Search Results for: historical fiction

A Review of “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan: a powerful historical fiction about teen pregnancies
Book Reviews / Irish / The Latest

A Review of “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan: a powerful historical fiction about teen pregnancies

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Keegan is an Irish author who grew up in Ireland but she has also lived in the United States, Wales, and is now back in Ireland. Her writing, like all Irish writing seems to have to beauty and softness about it that I can’t quite explain, but truly love to read. I’ve written about my love of Irish authors a lot on this blog and one of my favourites is Niall Williams’ This is Happiness. You can read my review of Williams’ book here. Continue reading →

History “Lessons” with Ian McEwan: A review of McEwan’s latest novel
Book Reviews / British / historical / The Latest

History “Lessons” with Ian McEwan: A review of McEwan’s latest novel

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The novel follows the life of Roland Baines, and the novel swaps between Roland’s formative years at an all boys boarding school in the U.K. and his adult life as a single father to his son Lawrence, after his wife disappears one day. Continue reading →

Exploring Australia’s Colonial History: A review of “Devotion” by Hannah Kent
Australian / Book Reviews / historical / queer / The Latest

Exploring Australia’s Colonial History: A review of “Devotion” by Hannah Kent

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Devotion is an Australian colonial saga. It chronicles the Prussian and German immigrants who travelled to Australia, specifically to South Australia, in the 1800s. It is about love, loss, religious persecution, and the Australian landscape. Continue reading →

A Review of “The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida”: Magic Realism & Art
Book Reviews / queer / Sri Lankan / The Latest

A Review of “The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida”: Magic Realism & Art

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This is all a very roundabout way to say that The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was an amazing book and went against every apprehension I had. As soon as I started to read it, I could not put it down. I felt completely immersed in the story – carried with the winds of the in-between with Maali – and I was utterly hooked. Personally, it has been a breath of utter fresh air to have found Karunatilaka’s novel at a time where I haven’t always felt on my reading A-game. Continue reading →

Review of Niall Williams “This Is Happiness”: when the rain stops in Faha
Book Reviews / Irish / The Latest

Review of Niall Williams “This Is Happiness”: when the rain stops in Faha

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When a telephone gets installed in Noe’s home, people line up to call loved ones from afar. However, the telephone calls are not really considered private. And indeed, many of the villagers feel that writing things down and sending letters is much more intimate and personal. Continue reading →

A Review of “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois”: Race, gender, and the pecan tree that watches it all
African / American / Book Reviews / The Latest

A Review of “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois”: Race, gender, and the pecan tree that watches it all

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Nations are fiction. The U.S. is fiction. Australia, my home country, is fiction. The stories that are celebrated and told about these nations do not speak to the true history of these lands. They begin at an arbitrary point, picked by and for white supremacy. They are stories told over and over again, like water over stone. They are stories about collective groups that change and form over time. But they are just that – stories. Continue reading →

“The Island of Missing Trees” by Elif Shafak: Intergenerational trauma and healing through writing
Book Reviews / historical / The Latest / Turkish

“The Island of Missing Trees” by Elif Shafak: Intergenerational trauma and healing through writing

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Shafak’s novel has a simple premise, love. And it might seem like a cliche, but it just works for this beautiful story. Defne, a Turkish woman, and Kostas, a Greek man, fall in love at the peak of the conflict in Cyrpus in 1974. Their love is helped along by a beautiful mixed Turkish and Greek couple Yusuf and Yiorgos and a little tavern called “The Happy Fig”. Continue reading →

"Paris Savages" Review: how do we write about uncomfortable history?
Australian / Book Reviews / historical / The Latest

"Paris Savages" Review: how do we write about uncomfortable history?

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Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. Clicking through for additional information or to make a purchase may result in a small commission. I picked up a copy of Paris Savages when I was in Hobart, Tasmania this February. Thinking about how easy it was to fly there and how care-free we were is a … Continue reading →

Four Shakespearean-Era Tributes Hidden in Maggie O’Farrell’s Award Winning “Hamnet”
Book Reviews / British / historical / The Latest

Four Shakespearean-Era Tributes Hidden in Maggie O’Farrell’s Award Winning “Hamnet”

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Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links. Clicking through for additional information or to make a purchase may result in a small commission. Maggie O’Farrell won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020 for Hamnet and if you have read her novel, it is easy to see why. It is not easy to take on … Continue reading →