there are a LOT of content warnings for this book (sexual assault, abuse, pregnancy loss, and more). But if you love a good tale of women reclaiming themselves in uniquely feminine ways, with a bit of mysticism thrown in, give this one a try.

On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert to ease political tensions in Kingston, seven unnamed gunmen stormed the singer’s house, machine guns blazing. The attack wounded Marley, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Little was officially released about the gunmen, but rumors abounded regarding the assassins’ fates. A Brief History of Seven Killings is James’s fictional exploration of that dangerous and unstable time in Jamaica’s history and beyond.

Fall of Giants is the first in another epic historical trilogy from Ken Follett. While the Pillars of the Earth trilogy was set over multiple centuries, Fall of Giants is placed squarely in the 20th century. The story follows five families across the world through World War I, the Russian Revolution, and women's suffrage. This trilogy felt heavier on the political history than the soapy drama than the Pillars of the Earth (though there's a bit of that as well!). While, for me, this series didn't have the same "unputdownable" quality, it's still another compelling, meticulously researched epic with richly drawn characters who bring the history alive. The books are extremely long but worth the read.

In this page-turning saga, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan, exiled from a home they never knew.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZEThe long-awaited first novel from the author of Tenth of December: a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical a...

The resonant story of a young woman’s struggle to take charge of her own future, The Flight of Gemma Hardy is a modern take on a classic story—Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre—that will fascinate readers of the Gothic original and fans of modern literary fiction alike, with its lyrical prose, r...

What if Hillary Rodham had never married Bill Clinton? In this imaginative book, Sittenfeld imagines their early years together (based in fact)–and then veers. Instead of accepting Clinton’s third proposal, Hillary declines and moves ahead on her own.

She eventually makes her way into politics, following a similar but not identical path through multiple presidential runs. Her decision not to marry Bill affects his political career as well–and thus the fate of the country. Ending just after the 2016 election, this is yet more “what if” fodder for those of us still wishing for a different outcome.

An extremely compelling story that humanizes Hillary (maybe too much–some intimate scenes with Bill were uncomfortable) and has excellent narration. It’s definitely for fans of Hillary, but I couldn’t stop listening.

After years of hearing about the heroic men in her family who served their country, Frankie McGrath decides to take the same step: she joins the Army Nurse Corps to serve in Vietnam. With almost no nursing experience, she is thrown into the fire and learns on the job, facing the worst traumas imaginable. Through two tours, she gives everything she has trying to save the soldiers and the Vietnamese she treats--only to be roundly rejected when she returns to the U.S. Even after the war is over, Frankie's personal war has just begun.

Hannah has topped her previous winners with this novel: it's sure to be on my best of the year list. The Vietnam War has long been one of my favorite historical fiction topics and I was thrilled when this book was announced. The stories of the soldiers, medical staff, and Vietnamese deserve to be told. This one happens to tell the stories of the women who served, who were invisible to many of the people there (I chatted with a veteran neighbor about this book and he confirmed that he never saw a Western woman in Vietnam--which meant he was lucky, because he wasn't injured). Highly recommended.

After losing her family in a Russian pogrom, Lillian Leyb comes to America and talks her way into a job and the lives of some New York theater powerhouses. Intent only on survival, her focus is finding and maintaining stability--until word arrives that her young daughter, Sophie, may have survived the slaughter. Lillian then begins a journey across the United States, intent on returning to Siberia to find her daughter.

From New York to Seattle to the Alaskan wilderness, Lillian calls on wiles and a resourcefulness she never knew she had. This book was oddly affecting--not odd because of the subject matter, which is devastating, but because Lillian herself is written as somewhat detached. I found this a little uneven and I was impatient with some of the tracks of the story that felt like they had no connection to either Lillian's past or her goal. As a mother, the arc of the story hit me hard, but the execution of it didn't quite hit the mark.

Arundhati Roy’s modern classic is equal parts powerful family saga, forbidden love story, and piercing political drama. The seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel see their world shaken irrevocably by the arrival of their beautiful young cousin, Sophie. It is an event that will lead to an illicit liaison and tragedies accidental and intentional, exposing “big things [that] lurk unsaid” in a country drifting dangerously toward unrest. Lush, lyrical, and unnerving, The God of Small Things is an award-winning landmark that started for its author an esteemed career of fiction and political commentary that continues unabated.

There aren't many World War II novels that could be described as "charming," but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is just that. Told as a series of letters between an author in post-World War II England and the residents of the island of Guernsey, we learn how books helped them survive the German occupation. An impromptu book club, invented as an excuse for missing curfew, becomes a touchpoint for the various residents of the island. Charming as it is, the book doesn't shy from the realities of the war and what it meant for the island to be occupied. Between the epistolary storytelling and the book club at the center of it all, this is truly an ode to power of words.

The second book in the treasured Little House series, Farmer Boy is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved story of how her husband, Almanzo, grew up as a farmer boy far from the little house where Laura lived.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE“My father’s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us.”So begins this remarkable novel by Amy Bloom, whose critically accl...

