Historical fiction has enjoyed a “surge” in popularity in recent years, with an array of books “vividly” transporting readers to “bygone eras”, said Forbes. Here are some of the most compelling works of the year so far.
The Pretender by Jo Harkin
Harkin’s latest novel is “loosely” based on the real life of Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the throne of England used by Yorkist supporters to challenge the newly established reign of Henry VII, said Antonia Senior in The Times. The innocent young peasant boy’s life is “upended” when a “shifty” aristocrat arrives to carry him away to a new life. “At turns funny, moving, filthy and original”, it’s an “absolute delight” – and a “frontrunner” for the best historical fiction book of the year.
The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian
This compelling tale is inspired by the true story of a gravely wounded Vermont captain in the Civil War whose life is saved by a Confederate woman amid the “shifting” battle lines in the Shenandoah Valley, said Alida Becker in The New York Times. Bohjalian wrote a magazine article on the subject back in 2003; now he has returned to it adding his own “imaginative twists” to the fascinating historical material.
A Merciful Sea by Katie Daysh
In this final instalment of Daysh’s trilogy, it’s 1805 and Captain Hiram Nightingale has been discharged from the navy and is missing life at sea, said Senior in The Times. When he begins receiving “threatening” notes that could expose his “clandestine” relationship with his lover, Lieutenant Arthur Courtney, to a “hostile” world, he vows to find out who is responsible. But while investigating, he is also drawn into plans to protect Britain’s shores from a French invasion. It’s a “fitting end” to a “wonderful trilogy”.
The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn
Quinn’s third novel follows the story of Elinor Coombes, an “unhappily married” British aristocrat who survives the sinking of the Titanic, and starts a fresh life with her infant son in New York, said Kat Trigarszky in The Washington Post. But the city turns out to be a place where “secrets and lies all too easily come bubbling to the surface”. Quinn “skilfully contrasts the claustrophobic world of Britain’s upper classes” with the chaos of New York in the early 20th century – her book makes for a gripping read.
The Eights by Joanna Miller
Miller’s debut novel is set in 1920 – the “pivotal” year when Oxford University began awarding degrees to women, said Trigarszky in The Washington Post. The action charts the progress of four “equally compelling” young women living on Corridor Eight of St. Hugh’s College as they navigate the university’s “archaic rules” and life alongside their “misogynistic” peers. Each is “hampered by pasts that loom over their present – and threaten to overshadow their futures”.
Perspectives by Laurent Binet
Set in Renaissance Florence, Binet’s latest novel begins with a murder. Fresco painter Jacopo da Pontormo has been “stabbed to death” with a chisel in the chapel he has been painting for over 10 years, said Vulture. His brutal slaying is a mystery, though it could have something to do with his scandalous works, or a “rivalry” with a fellow artist. Filled with characters who “gossip, flatter and scheme wildly”, Binet’s epistolary novel makes for an “extremely fun” read.
Let these compelling tales whisk you away to another century
