Historical Fiction

levlongnprosper

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 7:45 am

Moses Man of the Mountain by Zora Neal Hurston

Moses, Man of the Mountain is a 1939 novel by African American novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. The novel rewrites the story of the Book of Exodus of Moses and the Israelites from an Afro-American perspective.

(Their Eyes Were Watching Gd is also good and much more well known-- Oprah made a movie about it)

Ruchel

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 11:15 am

Rashi's daughters were TERRIBLE, faulty and extremely disrespectful. I still regret

ImaLAEma

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 12:20 pm

And as far as I know, Jeanette Oakes is a Christian writer, meaning there might be some thoughts about Yoshke and the christian religion in the books. (Imagine a frum, clean romance novel - except with non Jewish teachings.) I once took out a similar book, not realizing this, and was pretty upset to be mislead!

happybeingamom

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 2:38 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Rashi's daughters were TERRIBLE, faulty and extremely disrespectful. I still regret

I agree!

amother

Denim

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 2:51 pm

The Book Thief

A story of wwii/Holocaust written from death's perspective. A beautiful stoty.

amother

Tangerine

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 2:56 pm

I loved The Orphan’s Tale by Pam Jenoff, but that may be because I am an amateur aerialist myself. Either way I definitely recommend it.

Ravenclaw

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 3:06 pm

youngishbear wrote:

Are we recommending favorites, or suggesting the next thing to read?

Suggesting book club reads

amother

Oak

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 4:19 pm

North and south by John jakes

Historical fiction first volume of trilogy about the civil war.

I am in middle of reading it it's great so far.

esuss

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 4:20 pm

London by Edward Rutherford

Historical fiction following Londons history for over 1,000 years.

Reality

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 6:29 pm

amother wrote:

The Book Thief

A story of wwii/Holocaust written from death's perspective. A beautiful stoty.

There are barely any books that I couldn't finish. The book thief was one of them. Why was this book so popular? To me the writing was so disjointed.

amother

Tangerine

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 6:40 pm

Reality wrote:

There are barely any books that I couldn't finish. The book thief was one of them. Why was this book so popular? To me the writing was so disjointed.

Me too! Still have it lying around as if I’m going to force myself through it one day.

nchr

Wed, Feb 13 2019, 9:51 pm

Who is going to be reading it? I like historical fiction, but my suggestions may not be appropriate for all audiences....

August 1914 (events leading up to the Russian Revolution)

Twentieth Wife (this is about a not so typical Indian empress)

Three Muskateers, Tale of Two Cities, Nightengale, Gone with the Wind, War and Peace and Memoirs of a Geisha are ones you've probably heard of.

There is a very interesting one (dont remember the name) about how people used to measure the earth.

DVOM

Thu, Feb 14 2019, 3:52 am

Good morning everyone!

I love historical fiction, so I've read almost all of these suggestions. Not that I mind re-reading!

A friend just recommended this one to me, so can't vouch for how good it is, but I'd love to try it!

Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
If you love examining history from every possible angle, you will love this epic exploring the years of Henry VIII’s reign from the perspective of one of his most trusted advisors, Thomas Cromwell. That is, until he became an enemy.

thanks

Thu, Feb 14 2019, 4:09 am

Chayalle wrote:

some of it is based on historical fact. Like there actually was a ship called The Exodus, but the events described in the book are not quite factual.

My great-uncle A"H was on that ship.

My mother was on a similar ship.
One of the main characters, was a gentile nurse that dedicated herself to helping the Jewish refugees. My mother found that very objectionable. She said there was no outpouring of gentiles helping.
It's a great book, and the video is available on prime.

33055

Thu, Feb 14 2019, 4:27 am

keym wrote:

I like historical fiction. As long as there's a real effort to be accurate. (No cell phone use during WWII).
So all these books sound good.
Should I just "like" all of them?

Cell phones were invented during WWII. They were used in the military.

33055

Thu, Feb 14 2019, 4:31 am

daagahminayin wrote:

War and Peace

It’s about Napolean’s invasion of Russia in the early 19th century, but really so much more than that.

You know you want to.

Anna Karenina - best novel ever!

monseymom25

Thu, Feb 14 2019, 4:35 am

I voted for the civil war book. I'm guessing that most of us have read many WW 2 books and I'd like to try something different.

Cheshire cat

Thu, Feb 14 2019, 6:11 am

I'm just salivating at all these suggestions. Oh, to have time to read them all!

I second DVOMs recommendation. Wolf Hall is absolutely fascinating. There is a sequel too- Bring up the bodies- which focuses on Thomas Cromwell, from obscurity to greatness. He is a deft politician, brilliant, sinister, smooth, and yet he is so human, and shows tenderness and frailty at times. The book deals with themes of power and corruption.

I am always fascinated by the Tudors. Phillippa Gregory also writes about this period, and is fantastic too.

amother

Cobalt

Thu, Feb 14 2019, 6:19 am

thanks wrote:

My mother was also on a ship like the Exodus. She encouraged me to read it when I was an early teen so I'd get an idea of the events, but she told me her story so I'd know what was true and what wasn't. The book was romanticized and presented a lot of things that didn't happen the way you'd think after reading leon Uris' version of events.