In a small Appalachian town in Kentucky, five women have committed to join the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky, an initiative spearheaded by Eleanor Roosevelt to bring books to isolated families. One of these women, Alice, has struggled to find her footing in the insular town after moving from England to marry her her coal-baron husband, Bennett.  Through the library, Alice finds friendship with the women, independence in mountains, and camaraderie with the families who love the stories they bring each week.

But a little education can be threatening to those in power, and the women soon find themselves the target of several campaigns to bring them down. The Giver of Stars brought together so many elements I love--books, before-their-time feminists, and quirky characters--and I enjoyed both the story and the history that I knew nothing about.

I would be remiss to not mention the controversy around this book and plagiarism concerns raised by Kim Michele Richardson, author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Beyond bringing it to your attention, I can't comment on it further since I haven't read the other book, but it's obviously very disappointing if it the allegations are true. I will be watching the story with interest.

My Review

Cyril Avery was born to an unwed mother in Ireland in the 1940s--an unthinkable and shameful thing, at that time. Cyril is adopted by Charles and Maude Avery, who are indifferent and self-centered, but not neglectful.

From an early age, Cyril knows he's different: not a "real Avery," as Charles is quick to remind him, and realizing that he is not attracted to girls like his friends are--something that's even more shameful at that time in Ireland. In fact, Cyril harbors a deep love for his womanizing friend and eventual school roommate, Julian Woodbead.

The book follows Cyril through his life, from his youth and twenties spent in hiding and public denial in a repressive Dublin to a more open life in middle age in Amsterdam and New York. Cyril's search for identity, belonging, acceptance, and family is by turns funny, frustrating, and sad.

Some of the characters feel a bit like caricatures, but they serve to highlight some of the extreme attitudes Cyril, his mother, and so many others faced in those decades in Ireland. I loved this book, and though Cyril could be frustrating, I wanted to see him find happiness and contentment with himself.

Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia, and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of the poverty she finds herself in after Sherman's March to the Sea. 

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet takes us between two time periods: 1986, when Henry, a Chinese-American joins others in Seattle as a hotel with belongings from people sent to Japanese internment camps is opened up, and 1942, when he first meets Keiko a young Japanese girl whose family is sent to those camps. The book is both romance and family story, and it also looks at Japanese-Chinese relations in America at the time, the internment of Japanese citizens, and the jazz scene in Seattle.

It's hard for me ding a book about such a grim true story of the Holocaust. And the life of Lale Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau who is pressed into service as the tattooist who brands identification numbers on his fellow prisoners, is as horrifying and affecting as any other. His is a story of love, courage, and--above all--survival. That focus on survival is interesting, as Sokolov uses his cunning throughout those years to keep both himself and others alive.

However, while the backstory is interesting, it's the book itself that fails the story. Marketed as a fiction book because of the liberties taken with some conversations and names, The Tattooist of Auschwitz probably could have passed as narrative nonfiction. But even under that heading, I found the writing rote and uninspired--merely a chronicle of events, rather than the telling of a story. For me, the storytelling just doesn't live up to other excellent narrative nonfiction, such as Unbroken, or even "autobiographical fiction," such as What Is the What.

While a bit slow at first, I stuck with this Victorian-era novel set along the Thames and soon found myself captivated. The river itself is almost a character--a mysterious one, with an all-encompassing power to give and take at will.

When a little girl is pulled from the river, seemingly dead, and comes back to life, the mystery of her survival is just the beginning. Three families claim she may belong to them--but none are sure, and the little girl isn't saying.

Setterfield truly creates an atmosphere, one shaped by the powers of storytelling, nature, and mysticism. I don't always like magical elements, but when it's done well I can go along for the ride--and Once Upon a River does it well. The magic is nicely balanced by two scientifically minded characters who bring reason to all the magical speculation.

Despite this, not every question can be answered, and the people of the time did not always get full explanations for strange occurrences. Some readers may find this frustrating, but those open to a bit of mysticism will enjoy the journey

In the Jim Crow South, a simple mistake sends a black boy to a reform school where boys are brutalized and sometimes disappear. Tasked only with surviving, Elwood holds onto his ideals, shaped by the inspiring words of Dr. Martin Luther King. His friend Turner, however, is just as certain in his cynicism and their conflicting views bring them to a crossroad, leading to a choice that has repercussions for years to come.

Based on the real-life Dozier School in Florida, which only shut down in 2011 and where many unmarked graves have since been discovered, The Nickel Boys is a devastating read about the brutality wrought by both the individuals in power and the corrupt system that allowed them to remain there. Heartbreaking, disturbing (though not overly graphic if you're a sensitive reader), and highly recommended.

In the early 1900s, Jo Kuan–a teenager of Chinese descent–lives on the fringes of Atlanta. She and her adopted father Old Jin cobble together a life by squatting in the basement of a newspaper and working jobs that barely sustain them.

When the newspaper is in danger of folding, Jo comes up with a plan to save it–and her home. She begins anonymously writing as “Miss Sweetie,” an advice columnist who gets people talking with her progressive ideas about race, gender roles, and suffrage.

Following the end of the Civil War, newly freed Black people are left to fend for themselves among resentful white people who do not want to hire them. When George Walker, a former northerner in Georgia, meets Prentiss and Landry in his woods, he offers them lodging and jobs helping him cultivate new peanut fields. Landry is a gentle giant, injured and silent after years of torment at the hands of his enslavers. He finds respite in the beauty of nature and water. Prentiss is wary and protective of his brother, and the two plan to leave the South when they have the means.

