Historical Fiction

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Malinalli

Malinalli reimagines the life of Malinalli, the Indigenous woman known as La Malinche, who became an interpreter and intermediary between the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and the Indigenous peoples of sixteenth-century Mexico. Born into a world shaped by political rivalries and social hierarchies, Malinalli is forced into circumstances that transform her into a central figure in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Through her linguistic abilities and understanding of different cultures, she occupies a complicated position between Indigenous communities and the invading Europeans. Laura Esquivel revisits this controversial historical figure from a perspective that challenges traditional portrayals of Malinalli as a traitor. Instead, the novel explores her inner life, cultural identity, and attempts to navigate a world undergoing violent transformation. Blending historical fiction with spiritual and philosophical reflection, Esquivel examines colonialism, gender, language, and the power of storytelling. The novel asks how history remembers women whose choices were shaped by forces far beyond their control, offering a more nuanced portrait of a figure central to Mexico’s cultural memory.

House on Via Gemito

House on Via Gemito

Domenico Starnone

Domenico Starnone is an Italian novelist, screenwriter, and journalist, born in 1943 in Naples. Before establishing himself as a novelist, he worked as a teacher and wrote for newspapers and satirical publications, often drawing on his experiences in the Italian education system. His fiction is known for its psychological precision, sharp humour, and exploration of the tensions underlying family relationships, marriage, and personal identity. Starnone frequently examines how people construct narratives about themselves and others, revealing the contradictions between memory, truth, and self-deception. His notable works include Ties, Trick, and The House on Via Gemito, which won the prestigious Strega Prize in 2001. His writing often combines intimate domestic conflicts with broader reflections on social expectations, masculinity, ageing, and artistic ambition. Internationally acclaimed for his subtle, layered storytelling, Starnone has become an important voice in contemporary Italian literature.

There Are Rivers in the Sky

There Are Rivers in the Sky

In There Are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak weaves together the lives of three characters connected by water, memory, and the ancient city of Nineveh. In Victorian London, Arthur, a gifted boy born into poverty, develops a fascination with the Epic of Gilgamesh. In nineteenth-century Ottoman Mesopotamia, Narin, a young Yazidi girl, faces the threat of displacement as her community’s traditions and homeland come under pressure. In contemporary London, Zaleekhah, a hydrologist struggling with personal loss, becomes drawn into the histories of the Tigris and its surrounding landscapes. Moving across centuries and continents, the novel explores the enduring connections between human lives, ancient civilizations, and the natural world. Through its interwoven narratives, Shafak examines environmental destruction, cultural heritage, religious persecution, and the transformative power of water as a source of life, memory, and renewal.

Iraq United Kingdom 2024

Daughter of Fire

Daughter of Fire

Set in Guatemala in 1551, Daughter of Fire follows Catalina Cerrato, the daughter of a powerful Spanish landowner and a Maya noblewoman. Growing up between two cultures in the aftermath of the Spanish conquest, Catalina struggles to reconcile her father’s expectations with her mother’s legacy. Before her death, her mother entrusted her with preserving the sacred history of the K’iche’ people, recorded in the Popol Vuh. Determined to protect this endangered heritage, Catalina embarks on a dangerous journey to recover and preserve its stories. Along the way, she encounters Juan de Rojas, a Maya nobleman whose life has also been transformed by the conquest. Blending historical fiction, romance, and Maya mythology, the novel explores cultural identity, colonial oppression, love, and the struggle to preserve Indigenous traditions in the face of erasure.

House on Biscayne Bay

House on Biscayne Bay

Set in 1918 Miami, House on Biscayne Bay follows two women whose lives become intertwined within a grand mansion overlooking the water. When Carmen Acosta moves into the luxurious estate with her husband, she hopes to begin a new chapter, but unsettling events and whispers of the house’s dark past soon disturb her dreams. Decades later, another woman becomes connected to the property, uncovering secrets that refuse to remain buried. Through shifting perspectives and atmospheric storytelling, Chanel Cleeton explores ambition, betrayal, marriage, and the hidden histories behind outward appearances. Blending historical fiction with mystery and suspense, the novel reveals how the secrets of a place can shape the lives of generations.

United States 2024

Curse of the Flores Women

Curse of the Flores Women

Angélica Lopes

In this haunting novel about the enduring bonds of womanhood, a young girl weaves together the truth behind her family history and the secrets that resonate through generations. Eighteen-year-old Alice Ribeiro is constantly fighting―against the status quo, female oppression in Brazil, and even her own mother. But when a family veil is passed down to her, Alice is compelled to fight for the rights of all womankind while also uncovering the hidden history of the women in her family. Seven generations ago, the small town of Bom Retiro shunned the Flores women because of a “curse” that rendered them unlucky in love. With no men on the horizon to take care of them, the women learned the art of lacemaking to build lives of their own. But their peace was soon threatened by forces beyond any woman’s control. As Alice begins piecing together the tapestry that is her history, she discovers revelations about the past, connections to the present, and a resilience in her blood that will carry her toward the future her ancestors strove for.

