Historical Fiction Books

Book SynopsisAs the march of boots echoes from overseas, all nations that border the Pacific and beyond are invited to build pavilions on Treasure Island at the Golden Gate International Exposition, an event dedicated to the pursuit of world peace and brotherhood. Meanwhile, Lily Nordby, smart, strong-willed, and feisty, lands a job at the Examiner and is given a once-in-a-lifetime assignment covering the Exposition. There she meets Tokido Okamura, the host of the Japanese Pavilion—and despite being highly suspicious of his true purpose on the island, she’s swept up in a whirlwind of powerful emotions that lead her into unknown territory. Brilliant and enigmatic Woodrow Packard, a Mayan art scholar at the Expo, prefers remaining aloof and alone. But his infatuation and deepening relationship with Lily thrusts him into the limelight. He asks himself, could someone as smart and beautiful as she return the love of a man who is a dwarf? In an attempt to prevent Lily from spiraling into danger, Woodrow intercedes to help her uncover her family’s past—but when fate intervenes, they are both pulled into a destiny they could never have imagined. Mixing fact and fiction with a dash of noir, Beautiful Illusion is a story of love and deception that explores what happens when human hearts collide as the world is plotting war.Trade Review"A love letter to the razzle-dazzle of ’30s San Francisco and the wonders of Treasure Island.” —Kirkus Reviews "Fascinated by the fragile beauty of San Francisco’s 1939 'Pageant of the Pacific'—and by the ironic message of world peace in a world at war—Christie Nelson has crafted a haunting story of love, deceit and reconciliation beneath the glamour and bravado of a half-forgotten world’s fair.” —Richard Reinhardt, author of Treasure Island: San Francisco’s Exposition Years “San Francisco’s last world’s fair is the setting for trans-Pacific intrigue and romance. Christie Nelson’s delightful novel brings the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition vividly into readers’ imaginations. It’s the next best thing to a time machine—a sparkling visit to Treasure Island’s fabulous world’s fair.” —Anne Schnoebelen, Historian and Vice-President of the Treasure Island Museum "Nelson’s dazzling portrayal of Treasure Island’s world fair and the late 30’s San Francisco blends the fast pace of a thriller while transporting us back to an era of pre-WWII enthusiastic innocence. Cub reporter Lily shows her moxie through the rise of the grandest San Francisco fair, ever. Her complicated attraction to the shadowy Imperial Japanese diplomat, Tokido, parallels the country's deference to Japan, even as their violence loomed across the Pacific. Set against Lily’s conflicted relationship with the scholarly dwarf, Woodrow, and her own dodgy family, the novel revels with authenticity and historic figures." —J. Macon King, Publisher of The Mill Valley Literary Review "Christie Nelson’s tale is a loving valentine to the end of a San Franciscan incarnation. The two new bridges and WWII changed the City forever. Soon, ease of travel about the bay and the passage of hundreds of thousands of G.I.’s bound for the Pacific theater obliterated the small town feel that the story evokes. Told with a vivid attention to detail and populated with local characters, it illuminates the spectacle of the Fair, which was a last chromatic burst of fireworks, before the darkness set in." —Will Maynez, Historian, Diego Rivera Mural Project, City College San Francisco "Christie Nelson’s, Beautiful Illusion, is a breathtaking journey back in time to San Francisco, 1939 for the building of Treasure Island, the site of the world-class Golden Gate International Exposition, built in hopes of promoting peace among nations across an increasingly stormy Pacific. Beautiful Illusion follows a young reporter, Lily Nordby, who eagerly covers the Treasure Island story and in the process unwittingly unravels some secrets from her own past as she becomes tangled in espionage and romance. Beautifully written with rich details and stunning dialogue, Beautiful Illusion is a real treat! A fast-paced, intriguing read!" —Michelle Cox, author "With another horrific world war on the horizon, San Francisco throws the world's greatest party, co-mingling a smart and fetching newspaper reporter, a Japanese official with duplicitous intentions, a brilliant Mayan art scholar and dwarf determined to save her from herself, and the most dazzling and luminous setting in which a great story might ever be told. There's a big, aching dose of 'end of the innocence' throughout. Readers who love historical fiction steeped in a boiling part of realism should find it a journey well spent." — James Dalessandro, author of 1906 and Citizen Jane

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Book SynopsisWhen Bess and Frima—best friends, both nineteen and from the same Jewish background in the Bronx—get summer jobs in upstate hotels near Monticello, NY, in June 1940, they have visions of romance . . . but very different expectations and needs. Frima, who seeks safety in love, finds it with the “boy next door,” who is also Bess’s brother. Meanwhile, rebellious Bess renames herself Beth and plunges into a new life with Vinny, an Italian American, former Catholic, left-wing labor leader from San Francisco. Her actions are totally unacceptable to her family—which is fine with Beth. Will their young loves have happy endings? Yes and no, for the shadow of world war is growing, and Beth and Frima must grow up fast. As their love lives entangle with war, ambitions, religion, family, and politics—all kinds of conventional expectations—they face challenges they never dreamed of in their struggles for personal and creative growth.

