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A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabel Allende's epic of the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath

Allende’s fluidly written saga conveys her deep familiarity with the events she depicts, and her intent to illustrate their human impact in a moving way. The scope spans most of the lives of Victor Dalmau, a Republican army medic in 1936 Spain, and Roser Bruguera, a music student taken in by Victor’s family and, later, his brother Guillem’s lover and the mother of Guillem’s child. The story follows them over nearly sixty years, beginning with the tumult of the Spanish Civil War. Guillem is killed fighting against the Fascists, news that Victor can’t bear to tell Roser initially. After surviving separate and terrible circumstances that leave them refugees in France, where authorities treat them with contempt and worse, the two marry for practical reasons in order to join Pablo Neruda’s mission transporting over 2000 Spanish exiles to Chile aboard the S.S. Winnipeg . In Santiago, the Dalmaus find many Chileans sympathetic to the Spaniards, while others make them unwelcome. With a poetic ...

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For medieval enthusiasts: 10 new and upcoming historical novels for 2019

Two months ago, in response to a post about historical novels set before the 20th century, I was chatting with another reader who lamented the small quantity of medieval-set fiction on offer.  It's a favorite period of mine, too, going back to Anya Seton's classic novel Katherine, which I'd read for a 9th-grade English assignment.  While the Middle Ages may not be a current trend (and rarely has been), there are some recent and upcoming releases set during the period if you hunt for them.  The ten novels below were published in the US, UK, and Ireland, by a variety of publishers: the Big Five, small presses, and independent authors. Most of them center on historical figures, some better known than others.



Part 2 of the life journey (after The Greenest Branch) of Hildegard of Bingen, an ambitious female physician, in 12th-century Germany.  Iron Knight, Feb 2019. [see on Goodreads]


The background to the Kilkenny Witch Trial of 14th-century Ireland, and the relationship between two women: Alice Kytler and her servant, Petronelle. Penguin Ireland, April 2019. [see on Goodreads]



The famous love story between Heloise and Abelard in 1100s Paris, juxtaposed with the tale of a modern historical novelist writing about the couple.  Sceptre, March 2019. [see on Goodreads]



First in a projected trilogy, this newest novel from Dunlap (who has written both adult and YA historical fiction) focuses on an orphaned brother and sister at the time of the Cathar heresy in medieval France. [see on Goodreads]



The third and final volume in Hartsuyker's rousing saga of Viking-era Norway.  I'll be reading it next!  Harper, Aug. 2019. [see on Goodreads]


The publicity material promises an intriguing, multi-layered mystery set in 15th-century Tuscany, beginning as a soldier looks into two murders.  Allison & Busby, March 2019. [see on Goodreads]



Drama that examines the heart of the Robin Hood legend, and of legends themselves, set in the shire of Nottingham in 1191, while King Richard is off on Crusade. The Goodreads reviews so far are stellar. Forge, August 2019. [see on Goodreads]



Biographical fiction about Ailenor of Provence, the young, and later controversial, bride of Henry III of England in the mid-13th century.  Accent Press, Sept. 2019. [see on Amazon UK: not on Goodreads yet.]



The latest medieval epic from O'Brien, who has written about women prominent in their time whose stories are little known today. Here her subject is Constance of York, granddaughter of Edward III. HQ, August 2019. [see on Goodreads]



Owen Archer, hero of Robb's long-running series, makes his return to the page in this new mystery set in 14th-century York. Here he investigates the death of a man supposedly killed by wolves. [see on Goodreads]

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The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis, a Gothic mystery-adventure with the Brontë sisters on the case

The Brontë sisters have joined the stable of historical characters appearing as sleuths. Even though – as with other famous folks cast into detective mode – I didn’t believe for a second that this could’ve happened in real life, it was entertaining to imagine “what if.” Bella Ellis, the Brontë-esque pseudonym adopted by author Rowan Coleman, sets her series debut during the brief period that Charlotte, Emily, and Anne lived together at Haworth Parsonage, after their studies and periods of employment ended, and before they embarked upon their masterpieces. In 1845 Yorkshire, the trio learn, via rumors heard by their troubled brother, Branwell, that a young wife and mother, Elizabeth Chester, has vanished from home – leaving behind a baby and stepchild and a blood-soaked mess in her bedchamber. The lurid details make it unlikely Mrs Chester could still be alive. Mattie French, a former classmate of Charlotte’s from their dreadful days at the Cowan School, is the Chesters’ governess, whi...

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes, a novel about books, dedication, and female friendship during the Depression years

Books provide people with education and entertainment; they change lives as they introduce different worlds and unfamiliar experiences. During the Depression, the women who transported books in their horses’ saddlebags to isolated Kentucky mountain residents, in all seasons, as part of the WPA’s Pack Horse Library Initiative provided a lifeline of literacy to their audiences. Hearing about this unique job after a dull church service, Alice Van Cleve grows intrigued and immediately volunteers to join. After getting swept off her feet by Bennett Van Cleve, a burly, handsome Kentuckian visiting her native England, Alice feels stifled by the insularity in her new home of Baileyville, a small Appalachian town, and surprised by her new husband’s unexpected aloofness. Alice had never fit in at home, and with her clipped British accent and dislike for frivolous social pursuits, she’s an outsider in Kentucky, too. She finds an unofficial new family with the four other pack-horse librarians, inc...

The Queen's Promise: a panoramic view of the early English Civil War years

Vantrease’s long-awaited return to the historical fiction scene showcases her painstaking attention to characterization and period atmosphere. Opening with a prologue depicting the execution of Charles I’s advisor Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, in 1641, the novel follows a wide array of individuals as tensions between the king and Parliament erupt into civil war. In 1642, Queen Henrietta Maria, detested by England’s people for her extravagances and fervent Catholicism, travels abroad to deliver the 10-year-old Princess Mary to her future husband and convince the Dutch to buy England’s crown jewels. She has promised to help finance her husband’s battles and return to her younger children, but her words may be as empty as those of her husband, who had vowed to save his friend Strafford. Meanwhile, young Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth are quietly taken into the care of Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle—Strafford’s former lover, Henrietta’s sometime friend, and current lover of Par...

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