Historical Fiction

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All That Is Left of Life

All That Is Left of Life

Roberta Rossella Recchia

Three generations of the Ansaldo family grapple with the aftermath of a tragic murder in this sweeping, cinematic debut set in 1980s Rome, for fans of Elena Ferrante and Liz Moore. It’s a sultry August night when sixteen-year-old Betta Ansaldo convinces her cousin Miriam to sneak out to the local beach for a party. Only Miriam returns. Traumatized by the violence she’s witnessed, she remains silent. The small community is riven with grief, none more so than the Ansaldos, who search for answers they cannot find. Who did Betta cross paths with on that fateful night? What was she doing there? And how could such a horrific crime happen in such a peaceful place? As the years pass, and Betta’s murder goes unsolved, the Ansaldo family fractures under the weight of their loss. When Miriam meets Leo, a sweet-natured young man with a dark past, their romance seems to turn her life around. But when Leo starts to pull loose the threads of Betta’s story, determined to find out what really happened, his search for the truth risks unraveling everything.

The Song of Stork and Dromedary

The Song of Stork and Dromedary

Inspired by the lives and literary legacies of the Brontë sisters, The Song of Stork and Dromedary is an intricate literary mystery about an elusive writer whose work continues to fascinate readers long after her death. In nineteenth-century Yorkshire, Eliza May Drayden and her sisters grow up in relative isolation, finding refuge in their shared passion for literature. When Eliza May finally publishes her only novel, Haeger Mass, it is condemned as disturbing and immoral. Yet, over time, the book acquires a devoted following, and its mysterious author becomes the subject of endless speculation. Who was Eliza May Drayden, and what secrets lie within her strange and unsettling work? Told across eleven interconnected narratives spanning almost three centuries, the novel unfolds through letters, biographies, personal recollections, mysterious notebooks, and the lives of people touched by Eliza May’s writing. As each perspective reveals new details, conflicting interpretations emerge, making the truth increasingly elusive. Blending Gothic fiction, historical storytelling, and philosophical mystery, Daanje explores artistic identity, the relationship between an author and her readers, and the human desire to find meaning in stories. Ultimately, the novel reflects on literature’s extraordinary ability to transcend time and mortality.

Astronaut!

Romania, 1989. As Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist dictatorship approaches its end, the country is gripped by fear, suspicion, and absurd official propaganda. Amid rationing, secret informers, and carefully monitored conversations, a series of mysterious murders captures the public’s attention. Authorities blame a man-eating bear, but the truth proves far more complicated. Two unlikely protagonists find themselves caught in the unfolding mystery. Constantin, an idealistic police detective who dreams of writing fairy tales, is tasked with investigating the deaths. Meanwhile, Lia, a curious and rebellious schoolgirl who longs for colour and beauty in her grey surroundings, becomes involved in an elderly neighbour’s clandestine resistance against the regime. Blending detective fiction, political satire, and fairy-tale elements, Astronaut! captures the surreal contradictions of life under authoritarian rule. Through the contrasting perspectives of an idealistic adult and an imaginative child, Oana Aristide explores courage, complicity, and the power of ordinary people to challenge injustice. The novel is both a tense mystery and a moving coming-of-age story about finding hope in a society built on fear and deception.

Nothing to My Name

Nothing to My Name

Kangkang Li Kovacs

Nothing to My Name is a multigenerational family saga following three Chinese women whose lives are shaped by political upheaval, social expectations, and the enduring bonds between mothers and daughters. Inspired by the author’s family history, the novel spans four decades of modern Chinese history, from the Communist Revolution to the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. In 1948, twelve-year-old Ah Xue grows up in a small fishing village in Zhoushan, where her mother earns a modest living combing the hair of wealthy women. As the civil war approaches, their already precarious existence becomes increasingly uncertain. Her daughter, Mimosa, later comes of age during the Cultural Revolution, when political tensions threaten to tear her family apart. In the next generation, Fei struggles with questions of gender identity under the influence of her activist father, whose expectations are shaped by China’s turbulent recent history. Through these intertwined stories, Kovacs explores the lasting effects of trauma, the sacrifices women make to protect their families, and the ways history echoes across generations. The novel is a portrait of resilience, identity, and the complicated love that binds families together despite profound change.