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Book SynopsisAs he stumbles through an afterlife he never believed in, scientist Kenzaboro Tsuruda must make sense of his life and confront his family’s secrets in order to save his ancestors from becoming Hungry Ghosts—a Buddhist state of purgatory. Meanwhile, his daughter, wife, and sister-in-law struggle with their own loss and take turns sharing their point of view to gradually reveal their family’s shameful history—including when, during WWII, Kenzaboro sent his wife, Satsuki, to live with family near Hiroshima, where her rape by his brother resulted in the birth of their only child, Haruna. Spanning the years during WWII and its horrific ending after the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima up to Emperor Hirohito’s death in 1989, The Afterlife of Kenzaburo Tsuruda paints a beautiful and haunting portrait of ancient and modern Japan as seen through the eyes of one family as they reconcile loss, shame, honor, death, and, finally, redemption.Trade Review“The Afterlife of Kenzaburo Tsuruda is both lyrical and moving. Elisabeth Wilkins Lombardo has written, simply, a stunning novel.” —Ann Hood, author of The Book The Matters Most, Morningstar, The Red Thread, and Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine “The Afterlife of Kenzaburo Tsuruda is a beautiful, intricate novel that reminded me powerfully of Ha Jin’s Waiting.” —Shonna Milliken Humphrey, author of Show Me Good Land and Dirt Roads and Diner Pie “With exquisite prose, an artist’s eye and firsthand knowledge of Japanese culture, Elisabeth Wilkins Lombardo has created a masterful, memorable first novel centered on the journeys and discoveries of Kenzaburo Tsuruda, a man astounded to find himself both dead yet very much alive in the afterlife he never believed in. Her masterful prose and deft timing keep both Kenzaburo and the reader guessing the truth right up to the last page.” —Suzanne Strempek Shea, author of Sundays in America, Selling the Lite of Heaven, and Shelf Life “As fans of the great filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki know, tales of spirits and ghosts abound in Japan. Elisabeth Wilkins Lombardo’s first novel weaves those myths into a riveting family saga universal in its pain and drama. The secrets and lies of the Tsuruda family slowly peel away over the years following World War II, leaving its members only their stunning truths. Her knowledge of the culture and language are evident in her textured storytelling. Lyrical, haunting, and deliciously page-turning, The Afterlife of Kenzaburo Tsuruda transports us to a Japan of myth and mysticism.” —Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, author of Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death and the forthcoming HarperCollins novel Pastor’s Wives “In this remarkable debut novel, Elisabeth Wilkins Lombardo has crafted a gorgeous story filled with magic, mythology, horror and, ultimately, humanity. Set in part during World War II Japan, and told from three strong points of view—a ghost, his ailing wife, and his independent daughter— The Afterlife of Kenzaburo Tsuruda is a delicate blend of language combined with strong, unforgettable characters. It is a balanced masterpiece of language and emotion that leaves the reader richer for the experience, and reluctant to leave the story at all.” —Morgan Callan Rogers, author of Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea “The Afterlife of Kenzaburo Tsuruda is a gorgeous and powerful story about love, mortality, the afterlife, and the legacy of a war that continues to shape Japanese culture in ways that Americans can only begin to understand. Elisabeth Wilkins Lombardo has a gentle and careful eye: for the inner lives of her characters, for the quiet details of nature, and for the intricacies of a nation during a period of vast transformation. This is a book that takes on all the big themes of literature, yet frames them within the subtle details of her characters’ lives. Told through multiple narratives and across a swirling fifty-year chronology, Wilkins Lombardo reveals deeper and deeper layers of meaning that makes this simple story of an old man's death relentlessly complex. The Afterlife of Kenzaburo Tsuruda is a book that speaks to the human condition at every level: the personal, romantic, intellectual, political, and cultural.” —Jaed Coffin, author of A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants

