New Books Network
Historical Fiction
Literature July 20, 2021

The Book of Lost Light

Ron Nyren

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Ron Nyren’s The Book of Lost Light—winner of Black Lawrence Press’s 2019 Big Moose Prize and finalist in the 2020 David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction—tells the …

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Historical Fiction July 5, 2021

The Play's the Thing

Jessica Barksdale Inclán

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
In a sense, those of us who love historical fiction live vicariously in the past. Many of us also fantasize about traveling in time—meeting our favorite writers in the flesh …
Asian Review of Books July 1, 2021

The Flower Boat Girl

A Novel Based on a True Story

Larry Feign

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
It can be easy to forget amongst the glistening skyscrapers, bustling streets and neon lights, but the Pearl River Delta used to be a haven for banditry and piracy. As …
Literature June 9, 2021

Lilacs in the Dust Bowl

Diana Stevan

Hosted by Nataliya Shpylova-Saeed
Author Diana Stevan's sequel to the award-winning Sunflowers Under Fire. Lukia's story continues in Lilacs in the Dust Bowl (Peregrin Publishing, 2021),  an inspirational family saga about love and heartache during …
Historical Fiction May 28, 2021

Lady Be Good

The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale

Pamela Hamilton

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
The name of Dorothy Hale is not well known these days. In the 1920s, she enjoyed a career on Broadway as a dancer, including in a leading role with Fred …
Literature May 18, 2021

The Lines Between Us

Rebecca D'Harlingue

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Today I talked to Rebecca D’Harlingue about her novel The Lines Between Us (She Writes Press, 2020). A widow in 17th century Spain discovers that her beloved niece, Juliana, has suddenly disappeared. Juliana …
Historical Fiction May 4, 2021

Three Locks

A Sherlock Holmes Adventure

Bonnie Macbird

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Sherlock Holmes is one of the rare literary characters who has achieved a kind of cultural immortality. As Bonnie MacBird notes in this interview, display an image of a deerstalker hat …
Historical Fiction April 5, 2021

The Sky Worshipers

F. M. Deemyad

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
There have been more than a few contenders for the title of “World Conqueror,” but eight hundred years after the fact, Genghis Khan’s claim to the title remains unmatched. Over …
Literature March 23, 2021

Prospects of a Woman

Wendy Voorsanger

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
When Elisabeth Parker and her husband leave Massachusetts and arrive in California to join her father, she quickly learns that her father is not who she thought he was. It’s …
Buddhist Studies March 18, 2021

Yasodhara and the Buddha

Vanessa R. Sasson

Hosted by Luke Thompson
By combining the spirit of fiction with the fabulism of Indian mythology and in-depth academic research, Vanessa R. Sasson shares the evocative story of the Buddha from the perspective of …
Historical Fiction March 12, 2021

Band of Sisters

Lauren Willig

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Kate Moran, a graduate of Smith College, has been making her living tutoring students in French when her college friend Emmie Van Alden appears out of the blue and talks …
Literature February 16, 2021

The Lost Shtetl

A Novel

Max Gross

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Today I spoke with Max Gross about his book The Lost Shtetl (HarperCollins, 2020). Imagine a Jewish village hidden in the forests of Poland that somehow escapes the Holocaust. Eighty years …
German Studies February 11, 2021

Berlin

Jason Lutes

Hosted by Michael O'Sullivan
In his pathbreaking graphic novel, Berlin (Drawn and Quarterly, 2018), Jason Lutes creates a multifaceted exploration of urban life during the Weimar Republic.  The book contains a variety of mostly fictional …
Historical Fiction February 9, 2021

Vindicated

A Novel of Mary Shelley

Kathleen Williams Renk

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Mary Godwin Shelley had yet to reach her nineteenth birthday when she had the dream that gave rise to the classic Gothic horror tale Frankenstein. The daughter of a dissenting …
Literature January 19, 2021

Song of the Sisters

Songs of Steppe and Forest 3

Five Directions Press

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Everywhere young Russian noblewoman Darya Sheremeteva turns, someone in her circle of family and friends reminds her that she exists to serve a single purpose: to marry a powerful man …
Historical Fiction January 4, 2021

The Heiress

The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh

Molly Greeley

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
The world created by Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice has established a place for itself in contemporary culture that few other novels can match, yet amid the countless spinoffs …
Historical Fiction December 4, 2020

Bronte's Mistress

A Novel

Finola Austin

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
It seems likely that most of our listeners have at least heard of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and her sister Emily’s Wuthering Heights. Many also know that Charlotte and Emily …
Historical Fiction November 4, 2020

Beyond the Ghetto Gates

Michelle Cameron

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
The intense interest in the horrors of World War II that has characterized the last few years has tended to overshadow other aspects of the long history of Jewish populations …
Historical Fiction October 13, 2020

Atomic Love

Jennie Fields

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb
Inspired by Leona Woods, the only woman who worked on the Manhattan Project, Atomic Love (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2020) tells the story of Rosalind Porter, a physicist recruited by …
Historical Fiction October 6, 2020

Midnight Fire

P. K. Adams

Hosted by C. P. Lesley
Most novels about the sixteenth century written in English take place in Italy, France, or England—with the occasional foray into Spain or Portugal. P. K. Adams’ Jagiellonian Mystery series is …