Archive for the ‘Fiction based on Time Period’ Category

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN by Lisa See

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN is an epic tale which chronicles the lives of two Chinese women, Lily and Snow Flower. Set in a remote area of Hunan Province, Lily was born in 1823, “on the fifth day of the sixth month of the third year of Emperor Daoguang’s reign.” During her lifetime, Lily lives through the reigns of four emperors. Most Chinese girls had their feet bound and spent their lives in seclusion in nineteenth century China. Isolated and illiterate, they were not expected to think or to express emotions. They were expected to bear sons. However, the fortunate women living in Hunan villages of the Jian-yong region were exempt from some of this harsh oppression. They were taught to write a special women’s language and they were allowed, on occasion, to form special friendships.

May 26, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: 19th Century, China, Facing History, Fiction based on Time Period, Women's Fiction  No Comments

HONOLULU by Alan Brennert

At least at the beginning of the 20th century, Korean fathers prized their male children as they would carry on the family name. Female children, whose sole purpose is to serve their brothers, fathers and husbands, languish without an education. This partly explains how the protagonist in this novel, HONOLULU, was named Regret. Not satisfied with her lot, Regret longs to read, write, learn English and not live in the shadow of her male family members.

May 22, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: 20th Century, Award Winning Author, Book Club Choice, Facing History, Fiction based on Time Period, Hawaii, Multicultural, immigration  No Comments

STONE’S FALL by Iain Pears (1)

A panoramic novel with a riveting mystery at its heart, STONE’S FALL is a quest to discover how and why John Stone dies. Chronologically, it moves backwards–from London in 1909 to Paris in 1890, and finally to Venice in 1867– and in the process the quest to uncover the truth plays out against the backdrop of the evolution of high-stakes international finance, Europe’s first great age of espionage, and the start of the twentieth century’s arms race.

May 18, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Espionage, Facing History, Fiction based on Time Period, France, Mystery/Suspense, United Kingdom  No Comments

ALEXANDRIA by Lindsey Davis

Marcus Didius Falco’s eighteen previous escapades took him, when he wasn’t at home in Rome, to Naples, Capua, and outward to Greece, Spain, Germany, and Britain. This time, in the Spring of A.D. 77, he and his family arrive in Egypt to see the Pyramids at Giza. But first they sail from Rhodes to the city Alexander the Great built, where they’ll stay a while with Falco’s Uncle Fulvius. Alexandria beckons them with the huge landmark, the famed Lighthouse.

May 12, 2009  Tags: ,   Posted in: Award Winning Author, Fiction based on Time Period, Mystery/Suspense, Sleuth Series  No Comments