

Review of Rednecks by Taylor Brown
In this mix of fictional and fascinating historical elements, Brown crafts a character-driven story of the shocking, widespread, deadly...
Jun 12, 2024


Review of The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
I was intrigued by the post-World War II repercussions on small-town Minnesota and by the dark secrets coming to light, but found myself...
Apr 18, 2024


Review of The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Katherine Arden, author of the captivating Winternight trilogy, here shares a mysterious, haunting historical fiction story with a...
Apr 9, 2024


Review of The Excitements by C. J. Wray
C. J. Wray's story of elderly British sisters who played key roles in fighting the enemy in World War II offers lots of heart, sassy...
Mar 27, 2024


Review of People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
ICYMI: I love Geraldine Brooks's stories, and I was intrigued by the detail, the meticulous research behind the tale, and the inspiration...
Mar 21, 2024


Review of The Women by Kristin Hannah
Hannah offers a meaty story about Vietnam and the nurses who served there, suffered, and were largely forgotten or denied; this storyline...
Mar 20, 2024


Review of Pope Joan: A Novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Donna Woolfolk Cross offers a fascinating historical fiction tale of a pioneering, headstrong, brilliant figure whose existence has been...
Mar 14, 2024


Review of King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis
The gothic story King Nyx offers haunting imagery, sinister mysteries, unreliable memories, resurfacing past trauma, missing persons,...
Mar 12, 2024


Review of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The mystery bookends feel largely unimportant to the story, the cast of characters sometimes feels endless, and the story meanders, but...
Mar 6, 2024


Review of The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen
Pylväinen's novel explores the cooperation and conflict among cultures in a mid-nineteenth century community in the Arctic Circle,...
Feb 22, 2024


Review of The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
The Whalebone Theatre begins with offbeat children's performances on a lazy, decadent English estate in the 1920s and builds to the...
Feb 21, 2024


Review of Maisie Dobbs (Maisie Dobbs #1) by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs is a formidable, dogged, whip-smart investigator working to ferret out the truth in the aftermath of World War I in this...
Feb 20, 2024


Review of Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
Lex Croucher's queer medieval rom-com--the author's debut young-adult novel--is an absolute gem; it's full of excellent banter and lots...
Feb 13, 2024


Review of Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh
I loved each of the story's two timelines--following a stewardess on board The Titanic as well as a British spy working with the WWII...
Feb 6, 2024


Review of The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
I loved the 1700s wintry Maine setting and the convictions of the historical fiction novel's strong midwife character, based upon a...
Jan 30, 2024


Six More Four-Star Historical Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year
Six More Four-Star Bossy Historical Fiction Reads Historical fiction is one of my very favorite genres to read, and I recently posted...
Jan 26, 2024


Review of The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
Lauren Groff's beautiful and brutal novel The Vaster Wilds follows a young servant girl running from the Jamestown colony's disease and...
Jan 24, 2024


Six Four-Star (and Up) Historical Fiction Reads I Loved Last Year
Six Four-Star (and Up) Bossy Historical Fiction Reads Historical fiction is one of my very favorite genres, and just as I do every year,...
Jan 19, 2024


Review of Lone Women by Victor LaValle
LaValle mixes a Western setting with strong feminist messages, magical realism, haunting elements, and the terrifying, freeing truth in...
Jan 17, 2024


Review of Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
Lisa See offers a vivid peek at the lives of women in 15th century China, complete with a fascinating female-doctor element that kept me...
Jan 11, 2024
