[Earlier this
month, I began teaching my graduate
American Historical Fiction: Practice and Theory class for the fifth time,
this time entirely online. So this week I’ve briefly highlighted (busy with
teaching and all) a handful of exemplary historical fictions and related
contexts. Leading up to this crowd-sourced post featuring the responses and
nominations of fellow HistoricalFictionStudiers—add yours in comments, please!]
Following up
Tuesday’s Kindred post, Kaitlynn Chase writes, “The graphic
novel of Kindred
by Damien Duffy and John Jennings is also stunning, an extremely powerful take
on Octavia Butler’s phenomenal work!” She adds, “Also, Pauline Hopkins.”
Following up Thursday’s Hawaii
post, Donna
Moody shares, “It was one of my favorite Michener
novels...really illuminated the hypocrisy of the colonizers.”
In response to the same post, Rick Kosan writes, “I’ve read Hawaii, Alaska and Space. Bought Iberia a
long time ago but still haven’t tackled it. ‘Deeply researched’ may be the king
of Twitter understatements. In Space,
for an example, IIRC, Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach, FL, isn’t even mentioned
until well over 500 pages in.” He also highlights the works of Leon Uris, “especially Mila 18,
Trinity, and QB VII. Exodus is his
most famous book and is also worthy of study.”
Responding to Friday’s post, Glenna Matthews tweets, “Alias Grace
is a fave. Stunning imagination at work in conjuring up the humiliations of
being a servant in that time and place.”
Other historical
fiction nominees:
Carol DeGrasse nominates "Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. Hands down. But also The Nickel Boys. So hard to choose just one."
Lara Schwartz agrees that “Underground Railroad is heart-stoppingly beautiful,” and also
writes, “Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel are
gripping and exciting.”
Summer Lopez
responds, “I think I said Wolf Hall
last year! Would also flag A Place of Greater Safety, her French Revolution book, which is *maybe* even better.”
Kate Kostelnik agrees on Underground
Railroad, and adds, “George Saunders’ most recent novel
about Lincoln is historical/fantastical (made that
category up myself, I think).”
Michele Townes goes with Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War and the sequel War and Remembrance. She adds, “Some Sing, Some Cry by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza
(‘reading’ it on Audible with narration is amazing with all the dialects).”
Jenny Fielding shares, “Alison Weir. She is a prolific historical biographer and so her historical
fiction is full of spot on details. Amor
Towles has an impeccable eye for the feel of a period. The Name of the Rose by Eco. Isabel
Allende. Colson Whitehead. Possession
by A.S. Byatt.”
AnneMarie
Donahue nominates, “For
Whom the Bell Tolls (I know that makes me sooooo pretentious, but Hemingway
man!), White Queen (all
that Phillipa Gregory shit really), World
War Z (I know it doesn't count I don't care), Dread Nation (again
probably doesn't count don't care was nice to read a book where almost all the
characters were POC), oh and most of the history books I read in junior high
and high school, very creative revision of brutality.” She adds Raymond A.
Villareal’s A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising.
Shiladitya
Sen writes, “Going back a bit, but I've always been a fan
of Arthur Conan Doyle's historical fiction (which he preferred to his Sherlock
Holmes stories), both the short stories (stand-alone ones, such as the ones in
the Tales of Long Ago
collection, as well as the Brigadier
Gerard series) and the novels (The White Company
and its prequel Sir Nigel are my
two favorites).”
Justin Mason goes with “The Killer Angels
for sure. I would actually like to read The
Devil in the White City and Killers
of the Flower Moon as well at some point.”
Lydia Currie writes, “I dare you to recommend Outlander to your
blog audience.” [BEN: Dare accepted!]
Paige Wallace agrees, “Outlander
forever and always.” She adds, “A Transcontinental Affair by Jodi Daynard was lovely.”
Sarah Chinn tweets, “The
Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman is amazing.”
Sarah
West nominates, “Homegoing by Yaa
Gyasi. Amazing scope and fantastic writing.” She adds, “Also, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Fantastical and amazing.”
Catherine
Wiley seconds the Tale
for the Time Being love, and adds, “Kate Atkinson's Behind
the Scenes at the Museum is one of my favorite books of all time. One
of those follow-a-family-through-generations type things, but brilliant. And
very vivid re the lived experience of two world wars.”
