Popular Asian Historical Fiction Books
Find historical fiction books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (145)
71.
Mama Hissa's Mice by Saud Alsanousi EN
KuwaitDescription:
From the winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction comes an apocalyptic and caustically funny novel about the power of friendship in a war-torn world that NPR calls "rich and resonant." Growing up together in the Surra section of central Kuwait, Katkout, Fahd, and Sadiq share neither ethnic origin nor religious denomination--only friendship and a rage against the unconscionable sectarian divide turning their lives into war-zone rubble. To lay bare the ugly truths, they form the protest group Fuada's Kids. Their righteous transgressions have made them targets of both Sunni and Shi'a ... continue
72.
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie EN
IndiaDescription:
The story of Saleem Sinal, born precisely at midnight, August 15, 1947, the moment India became independent. Saleem's life parallels the history of his nation.
73.
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli EN
PalestineDescription:
Minor Detail begins during the summer of 1949, one year after the war that the Palestinians mourn as the Nakba – the catastrophe that led to the displacement and expulsion of more than 700,000 people – and the Israelis celebrate as the War of Independence. Israeli soldiers capture and rape a young Palestinian woman, and kill and bury her in the sand. Many years later, a woman in Ramallah becomes fascinated to the point of obsession with this ‘minor detail’ of history. A haunting meditation on war, violence and memory, Minor Detail cuts to the heart of the Palestinian ex... continue
74.
ChinaDescription:
From the author of 'The Good Women of China' comes the uplifting story of three sisters who, like so many migrant workers in today's China, leave their peasant community to seek their fortune in the big city.
75.
Night Birds and Other Stories by Khet Mar EN
MyanmarDescription:
Since the age of 19, Khet Mar has been persecuted by the Burmese government enduring arrests, torture, incarcerations, and threats to her life. She fought back through her writing, political activism, and social work until she was forced to flee the country in 2009. Her novel Night Birds was banned in 1993, her nonfiction piece Life Row blacklisted in 2007. The same year, the government censored several paragraphs of Night Flow, highlighted in this book.
76.
Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi EN
Description:
Ninth Building is a fascinating collection of vignettes drawn from Zou Jingzhi's experience growing up during the Cultural Revolution, first as a boy in Beijing and then as a teenager exiled to the countryside. Zou poetically captures a side of the Cultural Revolution that is less talked about--the sheer tedium and waste of young life, as well as the gallows humor that accompanies such desperate situations. Jeremy Tiang's enthralling translation of this important work of fiction was awarded a PEN/Heim Grant.
77.
Paradise of the Blind : A Novel by Thu Huong Duong EN
VietnamDescription:
Paradise of the Blind is an exquisite portrait of three Vietnamese women struggling to survive in a society where subservience to men is expected and Communist corruption crushes every dream. Through the eyes of Hang, a young woman in her twenties who has grown up amidst the slums and intermittent beauty of Hanoi, we come to know the tragedy of her family as land reform rips apart their village. When her uncle Chinh‘s political loyalties replace family devotion, Hang is torn between her mother‘s appalling self–sacrifice and the bitterness of her aunt who can avenge but not forgive. Only by fre... continue
78.
Pather Panchali : Or Song of the Road: a Bengali Novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay EN
Description:
In the idyllic village of the Abode of Contentment, Durga and her little brother, Opu, grow up in a world of woods, orchards and adventure. Nurtured on their aunt's songs and stories, they dream of secret magical lands, forbidden gardens and the distant railroad. The grown-up world of debts, resentment and bone-deep poverty barely touches them. Their parents, Shorbojoya and Horihor, also dream of the railroad, though as the gateway to lands with a better future. But can distance really change destiny? Will the railroad augur a triumphant future for the Roys, or a ballad of fates drastically al... continue
79.
Pinjar: The Skeleton and Other Stories by Amrita Pitam EN
Description:
"The skeleton ... [is] set against the background of religious and clan feuds on the eve of Partition ... That man is a compelling account of a young man born under strange circumstances and abandoned at the altar of God"--Page 4 of cover
80.
Potions and Paper Cranes by Lan Fang EN
IndonesiaDescription:
Sulis is a young woman selling potions in Surabaya's harbor district. She meets Sujono, a coolie with dreams of becoming a freedom fighter, and whose passion for Matsumi, a geisha called to Java by a Japanese general, is destined to ruin all of them. In Potions and Paper Cranes, each tells the story of their lives during the end of World War II and Indonesia's transition from a Dutch colony to an independent republic.