OTHER PLACES, OTHER TIMES
Five new works of historical fiction offer a compelling window into the past
A Japanese war bride, a feisty journalist and an up-and-coming opera singer are three of the compelling characters in five new historical novels that transport readers to other times and places.
1
The Phoenix Crown By Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake is the sensational backdrop in this seamless collaboration of two terrific novelists. The story centres on forward-thinking women and a priceless Chinese relic, the Phoenix Crown.
Gemma Garland is an aspiring opera soprano, and Suling Feng is a talented embroideress.
The authors write vividly of the struggles Gemma, Suling and other women face as they fight for rights and opportunities springing up in the new century. ( William Morrow)
2
The Turtle House By Amanda Churchill
This is inspired by the life of Churchill's grandmother, who, like thousands of Japanese women, married an American serviceman and emigrated to the United States after the Second World War. Likable and quirky Mineko Cope struggles to fit into the small Texas community.
Equally compelling is Mineko's relationship with her granddaughter Lia. Churchill ably captures the stings of racism that biracial Lia endures. (Harper)
3
The American Queen By Vanessa Miller
Miller's stirring novel begins as the Civil War ends. Louella Bobo is a young Black woman who dreams of a place called the Kingdom of Happy Land where Black people can live away from prejudice and hate.
Miller's novel is based on little-known history about formerly enslaved people who travelled from Mississippi to North Carolina to establish a socialist-like society — a quintessential story of brave people fighting for what they deserve. (Thomas Nelson)
4
The Mayor of Maxwell Street By Avery Cunningham
It's the Roaring Twenties in Chicago and Nelly Sawyer, daughter of the richest Black man in America, is hurtling toward a future of her choosing. Nelly's parents want her to be a high-society wife, but Nelly wants to be a reporter for the Chicago Defender, an influential Black newspaper, where she's forced to write under a man's name.
She offers to ferret out the name of the gangster — known as the Mayor of Maxwell Street — who controls bootlegging and gambling in the city. In return she'll have her name on the story. (Hyperion Avenue)
5
Sisters of Belfast By Melanie Maure
An estimated 9,000 children died in Ireland's horrific “mother and baby homes,” where unwed pregnant women endured unimaginable abuse. Babies were often stolen from their mothers, and the children who perished were buried in unmarked graves. This tragedy is at the heart of Maure's debut novel. Ten-yearold twins Aelish and Isabel McGuire are sent to an orphanage, where they are abused. Down the road from the orphanage is a “mother and baby home,” and when Isabel witnesses a terrible event, the truth about what goes on there gradually comes to light. (Harper)