A Short History of Longans

A Short History of Longans

Spanning nearly two centuries, A Short History of Longans traces the intertwined lives of four generations of an Irish-Chinese family in Australia, exploring how ancestry, memory, and historical upheaval shape a sense of belonging. The story opens in Queensland in 2049, where Daniel, an elderly and reclusive artist, faces the destruction of his beloved longan tree after a devastating storm. When a young reporter arrives seeking answers about a troubling event in his past, Daniel’s carefully guarded life begins to unravel. The narrative then travels backwards through time, revealing the experiences of his aunt Wendy, who struggles with early-onset dementia, and Ruby Wong, a Chinese Australian actress pursuing her ambitions in 1940s Los Angeles. Finally, the novel reaches the nineteenth century, where an Irish orphan named Maria Lyons falls in love with Ah Yang, a Chinese man whose life will shape the family’s future. Through these interconnected stories, Riwoe examines migration, racial prejudice, family secrets, and the ways identity is passed down through generations. The longan tree becomes a symbol of heritage and continuity, connecting people to the places and histories that make them who they are.

The Home of the Drowned

The Home of the Drowned

Elin Anna Labba

The Home of the Drowned tells the story of a Sámi family whose traditional way of life is threatened when a hydroelectric dam floods their ancestral settlement in northern Sweden. When thirteen-year-old Iŋgá, her mother Rávdná, and her aunt Ánne return to their summer village, they discover that their home and belongings have disappeared beneath the water. Spanning four decades, from 1942 to 1982, the novel follows three generations of Sámi women as they confront displacement, discrimination, and the gradual destruction of their cultural heritage. Rávdná refuses to accept the loss of her home and fights to rebuild what has been taken from her, while Iŋgá longs for the freedom to live like other young people. Their conflicting responses reveal the painful tension between preserving tradition and adapting to a changing world. Drawing on Sámi history and the consequences of colonial policies, Elin Anna Labba explores the profound connections between land, memory, identity, and belonging. The novel is a moving reflection on what makes a place a home and what happens when that home is taken away.

Ghost-Eye

In Ghost-Eye, Amitav Ghosh weaves together reincarnation, family secrets, and environmental concerns across two generations. In 1969 Calcutta, three-year-old Varsha Gupta begins describing memories of a previous life, including a different mother and a home beside a river. Her unusual claims lead her family to Dr. Shoma Bose, a psychiatrist investigating cases of apparent reincarnation. Decades later, Varsha’s case file attracts the attention of environmental activists, drawing Shoma’s nephew Dinu into a search that brings buried memories and unexpected connections to light. Moving between India and contemporary Brooklyn, the novel blends magical realism, mystery, and ecological fiction to explore the relationship between human identity, memory, and the natural world. It raises questions about how lives are interconnected and how humanity’s relationship with the environment shapes both personal histories and collective futures.

The Lotus Shoes

The Lotus Shoes

In nineteenth-century China, bound feet known as “golden lilies” are considered essential to a woman’s marriage prospects and social standing. Little Flower, a talented young girl from a poor family, is sold into servitude as a muizai to Linjing, the privileged daughter of the wealthy Fong family. Despite their unequal positions, both girls possess qualities that could determine their futures: Little Flower has bound feet and an extraordinary gift for embroidery, while Linjing has the family connections and status that Little Flower can only dream of. Jealous of Little Flower’s talents, Linjing does everything she can to keep her servant under her control. But when scandal destroys the Fong family’s standing, both women are cast out and sent to the Celibate Sisterhood, a community of women who weave silk and seek independence from traditional marriage. There, Little Flower’s embroidery attracts the attention of a nobleman, offering her a possible escape—but also putting her life in danger. Rich in historical detail, The Lotus Shoes explores female ambition, class divisions, and the restrictive traditions governing women’s lives. Through two women whose relationship shifts between rivalry and solidarity, Jane Yang examines the difficult choices women make to survive and the unexpected ways they can shape one another’s destinies.