Amy Johnson
highlights The Lost Girls of Paris.
Gabrielle
Crowley nominates The
Nightingale.
Tim
McCaffrey writes, “Just finished the Aubrey-Maturin
series—very good if you like light reading about early
19th century English navy stuff.”
Derek Tang highlights Tom Clancy, especially his early works.
Veronica
Hendrick shares, “Sally Gunning’s Bound is good. I
haven’t read her other works, but a friend loves them all.”
Andrew DaSilva
nominates, “Two Brothers by Ben
Elton, 11/22/63 by Stephen
King and The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien though I am unsure if the last one counts it's very
loosely a historical fiction...” [BEN: It all counts!]
Olivia Lucier writes, “When I was a kid I loved those Dear
America books. Diaries about girls throughout history.
Recently boys and then more historical figures. Loved them because I was
exposed to historical events that I didn’t know much about: a girl living in a
Tory family during the Revolution, Native American tribes, an Irish mill girl,
an escaped slave, etc. enjoyed reading them again and again!”
Betsy Cazden
writes, “The novel that more than any other got
me interested in history (and Quakers) was The Witch of Blackbird Pond. It's historically accurate and superb writing.”
Matthew
Teutsch goes with Frank Yerby (for more on whom see his
new collection), especially “The Foxes of Harrow, The
Vixens, and Benton's Row for
American, and “The
Saracen Blade (13th century Italy) and Goat
Song (ancient Sparta and Athens) for wide historical.” He adds, “The
Dahomean is important, and its follow up A Darkness at Ingraham's Crest, because the first is set in Africa
and the second in Antebellum South, and they trace
the same character.”
Gabriella Friedman nominates “Toni Morrison's A Mercy
(really any Morrison novel, but A Mercy
is an under-rated one that is a really interesting take on colonial New
England).” She adds, “Blake Hausman's Riding the Trail of Tears (set in the present but features a VR ride where tourists
experience the Trail of Tears),” and “some others: Gerald Vizenor's "Custer on the
Slipstream," Stephen Graham Jones's Ledfeather,
Louise Erdrich's The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No
Horse.”
Bruce Simon
writes, “Morrison's Beloved for the
way it links middle passage, slavery, Reconstruction, and post-Reconstruction
lives and deaths! I wrote on Gayl Jones's Corregidora a
few decades back in Race Consciousness (ed. Fossett + Tucker). Submitted an early draft to Morrison
when applying to be a teaching assistant for her Studies in American Africanism
course, not knowing she edited Jones's manuscript. Got the job. In a totally
different direction, Kim Stanley Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt is both an alternate history novel and a meditation on the
writing of history. For totally made up worlds that also feature
meditations on history and the writing of it, you can't beat Steven
Brust and N.K. Jemisin. Spread out over series, but Dragaera (esp.
Khaavren romances) and Broken Earth are amazing experiments in both
worldbuilding and literary form.”
Shirley Samuels, who
wrote about 19th century historical fiction in her wonderful Romances of the Republic, highlights
James Fenimore Cooper’s The Spy. She adds, “It’s easy to forget that Last
of the Mohicans is historical fiction...”
Donna Campbell
nominates “Gore Vidal, Burr. Edith
Wharton, The Age of Innocence & Old New York.
Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage.”
Kate
Wells writes, “I like pretty
much all of Edward Rutherfurd's novels. Also, The Alienist
by Caleb Carr; The Amazing Adventures of
Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon; The
Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco; Beloved
by Toni Morrison; The Last Report on the
Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich.
Summer Lopez asks, “Has
anyone said Manhattan
Beach by Jennifer Egan? She's the president of my org, so I'm
biased (because she's also a lovely human), but it's such a meticulously
researched, evocatively detailed, gorgeously written book.”
And Ezekiel
Healy writes, “Ever heard of Tipping
the Velvet (1998) by Sarah Waters? It’s a
lesbian, coming of age, romance, and more novel, set mostly in London around
the turn of the century. Recommended!”
Now that’s what the crowd-sourced posts are all about—a book I’ve
never heard of and can’t wait to read, shared by a childhood friend who is part
of my (clearly) amazing circle of online connections! Next series starts
Monday,
Ben
PS. Other
historical fictions or authors you’d highlight?
No comments:
Post a Comment