Historical Fiction

The Sisters Brothers is a 2011 novel by Canadian writer Patrick DeWitt. Set in 1851, it traces the journey of Charlie and Eli Sisters, two hired killers traveling from Oregon to San Francisco to find a man called Warm, who allegedly stole something from their boss, the Commodore. The darkly comic Western is in the picaresque genre, as the brothers’ episodic misadventures explore different communities populating the American West.The Sisters Brothers is divided into 64... Read The Sisters Brothers Summary

The Smell of Apples, the first novel by South African writer Mark Behr, was originally published in 1993 in Afrikaner, before being published in English translation in 1995 to international acclaim. It won numerous prestigious literary prizes, most notably the M-Net Literary Award for best South African novel; the Betty Trask Award for best first novel published in the British Commonwealth; and the Art Seidenbaum Award for best English-language first novel, presented by The Los... Read The Smell of Apples Summary

Eowyn Ivey’s The Snow Child, published in 2012, is a frank retelling of the Russian fairy tale Snegurochka, or The Snow Maiden. Ivey reimagines the story as the tale of a childless couple, a feral child, and the bleak yet beautiful wilderness of Alaska. The narrative, which imbues historical fiction with a touch of magical realism, was shortlisted for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. It is Ivey’s debut novel.Plot SummaryIt is 1920. Mabel and... Read The Snow Child Summary

The Song of Achilles, author Madeline Miller’s bestselling novel, retells the events of Homer’s Iliad. Published in 2012, the book reimagines the relationship between ancient Greek Trojan war heroes Achilles and Patroclus. Narrated in the first person by Patroclus, the narrative explores themes central to ancient Greek mythology, notably the immutability of fate and the pursuit of glory.The novel begins with Patroclus narrating his birth and early childhood. Son of King Menoitius, the undersized and... Read The Song of Achilles Summary

The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam, by Bao Ninh, was first published in Vietnam in 1991; its first English translation came in 1993. Bao was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1952. During the Vietnam War, he served with the Glorious 27th Youth Brigade. Of the 500 people who went to war with the brigade in 1969, he is one of only ten who survived. The Sorrow of War was originally published against... Read The Sorrow of War Summary

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1963 novel by John le Carré, the pen name of the English author David Cornwell (1931-2020). Le Carré worked for British Intelligence, including a brief period as a secret agent in Germany. He also began writing novels during this time, and chose a pseudonym to preserve his cover. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, his third novel, achieved widespread popularity, allowing Le Carré... Read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Summary

... Read The Stationery Shop of Tehran Summary

Written in 1993, The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields is the fictional autobiography of Daisy Goodwill Flett, whose life story plays out in North America and spans much of the 20th century. The novel claims to be Daisy’s retelling of her life story, but it includes other characters’ voices and points of view, thus satirizing fiction and storytelling itself. By including a family tree and “real” family photographs, the novel explores the difference between reality... Read The Stone Diaries Summary

The Story of a New Name is the sequel to My Brilliant Friend, the first book in Italian writer Elena Ferrante’s world-acclaimed quartet of Neapolitan novels. The second book in the quartet continues to document the friendship between Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo and opens in 1966 when first-person narrator Elena, burdened by the contents of the notebooks that Lila has entrusted to her, throws all of them into the river Arno in Pisa (where... Read The Story of a New Name Summary

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The Street, written by Ann Petry and published in 1946, follows Lutie Johnson, a single mother of a young boy named Bub, who moves into a new apartment in Harlem during the 1940s. Despite the squalid conditions of the apartment, and the strange and even threatening behavior of the building’s superintendent, Jones, Lutie takes the apartment because she knows she has few other options within her price range. She tells herself it will only be... Read The Street Summary

The Submission is a novel written by Amy Waldman and published in 2011. The novel takes place in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy. A jury has been tasked with judging the blind entries for a 9/11 memorial. When it’s revealed that the designer of the winning submission is Muslim, it sparks a public controversy.The memorial jury is composed of Paul Rubin, the chair; Ariana Montagu, an artist; Claire Burwell, a representative of the families... Read The Submission Summary

Published in 1926, Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is a modernist novel regarded as a masterful portrait of the Lost Generation. It is a roman à clef, structured in three acts, that depicts characters based upon Hemingway’s friends and associates. Upon initial publication, it received mixed reviews, but is now considered a classic of 20th-century literature. In 1957, it was adapted into a film starring Ava Gardner (though Hemingway, reportedly, did not like the... Read The Sun Also Rises Summary

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (2009) by Alan Bradley is a murder mystery novel. It is the author’s first book, published when he was 70 years old. The novel won the Dagger, Agatha, Barry, Dilys, Arthur Ellis, Macavity, and Spotted Owl Awards for Best First or Best Debut Novel. It is the first book of The Flavia de Luce Novels.Plot SummaryThe protagonist and narrator of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the... Read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Summary

The Sympathizer is an historical spy novel told in the first-person by an unnamed half-French, half-Vietnamese narrator. The story unfolds as the narrator’s confession to a man referred to as the Commandant. The narrator begins his story with the fall of Saigon, where he is the aide-de-camp to a high-ranking General in the Special Branch, the central intelligence organization of the anti-Communist South Vietnamese Army. Quickly, we learn that the narrator is not all he appears... Read The Sympathizer Summary

The Tattooed Soldier (1998) is a novel written by author and journalist Héctor Tobar. Tobar worked for the LA Times at the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and his work covering that event contributed to a Pulitzer Prize. This experience directly informs this novel, which is set in LA in the weeks prior to the riots, as well as in Guatemala. Much of Tobar’s work focuses on the relationship between the United States... Read The Tattooed Soldier Summary

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a historical novel by New Zealand author Heather Morris. Published in 2018, the narrative retells the true story of Lale Sokolov (born Ludwig Eisenberg), a Slovakian Jew and Holocaust survivor. The novel centers on the love between Lale and Gita, a young woman he meets while tattooing prisoners. Lale is the titular tattooist, forever marking his fellow Jews and other prisoners with the numbers that replace their identities in the... Read The Tattooist of Auschwitz Summary

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a novel by contemporary American writer Lisa See. See is one-eighth Chinese, and most of her books feature Chinese history and traditions. First published in 2017, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane centers around the story of a young girl named Li-yan, who lives with her family in remote tea mountains of China. In their everyday life, her village relies on rituals, belief, and taboos, and they are... Read The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane Summary

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the second and final novel written by Anne Brontë (1820-1849), the youngest of the three celebrated Brontë sisters. The novel was published in 1848 under Anne’s pseudonym, Acton Bell. Unlike Anne’s first novel, Agnes Grey (1847), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was an immediate sensation and stirred strong reactions to its subject matter, which touched on adultery, marital separation, alcohol use disorder, and domestic abuse. After her death, Anne’s... Read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Summary

English academic and writer A. S. Byatt uses the Blitz—Nazi Germany’s bombing campaign against London and other British cities—as the context for her short story “The Thing in the Forest,” which was first published in The New Yorker in January 2002. This work of historical fiction is one of many by the acclaimed author and critic, whose historiographic, metafictional novel Possession won the Booker Prize in 1990. Other work by this author includes the novel... Read The Thing in the Forest Summary