Category Archives: Historical Fiction

The Essex Serpent

Posted on 23 May 2020 by Barbara Howe

Early in 1893, new widow Cora Seaborne escapes from London for a quieter life on the Essex shore. She isn’t grieving; her marriage was not a happy one. She is instead enjoying her new freedom to do as she pleases, … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | Leave a comment

Sorcery and Cecelia, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

Posted on 30 August 2019 by Barbara Howe

What do you get when two writers play the Letter Game, in which they take turns telling the story by writing letters to each other in character, with the only rule being that they must never reveal their ideas about … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternate History, Fantasy | Leave a comment

Fingersmith

Posted on 14 October 2018 by Barbara Howe

Fingersmith, Sarah Water’s neo-Victorian crime novel, is the lesbian daughter of Oliver Twist and The Woman in White, fostered by Jane Eyre. Got your attention? There is a romance, between two people who happen to be women, but ‘lesbian’ is … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Mysteries | Leave a comment

Léon and Louise

Posted on 3 June 2018 by Barbara Howe

Léon and Louise, by Alex Capus, is a charming love story, but is not a formulaic romance. The book spans decades and two wars, and the two title characters spend far more time apart than they do together. They meet … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | Leave a comment

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Posted on 5 May 2018 by Barbara Howe

Imagine a world where a human raised by fairies rules three kingdoms: one in Faerie, one in the human realm of northern England, and the third on the far side of Hell. During his three hundred year reign in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternate History, Fantasy | Leave a comment

Year of Wonders

Posted on 3 February 2018 by Barbara Howe

The year is 1665. Bubonic plague is sweeping through London. Further to the north, in Derbyshire, the plague comes to the mining village of Eyam through a delivery of flea-infested cloth. The journeyman tailor sewing the cloth sickens and dies, … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | 1 Comment

The Lymond Chronicles

Posted on 21 October 2017 by Barbara Howe

I had intended to write on a different topic this weekend, but I made the mistake of looking at Facebook, saw this link to an article in The Guardian about Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles, and got derailed. My Georgia Tech roommate … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Mysteries | Leave a comment

An Instance of the Fingerpost

Posted on 25 August 2017 by Barbara Howe

How often do you get to learn a new word just by reading the title of a book? I love historical mysteries, but I was intrigued enough to read An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Iain Pears, just to make … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Mysteries | Leave a comment

Cashelmara

Posted on 16 July 2017 by Barbara Howe

If you love huge multi-generational family sagas, meaty soap operas encompassing love, lust, cruelty, murder, and revenge, Cashelmara by Susan Howatch may be for you. This 700-page novel, covering thirty years and three generations of an aristocratic English family, is … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | Leave a comment

Doomsday Book

Posted on 24 June 2017 by Barbara Howe

Doomsday Book* is a Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning** time-travel novel by Connie Willis. It was published in the 90’s, but I only stumbled across it a few months ago. The plot is straightforward: from the near future (December 2054), a young … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction, Science Fiction | Leave a comment