Neighbors resent George and his wife, Isabelle's, fair treatment of the men, but they both appreciate the men's presence. The couple struggle with distance in their marriage and with their son Caleb, a disgraced soldier returned from war and tormented by his longing for his friend August. The growing resentments reach a tipping point when Caleb and August are discovered, resulting in a tragic murder and cascading acts of violence that could destroy the town.

Harris's debut is a fantastic, heartbreaking exploration of the tumultuous period of Reconstruction. Every main character is so well-developed, complex and imperfect, each courageous in their own way. This was a book club read and I know there will be a lot to discuss; I was riveted.

Paxton Andrews is a sheltered southern girl whose eyes open to the world when she goes to Berkeley and decides to become a journalist. She then goes to Vietnam to report on the war, writing a newspaper column about what it’s really like for the soldiers and the Vietnamese. Through her travels and reporting, she meets men who are on the front lines, and her relationships with them shape her life–while the war has its own impact on her and those relationships.

This is the only Danielle Steel novel I’ve ever read, but I loved it. I read this several times in high school and while there is plenty of romance (it is a Steel novel, after all), it also brought places like Saigon, Da Nang, and Cu Chi to life. I learned about the “tunnel rats” who bravely burrowed into the Viet Cong’s secret tunnels and the way veterans were broken after fighting this losing war. It’s been ages since I read it and I’m not sure how it holds up, but it looms large in my memory, and I think that alone is a strong endorsement.

The story of Achak Deng, one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” who as a child was separated from his family during the Second Sudanese Civil War. He encounters danger, violence, disappointment, and surprising moments of humor and humanity as he flees to unknown places in search of safety and a life. This book couldn’t truly be called non-fiction—Dave Eggers himself describes it as “fictionalized autobiography” because of lapses in Deng’s memory and imagined conversations. Eggers writes in Deng’s voice to tell of the horrors faced by these children in Sudan and the difficulties they face as immigrants in the United States.

This Pulitzer-Prize winning novel brings imagines the life of Little Women father Mr. March, absent for most of that famous novel to serve as a Union chaplain in the Civil War. As a childhood fan of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, I gave little thought to their father and had only a dim understanding of the transcendentalist beliefs driving March and Marmee's ways of being and raising their family. I certainly never imagined him to be in much danger during his service (why, I'm not sure).

Brooks' imagining of March is based on the life of Alcott's own father, Bronson Alcott, heavily documented in his letters and journals (though dramatized and fictionalized by Brooks).

The tie to the Little Women provides points of familiarity, but it isn't the focus and fans hoping for a new perspective on the girls will be disappointed (though the new view of an outspoken and impulsive Marmee is refreshing). Instead, the novel provides insight into one man's experience of the Civil War, life as an abolitionist, and his human fears, failings, and moral quandaries when faced with the violence of war and the horror of slavery.

Lately, I'm appreciating darker, more realistic takes on my childhood favorites, and March puts Little Women more clearly into historical context. This was a slow read, at times, but worth it for fans of both Little Women and historical fiction.

Life After Life takes us through the many versions of Ursula Todd's life, as Atkinson addresses the question that often accompanies the deaths of the young: what if she had lived? As Ursula makes different decisions or encounters different situations, she dies--or lives. Through each version of her subsequent life, we get the answers to that very question. Sometimes the answers disappoint and others they astound. Either way, the question of the imagined unlived lives will remain. While I didn't love Life After Life as much as many readers, I can't deny the compelling premise and Atkinson's masterful execution. That she set Ursula's recurring lives during two of the most devastating wars the world has ever seen is particularly poignant, as even today we look back on the lives lost and wonder, what if?

One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature.

Set in two time periods, the first in 1980s Chicago and the second in 2015 Paris, The Great Believers throws readers into the thick of–and the aftermath of–the 1980s AIDS crisis. From a group of young men in Chicago's gay community to the people they left behind, mourning the loss of so many, this is grief on a large scale.

Makkai masterfully juxtaposes the AIDS crisis with several other tragic events, including world wars and terrorist attacks. These, as well as a thread about historical art, are brilliantly woven together to highlight the generations of people and talents lost to these devastations.

For more on this book, check out 11 Things to Know About The Great Believers: The Story of the Story

In 1965, Helen Gurley Brown takes the helm as editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, forever changing the face of women's magazines. "Her girls" don't want to read about cleaning products; they want to read about beauty, sex, relationships, and their own bodies.

This fictional look at her first year as editor places Alice Weiss as Gurley Brown's assistance. While most of us are poised to think of New York magazine editors in the vein of frosty, difficult Anna Wintour (or her fictional alter-ego, Miranda Priestly), Gurley Brown was a different personality. Driven, determined, but also fragile and sentimental, she was a complicated figure who had a vision, and she fought hard for it.

