Historical fiction

The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper, HQ

Journalist Verity Binks is called in by her editor to compliment her on a piece of strong writing for women. We are in Sydney in 1922 and the piece is about the bicycle emancipating females. But, adds Mr Bailey, with so many out of work servicemen from the war, he has to let her go. Country NSW 1868, Theodora Breckenridge’s sister Florence runs the household since their parents died at sea. Theo is a talented artist and wants to follow in the footsteps of the famous botanical artists, the Scott sisters. “I have work to do,” she says. “You have a hobby. Ladies do not work!” reprimands Flo. But when she nets a never-sighted-before butterfly she is poised to make her name in science.

The Circus Train Amita Parikh, by Hachette

London 1938, polio takes Theo’s wife Gia, as she gives birth to daughter Lena who will live at their World of Wonders circus. Wheelchair-bound Lena was born with polio and the difference she feels from chameleon performer Laura, who can turn from trapeze to contortionist, and water ballerina Suze leaves her lonely. She finds solace in books – “Lena realises the magic surrounding the circus was a matter of scientific and mathematical calculations.” She rescues Alexandre, a Jewish orphan who stumbles upon their tents, but when her illusionist father and he are sent to work at a circus in a “spa town” [ghetto] for Jews, Lena is lost. Brilliant debut novel.

Dawnlands by Philippa Gregory, Simon & Schuster

Canter alongside scheming Livia as she deserts her husband for a royal summons to join friend Queen Mary II’s household in 1685. Her son, Matteo, is being raised by foster mothers Alinor and Alys. Livia allows herself to imagine the dirty wharf where “she gladly left her son so she could rise to this greatness”. Running parallel, Ned, Alinor’s brother, lives in a community of American Indians where he gathers herbs and artefacts. Boarding a boat to England he rescues a roped Indian prisoner only to discover this boy is a fearless girl. Sensational storytelling.

The Romantic by William Boyd, Viking

William Boyd’s rambling but brilliant new novel is based on the true story of Cashel Greville Ross, a 19th century soldier, farmer, felon, writer, father and lover. Boyd came across Ross’s letters and a memoir which he weaves into his own magical tale. From Ireland to London, fighting at Waterloo and seeking his fortune in Zanzibar, Ross is a compelling character who meets romantic poets Byron and Shelley in Pisa and a woman who captures his heart in Ravenna.

Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor, Pan Macmillan

Trying not to smell the wafts of the pie shop, famished Iris arrives from country Glen Innes to Sydney to be immersed in the underworld. On the train “a fella offered me a meal for a jerk, I insisted on a bob too”. It’s 1932. She was born in the Bathurst Salvation Army Women’s Hospital, her mother doing a stretch at Cooma Gaol for larceny. It’s impossible not to fall for this emancipated, well-read, hardworking woman. In Sydney she meets a woman who takes her to her Palmer Street brothel. Five years later, married to gambler

Ned Webber, she faces convictions ranging from insulting words to murder. This is a definitive story of Depression-era Sydney suffering and survival. McGregor’s use of the slang of the day adds punch.