Looking for a good book to read over the weekend and want it to be a fiction book? No sweat, here is a great new list of books to help you choose. These books are based on historical fiction. Ever heard of it?
If yes, then great! And if no, then you might be as confused as I was the first time I heard of “historical fiction” books because I was wondering how these two can be included together. The term historical fiction means the books that were set in the past times that are on the fiction side of the schism. This basically means that depicts a storyline from a past situation or place.
Such books are set in an earlier time than that we currently live in. These books may date back to more than at least 50 to 60 years than our current time. And as they tackle some unique issues, these books are quite loved amongst readers. They don’t just provide a nice storyline but some of them provide information on the past time that is depicted in the book.
8 Historical Fiction Books To Pick Up Right Now
1. A Gentleman in Moscow
This book is written by Amor Towles. It is set in the time of 1920s Russia. Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest after being deemed an unrepentant aristocrat via a Bolshevik tribunal. He is restricted access to anywhere but the hotel and being a man of knowledge and wits, he hasn’t ever taken a day off in his life. However, now he has to stay in an attic room as some of the most confusing decades in the history of Russia.
During this time of isolation, he learns to get into his emotions and discover his personal self. This book creates a beautiful picture of this scene and depicts the stages at which the brilliant man tries to unlock himself. He dives into himself, deeper and deeper to the place where he feels connected to his true self.
2. Alias Grace
This book is written by Margaret Attwood. It is set in the time of the 1840s in Canada. This book shows the story of a woman named, Grace Marks, who was convicted for her participation in the vicious killings of her employer along with his mistress and housekeeper. Although most of the people believe that she is involved in those murders and that she is evil or insane but some believe that she is innocent.
Surprisingly, Grace does not have any recollection of these murders and is honoring her sentence. But a group of spiritualists and reformers engage an expert in the field of mental illness. Being a brilliant person, he listens to Grace’s story and tries to get her as close to the day she can’t remember, as much he can. Will he be able to unlock the secrets that lead to proving the innocence of Grace? Read the book to get more information on what happens.
3. Beloved
This book is written by Toni Morrison. It is set in the time of the late 1800s in the United States. Through the medium of this book, the author talks directly about social evils like slavery and tries to serve it to us in a spellbinding form that rocks us to our core. The spirit of the author to look straight into the eyes of such an issue is commendable.
This book is based on a character named Sethe, who was born into slavery and escaped to Ohio but yet she couldn’t be free for eighteen long years. She still has so many beautiful and sweet memories of her “Sweet Home”, she still remembers her beautiful farm where a lot of unpleasant things took place. The new home of Sethe is haunted by the memory of her baby who had to die nameless and had just a single word engraved on his tombstone, “Beloved”.
4. As Meat loves Salt
This book is written by Maria McCann. It is set in the time of the 1600s in England where the English revolution was going on. The nation was falling into the grips of violence and terror due to the religious and political tensions maintained in the country. This is a nice book when it comes to information and tells the beautiful stories going on in the minds of the soldiers.
Jacob Cullen and his accompanying soldiers have a dream to rebuild their lives into a pleasant one when the fighting ends but are shattered by the events of the war. This is an extremely enthralling portrait of England plagued by war and is also a wondrous depiction of a man driven to the edge of madness due to the acts of war. Reading this masterpiece will really inspire any reader.
5. The Book Thief
This book is written by Markus Zusak. It is set in the time period of 1930s Germany. This is the time when Adolf Hitler was Fuhrer or as we can say, the leader and the Nazis were ruling over Germany. Death pounded on a lot of doors and people were terrified to their core during this time. A lot of people died and were executed for no other reason than fascism.
This book is based on the story of a little foster girl who is living outside of Munich named, Liesel Meminger. She used to steal books that she couldn’t resist. Her foster father who likes to play the accordion, taught her how to read and write which is how she could share her stolen books with their neighbors and the Jewish man who was hiding in the basement of their house. This book was cinematized when it achieved a huge following.
6. The Buddha in the Attic
This book is written by Julie Otsuka. It is set in the 1900s U.S. and is a nice book to go through. It was appreciated worldwide for the author’s writing skills. This book tells the story of a group of young women who were brought in to San Francisco, from Japan as “picture brides”, about a century ago. This is one of the most powerful books from this author.
He discusses the extraordinary life of these women, starting from Japan, their journeys by boat to San Francisco which led to their first night as a wife. It discusses their experience of raising children. These children would later be resisting their culture and language at the brink of war. This book will keep the reader spellbound and won’t let go off the reader until he/she finishes this great book.
7. The Dovekeepers
This book is written by Alice Hoffman. It goes back to the times of Ancient Israel. A long time ago, nearly two thousand years, about 900 Jews were held out against the Roman armies for months on a mountain situated in the Judean desert, called Masada. Out of all these people, only two women and five children could make it out of there alive. Due to this horrific event, the author wrote this book in which he presents the stories of four women who reached Masada by choosing a different path.
These four women are Yael, Aziza, Shirah, and Revka namely and have different backstories. Yael couldn’t ever see her mother because she died in childbirth while giving birth to her which is what her father never forgives her for. Aziza is the daughter of a warrior and was raised as a boy, she’s a great marksman and a fearless. Shirah was born in Alexandria and is really wise when it comes to ancient medicines and magic. While Revka was the wife of a baker who witnessed along with his grandsons, the murder of her daughter which has rendered the grandchildren mute and brings them to Masada. Read the book to find out the stories of these inspiring Dovekeepers who do everything in their power to survive through all the chaos in their lives.
8. The Game of Kings
This book is written by Dorothy Dunnett. This book has a setting that dates back to the mid-1500s in Scotland. In this first book of the series, a murderer, nobleman, and traitor, Francis Crawford of Lymond come back to Scotland to redeem his ill-repute and to save his home. The Scottish were humiliated and infuriated in the late 1540s due to the invasion by England.
Although it still remained free, it was quite threatened by the nations that underwent machination. Ironically, the freedom of Scotland depends on the very person who was charged for treason and was accused of bringing shame to his country. This book depicts the character of this brilliant antihero, Francis Crawford and his attempt of trying to redeem his reputation even at the cost of losing his life.
I hope I was able to help you choose the best historical fiction book according to your interest. The books that are included in this are quite nice and are a part of my personal choice, so do give them a read. If the content was helpful, please drop a comment on the post or at least like our post, a little support would go quite a long way. Any sort of criticism is warmly welcome.