Alice's story, alongside Gurley Brown's, is just as juicy and entertaining as the real-life drama. Park Avenue Summer was light and fun, with touches of feminist discussion without getting too heavy-handed (Gurley Brown is sometimes pitted against Betty Friedan and other feminist women of the era, but she sees herself as offering women her own brand of liberation.). This would be a fantastic summer beach read.

My third grader (and her whole class) LOVES these books. They are thrilling books and great way to introduce major historical events--particularly those that can be difficult to talk about with younger kids, like 9/11. I haven't read all of these yet, but I like how they don't gloss over the scary realities of the events (without being too frightening), and they highlight the heroes and the survivors.

Finally–my first 5-star NEW book of 2020! No doubt you’ve heard of this one, and if you haven’t read it, I definitely recommend picking it up. Bennett tells the story of two Black twin sisters, raised in a small town where light skin is valued and sought after when building families. The two run to New Orleans as teens and then take very different life paths, only to be reunited decades later and forced to reckon with their choices.

Bennett hilariously responded to a Twitter prompt to “Describe your own novel in as boring a way as possible” with this: “Sister moves away, doesn’t call.” Those who’ve read it know this book is so much more, with intricately drawn, multi-generational characters exploring race, identity, and family.

To follow the rug metaphor on the lovely cover of this book, Anne Tyler excels at quietly unraveling the threads that bind families together--and finding the small tears that leave rips in the binding for decades. The Garrett family is somewhat unremarkable; Alice, Lily, and David are the children with little in common. Mercy is their distracted, artistic mother, and her husband, Robin, is blissfully unaware of most of the family's deeply held desires.

From an early family vacation in the 1950s through the start of COVID, French Braid examines how families know--and don't know--one another, and how they manage to create lives together and separately. There's little action here, but it's a good choice for a character-driven novel that's a fast and easy read.

Perry is a teenager from Harlem who is sent to the front lines in Vietnam after volunteering for the service. Fallen Angels tells the story of Perry and his mostly Black platoon as they are repeatedly sent into the most dangerous assignments.

It’s a moving book about the camaraderie, unending fear, loss, and trauma experienced by these young soldiers. I first read this YA book in middle school and returned to it several times as a teen; I even listed it as one of the best books I read in school.

Rules of Civility is a look at 1930s New York high society through the eyes of Katey Kontent, an independent 20-something who, with her friend Evelyn, finds her way into those hallowed circles by way of a chance meeting with Tinker Grey at a jazz bar. Circumstances keep Katey on the invite list over the course of a year, as she works as a secretary by day and navigates the world of the wealthy by night. I enjoyed this look at New York in the 30s, but sometimes felt dissatisfied with the sketchy motivations of many of the characters, including Katey herself.

Kindred is famous for being the first science fiction novel written by a black woman. That's significant, but the science fiction part of this story--the time travel--isn't what makes it so compelling.

In the 1970s, a 26-year-old black woman is suddenly pulled back through time to save the life of a young boy who grows to be a slave owner in 1800s Maryland. Yanked without warning between present and past and back again, she returns multiple times throughout his life (as only minutes or hours pass in her own), and she realizes that she must keep him alive so he can father her great-grandmother. But through this, she also must live the life of a slave and face all the indignities, hardships, and heartbreaks that come with it.

This is an illuminating look at the lives of slaves, cognizant of our modern ideas that the people who were slaves must have been tougher than people now, somehow superhuman in their ability to endure. But the wounds from the whips and chains and inhuman disregard for their lives and families were real, and Butler sensitively examines the ways in which the people were beaten and worn into submission.

Light on the sci-fi aspects (sudden unexplained time travel is the only element) and a fast, worthwhile but difficult read (due to the subject matter). Highly recommended.

An hour after England enters World War II, socialite Mary North signed up for service. Instead of direct involvement in the war, she finds herself teaching students who were rejected from the countryside after most other children were evacuated from London. This turn brings into her life Zachary, a young black student; Tom, an education administrator; and Alistair, Tom's flatmate who has enlisted in the military. Mary, Tom, and Zachary face a new normal in London as the bombings of the Blitz commence, while the ills of society--race, poverty, addiction--persistently remain the same. Alistair, meanwhile, faces the brutality, starvation, and violence of life as a soldier in Malta.

Cleave's prose can feel heavy-handed, especially at first, but I soon fell under the spell of his writing. His dialogue shines and is smart and surprisingly funny. In its wittiness, it recalls the type of conversations that seem to happen in youth, especially during late nights or intense situations--the intelligent volleying that immediately connects people. Cleave uses these conversations masterfully to create instant connections between characters facing extreme circumstances. Inspired by his own grandparents' experiences and letters written during World War II, Cleave tells a beautiful tale of love, loss, and bravery. Also check out my in-depth look at the history and writing of this book, the first in my Story of the Story series.

In her great historical epic set in fourteenth-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset tells the life story of one passionate and headstrong woman. As a young girl, Kristin is deeply devoted to her father, a kind and courageous man. But when as a student in a convent school she meets the charming and impetuous Erlend Nikulaussøn, she defies her parents in pursuit of her own desires. Her saga continues through her marriage to Erlend, their tumultuous life together raising seven sons as Erlend seeks to strengthen his political influence, and finally their estrangement as the world around them tumbles into uncertainty.

