Category: historical fiction

The Lady on Esplanade by Karen White (Mystery / Ghost story)

The third installment (not necessary to read the first two, but they are good!) of the New Orleans-based Nola Trenholm mystery / romance/ dear-departed-spirits series — itself a spinoff from the similar Charleston-based series starring Melanie Trenholm — Nola’s relatively new stepmother. Nola and best friend Jolene (unrelenting fashionista and all-around force-to-be-reckoned-with) tackle two mysteries centered around the haunting spirits of two old houses under renovation: Nola’s Creole cottage (a lovely money sink of renovation needs) and a new house that will be the first project for the Murder Flip Business Nola is starting with reluctant psychic Beau, with whom she has an undesired (from both sides) strangely strong connection. A few new characters, wickedly tangled stories from the past, and a pretty creepy Madame Alexander doll that manages to appear inopportunely where she isn’t wanted without any external help.

The whole series is entertaining — fun writing, plenty of colorful characters and great banter (both inside people’s own heads and in dialog exchanges). The spirit-augmented mysteries are interesting and always somewhat historical, the action well paced and full of humor, and despite the fact that this is book is number ten for me, none of the stories feel repetitive or in any way dull. They grab my interest on page one and continue through the end. For those who enjoy architectural marvels and renovation stories, plenty of that, too. Not my thing but the descriptions never get in my way.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on Nov. 4th, 2025.

Absolution by Alice McDermott

Officer wives stationed in Vietnam at the beginning of the War. I expected garden parties, sucking up to the wives of the senior officers, etc, but instead was thrown into the tumultuous era with confusion, secrecy, courage and multiple complex and interwoven ethical issues — all within the expectations and social mores of the time and place. Tricia is a young wife, married to an up and coming lawyer on loan to Navy intelligence; Charlene is a practiced corporate wife who takes charge with abandon and scoops Tricia up in her personal whirlwind. But the whirlwind is focused on “doing good” in the middle of an environment in which any good is extremely hard to find, and the ethical and socio-political questions that triggers are worth the price of admission to me.

I was so impressed by the descriptions of not only the (exotic) setting, but the interactions between wives and their husbands, other wives, native staff, and the local population. Each character was introduced with real depth, not to mention plenty of opinions. Mc Dermott did a great job of articulating the many different views of the war (at the time) through different mouths — all as perceived by Tricia, the young and naive wife who had never been encouraged to have opinions of her own.

The story was told through the unusual format of three long, saga-length letters between Trish and Charlene’s daughter Rainey (who was quite young when they met in Vietnam). The epistolary format was interesting because Tricia is recalling events from decades before, so there is introspection and retrospection layered on top of the memories. It is full of events, regrets, analysis, and the perspective that comes with time — all masterfully done.

To be honest, the start was quite slow, and I probably would have given up if I hadn’t been reading it for a book club. The topics, while intellectually interesting, were relatively depressing — after all, there is nothing about the Vietnam War that could be considered uplifting or even instructive. Still — beautifully written with an attention to the kind of detail that tells an entire (mini) story with just a sentence or two, and a different perspective and insight into a period of history that added much to my understanding.

The Harvey Girls by Juliette Fay (Historical Fiction)

A warm story of duty, love, friendship, family, and survival set in the 1920s along the Santa Fe Railway lines in the chain of Fred Harvey restaurants. You may have seen the Judy Garland movie by the same name, but if you haven’t, the Harvey restaurants employed young, single, women — paid them good wages (especially for women at that time), held them to high standards of conduct, and offered passengers on the railway a clean, efficient, high quality and safe place to stop for refreshments on what were often very long train journeys.

