Alternative History

Award-winning Historical Fiction

Family Saga

Historical Mystery

Historical Romance

Award-winning Historical Fiction 

 Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (1600s, England)
     Through the eyes of a housemaid, the story of the plague is told as it ravages a small village in England in the year 1666.

While Mortals Sleep by Jack Cavanaugh (Early 1900s, Germany)
     A German pastor, Joseph Schumacher joins the resistance movement against Hitler, hoping to save his young parishioners from the evils of Nazism.

A Watery Grave by Joan Druett
     Exonerated for a murder hours after an exploration convoy sets sail for the Pacific islands, ship linguist Wiki Coffin is made a deputy by a Virginia sheriff and sets out to catch up with his crewmates, one of whom is the real killer.

Baudolino by Umberto Eco (13^th century, Italy)
     Born a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino narrates the story of his life, from his adoption by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his education in Paris to his arrival in Constantinople during the turmoil of the Fourth Crusade.

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber (1800s, England)
     Yearning to escape her life of prostitution in 1870s London, Sugar finds her fate entangled in the complicated family life of patron William, an egotistical perfume magnate.

Passing by Samaria by Sharon Ewell Foster (1900s, America)             Alena, a young African American woman living in rural Mississippi in 1919, is contented with her life until a dreadful discovery forces her to move to Chicago, where she must face racial unrest, social changes, and challenges to her Christian faith.

 Roscoe by William Kennedy (1900s, America)
     Roscoe, the chief architect of Albany's notorious political machine between the two world wars, attempts to quit politics, but he is thwarted by new political wars, a mysterious death, and self-destructive party feuds.

Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead (5^th century, England)
     The story centers on Charis and Taliesin, whose vision of an earthly kingdom is pursued against a backdrop of the struggle of Celtic chieftains.

The Coffee Trader by David Liss (17^th century, Portugal)
     In seventeenth-century Amsterdam, Miguel Lienzo, a Portuguese-Jewish trader desperate to recover his lost fortune, enters into a partnership with seductive Geertruid Damhuis to introduce coffee to the city, and confronts a ruthless adversary.

A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss (18^th century, England)
     An outsider in eighteenth-century London, Jewish pugilist and hired thug Benjamin Weaver prowls the city's mean streets in the service of England's gentry tracking down debtors and thieves

The Rock by Kanan Makiya (7^th century, Israel)
     A historically-based novel that centers around the Rock, the place where Adam landed on his fall from Paradise and where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
     The scheming Scarlett O’Hara, rougish Rhett Butler, gentle Melanie Hamilton, and idealistic Ashley Wilkes are caught up in the conflagration of the Civil War and the social confusion of the Reconstruction in what is undoubtedly the most popular and beloved historical romance novel of all time.

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (World War II, California)    

The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears (5^th century, France)
     An ancient manuscript called "The Dream of Scipio" links three separate centuries--the fifth, the end of the Roman Empire; the fourteenth, the time of the Black Death; and the twentieth during World War II--and three stories of love, all set in Provence.

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1860s, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
     Shaara offers one of the finest battle re-creations ever written.  He describes the climactic struggle at Gettysburg from the multiple perspectives of the key participants on both sides.  Lee, Longstreet, and Chamberlain emerge in depth. 

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Depression, America)
    The Joad family, Okie farmers forced from their dustbowl home during the Depression, try to find work as migrant fruitpickers in California.

Music & Silence by Rose Tremain (17^th century, Denmark)
    Brought to the Danish court in 1629 to serve in the king's orchestra, English lutenist Peter Claire soon finds himself caught up in royal intrigue when he falls for a young woman who is the companion of the queen.

The Golden Age by Gore Vidal (20^th century, America)
     A fictional narrative of American history from 1939 to 1954 follows the events and personalities that transformed America from a republic to an empire through the eyes of Caroline Sanford, a Washington newspaper publisher.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (1710s, Peru)
     In 1714 the bridge of San Luis Rey, the most famous bridge in Peru, collapsed killing five travelers.  Their stories, full of interesting sidelights of the days of Peru as a Spanish colony, form the novel’s scheme that poses fascinating questions about each individual’s influence on others and the true meaning of a disaster.

