New Reviews: Historical Fiction

Narrator Julia Whelan delivers a smart, sassy pair of cousins who share a love of aviation. In the summer of 1937, in Big Coulee, Montana, 14-year-old Houston "Huck" Finn crashes his glider into a trout stream while trying to teach himself to fly. In the water he finds a dead man who is wearing a valuable Lindbergh watch. Huck reports the crime but takes the watch--an act that... Read More

Dion Graham's whispery baritone delivers a quietly commanding performance of Colum McCann's beautifully written novel inspired by ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev's life. Growing up behind the Iron Curtain in the postwar Soviet Union, young Rudi faces deprivation, hunger, and government repression. Graham wisely doesn't attempt character voices yet deftly takes us through Rudi's... Read More

Walsh's debut novel was inspired by the true story of a zookeeper's efforts to save Violet, a young, orphaned elephant in war-torn Belfast during the Irish Troubles. Narrator Charlotte McCurry's comfortable Irish brogue is true to the setting, but her overall performance fails to bring the characters to life. Her delivery is almost a monotone; it has little energy yet often... Read More

This first book in Broster's trilogy was originally published in 1925. Narrator Peter Forbes artfully delivers the story of two men's complicated relationship during the 1745 Jacobite rebellion. A seer predicts that a heron will bring Highlander Ewen Cameron and British Major Keith Windham together and that they will meet five times over the course of the rebellion, with... Read More

Narrator Sibohan Waring presents Liesl and Erich Bannon, who came to Ireland on the Kindertransport of Jewish children from Germany during WWII. Listeners will join them in 1950s Ballycreggen, where they are young adults living with their adoptive parents, Elizabeth and Daniel Liber; their birth mother, Ariella; and a host of memorable locals and refugees. When Liesl, a college... Read More

Grace Experience narrates the lion's share of this audiobook, with cameos from additional narrators who deliver the notes and observations that begin each chapter. Experience's high-pitched voice is suitable for the character of 24-year-old Mary Deerfield, who recounts the story of her life in 1662 Boston. Mary, the sometimes shrill second wife of the abusive Thomas Deerfield,... Read More

Narrator Caroline Hewitt performs this partially fictionalized account of the work of Virginia Hall, a Baltimore debutante who became an Allied spy and key player in the French resistance during WWII. In the weeks before and after D-Day, Hall, a wireless operator, worked behind enemy lines to organize supply drops, help other resisters, and communicate with her superiors in... Read More

Narrator Rosalyn Landor beautifully portrays Katharine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife. Katharine plans to marry Tom Seymour, but after beheading his most recent wife for adultery and treason, Henry fancies 30-year-old Katharine. What choice does she have? She sacrifices marriage to Tom to become queen. Religious turmoil still plagues the kingdom, and court intrigue puts Katharine... Read More

During WWI, women began to find their voices and power as they filled the gaps left by men gone to war. Elizabeth Knowelden's British accent transports us to London as she gives voice to Ivy and Louisa, two women who forge a friendship while working in the Royal Botanic Gardens and become suffragettes. For the most part, Knowelden stays with her narrative voice, skillfully... Read More

Narrators Cassandra Campbell, Fiona Hardingham, and Jacques Roy lend their voices to the story of surrealist painter, writer, and feminist Leonora Carrington. At age 20, Leonora met artist Max Ernst, plunging into a relationship that would transform them both. In luminous tones that perfectly match the book's poetic language, Hardingham reveals Leonora's frantic state after Max... Read More

Nicola Barber and Cassandra Campbell share the narration of this spy story set primarily during the Cold War. Twins Iris and Ruth have not spoken in years, not since Iris and her family defected to Russia when her husband was revealed to be a Soviet mole. In 1952, Ruth agrees to travel to Moscow with a U.S. diplomat to try to extract her sister from the USSR. Barber performs... Read More

Marj Charlier's fictionalized memoir of Clotild, a sixth-century cloistered nun, is perfectly paired with narrator Kate Reading's transportive performance. Together, they create the personalities and lives of actual and imagined women who lived amid the complexities of early medieval society. When life becomes untenable at the convent, Clotild leads her fellow sisters along a... Read More

This work of historical fiction involves the topic of McCarthy-era politics. Narrator Ilyana Kadushin is soft-spoken yet fervent in her performance, especially in her attention to dialogue and accents. When Phoebe Adler, an aspiring television writer, is forced to escape the repressive atmosphere in the United States, drama, suspense, and romance ensue. Kadushin's pace can be... Read More

Mr. Sitwell, a butler, and Jennie, a maid, are at the heart of this audiobook. The connection between the two African Americans begins in the Barclay household and continues beyond their years there as they navigate a world in which racism impacts their everyday lives. Korey Jackson narrates Mr. Sitwell's portion of the audiobook; his bold, confident delivery suits the story of... Read More

Saskia Maarleveld is the perfect narrator for this actually thrilling novel set at Bletchley Park in WWII among the women and men who broke codes and worked the Bombe and Enigma machines. Maarleveld's graceful way with accents, her deep understanding of her characters, and, above all, her intensely responsive pacing as the story of three heroines whipsaws from the mundane to... Read More

Narrator Peter Noble's expressive rendering of this excellent historical novel makes this audiobook seem like an old-fashioned radio drama. He uses diverse accents and inflections to depict the many characters who populate the suspenseful story of Vives, a Spanish Jew who finds himself in King Henry VIII's England during the Spanish Inquisition. The novel is made up of Vives's... Read More

William DeMeritt's versatile narration eases listeners into the unsettled landscape of late-Civil-War-era Georgia in this powerfully affecting novel. This ambitious debut explores themes of forgiveness, family, pride, community, and the societal costs of racism and injustice. The violence in this world is startling but never surprising. DeMeritt's vibrant and convincing... Read More

On one level, this audiobook by Swedish author Niemi is a fairly standard mystery. But there are other, much deeper, levels as well. Jussi, portrayed by Anthony Mark Barrow, is a Sámi runaway who has been informally adopted by Pastor Lars Levi Laestadius, an actual historical character who is portrayed later in the book by narrator Allan Corduner. Besides being the detective in... Read More