historical fiction Archive

Writ in Water: The Good Fortunes of Peter Ho Davies

Author: | Categories: Authors, Interviews No comments
Peter Ho Davies is the author of two collections, The Ugliest House in the World and Equal Love, and the novel The Welsh Girl. His new novel, The Fortunes, is out this month.

The Past, Living

Author: | Categories: Reading No comments
For a person who loves writing and reading stories that take place in the past, I don’t seem to like the term historical fiction much. It tastes of dust to me. No doubt unfairly, I think of a certain kind of novel when I hear it. You know the

Review: SWEET CARESS by William Boyd

Author: | Categories: Book Reviews, Fiction No comments
Sweet Caress William Boyd Bloomsbury, September 15, 2015 449 pp, $28 Buy here Sweet Caress is the newest novel from the acclaimed William Boyd, author of notable works such as Any Human Heart and A Good Man in Africa. The novel centers on Amory Clay, one of the first

Review: MAYHEM: THREE LIVES OF A WOMAN by Elizabeth Harris

Author: | Categories: Book Reviews, Fiction, Reading No comments
Mayhem: Three Lives of a Woman Elizabeth Harris Gival Press, October 2015 140 pp, $20 Pre-order here In the opening scene of this exquisite first novel by prizewinning short fiction writer Elizabeth Harris, a young farm wife in a black cloche hat and rummage sale dress climbs out of

Remembering Forward: History Reclaimed through Poetry

Author: | Categories: Reading, Series No comments
As sure as our perceptions of history are inherited, they are also incomplete. “History throws its shadow over the beginning,” wrote the poet Richard Siken. “History is a little man in a brown suit / trying to define a room he is outside of. / I know history. There

Do-Overs: Four Strong Female Protagonists

Author: | Categories: Reading, Series No comments
Historical Fiction isn’t just a man’s world. In fact, several recent historical novels have featured, successfully, stories of bold women who defied odds. In April, I moderated a panel of these writers at the LA Times Festival of Books. Their novels are vastly different, but each presents an old story—a