Charlotte grew up in Boston with wealth and opportunity, but for her the job at Harvey house offered a place of safety where she could hide from a very big mistake; Billie is the eldest of nine, who sets off for the Harvey house at 15 — her six foot tall frame lending credibility to the fiction that she meets the minimum age requirement — to help earn desperately needed money for the family during the slightly less “Great” depression of 1926. With straightforward prose we follow these two dissimilar but each fiercely loyal and tough women, as they interact with an array of engaging, intelligent, and highly ethical characters — taking care of each other in what can only be described as tough times. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what the world was like before social safety nets, penicillin, and women’s rights. There are plenty of historical references that bring the story to life, and quite a bit about how the Harvey houses were run (which I found fascinating). Also, many beautiful descriptions of scenery and quite a bit about Native Americans, with individual characters depicting their status in the area, their way of supporting themselves, and their (quite understandable) attitudes towards tourists.

As an aside, the El Tovar Hotel featured in this story (the Harvey house near the Grand Canyon) is one of only two of the original 84 Harvey houses still in operation today. An easy and compelling read.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 12th, 2025.

Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner — Read by Rupert Graves (Historical Fiction)

An enthusiastic five stars for this marvelously fulfilling piece of historical fiction. The story manages to be both intellectually rich and emotionally pleasing. My perfect blend! In 1865, two daughters of the long-widowed Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice pen a daring request to the only surviving brother of their favorite author — Jane Austen. Meanwhile, two Philadelphia book collectors have similarly engaged with Admiral Austen about Austen memorabilia and editions. On the side, the Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Court have elected to read and discuss the entire Austen oeuvre over the very summer break that sees the four correspondents heading off to England. Their discussions are completely engrossing, putting into dialog multiple well crafted opinions and surprising me with their depth. The story itself takes the reader from Boston, across to the sea to Hampshire, and concludes with a courtroom drama spectacular spanning both countries.

On the surface, this could pleasurably be read as an engaging comedy of manners a la Austen herself, with the delightful development of surprising relationships etc. But under the tip of the romantic iceberg lies the depth, thoroughness, and insight of the literary, political, legal, and economic contexts of the time period. Equality, justice, freedom — these are topics on everyone’s tongues during the post-Civil War recovery period, the still relative newness of the United States, and the current battles in both locations for various forms of women’s rights (including, but not limited to, women’s suffrage). These issues are brought out with a number of different techniques. Those discussing Austen’s works have literary discussions about her characters, their roles, purposes, desires, and life lessons. Women’s rights are addressed (and argued) through a fascinating panoply of laws, Acts, and jurisdictions — exemplified by the situations and experiences of the various characters. It’s obvious to us today (I hope!) that women should have rights equal to those of men, but to hear the completely sensical arguments and rebuttals on both sides of the issue during that time period by people who were not inherently “evil,” was deeply interesting.

I both read and listened to this book. I actually preferred the audio in this case. It slowed me down enough to actually listen to different viewpoints and consider them carefully — I usually read too fast and often miss important details. Rupert Graves is the reader — a wonderful actor with a beautiful reading voice. I learned a lot about Austen’s life and her works (despite the fact that I’ve read each multiple times) and enjoyed a wide array of references from that time period — including Louisa May Alcott who appeared in a delightful cameo role. The cast of characters at the start of the book is quite helpful.

Highly recommended.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on May 6th, 2025.

The Hidden City by Charles Finch (Historical Mystery)

Number 12 in this historical mystery series, but number one for me. Regardless of not knowing the history of the characters I was able to follow the story very well. I would definitely categorize this as a “cozy” as there were no “thrilling” (i.e. terrifying for the reader) scenes to get my anxiety going. Fine by me! Interesting that as a cozy written by a man, there was less filler of the tea parties and gown description types (also fine by me) but plenty of historical detail about the Victorian Age in which the stories are set. This included plenty of social as well as policy / political commentary. I particularly enjoyed the description of various “guilds” (known here as “livery companies”) started in medieval times — all styled as the “Worshipful Company of xxx.” Tickled me. Some good bits on women’s suffrage and the complete injustice of the treatment of London’s “lower classes.” This particular episode felt like more of a novel than a mystery, although there was a mystery obviously (old murders just tied together with a current threat to someone living in the house where one of them occurred). I quite liked the characters and will likely go back to number one and see how things progress!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on November 4th, 2025.

