Reading the Past
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About Me

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Sarah Johnson
Collection management librarian, readers' advisor, avid historical fiction reader, NBCC member. Book review editor for the Historical Novels Review and Booklist reviewer. Recipient of ALA's Louis Shores Award for book reviewing (2012). Blogging since 2006.
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Sunday, July 12, 2026

A preview of fall 2026 in historical fiction

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Fall is the big season in book publishing, and when it comes to historical fiction, readers have much to look forward to. This is the lates...
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Wednesday, July 01, 2026

A family full of stories: Those Are Pearls by André Narbonne

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One can’t help but feel for Harry Short, the initial protagonist of AndrĂ© Narbonne’s trim yet sweeping historical tale. He can’t catch a bre...
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Monday, June 22, 2026

A portrait of women's choices, cultural assimilation, and generational differences (plus other historical fiction news)

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Vivian Jacobson is beyond overwhelmed. The children of Russian Jewish immigrants, she and her loving husband, Mel, moved from Chicago with t...
Monday, June 15, 2026

Sylvia Plath in the English countryside: Helen Bain's innovative debut, The Daffodil Days

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The Daffodil Days , Helen Bain’s debut, can be read on different levels.  It's a multi-angled portrait of the small English town of Nort...
Sunday, June 07, 2026

Titanic fiction for the non-obsessed: The Lost Passenger

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Over a century since it sank in the icy North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912, readers remain fascinated by the Titanic , seek...
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Saturday, May 30, 2026

Dazzle and deception in Prohibition-era Detroit: A Fortune of Sand (plus other recent reads)

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One expects some level of eccentricity from the ultra-wealthy, yet Marjorie Lennox’s family sits in a class by itself. In 1927, at their man...
Sunday, May 17, 2026

The glamorous Gabor sisters and their survival stories: Run, Darling, by Karen Essex

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Through their novels, authors can unearth obscure figures from the past and draw the public eye toward their interesting lives. They can als...
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