Historical fiction genre books (53)


1.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak EN

Rating: 4     22 Votes
Country: Asia / Turkey flag Turkey
Description:
'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore. Her brain cells, having run out of blood, were now completely deprived of oxygen. But they did not shut down. Not right away . . . ' Our brains stay active for ten minutes after our heart stops beating. For Tequila Leila, each minute brings with it a new memory- growing up with her father and his two wives in a grand old house in a quiet Turkish town; watching the women gossip and wax their legs while the men went to mosque; sneaking cigarettes and Wes... continue
Recommended: 27 Jun 2022

2.

A Passage North by Anuk Audpragasam EN

Rating: 3     1 Vote
Country: Asia / Sri Lanka flag Sri Lanka
Description:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021 It begins with a message: a telephone call informing Krishan that his grandmother''s former care-giver, Rani, has died in unexpected circumstances, at the bottom of a well in her village in the north, her neck broken by the fall. The news arrives on the heels of an email from Anjum, an activist he fell in love with four years earlier while living in Delhi, bringing with it the stirring of distant memories and desires. As Krishan makes the long journey by train from Colombo into the war-torn Northern Province for the funeral, so begins a passage into the so... continue
Recommended: 01 Nov 2022

3.
A Strangeness in My Mind

A strangeness in my mind by Orhan Pamuk EN

Rating: 4     1 Vote
Country: Asia / Turkey flag Turkey
Description:
At a family wedding Mevlut catches sight of a girl with whom he falls in love. After a secret courtship of letters passed via his cousin, she agrees to elope with him, and on a dark night the two come together for the first time. As they rush to catch a train to Istanbul, Mevlut realises he has been misled. But the die is cast, and the situation will determine the rest of his days. Over the next four decades in Istanbul, Mevlut works various jobs to support his loving wife and family; work that gives him a special perspective on his rapidly changing city and the people who live there. And ever... continue
Recommended: 02 Jan 2023

4.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini EN

Rating: 4     808 Votes
Country: Asia / Afghanistan flag Afghanistan
Description:
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, the #1 New York Times bestseller A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. “Just as good, if not better, than Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling first book, The Kite Runner.”—Newsweek Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today. Born a generation apart a... continue

5.

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers : Stories by Yiyun Li EN

Rating: 4     11 Votes
Country: Asia / China flag China
Description:
Brilliant and original, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers introduces a remarkable new writer whose breathtaking stories are set in China and among Chinese Americans in the United States. In this rich, astonishing collection, Yiyun Li illuminates how mythology, politics, history, and culture intersect with personality to create fate. From the bustling heart of Beijing, to a fast-food restaurant in Chicago, to the barren expanse of Inner Mongolia, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers reveals worlds both foreign and familiar, with heartbreaking honesty and in beautiful prose. “Immortality,” winner of ... continue
Recommended: 09 Apr 2022

6.
An Unnecessary Woman

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine EN

Rating: 4     41 Votes
Country: Asia / Lebanon flag Lebanon
Description:
An obsessive introvert in Beirut, eschewed by her family and neighbors for her divorced status and lack of religious reverence, quietly translates favorite books into Arabic while struggling with her aging body until an unthinkable disaster threatens what little life remains to her. By the best-selling author of The Hakawati. 20,000 first printing.
Recommended: 20 Dec 2022

7.

And the Mountains Echoed : A Novel by Khaled Hosseini EN

Rating: 4.2     10 Votes
Country: Asia / Afghanistan flag Afghanistan
Description:
An unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else. Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those clo... continue

8.

At the Breakfast Table by Defne Suman EN

0 Ratings
Country: Asia / Turkey flag Turkey
Description:
Told from four different perspectives, At the Breakfast Table is a story of hidden histories and family secrets, revealing the psychological consequences of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
Recommended: 31 Oct 2022

9.
Babel

Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang EN

Rating: 3.8     12 Votes
Country: Asia / China flag China
Description:
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford Univer... continue

10.

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Sijie Dai EN

Rating: 3.5     119 Votes
Country: Asia / China flag China
Description:
New York Times Bestseller Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is an enchanting tale that captures the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. An immediate international bestseller, it tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China’s infamous Cultural Revolution. There the two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surrou... continue
Recommended: 09 Apr 2022


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