The Eights by Joanna Miller (Historical Fiction)

Historical fiction at its best! Four women are part of the historic 1920 matriculation of women to Oxford — the first in over 1,000 years. Roomed together in “corridor eight,” this is the story of their first year, with several flashbacks to flesh out their personal context. Beatrice Sparks — almost 6 feet tall, daughter of a famous (and vigorous!) suffragette, with an appetite for politics; Marianne Gray — the motherless daughter of an English vicar; Dora Greenwood — beautiful and still grieving for the brother and fiancee who died in the war; and Ottoline Wallace-Kerr — wealthy and at odds with her family’s expectations, who keeps herself calm with mathematics. There are some secrets and some surprises — all quite realistic and perfectly embedded in the well-drawn context of the time. And for the girls, a discovery of unexpected, but deeply felt, friendship.

I say this is historical fiction at its best because it finds the right balance between the extremes of dull, historic, facts and overly sensationalized (and manipulatively emotional) story telling with a minimum of historic accuracy. There are no modern sensibilities sneaking in — but plenty of individual reactions and experiences nestled in the very real context of the day. The country had just emerged from WWI, (some) women had just gotten the vote, and now — Oxford was open to women who wanted to pursue a more intellectual path through life. I loved the many small details that peppered the prose: a new mystery author — Agatha Christie — who was set the challenge to write a novel where it was impossible to guess who did it — and succeeded; the introduction of ouija boards; stories of the Bodlein library and how the rare books were protected during the war; the second wave of influenza; the origin of Chequers (home to Britain’s prime ministers); practice trenches in the countryside; suffragette pennies, etc. A pretty interesting Oxford-style debate on whether or not women should be at Oxford at all. I loved the bits of discussions on various studied subjects. The secondary impact of the war on various people after the war was over was equally interesting — more personal, individualized, and detailed. Philosophical and ethical issues pervaded the experiences because how could they not?

I like historical fiction because, when done well, you learn about what history might have meant to the people who lived through it. The author’s note delineates fact from fiction as well as describes inspirations — with a nice bibliography on relevant sources. Also — there is a glossary at the end that I really wish I had known about before I finished! Plenty of period specific slang was used that I had to constantly look up or guess at. Now you know!

Thank you to G. P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 15th, 2025.

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes (Historical Fiction)

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 5/5 Characters: 5/5

Loved this historical fiction centered in Montana in the early 1900s. Three timelines for three characters that slowly converge: Millie Lang (1936), exiled to Missoula to “fix” the state’s contribution to the depression era American Guide Series, sponsored by the Federal Writers Project of the WPA. Alice Monroe (1924), small town Missoula librarian born to wealth, who works to get more books into more hands via rural visits. Colette Durand (1914), daughter of a Shakespeare loving union organizer for the miners employed by the Anaconda Mining Company.

An excellent cast of supporting characters, lots of action and surprising plot twists, well-researched details of the time period, and plenty of interesting locations (e.g. Glacier National Park, Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lakes, Missoula mining camps) — all vividly brought to life. Lots of literary references, both in terms of very apt quotes and individual books for an assortment of characters and the real impact they had. Really demolished the stereotype of the “lower classes” being uninteresting in learning and mind expansion. She handled themes of vengeance, injustice, and restrictions on and expectations of women adroitly with real reflection on how to know what “doing the right thing” means, and what it might cost. Loved the Boxcar library itself (apparently you can see the Lumberman’s library box car in Fort Missoula — I may take a trip!)

A great read!

Some quotes:

“Everyone had a story, and most people were just trying to get by. They didn’t deserve to become empty vessels to hold other people’s anger and insecurities.“

“So did writers. They saw the extremes in life as appealing – tear courage, fear, and strength, love and hate. They were what made humans human. But Millie didn’t think of herself as a writer. She thought of herself as a journalist. She was there to tell other people’s stories.”

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book was published on March 4th, 2025.

Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite Clayton (Historical Fiction)

I really warmed up to this book — it started off a little slowly and then became more and more intriguing with every chapter, ending with a lovely last line to cap it all off.

