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HerStory Novels | Historical fiction by women, about women - History
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The Most, by Jessica Anthony - HerStory Novels
I read The Most twice, back-to-back. This novella (133 pages) seems simple on the surface: it concerns a housewife, Kathleen, in 1957 who decides to spend all day in the swimming pool of the Newark, Delaware apartment complex where she lives. The first time I read it, I was pulled in by the question of why she is spending the whole day in the pool. By the end, I didn’t quite have an answer, so I read it again to... Read More Read More
A Woman of Pleasure, by Kiyoko Murata - HerStory Novels
A Woman of Pleasure takes place in Japan and follows the story of Ichi, who in 1903 at the age of 15 is sold into prostitution by her father. She comes from a remote island (Iojima) and when she arrives in Kyushu, she is dazzled by the large houses she sees. Although she has come so far away from home, and although she is raped as soon as she enters the large brothel, she seems oddly accepting of what is... Read More Read More
The House of Eve, by Sadeqa Johnson - HerStory Novels
One reason I enjoy historical fiction is the opportunity to experience, vicariously, the lives of people from past time periods, and to learn about cultures and sub-cultures that are unfamiliar to me. The House of Eve, first published in 2023, gives readers glimpses of African-American experiences that many of us might not have known about. The novel starts in 1948 and is told from the point of view of two young Black women: Ruby, who lives in North Philadephia, and... Read More Read More
Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel - HerStory Novels
I saw the movie based on this book in the early 1990s, when it first came out, and loved it. But for some reason I did not read the book until recently. Like Water for Chocolate was originally published in Spanish in 1989. The title is a Spanish saying that refers to the boiling water used for making hot chocolate. If someone is “like water for chocolate,” their emotions are boiling over—an apt title because this book is about characters... Read More Read More
The Court Dancer, by Kyung-Sook Shin - HerStory Novels
On the surface, The Court Dancer is a beautiful novel about a young woman, Jin, and her relationship with a Frenchman. Yet it is also so much more. It is about how the West views non-western peoples, and vice versa. It is about how a woman in a very traditional country transcends her circumscribed role. It is about the contrast between fascination with the exotic, and true love. It is about loyalty and self-determination. The novel takes place in the... Read More Read More
Tumbling, by Diane McKinney-Whetstone - HerStory Novels
Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the acclaimed author of six novels, the first of which is Tumbling, first published in 1996. The story, which takes place in Philadelphia in the 1940s and 1950s, focuses on Noon, her husband Herbie, and their two adopted children. But their lives are so intertwined with other community members that the novel is really about the entire neighborhood of African-Americans. There are so many things I like about this novel, from the engaging story lines to the... Read More Read More
Illuminations, by Mary Sharratt - HerStory Novels
Illuminations illuminates the life of Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th century nun who founded her own abbey and composed beautiful works of sacred choral music. Hildegard’s journey to becoming a nun began against her will, when her mother “tithed” her to the church at the age of eight (she was her family’s 10th child). Hildegard became a companion to Jutta, who chose to become an “anchorite” nun, bricked into two rooms in the church. In compensation for Hildegard’s companionship, Jutta’s... Read More Read More
Girl With a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier - HerStory Novels
Girl with a Pearl Earring was inspired by the famous 17th century Vermeer painting of the same name. The novel takes place in the Dutch town of Delft. According to Tracy Chevalier’s web site, one day as she looked at the poster of the painting that hung in her bedroom, she thought to herself, “I wonder what Vermeer did to her to make her look like that. Now there’s a story worth writing.” From that thought, Chevalier created the character... Read More Read More
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See - HerStory Novels
With Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See has allowed us a window into the secluded world of women’s rooms in rural China in the 1800s. The central characters of this heart-felt and ultimately heart-wrenching tale are Lily, the daughter of a farmer; and her laotong (lifelong emotional partner), Snow Flower. The two communicate using special writing unique to women, called nu shu. Their friendship deepens throughout their childhood and adolescence, but before Snow Flower’s marriage, Lily discovers something... Read More Read More
The Last Quarter of the Moon, by Chi Zijian - HerStory Novels
First published in an English translation in 2013, this novel by a prize-winning Chinese author covers 90 years in the life of an Evenki woman (a nomadic people living in the mountainous forests of China and Russia). The unnamed narrator tells the story as an old woman whose way of life has almost disappeared. Each of the four sections of the book (Dawn, Mid-Day, Dusk, and The Last Quarter of the Moon) begins with an italicized section that takes place... Read More Read More
The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant - HerStory Novels
Told as a series of anecdotes from a Jewish grandmother, Addie Baum, to her granddaughter Ava, The Boston Girl is a coming-of-age story set in the early 1900s. Addie’s parents have fled an unnamed country in Europe, and Addie is the first child born in the United States. Her father and sister work in a sweatshop, and the family lives in a tenement. Addie’s parents expect her to leave school after 8th grade and start working. Central to the story... Read More Read More
The Parted Earth, by Anjali Enjeti - HerStory Novels
I knew of Anjali Enjeti as co-founder of the Georgia chapter of They See Blue, an organization to encourage progressive South Asian Americans to be politically engaged. Like many others, I was eager to see two Democratic senators elected from Georgia, and I was part of a letter-writing campaign from Ohio to Georgians. I was therefore very interested to learn that Anjali Enjeti is also an author! The Parted Earth, published in May 2021, takes place in 1947 in India... Read More Read More
Circling the Sun and West With the Night - HerStory Novels
After I read Circling the Sun by Paula McLain, a historical novel based on the life of aviator Beryl Markham, I was curious about how it compared with Markham’s memoir, West with the Night, which Ernest Hemingway called “a bloody wonderful book.” West with the Night was first published in 1942, six years after Markham made her historic solo flight from east to west across the Atlantic. It is told in 24 essays which are not always in chronological order,... Read More Read More