Tumgik
#historical fiction book
atcollection · 1 year
Text
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo - review
Tumblr media
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This is a historical fiction book that was quite an easy read. Everything flowed together and I was completely hooked on it. It kept me turning the page at the end of every, single chapter.
The plot is obvious (a woman talking about her husbands and marriages) but there is so much more than that. There is a slight twist that I thought was unexpected but admire deeply. I think that this book truly shows how things worked in the older days, especially Old Hollywood, and even present day still. Famous people always have two sides- the side that they want the public to see and the side that is private. Most people know this (there are so many accounts of fans meeting famous people and being ignored/treated poorly because there are no cameras around) but almost everyone forgets it. Fame is such strain on a person’s personal life because everything they do is in the public eye. This book is a good reminder that famous people are people and they have private matters that they most likely want to keep private.
The ending was a conclusive one. All questions were answered and I gasped loudly at one answer in particular. My eyes were watery at the end but I felt happy for reading this book.
This book was an easy and quick read that reminded me that famous people often live a double life and no one will truly know who they are unless they say it themselves.
This will be on my book shelf and I’ll reread it again.
5/5 hearts
*A good partner to this book is My Policeman by Bethan Roberts
5 notes · View notes
literaryfiction · 2 years
Photo
Tumblr media
Novel DISTORTED PERCEPTIONS. See: paulathewriter.com.
3 notes · View notes
writingwithcolor · 5 months
Text
It wouldn’t be historically accurate for my story to include BIPOC!
This is an argument often made about European-style fantasy media like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Disney’s Frozen. Audiences, often white, assume that due to the majority-white setting, adding any visible number of BIPOC to the story would be unrealistic.
What these critics fail to realize is that BIPOC do in fact live, and have lived, in these settings, and records of BIPOC presence in places assumed to be majority-white have been buried, written out, or not taught due to white supremacist and/or colonial bias in the field of history. There are historical European settings that were far more diverse than is often portrayed. Consider:
The Moorish Empire exerted an extensive influence over life and culture in Southern Europe from Spain from 711 to 1492
The Ottomans were heavily involved in European affairs up until the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, but still considered a part of Europe even through the 19th century
The sheer size of the Roman Empire ensured the continued movement of people from various backgrounds within the Mediterranean well until the end of the Byzantine Empire.
“Historical accuracy” should not be used as an excuse for media to be exclusively white in its casting. While there are places which are or were predominantly white, there will always be factors like global trade and immigration that bring multiculturalism to their doors.
And even if the presence of a certain demographic is unrealistic for a certain setting? Consider that we’ve accepted far worse inaccuracies in historical fiction in the name of artistic license. Consider that our understanding of human history is, and will always be, incomplete.
Further Reading:
Historically Diverse London, “Historical Accuracy,” and Creator Accountability
Making a Black Pride and Prejudice Resonate
---
This Q&A is an excerpt from our General FAQ for Newcomers, which can be found in our new Masterpost of rules and FAQs. If you're new to Writing With Color and/or want more writing resources, check it out!
-Writing With Color
3K notes · View notes
blackwell-tales · 2 years
Text
SOURCE | Preface
Tales of the Blackwell gang | BOOK 0
Source tells the story of Tommy Blackwell and Priscilla Crounse during their time in the De la Fuente gang, run by a notorious outlaw, Raymond De la Fuente. Through love, trauma, found family, and facing their pasts; the two come to realize just who they can trust in a world where everyone is out for themselves. With a diverse cast of characters and a deeply woven tale that leave you waiting to see what happens next, Isy Vick and Nutmeg Hart have unapologetically reclaimed the western genre. ---
At the beginning of our project, we didn't intend for our story to grow so much. I think many stories tend to start that way. For us, our story started as the beginning of a friendship; just two people who had some cowboy characters and a lot of time on their hands to make these characters interact. It started off as something fun we did together because we loved it, and now it's become a dream.
Because of this, not everything in our story is historically accurate and we ask that you look at this story as less Historical and more Fiction, despite its genre being both. We still find ourselves in 1800s America with many of the same events, but some things may have been tweaked: medical technology may be a little more advanced, the brownie camera may have been invented a little earlier, and other little things that allowed us to have a lot more fun while writing this. 
In other aspects of the story, we've done hours of research on what was possible and what wasn't, what could be used in place of certain things and what simply couldn't. But that's the fun thing about stories: they can be whatever you want them to be as long as you're having fun and it's not causing harm. While you may be stepping into the Wild West of America, don't think of it as quite the same Wild West you may know from your history books. 
