Around the World Through Historical Fiction

Take a trip through time and space at Henrico County Public Library. Historical fiction is not confined to corsets and hoopskirts. Read on for windows into different places and eras throughout the world.

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

• Set in 1960s and ‘70s Jamaica, James’ novel follows a crowd of characters through the era following independence from Britain. The ghost of a murdered politician wanders through the streets, trying to tell the truth about his suspicious death. Politically backed rival gangs take over the streets of Kingston as the living feel the turbulence all the way to New York. 

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili

• This sweeping novel follows generations of a Caucasian Georgian family from the Russian Empire to the rise of Soviet Russia to the fall of Communism and its aftermath. The family holds claim to a very special chocolate recipe responsible for the prodigious family fortune. One person in each generation inherits it, but the fate of the recipe holder is usually anything but sweet.

The Great Divide by Christina Henriquez

• Fisherman Francisco plies the waters of Panama Bay as he has all of his life. He doesn’t see the value of building a canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. To Francisco’s dismay, his son Omar has taken a job digging to build the new canal. Ada Bunting comes to Panama on a ship from Barbados with thousands of others looking for a livelihood.  During the building of the fateful canal, their lives will intersect in surprising ways as their labors build a canal that will change the world.

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (also available on Hoopla)

• This Nobel Prize-winning novel depicts the life of Kristin Lavransdatter, a well-to-do lady of medieval Norway. Christianity has just arrived in Norway and the tensions between paganism and the new faith reverberate throughout the book, which paints a rich and detailed portrait of medieval Norwegian daily life. When the novel begins, Kristin has fallen deeply in love with a man, but her parents do not sanction the match. The consequences of this forbidden love follow Kristin throughout her life.

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

• In this lyrical novel, two women come of age against the backdrop of a changing Iran. Ellie is wealthy and descended from Persian royalty. When her father dies, her family’s circumstances are vastly reduced and she must go to a regular school where she meets Homa.  The two girls are inseparable, but when Ellie’s family comes into money again, she leaves Homa behind. Many years later, a surprise letter from Homa sends Ellie down a path she could have never imagined.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, book 1 in the Neapolitan Novels (also available on Hoopla)

Four novels follow the intertwined lives of two promising young Neapolitan women growing up against the backdrop of a modernizing Italy from the 1950s to ‘70s. Lenù is often overshadowed by her brilliant friend Lila but overcomes poverty and escapes their mafia-ridden neighborhood to become a successful author. Lila stays behind, but how much is Lenù’s success her own?

Looking for more? Check out some of these other historical fiction novels that take place across the globe:

• The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister (19^th century Arctic – also available on Hoopla)
• The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (20^th century Chile)
• Independence: A Novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (20^th century India – also available on Hoopla)
• Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton (17^th century England – also available on Hoopla)
• Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig (20th century Myanmar (formerly Burma) – also available on Hoopla)
• The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee (19^th century France – also available on Hoopla)
• She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore (19^th century Liberia)
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (late 18^th century Japan)