Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #historical-fiction, aggregated by home.social.
Four stars:
Hen Fever by Olivia Waite (2022) is a romance about two middle aged women finding love as they rescue a rare breed of chicken. Lydia Wraxhall meets Harriet Boyne when she accidentally trespasses on Harriet's property in search of her rooster.
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2026/comments_10/hen_fever.html
#bookstodon #romance #queer #novella #historicalFiction
@bookstodon
The Fitzgeralds of Dublin series is a sweeping 19th-century Irish family saga. Follow Will and Isobel through struggles, secrets, and choices that test their love and loyalty in a changing Ireland.
Amazon - https://mybook.to/FitzgeraldsSeries
Other Retailers - https://lornapeel.com/fitzgeralds/a-scarlet-woman
#TheFitzgeraldsOfDublinSeries #Books #BooksByLornaPeel #FamilySaga #HistoricalFiction #Ireland #BookSeries #KindleUnlimited @bookstodon
The Next Page
SNACK magazine’s roundup of some of the best Scottish books published in recent months includes a literary legend, Icelandic escapades, architectural marvels, failed historical ventures, police & thieves, & more.
https://snackmag.co.uk/the-next-page-scotlands-best-new-books-autumn-winter-2026
#Scottish #literature #novels #fiction #crimefiction #memoir #historicalfiction #JamesKelman
"When Jaanvi Chowdhury finds a photograph and a bundle of letters in her attic, she uncovers the extraordinary life of a great-aunt who fought for medicine, for India, and for love."
📷✨ A guest post and giveaway for THE LOST PHOTOGRAPH by ARCHANA MANIAR are live on the blog today! This moving work of historical fiction with contemporary themes traces one woman's rediscovery of purpose through a family story. 💫🌿
#HistoricalFiction #ContemporaryThemes #KU #KindleUnlimited
https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/the-lost-photograph-by-archana-maniar
It's Book Release Day for "Quest for Survival." I do hope you like it. Sydney's first orphanage.
Still only 3.99 worldwide. https://mybook.to/QuestForSurvival
#historicalfiction
#AustralianHistoricalFiction
#christianhistoricalfiction
#christianhistoricalromance
#booksky
#bookchallenges
#writingcommunity
#stepbackintime
When Light Breaks Through takes us beyond the witch trials to tell a riveting, expansive story of what happened in Salem Village.
When Light Breaks Through: A Salem Witch Trials Story, by Brenda Murphy
FREE until October 23rd
Step into 19th-century Ireland!
Forbidden love, family secrets, and a sweeping saga await in A Scarlet Woman.
Start reading The Fitzgeralds of Dublin series today in Kindle Unlimited.
Amazon - https://mybook.to/ascarletwoman
Other Retailers - https://lornapeel.com/fitzgeralds/a-scarlet-woman
#TheFitzgeraldsOfDublinSeries #Books #BooksByLornaPeel #Ireland #BookSeries #HistoricalFiction #KindleUnlimited #Romance #HistoricalRomance @bookstodon
Tomorrow is Release day for "Quest for Survival.” It’s a novella about the first Girls’ orphanage in Sydney. 1801>>>
https://mybook.to/QuestForSurvival Only 3.99 on preorder.
Also available in Large print, hardcover & ebook.
#historical #historicalfiction
#Historicallovestory
#AustralianHistoricalFiction
""Rich in community life and quietly surprising at every turn." – Merissa
🏴✨ WHEN THE STONES HELD by DAVID E OWEN earns a full and exceptional 5 out of 5 stars in today's review! This richly drawn work of Welsh historical fiction breathes life into a remarkable real man and the community that shaped him, in a story where stone, faith, and belonging are inseparable. 💫🌿
#BlogTour #YardeBookPromotions #WhenTheStonesHeld #DavidEOwen #WelshHistory #HistoricalFiction #KU
https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/when-the-stones-held-by-david-e-owen
📖✨ LEARNING TO BREATHE AGAIN (THE WORK OF BECOMING #1) by TONYA CAM earns a great 4 out of 5 stars in today's review! This moving work of historical and women's fiction delivers a quietly devastating portrait of constraint, resilience, and the slow work of becoming. 💫🌿
Head over to the blog to read the full review!
