Category Archives: Historical Fiction

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide

Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide

Nephthys Kinwell is a taxi driver of sorts in Washington, DC, ferrying ill-fated passengers in a haunted car: a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere with a ghost in the trunk. Endless rides and alcohol help her manage her grief over the death of her twin brother, Osiris, who was murdered and dumped in the Anacostia River.

Unknown to Nephthys when the novel opens in 1977, her estranged great-nephew, ten-year-old Dash, is finding himself drawn to the banks of that very same river. It is there that Dash–reeling from having witnessed an act of molestation at his school, but still questioning what and who he saw–has charmed conversations with a mysterious figure he calls the “River Man,” who somehow appears each time he goes there… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Rape of a child
  • Nightmares
  • Death of a child
  • Murder

Alexander Altmann A10567 by Suzy Zail

Alexander Altmann A10567 by Suzy Zail

“Don’t let her know you’re scared,” Alexander’s father had said to him the first time Alexander had sat on Sari’s back.

Fourteen-year-old Alexander Altmann doesn’t need to look at the number tattooed on his arm. A10567; he knows it by heart. He also knows to survive Auschwitz, he must toughen up. Being soft will get him killed. Alexander will take any chance he’s given – and when that chance is caring for the German officers’ horses he grabs it. He just can’t let them know he’s scared.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antisemitism & the Holocaust
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Animal death

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd 

Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah’s eleventh birthday, Hetty ‘Handful’ Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Slavery
  • Death of a parent

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted black “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd 

Raised in a wealthy family in Sepphoris with ties to the ruler of Galilee, Ana is rebellious and ambitious, a relentless seeker with a brilliant, curious mind and a daring spirit. She yearns for a pursuit worthy of her life, but finds no outlet for her considerable talents. Defying the expectations placed on women, she engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes secret narratives about neglected and silenced women. When she meets the eighteen-year-old Jesus, each is drawn to and enriched by the other’s spiritual and philosophical ideas. He becomes a floodgate for her intellect, but also the awakener of her heart… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Stillbirth

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Call of the Wilde by Jack London

First published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London’s masterpiece. Based on London’s experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Animal abuse & cruelty

Becoming the Dark Prince by Kerri Maniscalco 

Becoming the Dark Prince by Kerri Maniscalco

Enigmatic, brooding, and darkly handsome, Thomas Cresswell has always been the one mystery Audrey Rose has never been able to fully solve. As brilliant partners in crime investigation, they understand each other perfectly…but as young lovers, their passionate natures have led to both euphoria and heartbreak throughout the Stalking Jack the Ripper series.

This novella features a collection of scenes that takes place during and after the pair’s horrifying Atlantic voyage in Escaping From Houdini. Experience new and familiar scenes from Thomas’s unique point of view, including an intensely personal look into his plea for Audrey Rose’s hand in marriage.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & physical injury depiction
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Murder

Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco 

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell have landed in America, a bold, brash land unlike the genteel streets of London they knew. But like London, the city of Chicago hides its dark secrets well. When the two attend the spectacular World’s Fair, they find the once-in-a-lifetime event tainted with reports of missing people and unsolved murders. Determined to help, Audrey Rose and Thomas begin their investigations, only to find themselves facing a serial killer unlike any they’ve heard of before. Identifying him is one thing, but capturing him and getting dangerously lost in the infamous Murder Hotel he constructed… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Blood depiction
  • Medical procedures (autopsies)
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Graphic murder
  • Poisoning
  • Animal butchery

Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco 

Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a travelling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cheating
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies & autopsies
  • Murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Hanging
  • Poisoning
  • Blackmail
  • Animal attack

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco 

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine… and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Panic attack
  • Drug abuse mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies & autopsies
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Fire