This saga of the lives of two families in a small southwestern Ohio town chronicles the town's political, cultural, and social transformation, between 1868 and 1932, through the eyes of the local women's literary club.

The Summer Wives is just what summer reading should be: intriguing, escapist, and smart. The story takes place on Winthrop Island, a summer haven for wealthy families. Miranda Schuyler finds herself immersed in the oppressive, secretive world of the rich when her mother marries Hugh Fisher, one of the island's wealthy inhabitants. She forms a fast friendship with her reckless new stepsister, Isobel, who has a complicated relationship with Joseph Vargas, the son of the lighthouse keeper.

Miranda's romance with Joseph culminates in an explosive event that sends him to prison and keeps her from the island for two decades. Upon returning, she finds that old resentments and secrets remain intact and she must dive into them to save Joseph. Both the setting and the rich-family intrigue are draws here, but one of the most interesting aspects is the barely present rich man on whom everything hinges--not just a feature of life among the elite, but perhaps one felt more deeply.

Two estranged sisters in post-Apartheid South Africa come together in their childhood home, when a black baby is abandoned on their doorstep.

In the 1960s, Laos was embroiled in a conflict that would lead to nine years of relentless bombings. Three children orphaned during this time are taken in by a doctor operating a makeshift hospital. They serve as runners, navigating their motor bikes through treacherous fields of unexploded bombs. After years of insecurity, they are about to step on a helicopter to evacuate when they are suddenly separated. Multiple narratives walk the reader through their fates.

Yoon’s spare style can take a bit to get used to, but the horror of this story and the strength of the characters drew me in. I knew almost nothing about these events in Laos and this book brought them–and the people who suffered–to life.

An ambitious novel that imagines the life of Ana, the fictional wife of Jesus.

Kauffman’s The Gunners was a compelling story of childhood friends who came together in adulthood after one of their own died by suicide. Chorus has a similar feel, but within a family. The seven Shaw siblings are shaped by their mother’s mysterious death (which each remembers differently), and by one sister’s teenage pregnancy.

With a narrative that moves back and forth in time, the reader is granted the perspective of each sibling at different points in their lives, forming a picture of a family that shifts to fill in the spaces left by a death they don’t understand. A sensitive and perceptive literary family novel.

Past and present meet in this novel that takes us back to the Vietnam War, when two sisters work as bar girls to send money home to their parents. One of them falls for a GI named Dan–and she eventually becomes pregnant. Decades later, Dan returns with his wife, hoping to find the woman and child he left behind. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese man searches for some proof that his father was a Black American soldier, so he can find a way to America and a better life.

A poignant look at the effects of the Vietnam War, mostly outside of the fighting, and how they last for decades and across generations.

In the 1920s, “the Fishing Fleet” was the name ascribed to young affluent women who left England for India in search of husbands, often after the social “season” had ended and they were left without marriage prospects. Viva, who has her own reasons for heading to India, is tasked with accompanying two young women and a troubled teen boy on the ship to Bombay. Against the backdrop of a politically unstable India, the women learn the importance of friends-as-family as they are thrust into a confusing world of wealth and poverty, isolation and scrutiny, and love and betrayal. This was a slow-mover for me, but was ultimately an intriguing and satisfying read with interesting historical context and complex relationships.

The Orphan Master's Son is the story of Pak Jun Do ("John Doe"), the son of a man who runs an orphan work camp in North Korea. Jun Do grows up and rises through the ranks of the North Korean bureaucracy, navigating the changing demands of a volatile leadership to stay alive and make his way closer to Kim Jong Il and the woman he loves. This is an illuminating, thrilling, and horrifying look at life inside North Korea. I was riveted; this is a book that has stayed with me and I still think of it frequently even years after reading it.

Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a man-child was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte. So begins Roots, one of the most extraordinary and influential books of our time. Through the story of one family, his family, Alex Haley unforgettably brings to life the monumental two-century drama of Kunta Kinte and the six generations who came after him: slaves and freedmen, farmers and blacksmiths, lumber mill workmen and Pullman porters, lawyers and architects...and one author.

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas tells the story of Bruno, a young boy whose father works at Auschwitz. Bruno knows very little about Auschwitz or what his father does; he only knows that he is separated from all of the people behind the fence. He strikes up a friendship with another boy on the other side of the fence, which provides much-needed companionship for them both. This book is told solely from Bruno's relentlessly innocent perspective, which is frustrating for the wise reader who wants him to face the reality of what's happening. It's unflinching, and you won't be able to turn away, even as you can see what's going to happen. I don't recommend this for younger readers, but it will be impactful for pre-teens or young teens who can handle it.

I think this book about the life of Lillian Preston, a female photographer in the 60s who is arrested for obscenity--presented as reflections from her daughter and others--had potential. However, I started reading it around the same time I listened to Daisy Jones and the Six, and the similar format and slower pace of this one made it difficult for me to stay engaged. Maybe it was timing--this has gotten some positive reviews. I didn't dislike this, but it didn't capture me quickly enough for me to finish it.