Rose and the Burma Sky

Rose and the Burma Sky

In 1939, in a village in southeastern Nigeria, young Obi dreams of building a better life for himself and his family. When a colonial army jeep passes through his village, the prospect of a uniform and a steady wage appeals to him—not least because he hopes to impress Rose, the woman he loves. But when Rose becomes pregnant by another man, Obi’s world collapses. Haunted by unanswered questions about her lover, he joins the British colonial army and is sent to fight in the brutal Burma Campaign of the Second World War. As Obi confronts the horrors of war, his heartbreak becomes entangled with a mystery that will have devastating consequences. Through his journey from rural Nigeria to the battlefields of Southeast Asia, Rosanna Amaka brings attention to the often-overlooked experiences of African soldiers who fought for a colonial power. Blending an intimate story of unrequited love with the wider injustices of empire, Rose and the Burma Sky explores sacrifice, racial inequality, and the lasting consequences of choices made in moments of despair.

Nigeria Myanmar 2023

Summer Heat

In 1974, young Melike senses that something is terribly wrong. Her parents’ political gatherings have stopped, and whispered conversations about prison, invasion, and military coups fill the family home in Istanbul. Hoping to escape the growing unrest, the family moves to a quiet village in southern Turkey. For a while, life seems peaceful—until Melike’s beloved father disappears. Nearly thirty years later, Melike has built a respectable life as an art historian in Istanbul. She has a comfortable home and a devoted husband, yet a persistent dissatisfaction follows her. When she meets Petro, a mysterious and captivating stranger, she believes a new chapter is beginning. But Petro’s concealed identity forces her to confront the past she has spent years trying to leave behind. Against the backdrop of the 1974 Turkish military intervention in Cyprus and its political aftermath, Summer Heat explores family secrets, desire, and the long shadow of historical violence. It is a story about the identities we construct, the truths we bury, and the past’s power to disrupt even the most carefully arranged lives.

A History of Burning

A History of Burning

In 1898, thirteen-year-old Pirbhai leaves his village in India, lured by the promise of work in East Africa. Instead, he is forced into labour on the British railway, where a desperate act committed in the name of survival becomes a secret that will haunt his descendants for generations. Years later, Pirbhai builds a family with Sonal in Uganda. Their children and grandchildren grow up amid the final years of British colonial rule, the country’s struggle for independence, and the political turmoil that follows. Among the next generation are three sisters, each with her own ambitions and understanding of what it means to belong. When Idi Amin orders Uganda’s Asian population to leave in 1972, the family is scattered across continents, carrying with them the memories, silences, and secrets of their past. Spanning more than a century and moving between India, East Africa, and Canada, A History of Burning traces how one act of survival reverberates through generations. Janika Oza weaves together colonial exploitation, political upheaval, family loyalty, and the search for home in an intimate multigenerational saga about the stories families preserve—and those they struggle to forget.

Uganda India Canada 2023

Safiyyah's War

When Nazi Germany invades Paris in 1940, eleven-year-old Safiyyah’s peaceful life at the Grand Mosque of Paris is transformed by fear and uncertainty. Her Jewish best friend has fled the city, German soldiers patrol the streets, and Safiyyah struggles to understand the growing injustice around her. When her father is arrested for his secret Resistance activities, she discovers that the adults she trusts are involved in something far more dangerous than she imagined. Determined to fight back, Safiyyah begins carrying messages across occupied Paris. Soon, the mosque becomes a refuge for persecuted Jewish people, and Safiyyah faces her greatest challenge yet: navigating the dangerous underground passages beneath the city to help lead them to safety. Inspired by the little-known history of the Grand Mosque of Paris and its role in helping Jews escape Nazi persecution, Safiyyah’s War brings a neglected chapter of the Second World War to life through the eyes of a courageous young Muslim girl. It is a moving story of friendship, compassion, and ordinary people risking everything to protect others.

Hope You Are Satisfied

Hope You Are Satisfied

Set in Dubai in 1990, on the eve of the first Gulf War, Hope You Are Satisfied follows Riya, a 25-year-old Indian woman working for a small tour company in a city that has yet to become the glittering global metropolis it is today. Living far from her family, Riya sends money home to support her mother and younger sister, while dreaming of a future that offers more than endless work and financial obligations. Her life takes an unexpected turn when a seemingly ordinary workplace mishap involving a powerful sheikh threatens her position. As she attempts to repair the damage, Riya becomes entangled with Dubai’s shadowy network of fixers, arms dealers, foreign soldiers, intelligence operatives, and corrupt businessmen. Meanwhile, the looming threat of war transforms the city’s atmosphere, exposing the precariousness of life for the migrant workers who keep its tourism industry running. With sharp humour and a lively cast of expatriates, Malik explores the contradictions of a city built on ambition, wealth, and the labour of people who often remain invisible. Through Riya’s experiences, the novel examines migration, class inequality, cultural displacement, and the tension between family duty and personal freedom. Blending espionage, social satire, and historical fiction, it offers a glimpse of Dubai before its transformation into a global destination.

United Arab Emirates 2023

Under the Tamarind Tree

Under the Tamarind Tree

Karachi, 1964. Four childhood friends find their lives transformed by one fateful night that ends in death and secrets they will carry for decades. Years later, an unexpected reunion forces Rozeena to confront the past she has spent a lifetime trying to protect. Against the backdrop of Pakistan’s history and the lasting scars of Partition, this atmospheric novel explores forbidden love, social divisions, and the ways family secrets echo across generations.

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