Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Some early 2020 historical novels that caught my attention

Hope you're all coping OK during this odd, unsettling time.  I started writing this post in mid-December last year, having picked out the novels and covers and included them.  Then my schedule got busy and I forgot that I'd never published it. By now, four months later, many of these novels are out in the world, or soon to be, so when I found the draft post, I figured I might as well write up some descriptions and get it out there. The following ten historical novels, which take readers to places and eras not frequently written about, are published in the first half of 2020.  Have you read any?



Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction (UK), this debut novel takes place in Philadelphia, in 1910, as an African American woman named Spring recounts her family's history to her son Edward as he lies in a hospital bed; comparisons have been made to Beloved (see the cover image above). Blackstone, February 2020. [see on Goodreads]


Beyond the Ghetto Gates

Cameron adds to her repertoire of historical novels about lesser-known eras in European Jewish history with this work about a young woman, Mirelle d'Ancona, living in a ghetto in coastal Italy at the time of the French occupation in the late 18th century. Review coming soon.  She Writes, April 2020. [see on Goodreads]



In the aftermath of the bombing of Nanking by the Japanese, a large group of Chinese university students and professors travel across their country, refugees all, while carrying the valuable writings of the book's title (the Library of Legends).  William Morrow, May 2020. [see on Goodreads]



Set amid the Vardø witch trials of 1621 Norway, Hargrave's adult fiction debut centers on two women in this tiny northern fishing village after most of its men are killed in a storm, their unexpected relationship, and their struggle to survive both external and internal forces. Little, Brown, February 2020. [see on Goodreads]


The Henna Artist

A young henna artist pursuing an independent life in 1950s Jaipur, India, eight years after the British left her country, finds her existence in upheaval after her estranged husband and a previously unknown sister track her down. MIRA, March 2020. [see on Goodreads]


Glorious Boy

Readers of WWII fiction set in far-flung locales should take note: Liu's newest novel takes place in India and on a penal colony on the Andaman Islands in 1942, as a family searches for their missing, mute four-year-old son at the height of wartime. Red Hen, May 2020. [see on Goodreads]


Mexican Gothic

As a fan of Gothic fiction, I find this title and cover hard to resist. Set in 1950s Mexico, the story centers on an elegant debutante who discovers sinister secrets at her cousin's mansion.  Del Rey, June 2020. [see on Goodreads]


Beheld

The author's followup to The Wives of Los Alamos is set considerably further back in time: ten years after the Mayflower's landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts, recasting the Pilgrim fathers (and mothers) in a new light in its recounting of a crime that transformed their community. Bloomsbury, March 2020. [see on Goodreads]


A Hundred Suns

I've been hearing positive buzz about Karin Tanabe's newest novel, set in Indochine in the 1930s, and featuring a French heir to the Michelin family, his American wife, their glamorous friends, and dangerous political intrigue. St. Martin's, April 2020. [see on Goodreads]


How Much Of These Hills Is Gold

The protagonists of Zhang's debut novel are two orphaned Chinese siblings during the California Gold Rush years; it's been receiving rave reviews from the New York Times, Washington Post, and elsewhere.  Riverhead, March 2020. [see on Goodreads]

12 comments:

  1. What a stunning collection of reads. Covering so many periods and countries. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's one nice thing about historical fiction, how it can take you to many different places and times. This hadn't been on my mind when I put the list together, but armchair travel is very appealing at a time when actual travel isn't possible.

      Delete
  2. I haven't read any of these yet, but have been hearing about some of them. If I could have two show up on my front porch I'd take "The Library of Legends" and "How Much of These Hills is Gold." Thanks for the list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been tempted to order both of those. I have a bit of free time in the next couple weeks, for a change.

      Delete
  3. These are all new to me! Hadn't even heard of them before!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad the list introduced you to some new books!

      Delete
  4. I'm reading Beyond the Ghetto Gates and enjoying it very much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did too - I finished it a couple of days ago.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous5:34 PM

    The Mercies is a stunner. I wasn't aware of the Vardo Witch Trials (the 17th century was full of them, wasn't it) and this is a gripping tale. Vardo is at the top edge of the world, and there is a memorial to the victims designed by Louise Bourgeois.

    Sarah OL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hadn't heard of them before either, though it's true, witch trials were all over the place in the 17th century. Just looked at a map. It is way up there - and such a small place.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:38 PM

    2020 marks the 400th "anniversary" of the landing of the Mayflower. I've been reading about that period because I have located some ancestors who lived there starting in 1621. Already there are big changes in Plymouth as Winthrop's fleet begins the Great Migration and challenges Plymouth for power and influence.

    Sarah OL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I nearly forgot it was the 400th anniversary, with everything else going on. We used to live not far from Plymouth, and I did genealogy research in the courthouse there, since a few ancestors lived in the county. No Mayflower connections, though.

      Delete