So, just sit back... and enjoy. 
Your Authors,
Nutmeg and Isy
1 note · View note
prideprejudce · 9 months
Text
The Ocean is terrifying!
Here are some book recommendations to prove it!
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
2K notes · View notes
oldshrewsburyian · 11 months
Note
As much as I adore your (highly) interesting takes on medievalism and how it differs from what we actually know (or hypothesize) about the medieval period, I don't think I've ever asked: are there any books set in either the real middle ages or some fantasy approximation of the period that you WOULD recommend? They don't have to be "perfect" representations, obviously, but it would be nice to learn about any books that side-step the usual potholes. Thank you!
Hi, friend! A of all, thank you; B of all, there are and I would. From the following list it will become apparent that my criteria are idiosyncratic. Really, I think, the most important thing for my own enjoyment -- for any historical fiction, but especially for that set in the place/time I know best -- is that the work and its author are exploring the period as a way of opening up a conversation between past and present, rather than looking down on the past from the vantage point of the contemporary. This sententious prolegomenon concluded:
The Book Smuggler, Omaima Al-Khamis (eleventh-century Islamicate world, about knowledge and wisdom and religious intolerance)
Morality Play, Barry Unsworth (fourteenth-century England, about justice and law and vocation and community)
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco (doesn't need my introduction, hilarious and deeply poignant meta-meditation on the genre of the detective story, also on theological debates and the love of one's neighbor and the nature of fear)
Sword at Sunset, Rosemary Sutcliff (fifth-century post-Roman Britain, has some clichés, also some magic, but is so richly imagined and full of people I love. Also good dogs.)
Cadfael Chronicles, Ellis Peters (twelfth-century England; I was wondering why I love these so much and I think a lot of it comes back to how much Ellis Peters loved the particular place she lived/set the books in, and watching the changing of the seasons there, so that that close observation of time -- very medieval! -- is also central. Inequality isn't made invisible or grotesque here, either, and it's often one or the other in Fictional Medieval Europe.)
Isaac of Girona mysteries, Caroline Roe (C14 Spain, also whodunits, but I cannot resist including this charming series about a blind Jewish doctor and his beloved wife and his daughters and the orphan he adopts and his chess-playing buddy the bishop and and and....! It's great.)
The History of the Siege of Lisbon, José Saramago (C12/C20 Portugal, called "metafiction about the instability of history and the reality assumed by fiction" by Kirkus Reviews and... yeah!)
She Who Became The Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan (C15 Ming China, with ghosts, definitely fantasy rather than regular historical fiction, and on the cusp of early modernity, also so so interesting)
The Apothecary's Shop, Roberto Tiraboschi (C12 Venice, deeply weird -- affectionate -- and drawing on Calvino and gialli as well as medieval history; some inaccuracies about women and medicine but I still found it compelling and thought-provoking)
2K notes · View notes
nerdynatreads · 2 years
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
☆☆YouTube | Tumblr | Instagram | Storygraph ☆☆
book review || A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
This alternates POV between many different women whose lives were impacted by the Trojan War, both Greek and Trojan. Thank you Natalie Haynes for having a character chart that lays out all of the characters, their relationships, and which side of the war they’re on, because that’s been really helpful.
I’ve really loved the writing around war and how Haynes is highlighting the tragedies that often go unnoticed in the original myths. We talk lots about the men who fought and died, but not the women who remained and their fates. This doesn’t shy away from the brutality and violence, nor the sorrow and grief that filled ten years of these peoples’ lives. Calliope rants about how poets want to focus on love or the loss of a single person, but the true tragedy is in the many losses. “War is not a sport to be decided in a quick bout on a strip of contested land. It is a web which stretches out to the furthest parts of the world, drawing everyone into itself.” The atmosphere has also been very well done, transporting me to a Greek Islands in this difficult time, with many grieving individuals.
The chapters alternate in size, but even the shorter ones still allow time to establish each woman’s identity and allow for me to grow attached and sympathize with her situation. Many of the chapters end with the woman dying, but others discuss the terrible things they can endure apart from death. I did definitely feel strongest about the women whose stories we had the most time with.
The timeline of the story is also out of order. The first perspective is a woman in the middle of a burning Troy, while the middle chapter shows the argument between the three goddesses which lead to the war. I actually like this layout and while I have a hard time thinking someone would go into this book with very little knowledge of the Trojan war, if anyone did, they’d probably get lost.