A Thread of Light

A Thread of Light

London, 1941. As German bombers descend on the city, two women find themselves caught in a different struggle: the fight for Indian independence from British rule. Ruby, a lonely air raid warden, becomes involved with the India Forum, a group campaigning for India’s freedom. She has her own reasons for joining the movement, but her growing attraction to Satyajit, a charismatic and potentially dangerous freedom fighter, forces her to question her loyalties. Meanwhile, Kitty, an Indian lawyer who has left her family in Bombay to build a life in Britain with the man she loves, risks everything to help Indian men challenge wartime conscription. As their lives intersect, political tensions, personal betrayals, and the threat of violence push both women towards decisions that could change their futures forever. Set against the Blitz and India’s independence movement, A Thread of Light uncovers a lesser-known chapter of British wartime history. Through its intertwined stories of love, sacrifice, and resistance, the novel explores the complicated relationship between colonial power and freedom, asking what people are willing to risk for their beliefs and the people they love.

India United Kingdom 2025

The Book of I

In the year 825, a Viking raid leaves a remote Scottish island littered with the dead. Only three unlikely survivors remain: Martin, a young monk who escaped the massacre; Una, a beekeeper and mead maker freed from her abusive husband by the violence; and Grimur, an ageing Viking who survives being buried alive by his own companions. Stranded together on an island where trust seems impossible, the three begin building an unexpected life. Martin clings to his Christian faith, Una finds freedom in the rhythms of nature, and Grimur discovers that peace may offer something the battlefield never could. But can a fragile community survive when its members come from opposing worlds—and when the past refuses to stay buried? Set against the wild beauty of the Scottish coast, The Book of I blends brutal history with irreverent humour and surprising tenderness. David Greig explores faith, guilt, redemption, and the possibility of finding family in the most unlikely places. It is a story about what remains after destruction—and whether people who once stood on opposite sides can learn to live together.

United Kingdom 2025

The Original

A painting is burned to ashes. Years later, it mysteriously returns. And in a crumbling English country house, nothing—and no one—is quite what they seem. Oxfordshire, 1899. Grace Inderwick has spent most of her life as an unwanted guest in her wealthy uncle’s household. An outsider with a talent for copying paintings, she secretly turns her unusual skill into a way to earn money and imagine a life beyond the estate. But when her cousin Charles, presumed dead after disappearing at sea, suddenly returns, the family is thrown into turmoil. Some believe he is their long-lost relative; others suspect an impostor hoping to claim the family fortune. As Grace becomes entangled in the mystery, her own secrets threaten to surface. In a world where appearances can deceive and even love involves a kind of imitation, she must decide whom to trust—and who she wants to become. Atmospheric, witty, and full of Victorian intrigue, The Original explores the blurred boundaries between authenticity and deception, asking what makes a person truly original.

United Kingdom 2025

Happy Land

Dolen Perkins-Valdez

In Happy Land, Dolen Perkins-Valdez uncovers a remarkable chapter of African American history through the story of a family whose identity is deeply rooted in the legacy of a forgotten kingdom. Nikki Berry has been estranged from her grandmother, Mother Rita, for years. When her grandmother unexpectedly summons her to the mountains of western North Carolina, Nikki hopes to understand the family conflict that has separated generations. Instead, she discovers a story that transforms her understanding of her ancestry: her great-great-great-grandmother, Luella, was the queen of the Kingdom of the Happy Land, a real community established by formerly enslaved people after the American Civil War. As Nikki learns more about the kingdom and the lives of those who built it, she discovers how her ancestors created a place of independence and belonging in a society that continued to deny Black Americans equality. But the family’s connection to the land faces a new threat when outside interests seek to take it away. Nikki must confront both the secrets that have shaped her family and the responsibility of protecting its inheritance. Moving between Nikki’s present-day struggles and Luella’s nineteenth-century experiences, Perkins-Valdez weaves together two generations of women whose lives are shaped by the pursuit of freedom, dignity, and self-determination. The novel explores the importance of ancestral memory, the lasting consequences of racial injustice, and the deep connection between land and identity. Inspired by the historical Kingdom of the Happy Land, the novel celebrates the courage of people who dared to imagine a different future and asks what it means to preserve a legacy for generations to come.

United States 2025