Travel Back In Time With Historical Fiction

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Whether you want to experience the cultural hotbed of 1920s Paris or the dazzling world of twelfth century Japan, all you have to do is pick up one of these classic novels. Be warned, you could get lost in their pages for centuries.

The Pillow Book of the Flower Samurai by Barbara Lazar

Described as “Memoirs of a Geisha meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” this vivid depiction of twelfth century Japan comes out of 12 years of research by its author. It tells the story of a young girl marked by an auspicious omen who must train in the ancient warrior arts, but who tries to fight her fate.  (Headline Review — Hachette Group Canada)

Sacrilege by S. J. Parris

It’s London, 1594, and a young woman is accused of murdering her husband, a prominent magistrate. Spy Giordano Bruno, a radical philosopher and former monk — and once in love with the young woman — agrees to help to clear her name: a mission that brings up the strange case of Saint Thomas Becket, a twelfth-century cardinal who was murdered under mysterious circumstances. (Doubleday Canada)

 

Paris by Edward Rutherford

The master of the historical novel completes the trifecta (following up London: The Novel and New York: The Novel) with his latest multigenerational saga that takes us through the centuries of Paris. From its founding under the Romans to the hotbed of cultural activity of the 1920s, to the Nazi occupation, this is an enthralling look at the City of Lights. (Doubleday Canada)

 

 

The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson

This dark look at Belle Epoque Paris finds us in 1909, when Maud Heighton, a struggling artist, must take work as a companion to a rich young woman, Sylvie Morel. But her employer has a secret addition to opium and Maud must fight getting lost in this dark world of opulence and access. (Headline — Hachette Group Canada)

Studio Saint-Ex by Ania Szado

It’s been over 70 years since the publication of the beloved classic, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This new novel from Toronto writer Ania Szado is the fictionalized exploration of a love triangle between Saint-Exupery, his wife Consuelo and a young fashion designer from Montreal, Mignonne Lachapelle. Set in Manhattan and Quebec in 1943, this is an engrossing portrayal of a literary giant caught between two fascinating women. (Viking)