Top Ten Tuesday – Some of My Favorite Historical Fiction Recommendations
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is a genre freebie so I decided to focus on historical fiction, which has long been one of my favorite genres to read. I’ve heard comments over the years from people saying they don’t want to try historical fiction because to them, it seems like it would be boring. That or they assume that all historical fiction is about WWII. So today I’m sharing a list of fabulous reads that are classified as historical fiction that are FAR from boring, and while several of these novels are, in fact, set during WWII, they either come at it from an unexpected perspective and/or they taught me about some aspect of the war I had never heard about before and they are often inspirational. I highly recommend all of these reads to anyone who either thinks they don’t like historical fiction or anyone who has never read historical fiction and wants to give it a try. (Summaries are taken from Goodreads).
Some of My Favorite Historical Fiction Recommendations
1. CODE NAME SAPPHIRE by Pam Jenoff – A woman must rescue her cousin’s family from a train bound for Auschwitz in this riveting tale of bravery and resistance.
2. THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah – Set in France during WWII, a gripping and emotional story of two sisters, Vianne Mauriac and Isabelle Rossignol, and their struggle to survive and to help others escape from the Nazis as they began targeting Jews, political opponents, and anyone else who got in Hitler’s way.
3. THE LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly – Set during WWII, this is an incredible novel of unsung women and their quest for love, happiness, and second chances. It is a story that will keep readers bonded with the characters, searching for the truth, until the final pages. If you enjoy this book, it is actually the first in a series that follows three generations of remarkable women from the same family. The second book goes back a generation and is set during WWI, while the final book goes back one more and is set during the Civil War.
4. THE FOREST OF THE VANISHING STARS by Kristin Harmel – An evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.
5. DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid – A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up. Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.
6. LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus – Set in the 1960’s, this story follow Elizabeth Zott, a feminist, a chemist and a woman ahead of her time. When a TV producer becomes fascinated by Elizabeth’s unique and quirky, no-nonsense personality, he convinces her to host an afternoon cooking show geared towards housewives, and has no idea what he gets himself into because in true Elizabeth Zott fashion, she turns the show on its end. I really loved what she did with this show and found myself rooting for her every step of the way because what she creates is an environment that educates, celebrates and empowers women, reminding them of their self-worth in what is often a thankless job, that of being a homemaker and raising children.
7. THE ROSE CODE by Kate Quinn – Set during 1940, as England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to the mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes.
8. HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi – Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia’s descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.
9. WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens – For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her. But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens. In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
10. WHEN WE LEFT CUBA by Chanel Cleeton – The Cuban Revolution took everything from sugar heiress Beatriz Perez–her family, her people, her country. Recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro’s inner circle and pulled into the dangerous world of espionage, Beatriz is consumed by her quest for revenge and her desire to reclaim the life she lost. As the Cold War swells like a hurricane over the shores of the Florida Strait, Beatriz is caught between the clash of Cuban American politics and the perils of a forbidden affair with a powerful man driven by ambitions of his own. When the ever-changing tides of history threaten everything she has fought for, she must make a choice between her past and future–but the wrong move could cost Beatriz everything–not just the island she loves, but also the man who has stolen her heart…
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Question: What are some of your favorite historical fiction reads?
Review: ON THE SAVAGE SIDE by Tiffany McDaniel
On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel 
Published by Knopf Publishing Group on February 14, 2023
Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 464
Source: Netgalley
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FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel is not for the faint of heart. Set in an Ohio small town and inspired by the real-life unsolved murders of six women known as the Chillicothe Six, On the Savage Side explores how heroin addiction can rip apart a family and a community and how predators are lurking everywhere, just waiting to snatch up the pieces. It’s both a disturbing and haunting story, probably one of the darkest I’ve ever read.
The story follows Arcade and Daffodil (Arc and Daffy), twin sisters who are born to heroin-addicted parents. As their parents struggle with their addiction, life is pretty rough for the family, and when their dad dies from an overdose when the girls are six years old, things go from bad to worse. The one bright spot in their lives is their beloved grandmother, Mamaw Milkweed, who showers the girls with love and affection and teaches them the lesson that life has both a savage side and a beautiful side and that the key to life is to make the savage side beautiful. Mamaw Milkweed uses the underside of a crochet square she is working on to illustrate her point, tidying up the dangling strings to make both sides of the square beautiful. Arc and Daffy take this message to heart, and using their vivid imaginations, they try to find the beautiful side of every savage thing they witness in their young lives. Some of the loveliest moments of the book are those scenes between the girls and their grandmother, and those moments where the girls are weaving together imaginative stories to try to make life seem a little less horrific.
McDaniel makes it so easy to fall in love with Arc and Daffy and to mourn the loss of their innocence as their mother sinks further and further into her addiction with each passing year, even turning to prostitution to help pay for drugs. It’s absolutely heartbreaking when the girls start to follow in their mother’s footsteps, both in terms of drug use and prostitution. When a serial killer starts dumping the bodies of young women into the local river, the story takes on an even more ominous tone. I loved that Arc makes a vow to keep her sister safe – their bond is another one of the beautiful moments in the book – but at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel like the odds were stacked against them, especially when their town is filled with predatory, sadistic men, any of whom seemed like a likely suspect, and no one in the town seemed all that invested in finding out who the killer is.