Historical Mysteries

The Alienist by Caleb Carr (1890s, New York)
     A serial killer is murdering boy prostitutes in Manhattan in 1896.  Police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt brings in an “alienist,” an expert in mental pathology, to catch the killer by attempting to understand the context of his life.  Dr. Kreizler assembles a team that includes a New York Times reporter, a young police secretary, and two eccentric detectives to solve the mystery of who did it and why.

Angel in Black : a Nathan Heller novel by Max Allan Collins (1900s, California)
     Private detective Nathan Heller becomes caught up in the notorious Black Dahlia homicide when he discovers that the victim, Elizabeth Short, is a young woman whom he had known in Chicago and who had contacted him shortly before her death.

Time to Depart by Lindsey Davis (1^st century, Ancient Rome)
     In this installment of the detective cases of private investigator Marcus Didius Falco in Emperor Vespasian’s Rome, the prosecution of underworld organizer Pius Balbinius results in a scramble for power to claim his operation.  He is allowed, “time to depart,” avoiding his death sentence by going into exile.  However, should Pius reappear, it will mean certain death for Falco.

The Raven and the Nightingale by Joanne Dobson (1800s, Massechusetts)
    Academic politics turn vicious when a major Poe scholar is murdered and his latest foe, untenured Professor Pelletier, decides to wade through his long list of enemies to find the killer.

The Demon’s Archer by P. C. Doherty (14^th century, Oxford, England)
     Hugh Corbett is asked to solve the murder of Lord Henry Fitzalan, who was not very well liked and which makes the suspects aplenty.

The Search for Temperance Moon by Douglas C. Jones (1890s, Arkansas & Oklahoma)
     The novel details a murder investigation surrounding the death of Temperance Moon, an Indian outlaw in the Indian Nations of Oklahoma.  Her daughter, a Fort Smith madam, hires an ex-marshall to solve the mystery, revealing a tangled story of jealousy, blackmail, and deceit.

Mildred Pierced by Stuart Kaminsky (1940s, California)   
     When his longtime friend Sheldon Minck is arrested for the murder of his estranged wife, Mildred, private detective Toby Peters is hired by film legend Joan Crawford to solve the crime and prevent negative publicity from tarring her name.

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, or, on the Segregation of the Queen by Laurie R. King
     Trapped in an unpleasant legal entanglement with a cold and abusive guardian, fifteen year old orphan Mary Russell finds the ideal mentor in the retired beekeeper whose cottage borders her home in Sussex Downs. Her keen intellect intrigues and enchants the Great Detective, and their relationship grows and deepens into a mutually respectful friendship as he involves her in several investigations.

Hearts and Bones by Margaret Lawrence
     Set amidst the chaos and uncertainty of post-Revolutionary War America, Hanna Trevor, midwife in the small Maine village of Rufford, delves into the murder and rape of a young mother whose husband is gone surveying the western lands. It is the dead of winter and as Hannah in her characteristic red oak prowls the snow-driven paths of the village, she comes under the scrutiny of a former lover, the judging eyes of the village and the gaze of a murderer.

Murder At Medicine Lodge by Mardi Medawar (1860’s West)
     While negotiating a treaty with the U.S. government in Medicine Lodge, Oklahoma, a respected Kiowa chief is accused of killing an Army bugler, and Taybodal must find the real killers before hostilities resume on the prairie.

North Star Conspiracy by Miriam Grace Monfredo (19^th century, Seneca Falls)
     Glynis Tryon decides not to marry, staying in Seneca Falls, and when her landlady's son Niles appears with Kiri, a slave he convinced to escape and whom he plans to marry, Glynis helps to defend Niles at his southern trial and to investigate several unexplained deaths.

Brunswick Gardens by Anne Perry (19^th century, England) (Series)
     When scholar of ancient languages Unity Bellwood dies at the bottom of the stairs in her employer's home, she is three months pregnant, but when other murders follow, Thomas Pitt and his wife Charlotte investigate.

