Serafina and the Splintered Heart by Robert Beatty Published 2017 Genre: Middle Grade Historical Fantasy Setting: Early 20th Century Asheville, North Carolina. The Biltmore Estate. For the third and final book in this captivating series, Serafina and her friends are back to defeat the evil sorcerer, Uriah, before he destroys the Biltmore Estate and all… Read More Serafina and the Splintered Heart
Just One Damned Thing After Another: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s by Jodi Taylor Published 2013 Genre: Historical Fantasy Setting: England, the near-future St. Mary’s is a listed estate in the rural countryside of Rushford, England. It functions as the headquarters for a select group of historians, scientists, technicians, and security personnel whose job is to… Read More Just One Damned Thing After Another: The Chronicles of St. Mary’s
The Taster by V.S. Alexander Published 2018 Genre: Historical Fiction Setting: World War II Germany ‘I shuddered. My life might end here. Not even the bombings in Berlin had forced me to face my mortality in such a brutal way. The thought that I might die for Hitler stunned me.’ Magda Ritter is a young… Read More The Taster
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. Published 2012. Genre: Upmarket. Setting: Though the book doesn’t give specifics, the reader assumes it takes place in contemporary Sweden. “And you should never befriend something if there’s a possibility it may take a fancy to eating you in your sleep.” Ove is a man who desires… Read More A Man Called Ove
My love for time travel fiction started long ago. The first novel I remember reading in this clouded sub-genre was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I was twelve and was astounded by the idea of shifting through time and dimensions. I followed that with Well’s The Time Machine and Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, discovering the… Read More As a Stranger Give It Welcome
My introduction to the legendary Robin Hood was the 1970’s era Disney film. Oh how I loved that fox. Looking back, he was a quintessential Robin Hood. Honorable, yet a rogue. Jovial, yet aggrieved by injustice. It was the perfect combination of traits to make a little girl want to search the woods for a… Read More The Last Arrow
“I don’t want to go to school and learn solemn things,” says Peter Pan in J.M. Barrie’s beloved novel, Peter Pan. This quote makes me think of the college literature courses I was so excited to take but with which I quickly became disenchanted. At the time, literary analysis seemed like a sterile autopsy of… Read More Second to the Right, and Straight on Till Morning
Kid: Mom, I’m hungry. Me: Oh. What time is it? 3? I’m sorry. Just grab a snack, and we’ll have an early dinner. Kid: What’s for dinner? Me: Oh. I don’t know. Chipotle sound good? This pretty much sums up every day of this summer. Just change the name of the fast food establishment. Don’t… Read More Summer Mom
Spring comes late to Yellowstone. Though my family and I were there in early June, winter had still not loosened its grasp entirely. While Indiana experienced summer heat, I donned hat and gloves for most of the five days I was in the park. But, unlike the weather, the animals and plants follow their own… Read More To Western Winter Reckoning Yields
I am a member of the Historical and Time Slip Novels Book Club, and several recent posts concerned historical authenticity in novels. Do writers of historical fiction have a responsibility to their readers to represent accurately that period of history they are writing about? The answer is yes, but, like the other members of the group, I have seen writers… Read More Guardians of the History