Dual timelines — an isolated set of cottages on the beach at Carmel in 1957. During the darkest times of McCarthy’s blacklists and the slow strangulation of Hollywood, a young starlet on the verge of being the next Grace Kelly is sent to wait in one of these cottages by the studio manager and all around fixer. Told to stay indoors and not be seen, she nevertheless meets her neighbor, the enigmatic Leo — a black listed scriptwriter with a haunted past. In 2018 we follow Gemma, whose beloved grandfather has just died and left her his cottage.

The story slowly unfolds, past to present, and while I often thought I knew what was happening, I was often quite wrong. The writing style is rich with thought provoking commentary and reflections. Hollywood — the deals, the norms, the restrictions, the cheats — is on display with all of the detail that I love — not just a description of events, but a description of the people living through those events and how they are changed, what they do to survive, what decisions they make (and sometimes regret, and often don’t). It’s the full experience and incredibly well-researched. I learned a lot about the different ways people dealt with the blacklist and (of course) the very different ways men and women had to deal with opportunities, threats, and restrictions.

Along with this spectacular depiction of the times and contexts is a lovely and often surprising story of love, family, parenthood, and friendship. I don’t want to give anything away, but there are multiple lovely stories of people finding love and family in a world not inclined to make it easy for them. Plenty of stories of people living in an environment not of their choosing and not in their control — and yet … finding their happiness.

Lots of intriguing details on Carmel and Hollywood — late credits for blacklisted screenwriters, a form of “me too” throughout the ages, morals clauses (for women only). I enjoyed every minute of it.

Thank you to Harper and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book was published on July 1st, 2025.

Thus with a Kiss I Die by Christina Dodd (Fiction)

Such a witty, clever, rom-com / adventure story / alternative Shakespearean fan fiction … not sure what to call it but it is thoroughly enjoyable. This is the second book starring Rosaline, the eldest daughter of the very much alive (as explained in book one and reiterated here) Romeo and Juliet. She is a very strong female character — much aware of her expected place in society (the focus on her virtue aka virginity is endlessly irritating), but not terribly affected by it. The Montague home is full of love (and the offspring of love — plenty of children) while Romeo is still one of the best swordsmen in Verona. As the story opens, Rosaline has been tricked into a betrothal with a scarred Prince (don’t let the scarring worry you — he’s a good guy) and while at the castle visiting her betrothed with the whole passel of Montagues, she is treated to a visitation from the Ghost of the murdered King who needs to know the identity of his murderer.

Whip-smart dialog, appealing and saucy characters, a twisted plot, and a pretty decent interleaving of romance, whodunit, and thriller style adventure scenes (featuring parapets!). For those Shakespeare purists who wince at the idea of the mauling of the master, I’ll hasten to say that the Shakespearean characters ring true to their initial depiction, with the only shift being their trickery of death.

Well done and plenty of fun. I look forward to future episodes!

Thank you to A John Scognamiglio Book and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on June 24th, 2025.

The World’s Fair Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini (Women’s / Historical Fiction)

Another installment in Chiaverini’s feel good Elm Creek quilts series. While appearing like basic Women’s Fiction (not really my thing), I like this series for two reasons: I like the characters and the way of life they represent, and I love the “every person history” stories of the featured piece of the past.

This book recalled the 1933 nationwide quilting contest sponsored by Sears Roebuck. With a grand prize take of $1,200 in prizes (remember — this was depression era) and the best quilts to be displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair, it garnered over 25,000 entries. In our time, when you can see / experience anything with a tap on the screen, I enjoyed the excitement and wonder the book made me feel along with a couple of expert (but teenaged) quilters entering the contest. Their thoughts (and designs) on the contest’s theme (“A Century of Progress”) was excellent history and told completely within the context of the time period.

I also like the way the characters in these books tackle life — with strength and fortitude, a network of supporters, and a focus on doing the right thing. There is plenty of adversity (this isn’t a fairy tale) but little complaining, little blaming on past events, and little neuroticism. Kind of refreshing 😉

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 1st, 2025.