Historical and biographical fiction

Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

The Caribbean
Jacob Gelt Dekker
(UK: Amsterdam Publishers, @AmsterdamPB, 2018; USA: Amsterdam Publishers, @AmsterdamPB, 2018)

After a life-changing diagnosis, Dutch entrepreneur Jacob Gelt Dekker decides to take a step into the unknown. Setting sail from his home in Key West, he embarks on an odyssey around the Caribbean islands, navigating treacherous waters and nations forever shaped by the Age of Discovery and transatlantic slave trade. Soon he discovers that he is not alone on his boat. With him during the long days and nights at sea are Anansi the Spider, the West African trickster, and The Flying Dutchman, doomed to sail the oceans forever and harbouring a terrible secret.

Together, this unlikely trio seeks to establish the truth about the history of the Caribbean. Along the way, they encounter famous pirates and unpick tales of untold riches, but also retrace the steps of the region’s slaves, finding out how events in Europe, the fledgling American colonies, and Africa sealed their fates.

Recommended by:
Liesbeth Heenk, Founder, International Online Publisher and Agent, Amsterdam Publishers

The Liberation
Kate Furnivall
(UK: Simon & Schuster, @simonschusterUK, 2016)

This novel is set in Italy in 1945 as British and American troops attempt to bring order to the devastated country and Italy’s population fights to survive. Caterina Lombardi is desperate – her father is dead, her mother has disappeared and her brother is being drawn towards danger. One morning, among the ruins of the bombed Naples streets, Caterina is forced to go to extreme lengths to protect her own life and in doing so forges a future in which she must clear her father’s name. An Allied Army officer accuses him of treason and Caterina discovers a plot against her family. Who can she trust and who is the real enemy now? And will the secrets of the past be her downfall?

Recommended by:
Adele Blair, Blogger, Kraftireader

Adele started writing her Kraftireader blog in 2014, which shares her love of reading, crafting, recipes, music and shopping bargains. She uses the tagline ‘A book and a tea puts a smile on me’, which she loves for the comforting image it projects of sitting down with your favourite cuppa in a nice quiet corner to read a book. Adele’s preferred book genres are contemporary fiction, romcoms, chick lit, historical romance and family sagas.

The Glass Palace
Amitav Ghosh
(UK: The Borough Press, @BoroughPress, 2002; USA: Random House, @penguinrandom, 2002)

Rajkumar is only another boy, helping on a market stall in the dusty square outside the royal palace, when the British force the Burmese king, queen and all the court into exile. He is rescued by the far-seeing Chinese merchant, and with him builds up a logging business in upper Burma. But haunted by his vision of the royal family, he journeys to the obscure town in India where they have been exiled …

Recommended by:
Fern Wells, Events Manager, Australia-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce

Fern is a personable and organised professional with the distinct ability to work under her own initiative. She performs effectively as part of a team with dedicated enthusiasm in the support of business and operational objectives. She has experience of working closely with individuals, SMEs, government and large multinational companies. Most recently she has worked for the Aus-UK Chamber of Commerce as Events Manager

Memoirs of a Geisha
Arthur Golden
(UK: Vintage, @vintagebooks, 1998; USA: Vintage, @VintageAnchor, 1999)

A young peasant girl is sold as servant and apprentice to a renowned geisha house. She tells her story many years later from the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Her memoirs conjure up the perfection and the ugliness of life behind rice-paper screens, where young girls learn the arts of geisha – dancing and singing, how to wind the kimono, how to walk and pour tea, and how to beguile the land’s most powerful men.

Recommended by:
James Berkery, Choreographer and Movement Director | Dance website: James Berkery; IMDb: James Berkery

James is a freelance choreographer and movement director who specialises in movement and dance for screen and stage drawing on his professional experience working on film, television, commercial, theatre and music videos. His work has been featured on BBC, ITV, MTV, Universal Music, VICE, Promo News, Paper Mag, 405 and David Reviews, amongst others.

The Painted Kiss
Elizabeth Hickey
(USA: Washington Square Press, @simonschuster, 2006)

This novel reimagines the tumultuous relationship between the Viennese painter Gustav Klimt and Emilie Flöge, the woman who posed for Klimt’s masterpiece The Kiss – and whose name he uttered with his dying breath.

Vienna in 1886 was a city of elegant cafés, grand opera houses, and a thriving and adventurous artistic community. It is here where the 12-year-old Emilie meets the controversial libertine and painter. Hired by her bourgeois father for basic drawing lessons, Klimt introduces Emilie to a subculture of dissolute artists, wanton models, and decadent patrons that both terrifies and inspires her.

The Painted Kiss follows Emilie as she blossoms from a naïve young girl to one of Europe’s most exclusive couturiers – and Klimt’s most beloved model and mistress.

Recommended by:
Stephany Evans, Literary Agent, Ayesha Pande Literary

Stephany represents select fiction authors in a range of women’s categories from literary to genre (romance, mystery, suspense, paranormal), and non-fiction authors in health & wellness, spirituality, food & drink, lifestyle, green, and narrative non-fiction. Ayesha Pande Literary is a New York-based boutique literary agency with a small and eclectic roster of clients. They love to work with writers who dare to innovate, take risks, express something meaningful about our world.

