I Must Betray You is a gripping, historical young adult novel about a teenage boy’s struggle for freedom in the final days of Romania’s oppressive communist regime. It shines a bright light on a topic that isn’t well-known to young people, and I highly recommend it as an account of what true oppression looks like. Continue reading
Category Archives: Historical Fiction
Book Review: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
In Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez takes on some heavy topics, including obsessive, unrequited love; marital love and fidelity; and aging and death. Continue reading
Book Review: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
In Cloud Cuckoo Land, author Anthony Doerr weaves a complex and inventive tale about the enduring impact a good story can have throughout the centuries. Strong themes of resilience, hope, and compassion make this novel enjoyable and memorable. Continue reading
Book Review: Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon
In Flight of Dreams, author Ariel Lawhon takes full advantage of creative license to tell the story of the passengers and crew on the Hindenburg’s final, disastrous voyage as well as develop one possible (although farfetched) explanation for the explosion. Continue reading
Book Review: This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
This Tender Land is an epic tale of four orphans who canoe along the Gilead, Minnesota, and Mississippi Rivers, escaping from a dark, abusive place and searching for a home in depression-era America. Continue reading
Book Review: The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami
The Moor’s Account is a fascinating historical fiction novel based on a real-life journey to Florida by 300 Spanish conquistadors in 1528. The story is told by Mustafa, a Moroccan slave who accompanied his master on the expedition and was one of only four survivors. Continue reading
Book Review: West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
West with Giraffes is a wonderful novel based on the true story of the cross-country road trip America’s first giraffes took in 1938. It’s also a coming of age story that demonstrates the positive influence caring friends and gentle animals can have on a young man’s life. Continue reading
Book Review: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
The Lincoln Highway is an historical fiction/coming of age story packed with imaginative and masterful storytelling that paints a vivid portrait of 1950s America. Continue reading
Book Review: The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd
The Indigo Girl is historical fiction based on real life agriculturist, Eliza Lucas, who figured out how to grow and extract dye from indigo plants on her plantation in South Carolina, which eventually brought great wealth to the territory. It’s an intriguing story and an interesting read. Continue reading
Book Review: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Cutting for Stone is an elegantly written novel that is both a family epic and a tribute to the art of medicine and surgery. Continue reading