Haynes’ layout of the stories she tells goes from the least traumatizing to most? I found myself getting closer and closer to tears, in particular for the longer chapters which were looking at the individual Trojan women’s fates.
I really liked seeing how Haynes handled adultery from the eyes of some of the women since that’s pretty common in Greek myths, but I wasn’t a big fan of the amount of shaming there was to other women. I loved feeling Clytemnestra and Hera’s anger toward their husbands for their infidelity but they also turned their anger toward the women being taken as prizes or seduced.
The underlying plot that ties all of these stories together kept me reading, but due to this being told in a non-linear format, this almost reads more like a short story collection and less like a novel as a whole, meaning some of the chapters feel very separated from the others.
I think my favorite women’s stories to follow were:
Penelope
Cassandra
Eris and Themis
Clytemnestra
and then of course Calliope’s narration.
All in all though, I did really like this retelling of a story I already knew from a fresh perspective, showcasing the hardships these women endured and sometimes even balancing it with humor.
4 / 5 stars
0 notes
marzipanandminutiae · 1 month
Text
Ten Ways To Express the Concept of Your Father "Grounding" You, In 1857, Without Using Slang That Literally Came From Airplanes (Attn: Emma Alban)
Father would confine me to the house
Father would mew me up at home
I'd be practically cloistered if Father found out
Father would keep me as close as his watch-chain
Father would scarcely let me out of his sight
Father would put me on the shortest lead imaginable
I'd never get away from Father's side
Father would never allow me out
Father would make a perfect prisoner of me
I'd lose any liberty at all if Father caught me [XYZ]
227 notes · View notes
lets-get-lit · 2 months
Text
There are years that ask questions and years that answer.
- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
396 notes · View notes
rasheednewsonauthor · 2 months
Text
Footnote #78 in “My Government Means to Kill Me” is a reminder that protestors aren’t supposed to play by the rules.
179 notes · View notes
yourqueerbookshelf · 5 months
Text
Not sure what my motive is here, but . . .
The results will not affect which books I post about, because I actually have to want to read them, but I'm dying to know who likes to suffer!
212 notes · View notes
Text
The Companion by E.E. Ottoman
goodreads
Tumblr media
New York, 1949
After years of trying to break into New York City's literary scene, Madeline Slaughter is emotionally and physically exhausted. When a friend offers her a safe haven as the live-in companion to reclusive, bestselling novelist Victor Hallowell she jumps at the chance to escape the city.
Madeline expects to find rest and quiet in the forests of Upstate New York. Instead, she finds Victor, handsome and intensely passionate, and Audrey Coffin, Victor's mysterious and beautiful neighbor.
When Victor offers her a kiss and the promise of more Madeline allows herself to become entangled even as Audrey is also claiming her heart. The only problem is that Audrey and Victor are ex-lovers with plenty of baggage between them. As Madeline finds herself opening up and falling in love with both she starts to wonder, can there be a future for all three?
Mod opinion: I haven't read this one yet but it is on my tbr. t4t4t romance yippiiiieeeeeeee. Update: I've read and enjoyed it. t4t4t erotic romance.
165 notes · View notes
blackinperiodfilms · 22 days
Text
Prime Video is developing The Davenports, a series based on Krystal Marquis’ bestselling YA novel of the same name, from Alloy Entertainment. The project is a co-production of Warner Bros. Television and Amazon MGM Studios.
Tumblr media
The series, set in 1910 America, revolves around the Davenports, who are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status thanks to the entrepreneurship of former enslaved patriarch William Davenport. Surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, his daughters Olivia and Helen, and their friends, are finding their way and finding love—even where they’re not supposed to.
Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo executive produce for Alloy Entertainment. Warner Bros. Television and Amazon MGM Studios are the studios. A search is underway for a writer.
The Davenports was released in 2023 and Marquis is currently working on book two in the series.
88 notes · View notes
empirearchives · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
The Duellists, dir. Ridley Scott (1977)
Film based on the novel, The Duel, by Joseph Conrad
597 notes · View notes
int3rnztstar · 15 days
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
book rec drop!! currently reading ‘speak’, to be finished tomorrow! I’ve been told the ending leaves much to be desired but i’m not so sure just based off what I’ve read (like 150ish of 198 pages) tbd tbh
bye! 🤟
112 notes · View notes
haveyoureadthispoll · 4 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
110 notes · View notes