Available in Kindle Unlimited 🎉
#HistoricalFiction #DepressionEra #WomensFiction #TheCoffeePotBookClub #BlogTour
Love getting lost in a historical fiction series?
Set in 19th-century Ireland, The Fitzgeralds of Dublin series follows one family through hardship, secrets, and choices that echo across generations.
📚️️️️️️️ Books 1–9 available as box sets
📖 Read free in Kindle Unlimited
Amazon - https://mybook.to/FitzgeraldsBoxSets
#BooksByLornaPeel #Books #FamilySaga #HistoricalFiction #Bookstodon #Ireland #KindleUnlimited #Dublin @bookstodon
durchschnitts
durchschnitts#DramaticPoetry #earlyModernEurope #HistoricalFiction #Imagery #literary #literature #Poetry #SerialPoetry #SpokenWord #writing
when he's earned his licentiate degree
if there's a maiden that's been moved
to inquisitioned antwerp
a maiden that he wants to love
had she been moved to elsinore to love
he'd travel by merchant timbers and by caravel
he'd find evangelicals christians there gathered
preach to them what he's taken to preach
teach what he's taken to teach
until he's most remembered
as a man on a pulpit a man at a lectern
but i don't know
of any that he wants to love
Exploring Charles Frazier’s The Trackers: A Novel Review
An in-depth review of The Trackers by Charles Frazier. Discover a beautifully written Depression-era novel exploring art, technology, and human isolation.https://chrsvg.wordpress.com/2026/10/18/exploring-charles-fraziers-the-trackers-a-novel-review/
The grave of Arthur LeClair. Look closely…. Read the whole story at tronsetbio.com/books
#historicalfiction #murdermystery
Book Review: Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago
A novelised tour Puerto Rico’s colonial history from the perspective of a determined and yet unlikeable heroine and the people she enslaves for a sugar hacienda in the 19th Century. It could have been improved with more focus on the lives of the slaves.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Historical Fiction, Colonial fiction, Puerto Rican history, colonisation, slavery.
Publisher: Alfred K. Knopf Publishing
Review in one word: Powderkeg
Esmeralda Santiago’s Conquistadora is a sweeping and compelling historical fiction set between old Europe in 19th Century Spain and the New World of Puerto Rico. I have to admit that I don’t know much about Puerto Rico but recently watching the Superbowl half time performance of Bad Bunny sparked my imagination and curiosity about the culture and people of Puerto Rico, which made me want to read this book.
Bad Bunny with Lady Gaga in the 2026 Super Bowl half time show which showcased Puerto Rican cultureProtagonist Ana is resentful of being born female into a world of hushed parlours where women are seen and not heard in 19th Century Spain. She’s a tomboy and a rebel and longs to have adventures like her ancestors. Along with this goal of exploration is her desire to dominate another land and other peoples, whom she sees as lesser than herself.
So she escapes the strictures of her class and gender by way of marriage to ambitious Ramón along with his twin Innocente set sail for the American colony Puerto Rico. Ana is a complex and generally unlikeable character in my opinion, due to her emotionless ambition to tame the new land she moves to, and her brutal exploitation of African slaves on her sugar plantation Hacienda los Gemelos.
Ana’s pride and liberation that she feels in the new place is as a result of the blood, sweat and tears of countless slaves. This is one of the major tensions in the book as Ana does struggle to rationalise her decisions and how she feels about these people, whom she “cares” about but ultimately sees as less than herself and less than human.
Would she discipline the old, the crippled, the children she was taking on as her responsibility? She remembered Jesusa slapping her servants, then being shocked that they quit their jobs.
But she now wondered if it was in her blood. Subjugating the native people was the first thing the conquistadores did, always by force, always by violence.
