Historical Fiction

Published in 1990, The Things They Carried is a collection of interrelated short stories about the Vietnam War written by American author Tim O’Brien. The historical fiction collection is considered essential literature about the Vietnam War and is often used to teach fiction writing techniques. An authorial persona, Tim O’Brien, narrates the stories in the first-person about his experiences during the war. The collection explores themes of Survivor’s Guilt, Talking as a Way of Processing... Read The Things They Carried Summary

The Thorn Birds, a novel by Colleen McCullough, was first published in 1977 by Avon Books. A sweeping, romantic epic that spans nearly sixty years, The Thorn Birds became an international best-seller; the novel was adapted for the screen as an incredibly popular mini-series in 1983. Eventually, The Thorn Birds would become one of the most highly rated programs in American television history. This text uses the pagination of the Avon Books 2010 paperback edition.     Plot... Read The Thorn Birds Summary

The Three Musketeers (1844), by French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas, is a novel that borrows tropes from the swashbuckling genre, historical fiction, and romance to recount the adventures of a group of king’s guard who face off against the machinations of nefarious political factions set on destabilizing the monarchy. It was first published through serialization in 1844 to great popularity. Though set in the mid-1600s, the novel connected with the philosophical underpinnings of the... Read The Three Musketeers Summary

Set in an imaginary modern-day Balkan country, Téa Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife chronicles the effects of prejudice, isolation, and war on both a personal and universal scale. Obreht’s characters struggle to survive and live meaningful lives under the shadow of a lengthy war and its aftermath.Natalia Stefanović, a young female doctor and the narrator of the novel, learns that her beloved grandfather has died far from home on his way to visit her. Her investigation... Read The Tiger's Wife Summary

The Tin Drum is a 1959 novel by German author Gunther Grass. In the novel, a man named Oskar tells the story of his life, particularly focusing on his experiences during World War II. The novel employs satire, absurdism, magical realism, and allegory to wrestle with the pain and trauma of life under Nazi rule. The Tin Drum was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1979 and has been hailed as a landmark in literary... Read The Tin Drum Summary

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The Topeka School is a literary novel published by Ben Lerner in 2019. Lerner, an acclaimed writer and a winner of the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2015, is well-known for his poetry and his novels. His novels are often referred to as “autofiction,” due to the fact that they feature fictionalized versions of himself and other figures from his life. The Topeka School was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.This guide follows the... Read The Topeka School Summary

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Louise Murphy’s The True Story of Hansel and Gretel is a work of historical fiction originally published in 2003. Loosely based upon the classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the novel reimagines Hansel and Gretel’s story as a World War II narrative. The San Francisco Chronicle selected it as a “Best Book of the Year,” and it received a starred review from Kirkus. This guide references the 2003 paperback edition.Plot SummaryIt is the winter... Read The True Story of Hansel and Gretel Summary

In the follow-up to his award-winning novel A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, American writer Anthony Marra released The Tsar of Love and Techno (2015), a collection of interconnected short stories. Shifting from first to third person narration across various characters’ perspectives in different time periods, The stories begin in Communist Russia in the 1930s and end in modern Russia the 2010s, connecting the characters to their descendants and ancestors. Marra weaves together a tapestry whose common... Read The Tsar of Love and Techno Summary

Ayana Mathis’s 2012 novel The Twelve Tribes of Hattie follows the lives of the Shepherds, a black family struggling to succeed in Philadelphia between 1925 and 1980. At the center of the family is their inscrutable matriarch, Hattie, who remains an enigma to her children even as they grow into adulthood. With only two exceptions, each of the book’s chapters delves into the mind of one of Hattie’s children (and one granddaughter) over a span... Read The Twelve Tribes of Hattie Summary

Mariano Azuela’s The Underdogs: A Novel of the Mexican Revolution first appeared in a newspaper serialization in 1915, was published in its complete form in 1920, and was first translated into English in 1929. The Underdogs is considered among the finest works of fiction to focus on the Mexican Revolution. The author served as a medic in the conflict, bringing authenticity and insight to the story. The book can be read as a critique of... Read The Underdogs Summary

The Underground Railroad, a 2016 historical fiction novel by Colson Whitehead, chronicles the life of protagonist Cora, who is enslaved in antebellum Georgia. Interspersed in the narrative are chapters that follow other characters in the same way. These diverse characters—including Cora’s mother Mabel, an enslaved man named Caesar, and an enslaver named Ridgeway—have meaningful roles in Cora’s story. The novel won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and its exploration of the US’s white supremacist roots... Read The Underground Railroad Summary

The Valley of Amazement, a work of historical fiction first published in 2013, is the sixth novel by author Amy Tan. This guide refers to the Kindle Edition for citations. Tan primarily writes about the complexity of the mother-daughter bond and about the experience of being Chinese American. In The Valley of Amazement, a mother and daughter recount their lives in early-20th-century Shanghai and San Francisco.Tan’s debut novel, The Joy Luck Club (1989), became a... Read The Valley of Amazement Summary

Maggie O’Farrell’s novel The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, published in 2006, is the author’s fourth novel and tackles the grim history of forced incarcerations of women and the devastating effects of family secrets. O’Farrell’s work often focuses on women trapped physically, emotionally, and psychologically by forces over which they have no control, and this novel is no exception. Through a twisted entanglement of three different perspectives, O’Farrell tells the story of not only Esme... Read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox Summary

The Vanishing Half, published in June 2020, is the second novel by author Brit Bennett. It became a New York Times bestseller and was selected as a Good Morning America Book Club Pick. The novel explores the themes of female family bonds and the Black experience in America. Bennett covered similar material in her debut novel, The Mothers (2016), which also became a New York Times bestseller. HBO has purchased the film rights to The... Read The Vanishing Half Summary

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The Wars by Timothy Findley is a 1977 novel about Robert Ross, a young Canadian officer who enlists in the military and fights in the First World War. The novel uses first, second, and third person narrative points of view. By switching between the different perspectives, the novel gives the reader the sense that they are a historian searching through archives, looking at photographs, and interviewing people from Robert’s life. The book is an example... Read The Wars Summary

The Water Dancer is the debut novel of Ta-Nehisi Coates, a journalist known for his award-winning essay collections on race, his contributions to The Atlantic, and his work on Marvel’s The Black Panther comic book series. A New York Times bestseller and selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, the novel centers on Hiram Walker, a fugitive slave who becomes an agent in the Underground, an organization devoted to the destruction of slavery in the... Read The Water Dancer Summary