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Book Synopsis• Women's Fiction comprises approximately 60% of adult popular fiction paperbacks. • 6 in 10 Americans have had personal experience with adoption. • There are about 1.5 million adopted children in the United States. • 35 Million US Citizens traveled to Mexico in 2017.• In 2012, 35.6 percent of U.S. adults had taken music classes at some point during their lifetime. • As of 2013, an estimated 5 million Americans identified as LGBTQ.AUDIENCE: • Adult women interested in character-driven literature• Book club members• Members of the adoption triad and their friends and relatives• US visitors to Mexico and US citizens residing in Mexico• Armchair travelers• Musicians, music teachers, and adult music students • Persons interested in diversity (sexual orientation, race, nationality)• Dog lovers

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Book SynopsisThirteen-year-old Elisha lives in a village near Shechem in the Land of Canaan in ancient Palestine. She wants to be like other girls but is unmarried, speaks to an angel, and composes and sings her own songs—a pursuit her parents disapprove of. When she tells the village women to stand up for themselves, the men are outraged he tribe banishes her. After journeying alone through the desert, escaping bandits, wild animals, and men who would sell her as a servant, Elisha makes it to Jerusalem, where the angel guides her to study with Abraham and Sarah. She learns much including reading and writing, and Abraham even gives her Doron, his servant, to accompany her as she sings her songs throughout the country. Doron becomes her lover and her songs are well accepted—until she sings one about equality for women. Mountain of Full Moons explores how we overcome our fears, go out into the world, and gain the courage to speak up and be whom we choose to be.Trade Review“Irene Kessler captures the flavor and feeling of the ancient world and makes the spiritual journey of a remarkable woman into something alive, earthy, and incredibly vivid.” —Joyce Sweeney, author of Headlock and The Guardian “A powerful and compelling story—a life-changing journey for the reader and for Elisha, compelling and enlightening. Kessler weaves together Elisha’s found courage, desires, faith, and her continuing path for survival in finding her true life’s purpose.“ —Lynn Nance, assistant editor at Ziff-Davis Publishing and advertising manager at Successful Meetings Magazine

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Book SynopsisReminiscent of the stories and styles of Harper Lee, Sue Monk Kidd, and Jan Karon, Pam Webber’s The Wiregrass ​is ​an extraordinary tale about a magical time in an ordinary place full of lovable and unlovable characters. Infused with laughter, tears, love, loss, and hope, the story follows fourteen-year-old cousins Nettie, J.D. Eric, and Sam as they navigate the summer of their discontent, struggle with the physical and emotional turbulence of puberty and disappearing childhood, feel the excitement of first love, and run for their lives ​after they uncover an evil secret hidden in the shadows of the small town they love. Their story promises to stay with you a lifetime.Trade Review“There are deep southern traditions at work here, of memory, courage, sweetness, and sadness. This is a brave book at the same time it's complex and gentle, and the way it honors a sense of time and place is truly remarkable.” —David L. Robbins, New York Times best-selling author of Scorched Earth and The Empty Quarter “Webber has crafted a summer setting that is both magical and dangerous in this profound coming-of-age story. I laughed out loud. I held my breath. I anxiously pressed on for 'just one more page' (page after page, after page) and I cried. She has touched me on many levels in this, her first novel. Its ending has haunted me for days since finishing it. It is a book I'll not soon forget. For this reviewer, The Wiregrass was reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, and Of Mice and Men, yet all the while it was its very own unique story written with a large measure of tenderness and grace. What a privilege to have the opportunity to read this book that is surely destined to become a best-seller!” —Lee Ambrose, Story Circle Book Reviews

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Book SynopsisForeWord Reviews’ IndieFab Book of the Year “Editor’s Choice Award” Independent Publisher Awards Bronze “Best Regional Fiction South” Winner of International Book Awards in “Religious Fiction” Category Set in 1940s Germantown, Tennessee, South of Everything is a magical coming of age story about the daughter of a plantation-owning family, who, despite her privileged background, finds more in common with “the help” than her own family. She develops a special kinship with her parents’ servant Old Thomas, who introduces her to the mysterious Lolololo Tree––a magical, mystical tree with healing powers that she discovers is wiser than any teacher or parent or priest. Her connection with the Lolololo Tree opens her eyes to the religious and racial prejudice of her surroundings and readers will root for her to fight against injustice and follow her heart to meet her fate.Trade Review“When I was a young black girl I knew my place was on the ‘other side of the track’ of limited opportunities. And then there was Missy Sara, that other girl, who was rebuked for her cosmopolitan imagination and urban dreams and was raised up in high cotton, separate and unequaled, asking questions that whites disregarded. That’s just the way it was—with her and for me. This story will take you south of everything.” —Deanie Parker, African America singer/songwriter and former president/CEO of the Soulsville Foundation “South of Everything is a coming-of-age journey with poignant moments, distinct characters, and a powerful message about love in a time of harsh race relations.” —IndieReader, Starred Review “In the hands of an adroit storyteller, magical realism has always been one of the most truthful and compelling forms of fiction. Here, Gonzales proves herself to be master of both the form and her material. A beautiful book.” —Phyllis Tickle, American author and lecturer, founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly “Audrey Taylor Gonzalez has written a magical tale about the realities of religious and racial prejudice, transformed by the author's compassion and depth of understanding of the flawed nature of humanity.” —Jimmy Santiago Baca, American Book Award and Pushcart Prize winning poet and novelist

