Historical fiction genre books (1111)


821.

The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine EN

Rating: 4 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Lebanon flag Lebanon
Description:
“Here is absolute beauty. One of the finest novels I’ve read in years.” —Junot Diaz An astonishingly inventive, wonderfully exuberant novel that takes us from the shimmering dunes of ancient Egypt to the war-torn streets of twenty-first-century Lebanon. In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father’s deathbed. The city is a shell of the Beirut Osama remembers, but he and his friends and family take solace in the things that have always sustained them: gossip, laughter, and, above all, stories. Osama’s grandfather was a hakawati, or storyte... continue

822.

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Germany flag Germany
Description:
After a local midwife is accused of being a witch and murdering an orphan in the 17th century, Bavarian Hangman Jakob Kuisl and his daughter, Magdalena, believe that midwife is innocent and seek out the true killer, despite Jakob being charged with torturing a confession out of the accused woman. Reissue.

823.

The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Asia / Malaysia flag Malaysia
Description:
Joseph Conrad, W. Somerset Maugham, and Anthony Burgess have shaped our perceptions of Malaysia. In Tash Aw, we now have an authentic Malaysian voice that remaps this literary landscape. The Harmony Silk Factory traces the story of textile merchant Johnny Lim, a Chinese peasant living in British Malaya in the first half of the twentieth century. Johnny's factory is the most impressive structure in the region, and to the inhabitants of the Kinta Valley Johnny is a hero—a Communist who fought the Japanese when they invaded, ready to sacrifice his life for the welfare of his people. But to his so... continue

824.

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne EN

Rating: 5 (5 votes)
Country: Europe / Ireland flag Ireland
Description:
Named Book of the Month Club's Book of the Year, 2017 Selected one of New York Times Readers’ Favorite Books of 2017 Winner of the 2018 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, a sweeping, heartfelt saga about the course of one man's life, beginning and ending in post-war Ireland Cyril Avery is not a real Avery -- or at least, that's what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn't a real Avery, then who is he? Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and ... continue

825.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store : A Novel by James McBride EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Description:
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR/FRESH AIR, WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORKER, AND TIME MAGAZINE ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023 “A murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel . . . Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing.” —Danez Smith, The New York Times Book Review “We all need—we all deserve—this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick D... continue

826.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Description:
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel and basis for the Academy Award-winning film—a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t—nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a... continue

827.

The Helsingør Sewing Club by Ella Gyland EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Denmark flag Denmark
Description:
Inspired by the incredible true story of how the people of Denmark saved their Jewish neighbours during WW2

828.

The History of Bees by Maja Lunde EN

Rating: 4 (2 votes)
Country: Europe / Norway flag Norway
Description:
"In the spirit of Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go, this ... literary debut follows three generations of beekeepers from the past, present, and future, weaving a ... story of their relationship to the bees--and to their children and one another--against the backdrop of an urgent, global crisis"--

829.

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

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
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

830.

The Hotel Tito : A Novel by Ivana Bodrožić EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Croatia flag Croatia
Description:
Winner of the Prix Ulysse for best debut novel in France Winner in Croatia and the Balkan region of the Kočićevo Pero Award, the Josip and Ivan Kozarac Award, and the Kiklop Award for the best work of fiction When the Croatian War of Independence breaks out in her hometown of Vukovar in the summer of 1991 she is nine years old, nestled within the embrace of family with her father, mother, and older brother. She is sent to a seaside vacation to be far from the hostilities. Meanwhile, her father has disappeared while fighting with the Croatian forces. By the time she returns at summer’s end ever... continue