Are you interested in history but find facts, figures and dates boring? Want a little bit more pizzazz and adventure with all the educational mumbo jumbo? Then historical fiction is the genre for you and I’m going to give you the scoop on some of the amazing titles floating around out there for all ages!
The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory:
Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg and kinswoman to half the royalty of Europe, was married to the great Englishman John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI. Widowed at the age of nineteen, she took the extraordinary risk of marrying a gentleman of her household for love, and then carved out a life for herself as Queen Margaret of Anjou’s close friend and a Lancaster supporter – until the day that her daughter Elizabeth Woodville fell in love and married the rival king Edward IV.
A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French:
In 1894, twelve-year-old Matilda flees the city slums to find her unknown father and his farm. But drought grips the land and the shearers are on strike. Her father’s turned swaggie and he’s wanted by the troopers. In front of his terrified daughter, he makes a stand against them, defiant to the last.
Set against a backdrop of bushfire, flood, war and jubilation, this is the story of one girl’s journey towards independence. It is also the story of others who had no vote and very little but their dreams.
Two Brothers by Ben Elton:
Berlin 1920. Two babies are born. Two brothers. United and indivisible, sharing everything. Twins in all but blood.
As Germany marches into its Nazi Armageddon, the ties of family, friendship and love are tested ot the very limits of endurance, and the brothers are faced with an unimaginable choice. Which one of them will survive?
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden:
The extraordinary tale of Sayuri, a young girl who grows up to become and acclaimed geisha, spanning a quarter of a century, from 1929 to the post-war years of Japan’s dramatic history and opening a window into the half-hidden world of eroticism and enchantment, exploitation and degradation.
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman:
One for the graphic novel lovers, Maus is an adaptation of the author’s fathers experiences in Nazi Germany and the concentration camps. Using cartoonish depictions of cats and mice to the tell his father’s tales which Spiegelman’s detailed black and white illustrations add interesting dimensions to, Maus is ultimately a survivor’s tale which endeavours to help us understand the horrors experienced by the Jews under Nazi reign.
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah:
A semi-fictionalised version of her breathtaking biography Falling Leaves for younger readers, Chinese Cinderella recounts Adeline’s childhood in a strictly traditional Chinese household where she was considered bad luck after her mother died giving birth to her.
