Historical Fiction Books

Book SynopsisFans of T.S. Eliot and Moonlight will love this highly recommended book. (Screencraft) " Oh my God, this book. This book . . . drop everything you're doing and start flipping pages right now." —Tissie, Bookshelves & Teacups blog The extraordinary career and devastating life of T.S. Eliot. T.S. Eliot is a hollow man trapped in a dreary world. He works at a bank, a slave to the clock, the same routine, day after day. While London's elite enjoy a Great Gatsby lifestyle and poets like Robert Frost are rock stars, attracting thousands of fans to each reading, Mr. Eliot walks past life, peering at it through cracks or around corners. Only in his imagination does the world drip with color. Then one day he comes across Jack, an out and proud gay man being badly beaten, and something compels him to intervene. Life will never be the same. Jack introduces Mr. Eliot to the gay underground of early twentieth-century London and to feelings Mr. Eliot had crammed down and locked away. And with freedom comes poetry. Extraordinary poetry that takes London by storm. But as Mr. Eliot's fame increases, pressure for conformity does as well. Religious intolerance, fascism's increasingly popular message of traditional values, and the allure of untold success present him with a decision that could have devastating consequences. The Wasteland is the untold story of T.S. Eliot, his secret struggle with being gay, the people left in the wake of his meteoric career trajectory, and the madness that helped produce his greatest work. "For poetry lovers and thrill seekers. The ride through the mind of a mad literary genius will leave you dazed and confused and highly entertained." —Mary Wollstonecrafty, Amazon reviewer "Wow! This is an amazing book...wholly original. Briskly paced, page-turning action." — Screencraft "This is a wild, wild poetic ride. If you're an Eliot fan (especially if you know why he used the middle initial), read this book. If you've always wondered about dear Tom, read this book!" —Julie B., Amazon reviewer "The writing is lyrical and colorful, but clearly still prose (for anyone who shies away from poetry), and the story is engaging and captivating, occasionally fantastical and trippy, and explores the pressure to conform to societal norms." —Amazon reviewerTrade Review" The Wasteland is a fictionalized glimpse into the conflicted mind of T. S. Eliot. There are no heroes here: every character flounders within the shifting tides of a country on the brink of war, and the wars within themselves." -- Danielle Ballantyne, ForeWord Magazine" The Wasteland captures the beauty of Eliot's language, the singular eccentricity of his contemporaries (Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, etc.), and the richness of his personal story. A story that feels as relevant today as ever." -- Alyssia Gonzalez, Midwest Book Review" The Wasteland offers an inventive, albeit highly speculative, unmasking of the deeply reserved, guarded poet." Charles Green, writer for Gay & Lesbian Review