 Brother Cadfael Penance by Ellis Peters (12^th century, England) (Series)
     Brother Cadfael learns that a renegade nobleman who has broken his allegiance to the Empress Maud is holding his son, Olivier, conceived years before he became a monk, captive.  Cadfael must break his vows and leave the cloister to search for his missing son.  In Coventry, he encounters Olivier’s brother-in-law.  Cadfael must save him from danger while gaining entrance to the dungeon that holds his son.

Nevermore by Harold Schechter (19^th century, Maryland)
     After criticizing the autobiography of Davy Crockett, an indignant congressman unexpectedly confronts aspiring writer Edgar Allan Poe, and the unlikely pair find themselves investigating an elderly widow's murder

Rose by Martin Cruz Smith
     Jonathan Blair returns to Victorian England from a period of African exploration dogged by scandal and malaria. Out of options, he accepts an unwelcome offer from his former patron Bishop Hannay to investigate the disappearance of a cleric in the mining village of Wigan, Blair finds deceit and danger, and a growing attraction for Rose, a mysterious and independent "pit girl".

Historical Romances

The Parson’s Daughter by Catherine Cookson (19^th century, England)
     Nancy Ann Howard, a parson's daughter, marries the master of the manor and changes local perceptions about crossing social classes. 

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati (Late 1700s, America)
     Two hundred years ago, Elizabeth Middleton, arrives in upstate New York from England to live with her father and establish a school.  She finds herself immersed in the conflicts raging between the natives and the European settlers.  She falls for an American frontiersman.

Dawn on a Distant Shore by Sara Donati (Late 1700s, America)
     Sequel to Into the Wilderness -- Elizabeth and Nathaniel's marriage is about to be blessed with twins, but their happy family is soon divided by the news that Nathaniel's father has been imprisoned in Montreal. When Nathaniel attempts a rescue, he, too, is arrested as an American spy. Elizabeth risks everything to free both men. 

The Accidental Bride by Jane Feather (1600s, England)
     A young woman vows never to marry—only to be overtaken by destiny. The Accidental Bride is the story of Phoebe, the "awkward" one, who falls in love with her dead sister’s husband.

Least Likely Bride by Jane Feather  (1600s, England) 
     Olivia—young, chronically shy, and addicted to ancient Greek literature. As she walks on the sands of an island off the coast of England, her nose buried in a book, she takes a fall — and wakes up days later on what seems to be a pirate ship. Her captor, though, is no ordinary pirate. He possesses the skills of both a physician and an artist. He is also the most gorgeous male Olivia has ever encountered.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (18^th century, Scotland) (Series)
     In Scotland with her husband on a second honeymoon after World War II, Claire enters a circle of stones and is transported back to the Battle of Culloden 200 years earlier, where she must marry a Scot to save her husband.

Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory (1600s, England)
     While Sir Robert Cecil serves James I, he relies on his gardener John Tradescant for advice. 

Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas (19^th century, England)
     Free-thinking Amanda Briars, who writes scandalous tales of romance and intrigue, has resigned herself to a life of solitude, but she feels that her lack of a husband shouldn't preclude her from being intimate with a man just once. Amanda Briars buys herself a most improper gift -- one night of passion with a stranger. When she discovers the irresistible man is notorious businessman Jack Devlin, she pleads for her privacy. Jack will keep her secret…but only for a price.

 So Speaks the Heart by Johanna Lindsey (900 A.D., France)
     Born into nobility but betrayed into bondage, Brigitte de Louroux swears she will be no man's slave. But she is defenseless against Rowland of Montville — and unable to silence a treacherous heart that begs her to love him.

The Bride and the Beast by Teresa Medeiros (Scotland)
     As the only maiden left in the Highland village of Ballybliss, Gwendolyn Wilder finds herself being sent off as a sacrificial offering to the legendary Dragon of Weyrcraig and ends up winning his heart instead in this light, creative version of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.