I, Eliza Hamilton
Susan Holloway Scott
(USA: Kensington Publishing, @KensingtonBooks, 2017)

As the daughter of a respected general, Elizabeth Schuyler is accustomed to socialising with dignitaries and soldiers. But no visitor to her parents’ home has affected her so strongly as Alexander Hamilton: a charismatic, ambitious aide to George Washington. They marry quickly, and despite the tumult of the American Revolution, Eliza is confident in her brilliant husband and in her role as his helpmate. But it is in the aftermath of war, as Hamilton becomes one of the country’s most important figures, that she truly comes into her own.

In the new capital, Eliza becomes an adored member of society, respected for her fierce devotion to Hamilton as well as her grace. Behind closed doors, she astutely manages their expanding household, and assists her husband with his political writings. Yet some challenges are impossible to prepare for. Through public scandal, betrayal, personal heartbreak, and tragedy, she is tested again and again. In the end, it will be Eliza’s indomitable strength that makes her not only Hamilton’s most crucial ally in life, but also his most loyal advocate after his death, determined to preserve his legacy whilst pursuing her own extraordinary path through the nation they helped shape together.

Recommended by:
Kensington Publishing: at BookExpo America

Founded in 1974, Kensington Publishing Corp. is located in New York City and is known as ‘America’s Independent Publisher’. It remains a multi-generational family business. As the foremost independent commercial publishing house in the USA – providing hardcover, trade paperback, mass market and digital releases – Kensington publishes the books that America wants to read.

The Kaiser’s Dawn
John Hughes-Wilson
(UK: Unicorn, @UnicornPubGroup, 2018; USA: Uniform Press, @UnicornPubGroup, 2018)

In mid-summer 1918, a top-secret mission was set in motion to kill Kaiser Wilhelm II. It was thought that killing the German head of state and commander-in-chief would serve as a mortal blow to the German forces, and that they would collapse very quickly after the assassination. Kept secret for a century, the plot is revealed in the historical thriller The Kaiser’s Dawn, which John Hughes-Wilson has built from information discovered in never-before-published notebooks, maps, and pilots’ flying records, and confirmed by material found in the RAF archives.

The implications of this secret attack raise many explosive new historical questions. Exactly who ordered the attack? Was the King informed of the attempt to kill his royal cousin? Did Prime Minister Lloyd George know? A century later, no one is certain – all that can be known for sure is that someone in the government must have sanctioned the plan …

Recommended by:
Andrew Hayward, Director, Court Publishing Services | Interview: BookMachine

Specialising in general trade publishing, Andrew works with fiction and non-fiction titles, overseeing sales and marketing in the UK and the rest of the world. Court Publishing Services manages a boutique stable of authors as a literary agency. Court has taken on various non-trade publishing projects – including working with the Donmar Warehouse theatre, the Bristol Cancer Help Centre and publishing projects that focus on World War I – and helping to set up the history documentary company, Turning Stones. Andrew has previously worked at Ether Books, The Lutterworth Press, Penguin, Pearson, Constable & Robinson and Summersdale Publishers.

The Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver
(UK: Faber & Faber, @FaberBooks, 2017; USA: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, @HarperPerennial, 2008)

This is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it – from garden seeds to Scripture – is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.

Recommended by:
Gill Paul, Writer, Ghostwriter, Editor and Book Packager, Grapevine Publishing Services | Author website: Gill Paul

Gill is an author of fiction and non-fiction, an editor, ghostwriter, packager and book rescue merchant, and – across the years – she has worked for most major UK publishers, as well as several in Europe and the US. Her specialties include: fiction, health, humour, history, biographies and memoirs, and relationships.

A Spy After All
John Lewes
(UK: Serpent and Dove, @JohnoLewes1, 2017)

With an ability to survive in the merciless desert that puts other well-known agents into the shade, Steel doesn’t worry if there is nowhere to run and hide. But there is always a price to be paid.

Jock Steel is a young British army officer who knows more than most about his Nazi opponents. He is also passionately in love with Madeleine McLean. Determined to bring his new form of warfare behind enemy lines, Steel is persuaded to serve Britain as a spy in order to safeguard MI6 secrets in the fight against Rommel in North Africa.

As Madeleine leaves Oxford to work in MI5 to get closer to Steel, she uncovers dark secrets at the heart of British Intelligence. Steel abandons Madeleine to fend for herself while he tracks traitors behind enemy lines. Will his revolutionary ideas for a new kind of secret war outwit enemies at home and abroad? Now that they have been torn apart, can their love survive?

Recommended by:
Yasmine Khera (Yasmine Trendy), Influencer, Activist, Art Director, Fashion Designer, Presenter and Actress: IMDb: Yasmine Khera (actress); Yasmine Khera (make-up)

Yasmine is an award-winning, international humanitarian who holds many brand ambassadorship positions. She works in fashion, film, music and television, and runs the People Are Not Products social enterprise, a youth activist campaign that tackles low self-esteem. Yasmine also hold a PhD in psychology. She is self-motivated, intelligent, driven and creative: via her successful career she nurtures a strong, global social media following. She is committed to positive representation of brands and generating customer loyalty.