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Book Synopsis Winner of two INDIEFAB prizes: Gold for Literary Fiction and Bronze for Historical Fiction Readers’ Favorite Gold medal for Literary fiction Spanning a century and three continents, Even in Darkness tells the story of Kläre Kohler, whose early years as a beloved daughter of a prosperous German-Jewish family hardly anticipate the harrowing life she faces as an adult- a saga of family, lovers, two world wars, a concentration camp, and sacrifice. Based on a true story, Even in Darkness highlights Klare’s reinvention as she faces the destruction of life as she knew it, and traces her path to survival, wisdom, and unexpected love.Trade ReviewIPPY (Independent Publishers Book Awards): Gold Medal for European Fiction International Book Awards: Historical Fiction Finalist Winner of the Sarton Women's Literary Award for Historical Fiction 2017 Reader's Favorite Gold Book Award in Literary Fiction Book Riot's 2016 100 Must-Reads in Jewish Fiction Shelf Unbound's Top 100 Notable Indies Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award finalist in Historical Fiction and Literary Fiction “Barbara Stark-Nemon’s writing is so compelling that she makes decades of the mid-20th century feel like today. I can hardly wait to share this exciting novel with my bookstore customers.” —Pamela Grath, owner of Dog Ear Books, Northport, MI “You will be enriched and inspired by Barbara Stark-Nemon’s Even in Darkness, a beautifully crafted, compelling novel based on events in the life of the author’s own family, in which love triumphs over unspeakable horror. The author paints a vivid picture of her upper-middle-class German-Jewish characters and weaves their inner thoughts and feelings into the shocking reality of the historical events of the day. I recommend this book to readers of history and to all those moved by the strength and courage of the human spirit.” —Margaret Fuchs Singer, author of Legacy of a False Promise: A Daughter’s Reckoning “Even in darkness there can be renewal, trust, love. This is the message of Barbara Stark-Nemon's unforgettable book, Even in Darkness. She brings the past century alive through recreating the story of her German-Jewish family, with all of its hopes and fears, losses and survivals—and, above all, the continuity of connections and of values, transcending religion, language, and country. The story is a remarkable and honest portrayal of unexpected paths, told with moving depth and literary skill.” —Dan Isaac Slobin, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley “Barbara Stark-Nemon's Even In Darkness makes personal the German Jewish experience of the twentieth century. Stark-Nemon offers an important corrective to more standard Jewish narratives, painting a picture of complex German Jews who navigated their way through prejudice and privilege and struggled to find a place for themselves in the various Germanys of the last century. Crossing religious and geographic boundaries, this is a story about family, commitment, loss and love, sacrifice and survival. Ultimately, we learn how humanity triumphs even in darkness.” —David J Fine, PhD, author of Jewish Integration in the German Army in the First World War “This is a Holocaust story certain to move readers not only because of the quiet heroism of its characters, but because it rings with truth. Even in Darkness is a stunning historical endeavor.” —Michelle Anne Schingler, Foreword Reviews “This beautifully written story gives the reader insight into a woman who followed an unusual path, and a different angle on post-World War II life.” —Miriam Bradman Abrahams, Jewish Book Council “. . . smoothly professional and very involving reading. Strongly recommended.” —Historical Novel Society “Throughout the book [Stark-Nemon] demonstrates the beauty and the treasure inherent in good storytelling, both by the stories told by characters in the book and by her own skill at weaving events into a coherent storyline that honors love in all its forms . . . and respects courage in the many manifestations called forth by the Holocaust.” —Barbara Payne, Chicago Examiner

