Category Archives: Historical Fiction
It was hard to concentrate on god when his feet were so sore.
Quarantine, by Jim Crace Jim Crace is one of those authors whose books I’d been vaguely aware of for years without ever actually reading any of them. It’s curious how that can happen. I wonder how many great writers, writers … Continue reading
Filed under Crace, Jim, English Literature, Historical Fiction
Life becomes very interesting when one feels one is dying
Louise de Vilmorin’s 1951 novella Madame de ___ is a beautifully crafted gem of a work. Deliberately written to evoke the style of French 18th Century literature, it is a small tale of the fate of a woman who loves … Continue reading
For any man the end of the world is first and foremost his own end
Balthasar’s Odyssey, published fittingly enough in the year 2000, is a novel by Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf. Maalouf, a former Prix Goncourt winner, writes in French rather than Arabic and in the 2003 Vintage translation I read is excellently translated … Continue reading
Filed under Arabic Literature, Historical Fiction, Maalouf, Amin, Translation
In this room the hours would accumulate like grains of sand until they buried him
And, indeed, they rather buried me. The Glass Palace is Amitav Ghosh’s epic novel of love, family, sweeping history and the mutability of power. Published in 2000, it is 552 pages long, very much a widescreen novel (to use a … Continue reading
Filed under Ghosh, Amitav, Historical Fiction, Indian Literature
The donkey-boys were having their evening meal
Michael Pearce is a mystery writer, specialising in stories located in colourful places and filled with exotic characters. Growing up himself in North Africa, he has been most successful with his Mamur Zapt series, the Mamur Zapt being a peculiar … Continue reading
Filed under Crime Fiction, Historical Crime, Historical Fiction, Pearce, Michael
The Englishman’s Boy, by Guy Vanderhaeghe
The Englishman’s Boy is a 1997 work by Canadian author Guy Vanderhaeghe, addressing issues relating to the settlement of the American and Canadian West and the myths it gave rise to. The novel follows two narrative strands: one in 1873, … Continue reading
Filed under Canadian Literature, Historical Fiction, Vanderhaeghe, Guy, Westerns
Haven’t we all, at some time or another, washed out a shirt in the sink?
Alan Furst is a critically regarded, but not I think well known, writer of espionage novels set in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. His best known point of comparison would be John Le Carre, and for those lacking patience … Continue reading
Filed under Furst, Alan, Historical Fiction, Military Fiction, Spy Fiction
Spanish fury
Arturo Pérez-Reverte is probably Spain’s most successful contemporary writer, hugely popular in his home country and widely translated outside it. He is perhaps best known outside Spain for his contemporary thrillers, often involving a central motif taken from art or … Continue reading
