New Reviews: Historical Fiction

Narrator Angel Pean delivers a robust and emotionally charged portrayal of a seventeenth-century biracial female pirate in this action- packed audiobook. After her French-born father is brutally killed in Haiti, 20-year-old Jacquot flees with her younger brother; her lover, Theresa; and several male ship-worker friends. They become indentured to the notorious pirate Blackhand.... Read More

Listeners will have a grand time with Helen Laser's vibrant narration of this lively audiobook about a modern woman who is navigating the political scene in 1962 Washington, DC. After catching her husband, Larry, cheating with his secretary, 27-year-old Beverly Diamond decides that going to work will allow her independence from Larry while she is divorcing him. Beverly, the... Read More

Michael Brusasco delivers fact and fiction in this novel based on true events. In 1943, in a remote Tuscan village, the Fascist authorities order that all Jews be rounded up and imprisoned in the Bishop's villa to await relocation. As events unfold, Brusasco turns René, an unassuming village cobbler who is secretly in love with Anna, a widowed seamstress, into a man with a... Read More

Listeners will want to turn up the thermostat when they listen to British-accented Steve West present this horrific story. A Royal Navy ship is sent to rescue survivors of the Franklin Expedition, last seen in Baffin Bay in the Arctic Ocean in 1845. Among the searchers is Lieutenant Frederick Robinson, who is intent on advancing his Navy career, and surgeon Edward Adams, a... Read More

Carolina Hoyos gives a powerful performance of a parent's worst nightmare. In 1976, Argentina was in the grip of its Dirty War. Lorena Ledesma, a young mother, is kidnapped, leaving her 3-year-old son, Matías, with her mother, Esme. As time passes, Esme covertly meets with the mothers of others who have disappeared. Learning that while imprisoned Lorena gave birth to a... Read More

Saskia Maarleveld brings life to this story of plague, death, misogyny, and a gifted young midwife in Provence in 1347. Leaving midwifery to fight the plague is hard enough, but when the terrified citizens start a literal witch hunt looking for a scapegoat, Elea must save herself and her twin, Margo. Maarleveld's narration is spirited, meaningful, and skilled. With inflection... Read More

Fiona Hardingham narrates this fictional memoir of orphaned noblewoman Marguerite de la Roque, ward of her cousin, the adventurer and speculator Jean François de la Roque de Roberval. Hardingham's unemotional tone varies subtly to capture Marguerite's and Roberval's aristocratic status. Telling her story as a flashback, Marguerite painstakingly recounts her life of loss,... Read More

Gabra Zackman narrates this audiobook about new discoveries and second chances at love. Like her father, Augusta Stern has devoted her life to pharmacy science after a disastrous attempt to use her great aunt's mysterious mixtures to capture the love and attention of a young man named Irving. Sixty years later, Augusta is forced into retirement and finds herself at a sunny... Read More

Narrator Emma Gregory takes on this complex story of revenge, defeat, and political intrigue, set in 1685 Dorset, England. Charles II's illegitimate son, the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, arrives in Dorset to incite rebellion against his Catholic uncle, James II, only to experience defeat and beheading. The Duke of Granville and his mother, Lady Jayne Harrier, secret allies of... Read More

January LaVoy performs this genre-bending audiobook with expert skill. Stephenson's new audiobook, while shorter than his usual work, is the first part of a promised series. The action centers around Dawn, who as a young adult is deployed as a Russian spy, gathering intel for a large Communist movement. The story hops around the globe from Russia to Chicago to Washington, DC,... Read More

Narrator Ilvana Muratovic's Bosnian heritage adds power to Eskens's extraordinary historical novel of the 1990s War in Bosnia and its repercussions. Muratovic gives Hana Babic, a Bosnian now living in Minnesota, a subtle accent. It soon becomes clear that Hana's secret past, buried for the last 30 years, threatens to resurface and upend her quiet life. As the story flashes back... Read More

Marc Cashman narrates this historical novel with the authoritative, dispassionate voice of a news commentator. Listeners follow the early naval career of Scott Bradley James, an ambitious, patriotic young man from Florida who graduates from the Naval Academy in 1941 and is soon drawn into WWII. This well-researched, personalized, and highly dramatic story follows Scott's career... Read More

Darren Eliker masterfully portrays Kennet, the eldest son of the Fiskare family, at a pivotal age in his life. The summer of 1941 brings Ingrid to the Fiskares' hotel, and although she is promised to another, love blooms between her and Kennet. But soon, Ingrid is forced back to Brazil, and Kennet joins the war. Eliker captures young, forbidden love and heartbreak beautifully... Read More

This sweeping historical fiction inspired by the Four Beauties of Ancient China is in Natalie Naudus's more-than-capable hands. Xishi is the most beautiful woman in Yue--perhaps in the world. In military advisor Fanli's eyes, Xishi's beauty has the power to overturn King Fuchai's quest to colonize Yue. When Xishi begins her mission to seduce, spy on, and sabotage the king,... Read More

Charlotte Cross is an assistant curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 1978. She's quietly conducting Egyptology research that harkens back to her only experience in Egypt, which took place before WWII. Linda Jones's excellent narration reflects Charlotte's ambivalence: She's determined to prove her controversial theory about an Egyptian ruler but fearful... Read More

Saskia Maarleveld gives an impressive performance of this audiobook, set in the 1950s theater worlds of New York City and New Mexico. Maarleveld splendidly portrays the unsettled persona of Margaret Wolf, who flees a difficult life to follow her dream of becoming a Shakespearean actress. Maarleveld skillfully balances Margaret's histrionic tendencies with the sadness she... Read More

Narrator Helen Laser breathes life into Minnie Soffer, who narrates her family's story of coming to America and making a new life for themselves in 1920s New York City. The Soffers, Jewish Americans from Ukraine, are acculturating while retaining their religious rituals and attitudes. The father, Ike, runs a speakeasy and is involved in racketeering, bootlegging, and enforcing... Read More

Narrator Michelle Lee transports listeners with this historical debut based on the life of the author's grandmother. In 1928, 11-year-old Miyoung lives in a tiny village in Japanese-occupied Korea. Wanting to further her education and live with her sister in Japan, Miyoung leaves behind her sick mother and her own name. In Kyoto, she adopts the name Miyoko and passes as... Read More