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The close friendship and clandestine romantic relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and AP reporter Lorena Hickok, which spans thirty years. Albert's previous biographical novel, A Wilder Rose, was one of my favorites of 2013. Persevero Press, February 2016.
A literary love story set during the last year of the Civil War, featuring a young Irishman and a woman from the South who travel across the ravaged landscape of Georgia, fleeing bounty hunters. It's being mentioned in the same breath as Cold Mountain. St. Martin's, January 2016.
The story of a pioneer family in frontier Ohio at the time of Johnny Appleseed; Chevalier's second American-set historical novel after The Last Runaway. Viking, March 2016.
An epic about Martha "Patsy" Jefferson, oldest daughter of one of the Founding Fathers, and guardian of his controversial legacy. William Morrow, March 2016.
This sequel to The Kitchen House, a favorite read of mine from five years ago, is also a standalone novel that begins in Virginia in 1830, and features a young man passing as white whose secret threatens to be revealed. Simon & Schuster, April 2016.
The setting of Harrigan's newest historical novel sits close to home for me: Springfield, Illinois, in the 1830s and '40s, as a young Abraham Lincoln comes into his own. Knopf, February 2016.
How much did Mary Surratt know about the plans for Lincoln's assassination? Susan Higginbotham's first novel set in the U.S. examines her story, basing her novel on primary sources. Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2016.
Hoover's second novel, following The Quickening, is likewise set in the U.S. Midwest, and deals with the aftermath of the mysterious disappearance of two German-American sisters during the WWI years. Black Cat, March 2016.
Re-introducing a girl formerly held captive by the Kiowa to white culture proves a traumatic experience, as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd discovers when he's asked to transport her to relatives in post-Civil War Texas. William Morrow, April 2016.
The close friendship between Isabella Stewart Gardner, society doyenne in Gilded Age Boston, and noted painter John Singer Sargent. Harper, July 2016.
The story of an African-American musician, from his birth in WWI-era Georgia to his musical career in Harlem, his travels overseas, and his imprisonment with his best friend in Buchenwald. The author's website says the main character, Harlan, is based on her paternal grandfather. Akashic, May 2016.
Known for her lively epics spanning centuries of Texas life, Meacham offers a new 600-page novel centering on a wealthy heiress and a farm boy whose destinies intertwine in early 20th-century Texas. Grand Central, April 2016.
The story of two women's friendship in Golden Age Hollywood, and their adventures and desires in a glittering world where dreams can come true or falter. NAL, January 2016.
A woman seeking to reinvent herself in the raw, ambitious world of miners and fortune-seekers in 1898 Alaska finds her past catching up with her. She Writes Press, May 2016.
The latest in Thorland's Renegades of the Revolution series brings readers to New York in 1778, and to a young woman of Dutch extraction who takes the side of the rebels. NAL, March 2016.
These all sound really good. I'm currently reading an ARC of Stars Over Sunset Boulevard.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to it. The last novel I read of hers was A Sound Among the Trees, so it's been a while, but I remember enjoying it.
DeleteIt's great to hear that historical fiction set in America is growing. It's also heartening to see so many 19th/early 20th century settings in this book list. It doesn't really surprise me, though, since this was a very fertile time in American history when there were so many fascinating changes in the country that set the groundwork for so much of what the American experience is today (so it relates back to readers on that level too). I'm prejudice, though, since my books are set in America during these time periods :-D.
ReplyDeleteTam
You are absolutely right. I've always loved studying the time after the Civil War in American history, and my WIP is set at the turn of the 20th century. Of course it would be :).
DeleteI think the later time periods (19th and 20th centuries) are the most prevalent because they're so well-known and, as you said, there were many defining events from the time that still resonate. One of my other favorites is the colonial era, likely because I grew up in New England and saw artifacts from colonial history all around me.
DeleteBest of luck with your writing!
Awesome list! Can't wait for these, especially the Meacham novel!
ReplyDeleteSame here. I haven't read her later novels but enjoyed Roses very much.
