i’ve really enjoyed learning about world history by reading fiction books set during a particular time period. for example, i loved clear by carys davies which was about the clearing of the scottish highlands in the 1840s. something i never knew about! does anyone have any recommendations of fiction books that are ‘dropped in’ to a particular historical moment outside of the US?
by gerlgirl
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
City of Thieves
Unbroken
“The Gates of the Alamo” by Stephen Harrigan
It’s about the coming of age of a young man and the love story between his mom & a botanist set during the Texas Revolution.
The three of them find themselves in the Alamo during the siege & subsequent battle. It’s historically accurate in terms of the Texas Revolution.
“Hadrian’s Wall” by William Dietrich is about a Roman woman sent to Roman Britain to marry a commander on the Wall. She’s kidnapped by the “barbaric” natives and taken beyond the Wall where she finds a new life.
The Scarlet Pimpernel!
Salt to the Sea
In Memoriam by Alice Winn it’s my favorite. It’s set in the English countryside. Beautiful details.
The Domesday Book by Connie Willis
A Tale of Two Cities
The Marriage of Opposites- Alice Hoffman was the first one I thought of. It’s set in the 1800s on Charlotte-Amalia and in France and is centered around Jewish immigrants and native Caribbean residents.
Killer Angels : a novel of the Civil War
Blackout/All Clear, by Connie Willis
– set in and around London during the blitz etc.. all about the home front…
Kate Heartfield has a couple of great historical novels where “weird things happen”, as she puts it: “The Tapestry of Time” is her latest, set in WWII, and “The Embroidered Book”, set in the years before the French Revolution.
The Night Traveler by Armando Correa begins in Germany in the lead up to WWII and then in Cuba for the revolution.
33 Place Brugmann by Alice Austen in Brussels before WWII.
*Under the Frog* by Tibor Fischer. Takes place in communist Hungary between WWII and the 1956 uprising. Darkly and absurdly funny, but also very moving and heartfelt, with lots of memorable characters, scenes, and lines.