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Book SynopsisMay Alcott spends her days sewing blue shirts for Union soldiers, but she dreams of painting a masterpiece—which many say is impossible for a woman—and of finding love, too. When she reads her sister’s wildly popular novel, Little Women, she is stung by Louisa’s portrayal of her as “Amy,” the youngest of four sisters who trades her desire to succeed as an artist for the joys of hearth and home. Determined to prove her talent, May makes plans to move far from Massachusetts and make a life for herself with room for both watercolors and a wedding dress. Can she succeed? And if she does, what price will she have to pay? Based on May Alcott’s letters and diaries, as well as memoirs written by her neighbors, Little Woman in Blue puts May at the center of the story she might have told about sisterhood and rivalry in an extraordinary family.Trade Review“Little Woman in Blue is an inspiring and engaging fictional portrait of the artist May Alcott, written with knowledge, sensitivity, and beauty. It is wonderful to see May Alcott gain the center of her own story, and inhabit it with such generosity and grace.” —Harriet Scott Chessman, author of Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper “At last, a book about the other artistic Alcott sister. May Alcott, dismissed in Little Women as the pampered youngest March sister Amy, explodes onto the pages of this wonderful novel as a real and hugely likeable woman, passionate about life, art, and adventure, and struggling to make sense of her relationship with an older sister who will never appreciate her for who she really is. Thank you, Jeannine, for giving Amy March a voice of her own!” —Gabrielle Donnelly, author of The Little Women Letters “I don't know which I admired more: the author's masterful and affectionate resurrection of 19th-century Concord or her imaginative and insightful portrait of the sisterly relationship at the heart of this delightful novel.” —George Howe Colt, author of The Big House, a National Book Award Finalist “Devotees of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women will be intrigued by this fictionalized biography of the women behind the characters.” —Library Journal “Thoughtful readers will appreciate the depictions of the sisters’ passion for their art and the challenges that 19th-century American women faced when they worked for a living.” —The Historical Novels Review “Atkins delivers a marvelous reimagining of the very human story behind one of America’s most beloved novels. Little Woman in Blue is the Little Woman I have always wanted.” —Erika Robuck, author of The House of Hawthorne and Hemingway's Girl “Atkins has brought to life the person, places, and time of May Alcott, but in doing so, she has drawn attention to the fact that May Alcott might well be “Everywoman,” no matter in which era she lives,where she chooses to live, or what craft she strives to perfect.” —Story Circle Book Reviews “Little Woman in Blue is a fast-paced, compelling story of two sisters, and their unquenchable drive for success.” —Foreword Review

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Book SynopsisSince adolescence, Bravura and salt of the earth Susie have been partners in magic and best friends, as well as occasional bedmates. But when the two performers hire the mysterious and alluring Lena as a third banana to jazz up the act, Bravura falls madly in love. Lena believes in magic—and not just the rabbit-out-of-a hat kind. She encourages Bravura to believe in her own supernatural powers, and when Susie balks, conflict ensues. Things really go south during the classic “Disappearing Box” act, when Susie disappears for real. With her pal presumed dead, and Bravura the prime suspect, the magician must act quickly to find Susie—hopefully alive! To prove her innocence, Bravura must uncover the holes in her own story—even if it means incriminating herself, and her precious Lena, in the process.Trade Review“Jill Dearman is the New Queen of Noir.” —Go Magazine “Brutal and magical and sexy as hell. Dearman’s noir voice shatters boundaries I never knew existed.” —Augusten Burroughs, author, Running With Scissors. “A rich, noirish picture of Olde New York with a punk sensibility that rocks the senses. Dearman’s characters are twisted, doomed, with a lust for life.” —Roberta Bayley, photographer and author of Patti Smith and Blank Generation Revisited: The Early Days of Punk Rock. “Sapphically ardent, meta-absurd, and Nin-sexy all at once, Jill Dearman’s tale is a triumph of mysterious pleasures: a Colette martini with a drop of Robbe-Grillet vermouth and a Jeanette Winterson olive.” —Michael Atkinson, author of Exile Cinema and Hemingway Deadlights. “The Great Bravura straddles two worlds: her feet are firmly planted on earth, among a gritty ragtag group of early-20th century circus performers, while her hands reach for the stars, drawing the reader into a magical mystery realm where fantasy and sorcery are commonplace. Dearman builds on the tension created by the two milieus bumping into each other on the page to ultimately create a morality tale reminiscent of another era―the tragedies of ancient Greece.” —Aaron Krach, artist, journalist, and author of Half-Life "With the illusion of a good magic show and the captivating edge of the early 20th century, The Great Bravura spellbinds readers in its twisted tale.” —RT Reviews

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