DeleteHave you read the historical novels of Janice Woods Windle? I wish she was still writing. They're even better, imho. :)
Thanks for the preview!
ReplyDeleteThese lists are fun to put together - I kept finding more titles to include.
DeleteI am extraordinarily dubious about the Patsy Jefferson book, for many, many historical reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe one with Mrs. Gardner and Sargent though, that book is going to be on my pile!
Your skepticism about the Patsy Jefferson book doesn't surprise me. I'm curious about it; one of the authors (Kamoie) has a doctorate in early American history, and the novels by the other author (Dray) that I've read have been well done. I don't expect it will skirt difficult issues or present all of her actions in a flattering light.
DeleteThe Gardner-Sargent novel looks like a different take on the usual art & artist novel. Plus, it's set in historical Boston, and I'm always up for that!
Many of these sound terrific. I was especially drawn to Bottomland and Harlan. And was delighted to see the latter is being published by Akashic Books.
ReplyDeleteI think Barbara Taylor's new book from Akashic/Kaylie Jones Books is coming out next year also (you may know better than me!). Another to look forward to. I'm eager to catch up with the characters.
DeleteI'm excited to see that Chevalier has a second historical coming out. I wanted to mention that my first Quaker Midwife mystery, DELIVERING THE TRUTH, releases in April (Midnight Ink), and is set in an 1888 Masschussetts mill town. John Greenleaf Whittier is a supporting character.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Edith! What a great setting and concept.
DeleteThanks! I'm very excited about it - and many others appear to be, too.
DeleteI read an ARC of Lazaretto by Diane McKinney-Whetstone a month ago. It's really good. Set in 1890s-1910s Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteBlurb: Diane McKinney-Whetstone’s nationally bestselling novel, Tumbling, immersed us into Philadelphia’s black community during the Civil Rights era, and she returns to the city in this new historical novel about a cast of nineteenth-century characters whose colorful lives intersect at the legendary Lazaretto—America’s first quarantine hospital.
Isolated on an island where two rivers meet, the Lazaretto quarantine hospital is the first stop for immigrants who wish to begin new lives in Philadelphia. The Lazaretto’s black live-in staff forge a strong social community, and when one of them receives permission to get married on the island the mood is one of celebration, particularly since the white staff—save the opium-addicted doctor—are given leave for the weekend. On the eve of the ceremony, a gunshot rings out across the river. A white man has fired at a boat carrying the couple’s friends and family to the island, and the captain is injured. His life lies in the hands of Sylvia, the Lazaretto’s head nurse, who is shocked to realize she knows the patient.
Intertwined with the drama unfolding at the Lazaretto are the fates of orphan brothers. When one brother commits a crime to protect the other, he imperils both of their lives—and the consequences ultimately deliver both of them to the Lazaretto.
In this masterful work of historical fiction, Diane McKinney-Whetstone seamlessly transports us to Philadelphia in the aftermath of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination, beautifully evoking powerful stories of love, friendship and humanity amid the vibrant black community that flourished amid the troubled times.
Thanks, Evangeline! I actually have it as an e-galley on my Kindle, too, but haven't read it yet. Maybe because of the title (and not being familiar with the Lazaretto hospital in Philly) I had it in my mind that it was set in Italy during wartime. I appreciate the blurb and recommendation!
DeleteNeat list. Getting excited that I'll see Tracy Chevalier in Oxford next September.
ReplyDeleteI write both turn of the century and mid 19 century novels, but set in the Pacific NW. It's definitely an interesting time to write about. Post WW II is beginning to intrigue.
I'll be reviewing At the Edge of the Orchard in the near future and am looking forward to starting it. It's been too long since I've read one of her books. I'll be in Oxford too.
DeleteI like the Pacific NW as a historical setting. Best of luck with your writing!
Hello Sarah Johnson. I just wanted to say thank you for including my book in your roundup. Very kind of you. Mary Burns alerted me to it.
ReplyDeleteHi William, my pleasure, and thanks for stopping by. I look forward to hearing more about your novel. Given the subject, I should have guessed that Mary would know of it! That's great that she let you know I'd included it.
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