The story is filled with twists and turns and I don’t want to give any of those away, so I’m going to pivot from the plot to talk about the writing. This may be one of the darkest stories I’ve ever read, but it’s also one of the most beautifully written. I loved the balance between the beautiful and the ugly moments of the story, and found McDaniel’s storytelling to be truly captivating and downright poetic at times. In particular, there are several chapters sprinkled throughout where the river itself becomes a character in the story, describing the women’s bodies as they are dumped into the water.
Filled with just about every trigger warning imaginable, from drug abuse and sexual abuse all the way to animal cruelty, On the Savage Side won’t be for everyone. But if you like a haunting and emotional read that takes a raw and unflinching look at a dark subject matter, On the Savage Side is a must-read. I know it’s a book I won’t be forgetting about anytime soon.
Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Drift & Find Her
Sharon here with another edition of Thriller Thursday. Both of the books I am reviewing this week take place during a snowstorm and since it is winter and cold here, they were the perfect settings to read while curled up on my couch under a blanket. 🙂 Here are my thoughts on C.J. Tudor’s, The Drift and Sarah A. Denzil’s, Find Her.
The Drift Goodreads Author: C.J. Tudor
Publication Date: January 31, 2023
Publisher: Ballantine Books
C.J. Tudor is a must-read author for me. I have loved every one of her books and her newest book The Drift is no exception. Set in the dystopian future, there is a highly contagious and deadly virus ravaging the world and it is winning, but atop a ski resort is “The Retreat”, a chalet that has been converted into a scientific center that is working on vaccines to combat the virus. The Drift is a story of survival that follows Hannah, Meg, and Carter as they try and survive long enough to reach The Retreat.
This story is told from the POVs of Hannah, Meg, and Carter. Each has their own survival story, all set during a snowstorm. I could not wait to find out how and when their stories would merge. When I found out how they merged, I was blown away! Tudor did an amazing job in laying out these three different settings, all the while keeping me in the dark on the outcome.
Hannah and some of her exclusive boarding school classmates were on their way to The Retreat, to keep them safe as the virus started infecting people at their school, when the bus they were on crashed. Hannah and a handful of others survive the crash, but they are trapped inside with no way to call for help. Even if they do manage to escape the bus, there is a storm raging outside and evil lurks in the woods. To survive they need to work together. I loved Hannah. She was a strong and very smart young woman. Her father is a scientist who is working at The Retreat, but we soon learn that her father is not a loving family man.
Carter works at The Retreat, but the generators have started to act up and with each waver the safe confines of The Retreat are threatened. When we first meet Carter there are only a few people left at The Retreat and the number dwindles quickly as the virus and the evils from the outside world penetrate the walls. I loved Carter as well. He was another strong character. He is not without his faults though and he did some not-so-great things, but the reasons he did what he did make up for it.
When we first meet Meg, she and five others awaken in a cable car suspended high above the ground. At first, they do not know where they are but then they remember they were on their way to The Retreat. As the temperature in the car drops, this group needs to figure a way out before they all die. And yes, I loved Meg too. Meg is a former police officer who lost her daughter to the virus ten years ago. She has had a tough time since her daughter died and I had so much sympathy for her.
Tudor did a great job of creating three separate settings and bringing them and the characters to life. This book had twists and turns that kept making my jaw drop. There were some gruesome and bloody scenes, so if you are squeamish be advised. The Drift is a wild ride of survival, that will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing to an amazing ending. 4 ½ stars
Find Her Goodreads Author: Sarah A. Denzil
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Publisher: Sarah Dalton
I liked the premise of Sarah A. Denzil’s newest book Find Her, an isolated hotel hosting three weddings during a snowstorm on Christmas day, three missing brides and three dead bodies. Yup my type of read and I am happy to say Find Her lived up to the hype I created in my mind.
Lucy is engaged to Henry, whose first wife died after falling down a flight of stairs. His teenage son Jacob does not like Lucy and is looking for any opportunity to get rid of her.
Mila is engaged to Rafael and their life together has been perfect, until his parents started insisting that Mila sign a prenuptial agreement which she is dead set against. Mila has an end game, but her past is starting to catch up to her and her plans need to be altered and fast before anyone finds out who she really is.
Claire is engaged to Adrianna and they cannot wait to get married, but someone is stalking Claire and making both of their lives miserable. Claire served on a jury for a gruesome murder and now someone is sending her photos from the crime scene, and she is sure it is the brother of the man she helped convict.
This book is told from multiple POV’s that lead up to the wedding and also the POV of one of the brides that is missing during the day of the wedding. I think Denzil did a great job of presenting so many views without having things get too complicated. I loved how she was able to bring each character to life and smoothly jump to each POV. Each of the characters had some sort of secret and I loved getting the bits of information on them and then trying to figure out what was going on. I especially liked the chapters from the unknown bride and trying to figure out who she was.
Out of all the characters Mila was my favorite. She was the more complex of them all. I also felt she was the strongest of the brides. I liked Claire and Lucy, but I did think they were a bit whinny at times. Yes, Claire had a psycho stalker after her and Lucy had a weird stepson following her, but I wish they could have been a bit more assertive. I think Mila jumped out at me more because she had more of a mystery to her and I couldn’t wait to find out what her end game was.
I know I didn’t say much of what went on in this book, but I don’t want to give anything away. Find Her starts off as a nice even paced read and by the end of the book the tension and pace picks up to full steam full of twists and turns. 4 stars