Historical fiction genre books (1754)
1721.
Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta by Aglaja Veteranyi EN
RomaniaDescription:
A nomadic family of circus performers, refugees from Romania, travels through Europe and Africa by caravan. The mother's death-defying act causes constant anxiety for her two daughters, who voice their fears through a grisly communal fairy tale about a child being cooked alive in polenta--but their real life is no less of a dark fable, and one that seems just as unlikely to have a happy ending. An actor and performance artist as well as a poet and novelist, Veteranyi was acclaimed for her seemingly "artless" narrative voice, in which pain and hilarity always vie for the upper hand--a voice at ... continue
1722.
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys EN
Country: North America / 
Dominica
Dominica
Description:
Antoinette Cosway is a Creole heiress - product of an inbred, decadent, expatriate community - a sensitive girl at once beguiled and repelled by the lush Jamaican landscape. Soon after her marriage to Rochester rumours of madness in the Cosway family poison Rochester's mind against her.
Spain1724.
ChinaDescription:
Narrated by Maple, a less than passionate Maoist whose father is imprisoned for a minor crime, a powerful story of desire during the time of the Cultural Revolution follows Wild Ginger, who, due to tragic circumstances, embraces Maoism and soon becomes a national model for Maoism, which prohibits romantic love, forcing her to make a difficult decision when she falls in love with a young man. Reprint.
Jordan1726.
Wish Her Safe At Home by Stephen Benatar EN
EnglandDescription:
Rachel Waring is deliriously happy. Out of nowhere, a great-aunt leaves her a Georgian mansion in another city—and she sheds her old life without delay. Gone is her dull administrative job, her mousy wardrobe, her downer of a roommate. She will live as a woman of leisure, devoted to beauty, creativity, expression, and love. Once installed in her new quarters, Rachel plants a garden, takes up writing, and impresses everyone she meets with her extraordinary optimism. But as Rachel sings and jokes the days away, her new neighbors begin to wonder if she might be taking her transformation just a bi... continue
1727.
With Fire and Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz EN
PolandDescription:
Set in the 17th century in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Khmelnytsky Uprising.
1728.
Description:
WINNER OF THE 2009 MAN BOOKER PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The first novel in Hilary Mantel’s magnificent trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, in a gorgeous new edition to celebrate the trilogy’s completion with the #1 New York Times-bestselling The Mirror & the Light England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Int... continue
1729.
Woman in Battle Dress by Antonio Benitez-Rojo EN
Country: North America / 
Cuba
Cuba
Description:
Finalist for the 2016 PEN Center USA Award for Translation In 1809, at the age of eighteen, Henriette Faber enrolled herself in medical school in Paris—and since medicine was a profession prohibited to women, she changed her name to Henri in order to matriculate. She would spend the next fifteen years practicing medicine and living as a man. Drafted to serve as a surgeon in Napoleon's army, Faber endured the horrors of the 1812 retreat across Russia. She later embarked to the Caribbean and set up a medical practice in a remote Cuban village, where she married Juana de León, an impoverished loc... continue
1730.
Woman of the Ashes : A Novel by Mia Couto EN
Country: Africa / 
Mozambique
Mozambique
Description:
The first in a trilogy about the last emperor of southern Mozambique by one of Africa’s most important writers Southern Mozambique, 1894. Sergeant Germano de Melo is posted to the village of Nkokolani to oversee the Portuguese conquest of territory claimed by Ngungunyane, the last of the leaders of the state of Gaza, the second-largest empire led by an African. Ngungunyane has raised an army to resist colonial rule and with his warriors is slowly approaching the border village. Desperate for help, Germano enlists Imani, a fifteen-year-old girl, to act as his interpreter. She belongs to the VaC... continue