2024 Summer Reading Guide: Historical Fiction
I’ve loved historical fiction books my whole life – it’s such an engaging way to learn about a different time period and take a trip back in time without leaving your living room couch!
The Women by Kristin Hannah
I think this has to be my new favorite by Kristin Hannah, set during the Vietnam War. After growing up hearing about her family members who were heroes in WWII, Frankie volunteers as a combat nurse in Vietnam. She is very idealistic and comes from a wealthy, highly patriotic family. She goes into it believing it will be very similar to WWII (spoiler…it’s NOT). This novel stretches over Frankie’s time in Vietnam and many years after she returns home and the aftermath of the war. It’s so fantastic!
When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer
In this time travel book, Libby is born with the gift to go to sleep in one time period, and wake up in another time period without any time having passed. She splits her time between 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. She lives a very different life in each, but there comes a time when she must make a very important decision about which time period she will stay in forever. This was a fun listen!
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
It’s 1837 in pre-Civil War Pennsylvania, and three young Black women are caught up in the uncertainty of the time. Nell, is a socialite trying to help the abolitionist movement with her wealth and status. Charlotte has escaped from a southern plantation and works as a housemaid (but she is keeping a big secret). And Evie is still enslaved, brought to Philadelphia under a loophole that means even in a free state, she’s not free. As their lives intersect, the three work together to free Nell without destroying the precarious freedom of the other two.
Universe of Two by Stephen P. Kiernan
Based on a true story, mathematician Charlie Fish is assigned to the Manhattan Project working alongside Oppenheimer to design and build the atomic bomb detonator. This story combines his work, his crisis of conscience over what he’s doing and his love story with his wife who doesn’t know what he’s working on. I listened to this one on audio a year ago and still think about it all the time.
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