The exclusive coastal community of Haven Point, Maine has always been insular. When Maren marries Dr. Oliver Demarest in the 1940s, the community is not quick to welcome her, but she eventually finds her place. As the family and community change over decades, a tragedy prompts Maren’s daughter Annie to vow never to return to Haven Point. After Annie’s own tragic death in 2008, her daughter Skye goes to spread her ashes at Haven Point–and finally learns what happened.

This sweeping family story told in alternating timelines over decades is perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand. Haven Point is both dreamy and suffocating. Excellent summer historical fiction.

Nora and Theresa are sisters and young women when they leave Ireland for the U.S. Nora is serious and planning to marry a man she’s uncertain of, while Theresa jumps headlong into the Boston social scene. Theresa ends up pregnant, and Nora comes up with a plan that changes both of their lives.

Decades later, Nora has a large family and Theresa is a nun. After years of silence, the two are coming together again after a tragedy and are forced to reckon with the past.

After decades of endless readings and analysis of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett gives us a new perspective: that of Jim, the enslaved man who escapes with Huck after he learns he is to be sold and separated from his wife and daughter. While we so often think of Huck Finn’s story as an adventure (with admittedly dark origins for Huck as well), for Jim it is a life-and-death journey. We learn of his intelligence, deep interest in philosophy, and the ways that he and other enslaved people adjust their language and behavior to survive and accommodate the white people who oppress them. Huck is rightly reframed as a mere child who Jim feels protective of but can actually do little to protect.

I don’t actually like retellings of classic novels (think modern versions of Jane Austen), but I do like novels told from the perspective of other characters (another that I enjoyed is March by Geraldine Brooks, which tells of the story of the father from Little Women). This one more closely adheres to the narrative we’re familiar with, while giving James a voice and agency. I would have liked to reread Huck Finn before starting this, so I recommend that if you have the opportunity. Nonetheless, the story is familiar and this new perspective isn’t just incredible, but feels necessary.

The first in The Neapolitan Novels series, My Brilliant Friend tells the story of the friendship of two girls growing up in a poor, rough neighborhood in 1950s Naples, Italy. Lila especially is compelling in her impulsive magnetism, and I related to the bookish reserve of Elena (the narrator), always trying to keep up with her friend even as she, in many ways, surpasses her. As they follow different paths and forge their own identities, the girls weather the push and pull of adolescence experienced amidst the changing political and cultural landscape that surrounds them. These novels are highly acclaimed for their literary merit, panned for their awful covers, and intriguing for the mystery surrounding the identity of Ferrante (a pen name). I will be reading the rest of the series, and I hope to catch the HBO television series adaptation of the novels that is underway.

On the heels of the devastating loss of their infant son and brother, the Bright family makes the decision to move to Philadelphia to join (and eventually inherit) an uncle's funeral home business. Told from the alternating perspectives of mother Pauline, elder sister Evelyn, middle sister Maggie, and youngest sister Willa, the family soon faces another devastation: the Spanish Flu pandemic that literally leaves bodies at their doorstep and an orphaned infant in their care.

The family isn't immune to the losses wrought by the flu and World War I, and in their grief they grasp for hope and purpose in different ways, keeping secrets to protect themselves and one another. This is a heartfelt, engrossing look at a little-discussed historical event that had a profound effect around the world. Certain elements of the story are somewhat predictable, but that didn't affect my investment in the fates of the family members, who are flawed but sympathetic.

This unique book is among the favorites of many readers, and for good reason. Set in World War II Germany and narrated by Death, the book brings us Liesel Meminger. A foster girl who is taught to read and about quiet acts of resistance by her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel attempts to make sense of the horrors happening around her while living her day-to-day. When Max, a Jewish man, moves into the basement, Liesel shares her (stolen) books with him as he shares his stories with her. That the story is narrated by Death hints at its direction, but the tragedy of World War II is never a question. It's Zusak's vividly imagined daily lives of Germans in World War II and a dutiful Death lingering in everyone's shadows at that time that (perhaps ironically) brings this story to life.

The House of the Spirits brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife, Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter Blanca embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban: his adored granddaughter Alba, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future.

I still remember one of my elementary school teachers reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes aloud to us. It brought so many things to light: the aftermath of the atomic bombs in Japan, children battling fatal illnesses, a peek at life and culture in Japan. This short novel based on a true story brings history, empathy, and culture into one moving story that you (or your kids) will always remember.

I've seen some positive reviews of this book an astronaut and an activist who have a brief affair during the volatile 60s, but I just could not get into it. I didn't care about the characters or their history together. Right now especially, I'm wondering if this was the wrong book at the wrong time; I'll be curious to see reviews if others read it.

Hamnet imagines the family life of Shakespeare in the years leading up to his son’s death. Mostly following Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, a woman with unusual healing gifts who is devoted to her children Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet, O’Farrell builds them a rich home life and explores the depths of Agnes’s grief after 11-year old Hamnet’s death.

I’m glad I listened to this, though it didn’t always hold my attention. It’s worth the read or listen alone for the detailed path of the flea that carried the disease that ultimately killed Hamnet–a prescient writing composed before most of us gave “contact tracing” any thought.

In 1922 Russia, aristocrat Count Alexander Rostov has been sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol hotel. As he makes a home in his small attic room, he builds relationships and finds his place and purpose from inside the hotel, as decades of history unfold literally outside his door. Rostov's charm and wisdom shine as he builds family and community with the vivid characters who share space in the Metropol.

