HISTORICAL FICTION: TARA HENLEY
The Game of Hope By Sandra Gulland Penguin Teen, 384 pages, $21.99
For many historical fiction readers, the genre is a lifelong passion. So it makes sense that YA is embracing it, looking to capture the interest of bookworms early on. This will no doubt prove a smart strategy, especially when it comes to The Game of Hope — a new title from bestselling author Sandra Gulland, an expert on Josephine de Beauharnais Bonaparte — that’s guaranteed to find fans among bookish youth. In this teen drama, set in Paris in 1798, we meet 15-year-old Hortense, daughter of Josephine and stepdaughter of Napoleon Bonaparte. At the book’s opening, she’s racked by nightmares, reeling from the death of her father, who went to the guillotine during the French Revolution. The coming-of-age tale that follows — inspired by the historical figure’s autobiography — offers a window into another world.
Come From Away By Genevieve Graham Simon & Schuster, 352 pages, $22
Halifax author Genevieve Graham revisits the Baker family from her bestselling Tides of Honour novel, this time transporting readers to 1939. As Nova Scotian shopkeeper and “old maid” Grace Baker watches her three brothers ship off to war, and the global conflict encroaches — sending German U-boats to Canada’s East Coast— a dashing blue-eyed stranger and his pals show up at the Christmas Dance, confounding locals. Claiming to be a trapper, the mysterious man wins Grace’s affection immediately. But all is not as it seems; the stranger harbours a shocking secret. And matters are complicated further when a crisis in Grace’s own family threatens to ruin everything Grace has hoped for. Taking inspiration from an old Maritime legend, “Come From Away” is gripping from its first page to last.
Bellewether By Susanna Kearsley Simon & Schuster, 432 pages, $22.99
This new title from New York Times bestselling author Susanna Kearsley — who lives east of Toronto — grapples with the largest of themes: love and justice. Set in 1759, the page-turner weaves together the stories of two women. During the Seven Years’ War, Lydia Wilde’s family is divided, as one brother struggles with trauma, other brothers risk all on the high seas, and their father is forced to host French prisoners in his home. As the conflict rages, one such soldier becomes a friend to Lydia, and more. Centuries later, Charley Van Hoek, curator of the Wilde House Museum, pieces their story together — in the process finding a story of her own. Kearsley, a former museum curator, possesses a deep passion for historical detail. As such, this narrative is as much an antislavery tract as it is a romance and is, fittingly, dedicated to the people whom the author’s own ancestors enslaved.