Bring Up the Bodies
(Thomas Cromwell: book 2)
Hilary Mantel
(UK: 4th Estate, @4thEstateBooks, 2013; USA: Picador, @PicadorUSA, 2013)

By 1535 Thomas Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn, the king’s new wife. But Anne has failed to give the king an heir, and Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour … Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry, safeguard the nation and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days.

Recommended by:
Neil Fenton, C-Suite level Financial Consultant and Director, Seeds

An experienced finance professional, Neil has a long track record of successful strategic planning, expansion and development in both the commercial and charity sectors, in both the UK and overseas. He played a key role in raising funds to enable organisations to grow including a world first in achieving a multi-jurisdictional securitisation of Chrysalis Group Plc’s music catalogue (now part of BMG) and a ground-breaking social investment for the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), which resulted in earning several business and social enterprise awards. Most recently Neil worked at the Bromley by Bow Centre, laying the foundations for growth and inward investment. As well as holding several voluntary positions, Neil has regularly spoken at social enterprise and charity seminars and has consulted on childcare with several government departments, including the Cabinet Office. Neil also serves as a Director of Seeds, taking on treasurer responsibilities.

Tombland
(Shardlake: book 7)
CJ Sansom
(UK: Mantle, @MantleBooks, 2018; USA: Mulholland Books, @mulhollandbooks, 2019)

Summer, 1549. Two years after the death of Henry VIII, England is sliding into chaos … The nominal king, Edward VI, is 11 years old. His uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, rules as Protector. The extirpation of the old religion by radical Protestants is stirring discontent among the populace while the Protector’s prolonged war with Scotland is proving a disastrous failure and threatens to involve France. Worst of all, the economy is in collapse, inflation rages and rebellion is stirring among the peasantry.

Since the old King’s death, Matthew Shardlake has been working as a lawyer in the service of Henry’s younger daughter, the Lady Elizabeth. The gruesome murder of Edith Boleyn, the wife of John Boleyn – a distant Norfolk relation of Elizabeth’s mother – which could have political implications for Elizabeth, brings Shardlake and his assistant Nicholas Overton to the summer assizes at Norwich. There they are reunited with Shardlake’s former assistant Jack Barak. The three find layers of mystery and danger surrounding Edith’s death, as a second murder is committed …

Recommended by:
Danuta Kean, Journalist | Book News Correspondent, The Guardian; Books Editor: Mslexia

Danuta is the leading commentator on the UK and global book industry, experienced in a range of subject areas: investigative journalism; celebrity profiles; cultural industries; cultural diversity; change management; pay and employment issues; film and music reviewing; web publishing; retail; magazine editing; contract publishing; radio interviewing; and public speaking. She is a literary and media analyst, specialising in business, marketing, employment, diversity, publishing, politics and the arts.

When Nietzsche Wept
Irvin D Yalom
(UK: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, @HarperPerennial, 2016; USA: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, @HarperPerennial, 2011)

The novel starts with Dr Josef Breuer sitting in a cafe in Venice, Italy waiting for Lou Salomé, who was involved with Friedrich Nietzsche. She has written a letter stating that the future of the philosophy of Germany is at stake and that the German philosopher needs help desperately. The plot develops into a therapy where Breuer needs to have his soul treated, i.e. to help him get over a patient who he treated for hysteria and with whom he has fallen in love, whereas Nietzsche needs help with his migraines. Influenced by the revolutionary ideas of his young disciple Sigmund Freud, Josef Breuer starts the dangerous strategy that will mean the origin of psychoanalysis. Thanks to their unusual relationship, both of them will see how their perspective of life changes completely.

Recommended by:
Irina Abel, Solutions Consultant, EBC Group, and Book Blogger | Book Blog: Book and Coffee

Irina can’t remember a time when she wasn’t addicted to reading. She learnt to read when I was 3½ and, within a year, she’d finished every book in the house! Even when in nursery she dreamed of being a librarian as I loved discovering new books and sharing them with other people. That hasn’t changed. She is still addicted to reading and discovering a new hidden gem brings me great joy. It’s a wonderful feeling when she talks to people about books and sees their eyes light up. She knows it can be a challenge for people with busy lives to find time to read, but even a few minutes of quiet time with a new book can be a wonderful escape from the daily grind. She decided to help by introducing people to a wonderful new read: Book and Coffee was born.

The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
(UK: Black Swan, @PenguinUKBooks, 2014; USA: Alfred A Knopf, @AAKnopf, 2007)

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still … Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meagre existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist: books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbours during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement …

Recommended by:
Adam Green, Freelance Musician | Music website: Adam Green Music

London-based musician and composer Adam Green is a talented and accomplished guitarist available for studio and live sessions. As a soloist, Adam is fluent in jazz, Spanish and classical guitar styles. He also regularly features in showcase line-ups and full-band gigs for up and coming musicians from London’s hottest music scenes. Adam is busy composing, gigging and recording with his own quartet The Adam Green Continuum

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Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

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