Dolen Perkins-Valdez's 6 favorite historical novels
The best-selling author recommends works by Stephanie Dray, Yaa Gyasi, and more
In Dolen Perkins-Valdez's new novel, Take My Hand, a Black nurse looks back with regret to 1970s Alabama and to two teenage girls she tried to help. Below, the author of the 2010 best-seller Wench recommends six other recent historical novels.
The Great Mrs. Elias by Barbara Chase-Riboud (2022)
Chase-Riboud, an acclaimed sculptor and author of the 1979 novel Sally Hemings, has written six historical novels about "invisible" Black women. Here, her inspiration is Hannah Elias, a sex worker who rose out of poverty to become a millionaire property owner and stock investor in early 1900s New York City. Buy it here.
The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray (2021)
I love putting my trust in the hands of a top-tier historical researcher. It's even better when that person writes a captivating story inspired by important women who do not occupy a central place in the history books. This novel, set in France and spanning three wars, is ambitious and satisfying on so many levels. Buy it here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian (2022)
Bohjalian always combines gorgeous prose with suspense and extensive research. I just read his latest, due in May, which may be his best yet. In 1964, a group led by a Hollywood actress is on a safari in Tanzania when they're taken hostage by Russian mercenaries. What happens next will keep you up reading all night. Buy it here.
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (2021)
This novel revisits the life of Belle da Costa Greene, who passed as white when she was hired as J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and then became director of the Pierpont Morgan Library. She became a well-known tastemaker but lived with the terrible burden of keeping her African-American heritage a secret. Buy it here.
Book of the Little Axe by Lauren Francis-Sharma (2020)
This majestic novel sweeps across four decades, from 18th-century Trinidad to the 1830s American West. At the heart of the story is Rosa Rendón, a woman whose intrepidity reminds me that women of the past often possessed remarkable audacity. Buy it here.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016)
This novel is a master study in how to draw a line between historical stories and contemporary ones, even when that thread is frustratingly jagged. The characters in Homecoming are generational, traced from West Africa all the way to contemporary Black America. This book is unabashedly ambitious, but Gyasi nails it. Buy it here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
-
The Spanish cop, 20 million euros and 13 tonnes of cocaine
In the Spotlight Óscar Sánchez Gil, Chief Inspector of Spain's Economic and Tax Crimes Unit, has been arrested for drug trafficking
By The Week UK Published
-
5 hilarious cartoons about the rise and fall of Matt Gaetz
Cartoons Artists take on age brackets, backbiting, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The future of X
Talking Point Trump's ascendancy is reviving the platform's coffers, whether or not a merger is on the cards
By The Week UK Published
-
Ed Park's 6 favorite works about self reflection and human connection
Feature The Pulitzer Prize finalist recommends works by Jason Rekulak, Gillian Linden, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder cases
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Bonnie Jo Campbell's 6 favorite books about unconventional relationships
Feature The former National Book Award finalist recommends works by Tove Jansson, Virginia Woolf, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Peter Ames Carlin's 6 favorite books on pop culture icons
Feature The author recommends works by James McBride, Jim Bouton, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Trevor Noah's 7 favorite works that explore life's challenges
Feature The former host of The Daily Show recommends works by Miranda July, Percival Everett, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Jeff VanderMeer's 6 favorite books that delve into the unknown
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Tana French, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US Last updated
-
Rowan Jacobsen's 6 favorite books that explore our relationship with food
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Harold McGee, Kristin Kimball, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Rivers Solomon's 6 chilling books about the dark side of motherhood
Feature Rivers Solomon is the author of "Model home," and "Sorrowland"
By The Week US Published