New Books: Historical Fiction

I made a couple of quick purchases that were based on a reader’s recommendation. I’ve missed reading some really good, meaty historical novels. As I blog hopped, I ran across another reader’s blog that featured another interesting title that I must add to my TBR.

The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. This is a novel about the Black Death, a topic that I am always interested in reading about. I was fascinated with this topic in Diana Norman’s The Vizard Mask. The title is available in paperback with a pub date of 2002.

Book Description:

When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna’s eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a “year of wonders.”

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing “an inspiring heroine” (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.

March by Geraldine Brooks. I bought it because this one also sounded very interesting to me. I am a historical buff anyway and I’ve great things about Ms. Brooks work. Supposedly, this novel is a take-off of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Here is the back blurb:

From Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father, March, and crafted a story “filled with the ache of love and marriage and with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man” (Sue Monk Kidd). With “pitch-perfect writing” (USA Today), Brooks follows March as he leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause in the Civil War. His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs. A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped in the details of another time, March secures Geraldine Brooks’s place as a renowned author of historical fiction.

 

As usual, any feedback or recommendations for historical fiction titles are always welcome.  And I found another reader’s blog called The Written Word. Enjoy. Another historical fiction fan.