This book has been on my shelf for ages and was at the top of my reading challenge list. Nonetheless, I decided to listen to the audiobook, with the intention of trying a reading experiment: listening while reading along in my print copy (sometimes).

I wasn't able to do this as much as I'd planned, but I did try it a few times. Blending the reading and listening did help me absorb and better focus while reading this slow-mover. It's something I hope to try again--particularly with nonfiction. I know that so many readers loved this, and while I enjoyed this book, I think I would have appreciated the lovely language more in print. I'll be keeping it around and planning on a second read in the future.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning World War II novel tells the story of a blind French teen, a young German soldier, and how they come together during the war in occupied France. This is a book to be read slowly to fully appreciate the rich descriptions and sensory-laden language. Almost all of the characters in this book--even the villains--are fully drawn as complicated humans.

What I love about it, though, is how Doerr makes the experience of war personal. While the war was global, each person who lived and died experienced it through the small moments made large through their own senses: a girl finds refuge running her hands across the snails lining a grotto; a boy closes his eyes and visualizes the electrons allowing the voices to carry over the airwaves; an old woman whispers a few words to sustain a resistance, finding the only power she has. There are millions of these stories, many forever lost, and Doerr's telling is a reminder that wars aren't just history, but personal and deeply felt.

Ada has never seen the world beyond the dirty London street that she sees outside of her window. She's never seen grass or trees, and she's not exactly sure how old she is (she guesses nine). Her abusive mother has kept Ada locked inside her entire life, ashamed of her club foot.

When her brother Jamie is to be evacuated to the countryside to avoid the anticipated bombings of World War II, Ada steels herself and sneaks away from her mother. They find themselves in Kent, placed with Susan Smith, a woman who lives alone and does not want children.

Despite her unwillingness and her grief over her deceased partner (hinted at in the book, but not discussed in detail), Susan cares for the children, seeing to both their health and education.

Ada finds solace in a pony, crutches, and a physical freedom she'd never had, all while building relationships and a new confidence. But she struggles with the trauma of her past. Is she worthy of being loved? Will she be rejected again, or forced to go back to her mother? Could her foot ever be fixed?

These uncertainties weigh, until the war comes to their doorstep and the stakes are raised. This was an amazing middle grade book, full of history and realistic, flawed characters. I was enthralled and I loved the sequel just as much.

The Things They Carried is a historical fiction novel that follows the men of Alpha Company in the Vietnam War, including the character of Tim O'Brien (based on the author himself).

With lyrical prose and sensitivity, it examines the experience of the war, as well as memory, truth, and fear. If you have any interest in the Vietnam War, this is a must-read.

The Bridge of Years tells the story of a Belgian family during the years between the two world wars.  The family is held together by mother Melanie, a tenacious businesswoman who keeps the farm running. She and her philosopher husband Paul, and their three very different children, face a changing Europe and must decide how to face the challenges of another impending war. I read this book on a whim, not having heard of May Sarton or the novel before, and it was truly a hidden gem. Written in 1946, this novel isn't far removed from the time in which it's set, but I highly recommend it for fans of historical fiction.

Between the past, recent, and upcoming screen adaptations, plus Geraldine Brooks' recent March, interest in Little Women has never really waned. The story of four very different sisters and their steadfast mother living in genteel poverty in Concord, Massachusetts, while Mr. March is away as a chaplain in the Civil War continues to enchant. That Louisa May Alcott herself didn't much like the story is beside the point. Jo stands as a rebellious feminist icon, while the dramas, joys, griefs, and relationships of the sisters stand as enduring symbols of comfort, devotion, and perseverance.

When aging movie star Evelyn Hugo recruits Monique Grant, an unknown reporter, to write her biography, Monique can't fathom why Evelyn would want her. She is quickly drawn into Evelyn's winding tale, from her rise to stardom, her multiple marriages, and the dramas of her life. Through it all remains the question: why was she chosen for this coveted job?

Evelyn is an enigmatic character--fascinating, confident, and powerful. It's no wonder, since she and her story are based on several of Hollywood's leading ladies. I've been hearing about how excellent this book is for a while, so I decided to squeeze it in, figuring if it was as good as I'd heard, it would be a quick read. It definitely was.

I loved the peek behind the curtain of the careful construction of Evelyn's public life versus her private life. I will never look at another Hollywood story in the same way. This was juicy, smart, and unputdownable.

Every year, the famous Riva siblings–Nina, Hud, Jay, and Kit–hold THE blowout party of the year at Nina’s Malibu mansion. The siblings–offspring of superstar Mick Riva–battled to get here, and it’s no thanks to their father.

This year, they all approach the party with their own reservations, and by night’s end, their lives will be turned upside down. Moving between the day of the party in 1983 and the decades prior, we learn what brought the siblings to this final spark point.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has delivered another riveting celebrity and family drama (also read Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, if you haven’t yet)–the must-read of the summer and definitely one of the best of 2021.

