historical fiction

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig(see the blog post from 5/14/10) is aptly described as a "gem".  Morrie Morgan, one of the main characters of both books,  is among my favorite literary characters.  Without revealing too many details of  The Whistling Season,  Morrie reappears a decade later in Butte, Montana where the story of  Work Song begins.  As America is  recovering from World War I, this rough and ready copper-mining town is experiencing tremendous growth, "100,000 strong  atop the earth's mineral crown."  This would seem the ideal place for someone like Morrie Morgan to slip into

On the beaches near Lyme Regis, England, young Mary Anning and middle-class spinster Elizabeth Philpot stepped into the early 19th-century world of fossil hunting, a time when fossils challenged established views of God’s creation but excited the scientific community. Mary endlessly searched for these curiosities, not only because she had the “eye” (a remarkable ability to find them), but to sell them to keep her family out of the poorhouse. Elizabeth searched for fossils as a hobby and for the “seductive thrill of finding unexpected treasure”. During their pursuits, Mary and Elizabeth became

Claude and Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell

In Claude and Camille: A Novel of Monet, Stephanie Cowell renders a poignant picture of the artist’s life with his first great love, the alluring Camille Doncieux, who became his favorite and most frequently painted model. The story begins in Le Havre, France, as Monet tries to break away from the ties of his father to pursue his dream of painting. After moving to Paris, his life is enriched by the friendships of other artists, who would come to be known as the “Impressionists”. Into this world of a struggling but determined artist

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig is a gem I stumbled upon because the cover art created nostalgia within me (that one-room schoolhouse). I happily discovered that Doig is a master developer of characters, plot, time and place, but most especially language.

Ivan Doig writes about the American West of the early 1900’s. The Whistling Season is set in 1910 Montana, birth state of the author. The landscape of rural Montana plays a prominent role in this novel. Equally important are the quirky characters who populate the community of Marias Coulee.

The Whistling Season is narrated by Paul

Recently, I realized how much pleasure I derive from reading international fiction with an Irish flair; must be that Irish blood coursing through my veins or a previous lifetime spent roaming locales like Donaghadee, Ballyskeagh or Glengormley. I've escaped to settings like these in the Irish Country Doctor series by Patrick Taylor and Heather Barbieri's The Lace Makers of Glenmara.

The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey is international, historical fiction which takes readers to Northern Ireland during the early 1900's (the beginning of Northern Ireland's fight for independence from Great

Conspirata by Robert Harris is a work of historical fiction set in ancient Rome. A sequel to Harris’ novel Imperium, Conspirata continues the story of the life of the great orator and politician Cicero. The book begins in the year 63 B.C., when Cicero was elected consul of Rome. This was the year that he defeated the Cataline conspiracy, saving Rome from what would have been a ruinous civil war, and he appeared to be at the peak of prestige. But such things never last, especially when one has made an enemy of one of the greatest political minds of his generation: Julius Caesar.

Conspirata

Set in Victorian London, Miss Margaret Prior, an upper-class woman, becomes a "Lady Visitor" at Millbank Prison as a diversion from suicidal thoughts. She meets Selina Dawes, a spiritualist-medium who has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for fraud and assault. Miss Prior becomes intrigued by Selina because she is young and lovely and because things occur that cannot be explained - flowers mysteriously appear in her bedroom as well as a cutting of Selina's hair. Miss Prior finds herself falling in love with her and Selina returns her affection. Selina tells her that her spirit friends