She was now in the position Jesusa had wished for: one of undisputed power over others. So far, none of her workers had challenged Ana, but of course, they could. They should, Ana thought. She would, if she were one of them. And that made all the difference.
“So long as they’re slaves,” Ana said to Ramón and Inocente, “they have to do what I say. I’ll train them, and if they refuse their work, yes, I’ll punish them. That’s what it means to be an hacendada, doesn’t it?”
Excerpt from Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago
The ‘strong-willed mistress’ of a colonial plantation is a literary character done to death and could even be considered cliched. I found the character of Ana a bit one dimensional and boring for this reason.
Slaves cutting the sugar cane in the british colony of Antigua. Image taken from Ten Views in the Island of Antigua, by William Clark, originally published in London in 1823. British LibrarySantiago does a brilliant job of diving between perspectives. The strongest writing in the book, in my opinion, comes from her delving into the perspective of the people enslaved on the plantation.
Flora observed these changes because it was important to notice everything. A new master meant that she must pay close attention so that she could learn what kind of people they were. Would the masters bother the women? Would the lady spend only a few days a year at the hacienda and live the rest of the time in the city? Would they have much company, or would they prefer to visit others? Would the lady sit against cushions whining that she was bored while ordering maids and complaining that things were not clean or neat enough?
Flora had lived among blancos for years, and she knew that they were an indolent but violent race. To survive among them, she watched them, and could read them as well as they read their books and letters.
Flora was a Mbuti, and her clan lived in dense forests, hunting, fishing, and gathering, moving from place to place along the Congo River, following the availability of fruits, vegetables, and game.
Their low stature and highly developed senses made them agile and stealthy. Children were taught to revere their environment because taking the forest for granted could be deadly.
As they moved through the bush, the Mbuti sang to the gods in gratitude and exultation for the gifts of food and shelter.
Among her people she was named Balekimito. When she was blessed with the blood, her clanswomen and friends celebrated Balekimito’s first menstrual period in the elima ceremony.
They built a house from supple branches and broad leaves, and the women and pubescent girls moved in. The elder women taught the girls how to keep embers alive so that they could revive the fire in their next camp. They taught them the adult women’s songs and sang about the responsibilities of womanhood and motherhood. Boys congregated around the yard of the elima house and sang to the girls, hoping that one would choose him to be allowed inside. The days in the elima house were the happiest time of Balekimito’s life.
Three moons later, Portuguese slavers captured her and her mother. They raped them, then made them walk to a village where they were thrown into a shack and roped to other captives for two nights.
Excerpt from Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago
Reading about colonisation and slavery from the perspective of the slaves was riveting to say the least. Mainly because I feel like deep in my own history my own ancestors were enslaved or colonised, in Aotearoa and in Ireland by powerful people from elsewhere who took away the riches of their own land. So for me these parts of the book had a personal lens of understanding, a deep ancestral understanding.
“The dead time, for the slaves, was as arduous as the zafra, with the added burden of the bone-rattling thunder, sizzling lightning, and sudden downpours of hurricane season that made outdoor labor hazardous. Rain or shine, dead time or zafra, the slaves fulfilled their duties under the watchful foremen and supervisors who were either white men or light-skinned mulattos with short tempers and quick hands. Locked in for the night in windowless cuarteles, the slaves led an existence defined by the demands of others, the needs of others, the caprice of others, and by the insistent throaty call of the watchtower bell.”
Excerpt from Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago
I recommend this novel more of an anthropological record of what occurred to the oppressed, but only as a partial side story rather than the main narrative. The story of the oppressors and colonisers (Ana and Severo) which is the ‘main course’ of the book is far less compelling and more stereotypical. These main characters lack the charisma and likeability to carry the book in my opinion.
