Category Archives: Historical Fiction

The Black God’s Drums

Posted on 24 October 2020 by Barbara Howe

Creeper—who doesn’t want to be called by her real name, Jacqueline—is s 13-year-old living on the streets in New Orleans. She’s an orphan, but she’s not alone; wherever she goes, Oya, the goddess of winds and storms, is with her, … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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