Captain Jefferson Kidd travels the west, reading the news from around the world to the small hamlets scattered across the yet-untamed land. At one stop, he is asked to return a young girl who the Kiowa held captive for years after killing her family. Johanna has almost no memory of her previous life, including how to speak English, but she soon comes to trust Kidd. The two become an unlikely team as they face threats on their journey.

I loved Kidd and Johanna, their journey, and how their relationship unfolded. Kidd’s newsreading events that drew entire towns felt both foreign and charmingly innocent in contrast with today’s information overload.

Elizabeth Zott is a chemist–not an easy profession for a woman in the 1960s. As she battles daily discrimination, she finds some measure of contentment with Calvin Evans, a famous chemist whose quirks pair well with her own. When tragedy strikes, Elizabeth is left a single mother, kicked out of the lab, and desperate. Circumstances land her on camera, teaching the chemistry of cooking and captivating the country.

Overly progressive characters in historical fiction sometimes ring false, but Elizabeth Zott is singular and wonderfully drawn. Her precocious daughter and clever dog only add to the charm. The cover may make you think this is a rom-com, but the romance is only part of the story. I loved this.

What I love about Beautiful Ruins is how it plays out the smaller-scale dramas of the people caught in the wake of the over-the-top dramas of Hollywood--in this case, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Minor characters in the novel, their relationship reverberates through the lives of the people around them, even decades after the fact. We follow the story from the Italian coast in the 1960s to modern day Scotland and Hollywood. I like stories that fully humanize people who appear to be supporting characters, and Beautiful Ruins is a great reminder that everyone has a backstory, and everyone is the protagonist of their own life--even after the so-called main characters have left the spotlight.

In 1942 Paris, Jewish people are rounded up and sent away--often to their deaths. Sarah, 10 years old, hides her little brother in a cupboard, locking the door and promising to return. What follows is the story of her desperate journey back to him, alternating with the story of a journalist 60 years later who is investigating the round up. This is another book that stuck with me but that I've lost the details of. There are many great World War II books, and I've read a few in recent years. I'd like to reread to see if this one holds up.

This is one of the more unusual World War II books I've ever read. Told through a journal written by "Verity," a female English pilot captured in German-occupied France, and by her friend Maddie in the second half of the book. Verity has been tortured and she is writing for her life, charged by her captors with revealing codes and information about the Allies. Both to fulfill her obligation and to maintain some sense of sanity, she weaves the tale of  a friendship and how she landed in her present situation. Often written with surprising humor given the dark circumstances, this book often has a light tone throughout that is only one of the misleading elements.  If you haven't read this one, don't read much more before picking it up--the twists and spy games will be all the more satisfying.

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

A dark mansion. Mysterious wailing through the corridors. A beautiful walled garden with no entrance. These are just a few of the mysteries that kept me reading this book over and over as a kid. It was also one of my first introductions to unlikeable characters. Mary Lennox is a surly child, with few redeeming qualities (and several other characters aren't much better). But the settings themselves emerge as characters: the manor, the moors, and especially the garden, which serves as respite, friend, and healer. My only disappointment with this book, on attempting a reread with my daughter, is Mary's hateful and racist language at the beginning. Though fitting for the story and character, like the Little House books it's something that requires further discussions with young readers.

The optimism of the early sixties, infused with the excitement of the space race and the menace of the Cold War, is filtered through the rich imagination of high-spirited, eight-year-old Madeleine, who welcomes her family's posting to a quiet Air Force base near the Canadian border. Secure in the love of her beautiful mother, she is unaware that her father, Jack, is caught up in a web of secrets. When a very local murder intersects with global forces, Jack must decide where his loyalties lie, and Madeleine will be forced to learn a lesson about the ambiguity of human morality -- one she will only begin to understand when she carries her quest for the truth, and the killer, into adulthood twenty years later.

Opal and Nev were a provocative rock due in the 70s, with Nev joining his folksy songwriting with Opal’s loud, flamboyant, and political performances. When Opal protests the brandishing of the Confederate flag by another band at her label’s showcase performance, the event turns violent and Black drummer Jimmy Curtis is killed.

Decades later in 2016, S. Sunny Shelton–the daughter of Jimmy and a music journalist–is writing a book about Opal and Nev. Her intentions are professional, but as she learns more about what really happened that fateful night and in the years after, the project becomes very personal.

This fictional oral history of Opal and Nev–the band is fictional and so is the story–is just as riveting as any history you might read about your favorite band. If you liked Daisy Jones and the Six, you will love this. It’s less about the debauchery of the rock life than about the constant inequalities, racism, and sexism Opal faced as a Black woman in the music industry, and how it affected the trajectory of her and Nev’s careers. Definitely one of the best of the year.

Fifteen-year-old Ana’s mother sees one path for their family to get to America from the Dominican Republic in 1965: Ana’s marriage to Juan Ruiz. With little English and few skills, Ana is isolated at the mercy of Juan, who is unfaithful and sometimes cruel. When he returns to the Dominican Republic for several months, she begins to dream of a new kind of life for herself, with Juan’s brother Cesar. But she must make a decision when her family’s dreams of joining her become reality. I appreciated Ana’s story and felt her isolation and desperation. I loved the interview with author Angie Cruz at the end, who described how her own mother’s story and New York’s Dominican community inspired her to write this book.