Summary In 1739, 16-year-old Eliza Lucas’ father leaves her in charge of three plantations in South Carolina while he goes to Antigua to advance his military career. Eliza, who has a passion for botany, decides to try to grow indigo to better her family’s finances. However, extracting the dye from the plant is not a simple process, and she needs help which is hard to get when men don’t take…
Category: Historical Fiction
Diann Ducharme
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The Outer Banks Trilogy – Diann Ducharme
Summary In 1868, Abigail Sinclair, the 17-year-old daughter of a plantation owner, arrives in the Outer Banks to spend the summer by the ocean with her family. Her father, Nolan, spends time with a local young fisherman, Benjamin Whimble, who helps him find the best places to hunt and fish. Eventually, Abigail is asked to teach Ben how to read and write. A friendship blossoms between the two young people,…
Historical Fiction
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Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
This historical fiction tells the story of 5 families in different parts of the world: Wales, England, Russia, America and Germany. It takes place before, during and right after World War I. Ethel and Billy Williams are siblings in the poor mining town of Aberowen, and they want to make a better life for themselves. Earl and Maud Fitzherbert are brother and sister in the English aristocracy but they don’t agree on…
David Lawrence-Young
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Catherine Howard by David Lawrence-Young
I have always been fascinated by Henry VIII and his six wives. In fact, I have read several books on the subject. Catherine Howard: Henry’s Fifth Failure is the story of the king’s penultimate wife, from her birth to her death. She spent her childhood and teenage years with her step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. She was raised with other young nobility, and they could do pretty much what they wanted,…
Emma Donoghue
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Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
It is the end of summer 1876, and San Francisco has been struck by a heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Jenny Bonnet, a frog-hunting woman dressed in men’s clothes, is riding her bicycle when she collides with Blanche Beunon, a burlesque dancer and prostitute. This is the start of an unexpected friendship that will end a month later when Jenny is shot dead in a saloon at San Miguel Station. Blanche is…
Alice Walker
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Top 10 Historical Fiction
One of my favorite literary genre is historical fiction. I have read quite a lot in recent years, and I thought I would share with you my top 10 favorites. Of course, I haven’t read all historical fiction available out there, so there might be great books that would deserve to be on this top 10 list. That’s why I will update this list from time to time. When I…