A Canadian historical fiction showcase, part 4

Over the last few years, I've been posting galleries of new and forthcoming novels from Canadian authors and presses.  This is the fourth entry in this series; for earlier Canadian releases (2010-12), see the first, second, and third installments.  Based on past experience, approximately half of these novels will also be published in the US simultaneously or at a later time.  Of course, I frequently buy them from Amazon.ca before I know about their US publication, which means I spend way too much on postage!



In this historical mystery set in Renaissance Rome, one of Michelangelo's houseboys sees the body of a golden-haired prostitute pulled from the Tiber and gets drawn into a quest to discover who killed her.  The authors' previous historical novels include The Sidewalk Artist and Ciao Bella (both of which are available in the US).  HarperCollins Canada, April 2013. [see on Goodreads]



Song Leiyin, who has become a ghost following her untimely death, looks back on her life in 1920s China, during the country's civil war, when she defied her father in order to capture the heart of a left-wing poet... and paid the price. With its glimpses of the Chinese afterlife and depictions of quirky family antics, I expect it will reach the same eager audience as Yangsze Choo's new and popular The Ghost Bride. HarperCollins Canada, August 2013; also William Morrow in the US, February 2014. [see on Goodreads: Canadian edition, US edition]



A Jewish young man comes of age in Depression-era Toronto, learning about the magician's art and the mysteries of love.  The publisher calls it "a small-scale The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay," and reviewers speak of its detailed evocation of 1930s Toronto life.  House of Anansi, August 2013. [see on Goodreads]



A literary novel about love, big-band jazz, deception, family heritage, and the politics of race, beginning in WWII Newfoundland and moving to 1950s Toronto.  There's been lots of positive buzz about this one in the Canadian press.  Doubleday Canada, July 2013. [see on Goodreads]



Sandra Gulland's long-awaited fifth novel takes place at the glittering court at Versailles in the mid-17th century and focuses on a lesser-known historical figure, Claude des Oeillets (here called Claudette), who falls into the orbit of Louis XIV's mistress, Athenais de Montespan, during the infamous Affair of the Poisons.  HarperCollins Canada, March 2014; also Doubleday US, March. [see on Goodreads: Canadian edition not listed yet, US edition]



A somber mystery with Irish roots, set along Lake Ontario in 1847, the time of the potato famine in Ireland.  It centers on the death of a man whose body conceals a green ribbon, coincidentally (or probably not) the same artifact found on the body of a patient who died of ship's fever at a Kingston hospital.  Dundurn, July 2013. [see on Goodreads]



A literary novel about early 20th-century family life in a fictional northern Ontario town.  Lawson has previously written the internationally acclaimed Crow Lake and The Other Side of the Bridge, which made it to the Booker longlist.  Knopf Canada, November 2013. [see on Goodreads]



In the early 20th century, Moira Burns, a native of Newfoundland, is banished to the stark prairies of southern Saskatchewan, where she becomes the housekeeper – and maybe also the mistress – of an Irish Catholic homesteader. For those not familiar with the title's meaning, the publisher has: "Housekeeper or whore? A dollybird is either or both in the vocabulary of the prairie west in 1906."  What a beautiful, evocative cover.  Coteau, July 2013. [see on Goodreads]



A subtly atmospheric historical novel and ghost story set in New York in 1893, surrounding the alleged talents of the Fox sisters, the originators of the 19th-century Spiritualist movement.  Maggie Fox, the only one of the trio still in the world of the living, reveals their secrets to her physician, Mrs. Mellon, but is she telling the truth?  My copy arrived two weeks ago, along with Muse, below.  Doubleday Canada, May 2013. [see on Goodreads]



Mary Novik set a high standard with Conceit, her stunning novel about John and Ann Donne and their daughter Pegge in 17th-century London (my review here), so I've been eagerly awaiting her second book.  Muse travels further back in time to 14th-century Avignon, then the home of the papacy, to imagine the life of the woman who may have inspired Petrarch's poems. Doubleday Canada, August 2013.  [see on Goodreads]



Roberta Rich's The Midwife of Venice is a diverting romp that sheds light on the plight of Jewish women in Renaissance Venice (my review here).  This sequel will follow Hannah Levi, the midwife of the title, and her husband Isaac as they run up against more suspenseful adventures in 16th-century Constantinople.  Hannah faces another moral dilemma when an unwilling would-be concubine of the sultan asks for her help.  Doubleday Canada, October 2013; also Gallery in the US, February 2014. [see on Goodreads: Canadian edition, US edition]



The Winter Palace told the story of Catherine the Great's rise to absolute power through the eyes of Varvara, her servant and spy (I thought it was brilliant; my review from Booklist here).  Empress of the Night is the followup, but not quite a sequel, as it reveals the continuation of Catherine's story – her loves, accomplishments, and power plays – from her own viewpoint.  Doubleday Canada, March 2014; also Bantam, April 2014. [see on Goodreads: Canadian edition, US edition]



Last in this list alphabetically but definitely not least in my view, Local Customs is grounded in the real-life mystery of a London couple who traveled to West Africa in 1838; eight weeks later, the wife, Letitia Maclean, was dead of a medication overdose, although her physician denied having prescribed it for her.  The cover is unique, and I like it a lot.  Dundurn, February 2014. [see on Goodreads]