Historical fiction books from Canada
Recommended historical fiction books (20)
Travel the world without leaving your chair.
If you are into historical fiction here are some historical fiction books from Canada for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge.
11.
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
The bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments weaves together strands of gothic suspense, romance, and science fiction into one utterly spellbinding narrative, beginning with the mysterious death of a young woman named Laura Chase in 1945. Decades later, Laura’s sister Iris recounts her memories of their childhood, and of the dramatic deaths that have punctuated their wealthy, eccentric family’s history. Intertwined with Iris’s account are chapters from the scandalous novel that made Laura famous, in which two illicit lovers amuse each other by spinning a tale of a blind kil... continue
12.
The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
The Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home—based on the true story of the British Home Children. 2018 At ninety-seven years old, Winnifred Ellis knows she doesn’t have much time left, and it is almost a relief to realize that once she is gone, the truth about her shameful past will die with her. But when her great-grandson Jamie, the spitting image of her dear late husband, asks about his family tree, Winnifred can’t lie any long... continue
13.
The Girl in His Shadow by Amelia Blake EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
The story of one woman who believed in scientific medicine before the world believed in her Raised by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Horace Croft after losing her parents to a deadly pandemic, the orphan Nora Beady knows little about conventional life. While other young ladies were raised to busy themselves with needlework and watercolors, Nora was trained to perfect her suturing and anatomical illustrations of dissections. Women face dire consequences if caught practicing medicine, but in Croft's private clinic Nora is his most trusted--and secret--assistant. That is until the new surgical residen... continue
14.
The Home for Unwanted Girls : The heart-wrenching, gripping story of a mother-daughter bond that could not be broken – inspired by true events by Joanna Goodman EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
Philomena meets Orphan Train in this suspenseful, provocative novel filled with love, secrets, and deceit—the story of a young unwed mother who is forcibly separated from her daughter at birth and the lengths to which they go to find each other. In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility—much like Maggie Hughes’ parents. Maggie’s English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don’t include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. But Maggie’s heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents f... continue
15.
The Law of Dreams : A Novel by Peter Behrens EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
Driven from the only home he has known during Ireland’s Great Hunger of 1847, Fergus O’Brien makes the harrowing journey from County Clare to America, traveling with bold girls, pearl boys, navvies, and highwaymen. Along the way, Fergus meets his three passionate loves–Phoebe, Luke, and Molly–vivid, unforgettable characters, fresh and willful. Based on Peter Behrens’s own family history, The Law of Dreams is lyrical, emotional, and thoroughly extraordinary–a searing tale of ardent struggle and ultimate perseverance.
16.
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
The troubled relationship between two brothers--Arthur Dunn, the dutiful eldest son, and the mercurial, dangerous Jake--escalates when they are both drawn to a beautiful young woman.
17.
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
A heartrending, gripping novel about two sisters in Belle Époque Paris and the young woman forever immortalized as muse for Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. 1878 Paris. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventeen francs a week, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister,... continue
18.
The Surgeon's Daughter : A Novel by Audrey Blake EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
Women's work is a matter of life and death Nora Beady, the only female student at a prestigious medical school in Bologna, is a rarity. In the 19th century women are expected to remain at home and raise children, so her unconventional, indelicate ambitions to become a licensed surgeon offend the men around her. Under constant scrutiny, Nora's successes are taken for granted; her mistakes used as proof that women aren't suited to the field. Everything changes when she allies herself with Magdalena Morenco, the sole female doctor on-staff. Together the two women develop new techniques to improve... continue
19.
Water for Elephants : A Novel by Sara Gruen EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
Ninety-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski remembers his time in the circus as a young man during the Great Depression, and his friendship with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and Rosie, the elephant, who gave them hope. Reader's Guide included. Reprint.
20.
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
Shortlisted for the 2017 OLSN Northern Lit Award An Ojibwe boy runs away from a North Ontario Indian School, not realizing just how far away home is. Along the way he's followed by Manitous, spirits of the forest who comment on his plight, cajoling, taunting, and ultimately offering him a type of comfort on his difficult journey back to the place he was so brutally removed from. Written by Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning author Joseph Boyden and beautifully illustrated by acclaimed artist Kent Monkman, Wenjack is a powerful and poignant look into the world of a residential school runaway tryin... continue