You know Her Momness loves historical fiction, right?
“If historical fiction was a flavor, it’d be raspberry white chocolate cheesecake! With double hot fudge!” croweth Mom.
Why she says this, I don’t know. I do know she’s breaking out her Happy Dance. Because we’re reviewing three sturdy historical fiction titles today! All set during World War II.
Break out some extra spoons for Lilac Girls, Irena’s War, and The Orphan’s Tale:
Talith: When the sky breaks open; transformation that changes you into who you are meant to be; into your very essence.
Kimber: I won’t grow up,
(I won’t grow up)
I don’t want to go to school.
(I don’t want to go to school)
Just to learn to be a parrot,
(Just to learn to be a parrot)
And recite a silly rule.
(And recite a silly rule)…
Mom: Kimmi, what in the world are you doing?
Kimber: I’m putting that book we just finished to music. You know. That one you said was – and I quote: “One of the most remarkable historical fiction/fantasy novels I’ve read in years.”
Mom: Oh. You mean Patti Callahan Henry’s The Story She Left Behind?
Kimber: Bingo! Now step away from the pixie dust and tell the peeps about this Totally PAWsome book already.
Mom: Roger that. Here goes:
Kimber here. Telling you to hold on to your kibble. Or whatevs. Cuz Her Momness and I? We just finished one of them thar “barn burner” thingies. It’s historical fiction. Set in an oft-overlooked epoch. By an author who’s not exactly known for historical fiction. But this fella? Even though David Baldacci’s an acclaimed, best-selling author of action/thriller tomes, he doggone outdogg-ies his-self with Strangers in Time.
I know. I’m adorable.
I’ll let Mom tell ya more:
“Run, Helena. Run!”
Mama’s terror-stricken shout echoes through the Warsaw sewers as Mama and daughter Helena flee marauding Nazis while the Warsaw ghetto goes up in smoke in this uber engaging and thoroughly absorbing historical fiction read set during World War II.
Having lost her entire family to disease and German brutality when the Sliwickis are forced into the infamous Warsaw ghetto, Helena hesitates when Mama tells her to run. But when the Germans grab Mama, Helena obeys. Running for her life, Helena soon realizes she’s lost everything. And everyone. Everyone.
Except Sparkle the cat.
Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Fegelein pressed the top corner of the panel. It clicked and opened inward, revealing a narrow, dark passage. Hitler took Eva’s hand. “We depart.”
Move over John le Carre, Ken Follett, and Hilary Mantel. There’s a new kid in town. Name’s Alexander. George Alexander. And he’s penned one doozy of an historical fiction tome in Twilight of Evil. Like this:
A faked suicide? Body doubles? Look-alikes and stand-ins? A hidden passage and a staged suicide shrouded in uncertainty? Did Hitler, aka: Evil Mustache Due (EMD), really die at the end of World War II? Or did he escape, leaving a trail of lies and deception in his wake with visions of rebuilding the unthinkable from the ashes of defeat: A Fourth Reich?
Kimber: Yo, Mom! What’s this ‘week’ stuff? Is that like wan Beef Bourguignon? Limp leg of lamb? Flimsy filet mignon?
Mom: No, Kimster. It’s w-e-e-k. As in, seven days.
Kimber: Great. Got it. What’s ‘seven days’?
Insert Mom eye roll here.
Kimber: Silly Mom. She’s probably ruminating on my beautimous brilliance and munificent magnificence. Or she wants to tell you about a brand new historical fiction thingy we just read. It’s like, Totally Pawsome! You know this is true because I say so. Got that, Cupcake?
Well. The book is Two Weeks Till Sunday. By indie author Caleb Backholm. Take it away, Momster! (That’s not a typo. In case you’re wonderin’, Cookie.)
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
There’s plenty of both in this Double-Oh-Seven type drama set in 16th century England and the court of Queen Elizabeth.
Dr. Dee, an alchemist who doubles as “the original MI6 agent” is assigned a dangerous mission to re-create a weapon from antiquity. But if it falls into the wrong hands, it could threaten the crown and bring down the Empire.
Is this historical fiction thingy all it’s cracked up to be?
‘Hark! Methinks I heareth yon dragon in thy far-off forest.’ (You’ll get that if you read the book.)
Kimber Klue: If She Who Must Be Obeyed (sort of) has to invent ways to avoid finishing or resuming a book, that’s a sign. As in, nothing good. So it was with The Queen’s Men. Here’s the 4-1-1:
Kimber the Magnificent here. Her Momness can’t come to the blog write now (that’s not a typo.) She’s being a lazy slug. Slacking on this post-y/bloggy thing. So I decided to step in and take over. After all, someone has to be the adult in the room. (And we all know who that leaves out, right?)
Anyway, the Slug and I? We’ve read like, 98 million books since our last post-y thing. Well. Okay. Maybe not “98 million.” Maybe only 97. But anyway. I wanted to tell ya about the last historical fiction thing-y we read. Cuz someone has to, Slugville notwithstanding. So here goes:
If you’ve been reading with us for any length of time – say, 20 minutes or so – you know that Mom and I are singularly unimpressed by the words “Best-selling author.” Or its kissing cousins, “(fill in the blank) Award Winner” and “Over a bazillion copies in print.” The fact that everyone and their neighbor’s cat is crowing about a new release impresses us about as much as a plate of overcooked arugula.
Yea, verily. We’ve heaped praise on unknown indie authors who’ve earned it. We’ve also panned Pulitzer Prize winners who deserved it. Ya just never know.
Hey, Kimster! Is the tea hot yet? And will you kindly quit hogging the fleece blankie?
Bother. The things I do for Mom. We’re both hunkering down to read this gripping and intense tale of mind-numbing cold, desperation, myth, legend and survival by Dan Simmons.
First, if you’ve never heard of Franklin’s ill-fated expedition, The Terror might be a good place to start. We were pretty familiar with the history before starting the book. So some bias there.
Before we dive in to specifics, you may want to know that The Terror is a fictionalized account of Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to the Arctic to find the Northwest Passage. The expedition’s two ships are the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Franklin is the overall expedition commander. James Fitzjames captains the Erebus. Franics Crozier captains the Terror. They set out to find the elusive Northwest Passage in 1845. The ships – and all hands – disappeared without a trace in the summer of 1848.
Pages & Paws 