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Book SynopsisA fictional diary set in interwar Germany and Spain allows us to peek into the life of Klara Philipsborn, the only Communist in her merchant-class, German-Jewish family. Klara’s first visit to Seville in 1925 opens her eyes and her spirit to an era in which Spain’s major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, shared deep cultural connections. At the same time, she is made aware of the harsh injustices that persist in Spanish society. By 1930, she has landed a position with the medical school in Madrid. Though she feels compelled to hide her Jewish identity in her predominantly Christian new home, she finds that she feels less “different” in Spain than she did in Germany, especially as she learns new ways of expressing her opinions and desires. And when the Spanish Civil War erupts in 1936, Klara (now “Clara”) enlists in the Fifth Regiment, a step that transports her across the geography of the embattled peninsula and ultimately endangers a promising relationship and even Clara’s life itself. A blending of thoroughly researched history and engrossing fiction, Home So Far Away is an epic tale that will sweep readers away. Trade Review2021 CIBA Hemingway Book Awards Finalist “An affecting, historically astute novel.”—Kirkus Reviews“. . . an emotionally compelling and historically accurate fictionalized diary . . . . Beginning in Germany in 1925 and ending in Spain in 1938, readers see the changing world through the eyes of a Jewish woman who is a self-declared communist . . . . This is an interesting and unique take on the period, and should be considered by public and academic libraries alike.”—Booklist“Judith Berlowitz’s Home So Far Awayis like stepping into an Ernest Hemingway novel, with Kristin Hannah whispering in the reader’s ear. Caught in the political strife around her, devoted to the war-injured she cares for, and struggling to surmount the betrayals of country, the powers over her, and her emerging and conflicting identities as a woman, a Jew, and a Communist, Klara Philipsborn is tossed in the storms that surround her, threatening her person and profession. This vividly told story, written as diary entries, is a captivating picture of one of the many young foreign nationals who committed their lives to this fraught time in twentieth-century Spain.”—Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Even in Darkness and Hard Cider“With passionate commitment and conscientious research, Judith Berlowitz shares the story of her relative, Klara Philipsborn, a German-Jewish refugee who flees to Spain and enlists in the storied Quinto Regimiento in defense of the Republic during the Spanish Civil War . . . Berlowitz tells it with a gripping intensity that will catch you up and help you to understand this era in very personal, human terms.”—Nancy Wallach, Board of Governors, ALBA, Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives“Klara’s voice is pitch-perfect, through wonderful dialogues and emotional reflections about belonging and gender in a nationally-bordered, male-dominated, and antisemitic fascist world. The diary form is a palette for Berlowitz’s meticulous historical research, creating rich and vivid landscapes in which Klara forges a “freedom both from a homeland that does not recognize me as a citizen – as its child – and freedom to choose a home that resonates for me.” —Rina Benmayor, Professor Emerita, CSU Monterey Bay, member of Genealogies of Sepharad Research Group “Captivating. On the eve of the Nazi rise to power, a German Jewish Communist finds the home she craves in Spain, where she becomes deeply involved in defending the Republic. Klara’s passion for life and freedom and the pungent sensual details create an immersive experience. The kind of diary Anne Frank might have written if she had survived to adulthood.”—Kate Raphael, author of Murder Under the Bridge, a Palestine mystery “Combining meticulous archival research with compelling literary creativity, Judith Berlowitz tells Klara’s story in the form of a diary, from her first visit to Sevilla before the war to her involvement as a nurse and translator during the conflict. Home So Far Away not only brings history to us on a deeply personal level; it also offers a vital lesson for today and tomorrow about the threats to democracy and the critical role that commitment –ethical and ideological—can play in its defense.” —Anthony L. Geist, University of Washington, Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives “Judith Berlowitz’s Home So Far Away is an absorbing tale: as her heroine Klara moves between a Germany where Jews are increasingly threatened, to Catholic Spain where Muslims & Jews once flourished, her Jewish identity becomes more central, just as it becomes more hidden. A fascinating historical adventure!” —Penny Rosenwasser, author of Hope into Practice “Home So Far Away is a tour de force of historical fiction. I walked in the shoes and saw through the eyes of the heroine, Klara, and for the first time, I felt the intensity of the struggle of the Spanish Civil War in my own bones —I lived the history through Klara’s words. I couldn’t leave the story behind, inspired by the strength and courage of those who fought for freedom at great expense and live on through our memory.” —Linda Joy Myers, President of National Association of Memoir Writers, author of Don’t Call Me Mother, Song of the Plains, and the forthcoming novel The Forger of Marseille “Set amid the travails of the Spanish Civil War, the Second Republic, and the Primo dictatorship before it, this book portrays one character’s place in Spain’s tumultuous early twentieth century. But it is more. Portraying a woman, who is a Jew, who is German, and who shuttles between Germany and Spain, Berlowitz also ruminates on one’s place in history and the impact that large historical events have on all of us.” —Joshua Goode, Associate Professor of History and Cultural Studies, Chair, Department of History Claremont Graduate University “...Klara’s belief in love and her optimism, humanism, feminism, and general chutzpah make her an easy-to-root-for protagonist. . . . an inspiring, insightful, and evocative read.” —The Indypendent

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