Historical fiction genre books (1706)


1201.
The Fawn

The Fawn by Magda Szabó EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Hungary flag Hungary
Description:
From the author of The Door and Abigail and for fans of Elena Ferrante and Clarice Lispector, a newly translated novel about a theater star who is forced to reckon with her painful and tragic past. In The Door, in Iza’s Ballad, and in Abigail, Magda Szabó describes the complex relationships between women of different ages and backgrounds with an astute and unsparing eye. Eszter, the narrator and protagonist of The Fawn, may well be Szabó’s most fascinating creation. Eszter is an only child. She grows up in a provincial Hungarian town with her father, an eccentric aristocrat and steeply downwar... continue

1202.

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa EN

Rating: 3 (2 votes)
Country: South America / Peru flag Peru
Description:
Haunted all her life by feelings of terror and emptiness, forty-nine-year-old Urania Cabral returns to her native Dominican Republic - and finds herself reliving the events of l961, when the capital was still called Trujillo City and one old man terrorized a nation of three million. Rafael Trujillo, the depraved ailing dictator whom Dominicans call the Goat, controls his inner circle with a combination of violence and blackmail. In Trujillo's gaudy palace, treachery and cowardice have become a way of life. But Trujillo's grasp is slipping. There is a conspiracy against him, and a Machiavellian... continue

1203.

The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte EN

Rating: 5 (1 vote)
Country: Europe / Spain flag Spain
Description:
“A taut, elegant mystery” set against the historical backdrop of nineteenth-century Madrid (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). It is 1868; Spain teeters on the brink of revolution. Jaime Astarloa is a master fencer of the old school, priding himself on the precision, dignity, and honor of his ancient art. His friends spend their days in cafes discussing plots at court, but Jaime’s obsession is to perfect the irresistible sword thrust. Then Adela de Otero, violet-eyed and enigmatic, appears at his door. When Jaime takes her on as a pupil he finds himself embroiled in dark political intrigue against whic... continue

1204.

The File on H. by Ismail Kadare EN

Rating: 4 (4 votes)
Country: Europe / Albania flag Albania
Description:
A political comedy on two American academics who are recording story-singers in Albania. The two are on a project to show that story-singers were the source of Homer's epics, but this is much too highbrow for the district governor, convinced the pair are spies. By an Albanian writer, author of The Concert.

1205.

The Final Passage by Caryl Phillips EN

0 Ratings
Description:
Trouble with her mother and her new husband convinces nineteen-year-old Leila to emigrate from her Caribbean island to England.

1206.

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton EN

Rating: 3 (1 vote)
Description:
"A queen of punk before her time. A duo on the brink of stardom. A night that will define their story for ever... Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, a Black punk artist before her time. Despite her unconventional looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her one night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together. In early seventies New York City, just as she's finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to ... continue

1207.

The Fires of Autumn by Irene Nemirovsky EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / Ukraine flag Ukraine
Description:
This panoramic exploration of French life between the wars reads like a prequel to Irène Némirovsky’s international bestseller Suite Française. At the end of the First World War, Bernard Jacquelain returns from the trenches a changed man. Broken by the unspeakable horrors he has witnessed, he becomes addicted to the lure of wealth and success. He wallows in the corruption and excess of post-war Paris, but when his lover abandons him, Bernard turns to a childhood friend for comfort. For ten years, he lives the good bourgeois life, but when the drums of war begin to sound again, everything aroun... continue

1208.

The First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenit︠s︡yn EN

Rating: 4.5 (4 votes)
Country: Europe / Russia flag Russia
Description:
Gleb Nerzhin, a brilliant mathematician, lives out his life in post-war Russia in a series of prisons and labor camps where he and his fellow inmates work to meet the demands of Stalin.