Jose Rosa’s work, 1873-1973, is part of a series of nine prints commemorating the centennial of the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico. Translation: Porque el hombre nace libre sin cadenas. Because mankind is born free without chainsThis novel could have been radically improved, and also radicalised by showing equal perspectives in the narrative of the enslaved peoples, whose stories should have been given more time. These were harrowing stories of survival, resilience and will to survive against unspeakable odds and racism, which make these far more interesting stories than the coloniser’s version of history. An approach like this would have made the book far more interesting. For this reason I give this book a rating of three stars.
Content Catnip
Follow me on Mastodon Watch my videos Donate to my Ko Fi #AmericanHistory #art #BookReview #bookTag #books #ColonialHistory #Colonisation #fiction #historicalFiction #History #PuertoRico #slavery #storytelling
An Irish family saga beginning with a chance meeting in 19th-century Ireland.
Dr Will Fitzgerald has walked away from a respectable future to treat the poor in Dublin's Liberties. Isobel Stevens has been cast out by the society she was raised to enter. When their paths cross, neither expects the consequences.
Start the series with A Scarlet Woman - https://mybook.to/ascarletwoman
#Books #BooksByLornaPeel #Ireland #HistoricalFiction #KindleUnlimited #HistoricalRomance #Romance @bookstodon
Many of George Mackay Brown’s works – poetry, short stories, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, & more – are available from Birlinn
7/10
https://birlinn.co.uk/contributor/george-mackay-brown/
#Scottish #literature #shortfiction #historicalfiction #poetry #Orkney #20thcentury #GeorgeMackayBrown
The Munich Affair (2026) Book Review: James Patterson’s Sensational WWII Thriller.
Did Adolf Hitler get away with murder before coming to power? In The Munich Affair, James Patterson and David Ellis dive deep into the real-life 1931 death of Geli Raubal and the high-stakes cover-up that followed. We break down the dual timelines, historical accuracy, and pacing in our latest review. Check
my full review and final rating here
https://www.aniblogshere.com/the-munich-affair-james-patterson-book-review/
In 19th-century Dublin, a disillusioned doctor and a fallen woman discover that some meetings change everything.
The Fitzgeralds of Dublin series is a sweeping Irish family saga following Will and Isobel through hardship, secrets, and the choices that shape their lives in a changing Ireland.
Begin with A Scarlet Woman - free to read in Kindle Unlimited - http://mybook.to/ascarletwoman
#Books #BooksByLornaPeel #FamilySaga #HistoricalFiction #KindleUnlimited #Ireland #BookSeries @bookstodon
I am currently reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel for the first time and enjoying it. I guess it's not exactly breaking news that it's good, given that it won the Booker. But I was expecting it to be much more dense and solemn, and it's quite an easy and fun read, despite the length.
(Also, feels weird to ask but: no spoilers please! I know various bits of the history of the period but they're muddled in my head, which is preserving some suspense for me).
If you're interested in picking up an autumn read with magical realism to set the mood, this indie read might do the trick🍂
https://storyoriginapp.com/swaps/01a0c59a-9acb-709b-9350-0edb990d83c5
#bookstodon #indieauthor
#romancelandia #HistRom
#regencyromance #historicalfiction
#romance #HistRomance #Magic #AutumnReads #Halloween
'The sin of war spread out to engulf him...' Families torn apart by war. A young farm boy who went to war and the girl who waited. Promises to keep. mybook.to/DandelionClock 'Compelling and unmissable' #WW1 #historicalfiction
Love box sets? 3 for the price of 2. Stories to stir the blood. Revolution, murder, exile, adventure, women's rights.
mybook.to/WalesRisingboxset
mybook.to/FTCGboxset
mybook.to/Chainmakersboxset
#historicalfiction 'Outstanding storyteller - characters that leap from the page.' #Kindle
mybook.to/WalesRising The men and women of #Yorkshire and #Wales who endured terrible deprivation and fought for our rights. #historicalfiction
Meet these great indie historical fiction authors at the Historical Fiction Genre Indie Authors Starter Pack! If you wish to be included in the starter pack, reply here. #writingcommunity #historicalfiction #authorsky go.bsky.app/C22Jf3K
8 Stunning Historical Novels by Latine Writers
Latine historical novels are one of my favorite things. If you're in the same boat, may I interest you in these eight stunning novels?
https://bookriot.com/historical-novels-by-latine-writers/
#CulturallyRelevant #HistoricalFiction #LatineLit #PastTense #repost
In 19th-century Ireland, a chance encounter between a disillusioned doctor and a fallen woman begins a story of love, loyalty, and choices that will shape their lives.
