Historical Fiction

Historical Fiction

episodes

Interviews with writers of historical fiction about their new books.

Harry Turtledove, "Wages of Sin" (Caezik SF & Fantasy, 2024)

February 26, 2024

Wages of Sin

Harry Turtledove
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

What if HIV started spreading in the early 1500s rather than the late 1900s? Without modern medicine, anybody who catches HIV is going to die. In Wage…

Kate Quinn and Janie Chang, "The Phoenix Crown" (William Morrow, 2024)

February 25, 2024

The Phoenix Crown

Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Kate Quinn and Janie Chang are independently acclaimed authors of historical fiction, both of whom have previously appeared on this podcast channel. H…

Teresa H. Janssen, "The Ways of Water" (She Writes Press, 2023)

February 6, 2024

The Ways of Water

Teresa H. Janssen
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Josie Belle Gore is only six years old when we meet her in 1908, yet her father has tied a rope around her waist and is lowering her into a dark well …

Jon Clinch, "The General and Julia" (Atria Books, 2023)

January 30, 2024

The General and Julia

Jon Clinch
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Barely able to walk and rendered mute by the cancer metastasizing in his throat, Ulysses S. Grant is scratching out words, hour after hour, day after …

Andrea Penrose, "The Diamond of London" (Kensington Books, 2024)

January 23, 2024

The Diamond of London

Andrea Penrose
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

I’ve interviewed Andrea Penrose before about her mysteries set in the Regency period—most notably, her ongoing series starring the Earl of Wrexford an…

Katherine Vaz, "Above the Salt" (Flatiron Books, 2023)

December 12, 2023

Above the Salt

Katherine Vaz
Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Today I talked to Katherine Vaz about her new novel Above the Salt (Flatiron Books, 2023). In 1843-1846, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, five-ye…

Isa Arsén, "Shoot the Moon" (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2023)

December 11, 2023

Shoot the Moon

Isa Arsén
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Annie Fisk—an only child in Los Alamos, New Mexico—spends a lot of time investigating the treasure trove of objects at the back of her garden. Her fat…

Alix Christie, "The Shining Mountains" (High Road Books, 2023)

December 5, 2023

The Shining Mountains

Alix Christie
Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Angus McDonald had to escape from Scotland or risk arrest. In 1838, he contracted with the Hudson Bay Company to trade in the Pacific Northwest. There…

Alice Simpson, "The Winthrop Agreement: A Novel" (Harper Paperbacks, 2023)

November 21, 2023

The Winthrop Agreement

Alice Simpson
Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Rivkah Milman is just one of the thousands of young women who fled their homes in Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth century, looking for better pr…

Annie Dawid, "Paradise Undone: A Novel of Jonestown" (Inkspot, 2023)

November 14, 2023

Paradise Undone

Annie Dawid
Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Listen:

Paradise Undone: A Novel of Jonestown by Annie Dawid, (Inkspot Publishing 2023), opens long after 917 people died by drinking cyanide or by lethal inj…

Kim Taylor Blakemore, "The Good Time Girls Get Famous" (Sycamore Creek Press, 2023)

November 7, 2023

The Good Time Girls Get Famous

Kim Taylor Blakemore
Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

K. T. Blakemore’s Wild-Willed Women of the West Series (The Good Time Girls and The Good Time Girls Get Famous) opens when Ruby Calhoun’s former dance…

Stephanie Cowell, "The Boy in the Rain" (Regal House Publishing, 2023)

October 19, 2023

The Boy in the Rain

Stephanie Cowell
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Robert Stillman, an eighteen-year-old Londoner, has few expectations when he travels to Nottingham to study with the Reverend George Langstaff. Life h…

Sherif M. Meleka, "Suleiman's Ring" (Hoopoe, 2023)

October 11, 2023

Suleiman's Ring

Sherif M. Meleka
Hosted by Tugrul Mende
Listen:

Today I talked to Sherif Meleka about his novel Suleiman’s Ring (Hoopoe, 2023) An enchanted ring brings good fortune to an Egyptian oud player in …

On the Secrets of Writing Historical Fiction with Burt Solomon, author of "The Murder of Andrew Johnson"

October 2, 2023

On the Secrets of Writing Historical Fiction

Burt Solomon
Hosted by Paul Starobin
Listen:

The Murder of Andrew Johnson (Forge, 2023) is the third in Burt Solomon’s John Hay Mystery trilogy. Our conversation explores the art and craft of wri…

Louise Hare, "Harlem After Midnight" (Berkley Books, 2023)

September 18, 2023

Harlem After Midnight

Louise Hare
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

After a tumultuous journey across the Atlantic (detailed in last year’s Miss Aldridge Regrets), Lena Aldridge has reached New York City only to discov…

Andrew Varga, "The Last Saxon King: A Jump in Time Novel (Book One)" (Imbrifex Books, 2023)

September 1, 2023

The Last Saxon King

Andrew Varga
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Daniel Renfrew is a typical American sixteen-year-old. His main gripe when the story opens is that his dad insists on home schooling even though Danie…

Jerome Charyn, "Ravage & Son" (Bellevue Literary Press, 2023)

August 31, 2023

Ravage & Son

Jerome Charyn
Hosted by Bob Batchelor

Ravage & Son (Bellevue Literary Press, 2023) by Jerome Charyn is a novel set in the Lower East Side of New York City in the early years of the twentie…

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, "The Witch and the Tsar" (Ace Books, 2022)

August 18, 2023

The Witch and the Tsar

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Listen:

Any novel set in Russia during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533–1584) is an instant draw for me; that is, after all, the setting for most of my ow…

Joshua Cohen’s "The Netanyahus" (JP, Eugene Sheppard)

August 3, 2023

Joshua Cohen’s "The Netanyahus" (JP, Eugene Sheppard)

Joshua Cohen
Listen:

In this episode (originally aired by our partner Novel Dialogue) John and his Brandeis colleague Eugene Sheppard speak with Joshua Cohen about The Ne…

Elizabeth Graver, "Kantika: A Novel" (Metropolitan Books, 2023)

August 1, 2023

Kantika

Elizabeth Graver
Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Listen:

Today I talked to Elizabeth Graver about her new novel Kantika (Metropolitan Books, 2023). Rebecca Cohen and her family live in Istanbul, until they …