Popular Asian Historical Fiction Books
Find historical fiction books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (335)
161.
Moderato Cantabile by Marguerite Duras EN
VietnamDescription:
A distressed young man murders the woman he loves in a café, watched by a large crowd. Fascinated by the crime she has witnessed, Anne Desbaresdes returns several times to the scene, forming a relationship with a man who also saw the murder, and drinking through the afternoon with him as he patiently answers her eager questions. Slowly, they find themselves being taken over by forces which threaten their own stability. Moderato Cantabile is a carefully woven tapestry of emotion, in which the characters' inner lives are reflected by the story's spaces and landscapes.
162.
Monkey Bridge : A Novel by Lan Cao EN
Description:
Hailed by critics and writers as powerful, important fiction, Monkey Bridge charts the unmapped territory of the Vietnamese American experience in the aftermath of war. Like navigating a monkey bridge—a bridge, built of spindly bamboo, used by peasants for centuries—the narrative traverses perilously between worlds past and present, East and West, in telling two interlocking stories: one, the Vietnamese version of the classic immigrant experience in America, told by a young girl; and the second, a dark tale of betrayal, political intrigue, family secrets, and revenge—her mother's tale. The hau... continue
163.
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa EN
KuwaitDescription:
A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel, spanning three generations of a Palestinian family through love and loss, war and oppression OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 'A powerful and passionate insight into what many Palestinians have had to endure' Michael Palin 'Abulhawa possesses the heart of a warrior' Alice Walker _____________________________________ Palestine, 1948. A mother clutches her baby son as Israeli soldiers march through the village of Ein Hod. In a split second, he is snatched from her arms – and the fate of the Abulheja family is changed f... continue
164.
Mother Earth by Chingiz Aitmatov EN
Country: Asia / 
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Description:
The dramatic fate of a simple Kyrgyz woman Tolgonay, who lost her husband and three sons in the Great Patriotic War. The war took from Tolgonai the people most dear and close to her heart, an echo of which was the death of her beloved daughter-in-law Tolgonai. But the persistent woman did not break, her loving heart did not coarsen, because next to her the sprout of new life is the son of Aliman.
165.
Mother of Strangers : A Novel by Suad Amiry EN
SyriaDescription:
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from NPR • Set in Jaffa in between 1947 and 1951, this “fable-like historical novel of young love ... darkly humorous and touching” (Oprah Daily) is based on a true story during the beginning of the destruction of Palestine and displacement of its people. Based on the true story of two Jaffa teenagers, Mother of Strangers follows the daily lives of Subhi, a fifteen-year-old mechanic, and Shams, the thirteen-year-old student he hopes to marry one day. In this prosperous and cosmopolitan port city, with its bustling markets, cinemas, and cafés on the hills overlooking the... continue
166.
Moving the Palace by Charif Majdalani EN
LebanonDescription:
“A Middle Eastern heart-of-darkness tale that flows like a dream . . . Crackling with razor-sharp humor” (The New York Times). At the dawn of the twentieth century, a young Lebanese explorer leaves the Levant for the wilds of Africa, encountering an eccentric English colonel in Sudan and enlisting in his service. In this lush chronicle of far-flung adventure, the military recruit crosses paths with a compatriot who has dismantled a sumptuous palace in Tripoli and is transporting it across the continent on a camel caravan. The protagonist soon takes charge of this hoard of architectural fragmen... continue
167.
My First and Only Love by Sahar Khalifeh EN
PalestineDescription:
A deeply poetic account of love and resistance through a young girl's eyes by acclaimed writer, Sahar Khalifeh, called "the Virginia Woolf of Palestinian literature" (Börsenblatt) After many decades of restless exile, Nadal returns to her family home in Nablus, where she had lived with her grandmother before the 1948 Nakba that scattered her family across the globe. She was a young girl when the popular resistance began and, through the bloodshed and bitter struggle, Nidal fell in love with Rabie, a freedom fighter. He was her first and only real love--him and all that he represented: Palestin... continue
168.
Naked Earth by Eileen Chang EN
ChinaDescription:
An NYRB Classics Original Set in the early years of Mao’s China, Naked Earth is the story of two earnest young people confronting the grim realities of revolutionary change. Liu Ch’üan and Su Nan meet in the countryside after volunteering to assist in the new land reform program. Eager to build a more just society, they are puzzled and shocked by the brutality, barely disguised corruption, and ruthless careerism they discover, but then quickly silenced by the barrage of propaganda and public criticism that is directed at anyone who appears to doubt a righteous cause. Joined together by the sec... continue
169.
Nie mówię żegnaj by Han Kang PL
Country: Asia / 
South Korea
South Korea
Description:
Zdobywczyni nagrody Man Booker Prize 2016, Han Kang, powraca po 5 latach z nową, pełnowymiarową powieścią. „Nie mówię żegnaj” opowiada o ludobójstwie w 1948 roku na wyspie Czedżu. Opisuje nie tylko wydarzenia historyczne, ale także przedstawia w przejmujący portret trzech kobiet oraz wpływ, jaki na nie miała doznana przemoc i strata. Przede wszystkim jednak stawia ważne pytania dotyczące pamięci zbiorowej czy odpowiedzialności historycznej. Han Kang snuje opowieść o desperackiej walce i godności ludzi, którzy wbrew otaczającym ich ciemnościom starają się odnaleźć promień światła. Ta zaczerpnię... continue
170.
Night Birds and Other Stories by Khet Mar EN
MyanmarDescription:
Since the age of 19, Khet Mar has been persecuted by the Burmese government enduring arrests, torture, incarcerations, and threats to her life. She fought back through her writing, political activism, and social work until she was forced to flee the country in 2009. Her novel Night Birds was banned in 1993, her nonfiction piece Life Row blacklisted in 2007. The same year, the government censored several paragraphs of Night Flow, highlighted in this book.