Amazon - https://mybook.to/ascarletwoman
Other Retailers - https://lornapeel.com/fitzgeralds/a-scarlet-woman
#TheFitzgeraldsOfDublinSeries #Books #BooksByLornaPeel #FamilySaga #HistoricalFiction #Ireland #BookSeries #KindleUnlimited @bookstodon
The Best Historical Fiction Set in the 1700s
Explore Korean court politics, journey to a Scotland that has just been joined with England, and more in these 1700s-set historical books.
https://bookriot.com/best-historical-fiction-set-in-the-1700s/
Looking for FREE* LGBTQIA Romance novels? Check out this Bookfunnel event - contemporary, historical, paranormal, romantasy, sci-fi, YA, anything goes...
Check out this Bookfunnel event - 60 authors brought you their best!
https://bf.sophiemaddon.com/bfhostlgbtrom90dayoct/9ok1uvtal0
#ebooks #FreeBooks #bookstodon #Romance #PNR #RomanceBooks #Romantasy #YA #YALit #SapphicBooks #WLW #WLWBooks #Lesbian #LesbianBooks #LGBTQBooks #SFFBooks #HistoricalFiction #QueerPNR #QueerRomance #QueerRomantasy
*free with newsletter sign-up
Encountering the Past in “Music Against the Night”
𝙒𝙖𝙮𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙇𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙧: "𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙭 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙" 𝙗𝙮 𝙊𝙡𝙜𝙖 𝙍𝙖𝙫𝙣 -
𝟯-𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
Claustrophobic
Broken Narrative
Looming
𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲:
How do the historical documents serve the fiction?
#bookreview #bookrecommendations #readinglist #literature #books #book #reading #bookstagram #frictionalreading #3words #olgaravn #thewaxchild #danishliterature #witchcraft #historicalfiction #pointofview #experimental #horror #feminism
Blueland by Robert Jaxx
A gritty, hopeful journey across Civil War America
The post Blueland by Robert Jaxx appeared first on Independent Book Review.
https://independentbookreview.com/2026/10/12/blueland-by-robert-jaxx/
#bookreview #Blueland #historicalfiction #indieauthor #LiteraryAndGeneralFiction
"Conjures the world of the past, in all its otherness, so confidently, making it immediate and coherent, while seeming effortless. Tender, vivid, subtle and absorbing, I highly recommend this novel." Elizabeth Fremantle (Firebrand, Disobedient, Sinners)
The Bruegel Boy is available now:
https://www.hhousebooks.com/books/the-bruegel-boy/
or search emma darwin the bruegel boy
#historicalfiction #histfic #amreading #newbook #fiction #bruegeltheelder #books #bookstodon
EXTRAORDINARY HISTORICAL NOVEL set during the Indian Famine of 1878 focuses on an Irish officer in the occupying British Army and on a philosopher and doctor of the oppressed Dalit class, both trying to improve the lot of Chennai's poorest. SOLID A
https://bookshop.org/p/books/white-elephant-a-novel-jeyamohan/f00df8abcb2fcd01?ean=9780374619428
#book #Books #bookreview #bookreviews #bookstodon #fiction #historicalfiction #India
Maude Montgomery went from a bad marriage to abandonment in Nebraska to Cripple Creek CO, where she claimed the ability to sense a gold vein. That last got her into a spot of trouble.
"a unique story with several unexpected twists and turns"
#historicalfiction #Colorado #books
https://www.amazon.com/Fringes-Western-Historical-Novel-ebook/dp/B0BLWH75WW/