The Heaven Tree by Edith Pargeter (Middle Ages, England and Wales)
     Pargeter offers a sweeping panorama of life in 13^th century England and Wales.  At the center of this story of loyalty and betrayal amidst civil war and border battles is Harry Talvace, a brilliant stone carver who tries to create while those around him are bent on destruction.

The Serpent Garden by Judith Merkle Riley (16^th century, England and France)
     Left penniless after the murder of her lecherous husband, Susanna Dallet is forced to rely on her artistic talent to provide for her household. The daughter of a talented Flemish painter, Susanna had been schooled in the meticulous technique of the portrait miniature. Susanna soon gains fame and renown as a portraitist. She sails to France as part of Princess Mary's royal wedding entourage. Because she is unwittingly transporting the remnants of a valuable manuscript that holds the key to an age-old mystery, Susanna becomes the target of a secret society intent on procuring the ultimate power. As danger looms, she must rely on the assistance of an ardent, would-be lover.

Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley (14^th century, England) 
    In England during the 14^th century, the novel’s heroine, Margaret of Ashbury, dictates her life story to Brother Gregory, a renegade Carthusian friar.  The story Margaret tells offers a full portrait of the era and of an extraordinary person.

Green Darkness by Anya Seton (16^th century & 1960s, England)
     A family secret originating in the 16^th century is probed by two contemporary people, Richard and Celia Marsdon.  She is able to go back in time 400 years earlier to become another Celia, Celia de Bohun, who with another Stephen Marsdon, is bound up in the turmoil of the Tudor period.

Family Saga 

A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford
     Emma Harte rises from impoverished, pregnant servant to the heights of wealth and power as she parlays a small shop into the world's finest department store, outwitting her enemies, seeking revenge on her betrayers, and realizing her greatest dreams

Calder Pride by Janet Dailey (Frontier, Montana)
     Grieving over the death of her fiance, killed by one of the Anderson brothers, her family's archenemies, Cat Calder retreats from life, until a reckless encounter with a handsome stranger leaves her pregnant and changes her life forever

God is an Englishman by R. F. Delderfield (19^th and 20^th century, England)
     This is the first of three volumes that chronicle the history of the Swann family and 19^th and 20^th century English history.  Adam Swan parlays a necklace captured on the battlefield in India into a vast commercial enterprise and family dynasty.  The novel shows his rise to success and respectability.

The Women of Eden by Marilyn Harris  (1870’s, England)
     In the continuing saga of the Eden family, the time is the 1870s and patriarch John Eden, who has single-handedly rescued the family from financial ruin, comes into conflict with Lady Mary Eden.  Her love for Burke Stanhope, a man John despises, causes her to question her family loyalty.

Homeland by John Jakes (1800s, America) (Series)
     Pauli Kroner arrives from Berlin, Germany, having been robbed on the way, but has the opportunity to work in cinematography with the newly invented camera.

Annapolis by William Martin   (Multiple time periods, Maryland)
     This massive multi-generational saga follows the history of the Stafford and Parrish families of Annapolis, Maryland, and their connection with the naval life that defines the city.  The story encompasses the naval history of America from the Revolution to Vietnam.

The Golden Cup by Belva Plain (late 1800s, New York City)
     While Hennie DeRivera teaches at a settlement house in 1891, she meets Daniel, becomes pregnant, and marries him.

The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd (multiple time periods, England)          The rich and colorful history of England’s New Forest is explored over a wide expanse of time in a series of linked stories of several families from the 11^th century to the present.

 Monsoon by Wilbur Smith (17^th century, Africa)
     The three sons of Hal Courteney--Tom, Dorian, and Guy--leave England to seek their fortunes amid the unexplored wilderness of eighteenth-century Africa.

The Young Savages by Fred Mustard Stewart (19^th century, New York)
     Justin Savage's half-Chinese daughter leaves the snobbishness of New York for San Francisco and marriage to a gambler, while his son Johnny explores with Theodore Roosevelt before Johnny joins his sister to wander around Europe in the 1880s.

Alternative History

Lion’s Blood by Steven Barnes (19^th century, America)
     In a work of alternate history in which the peoples of Africa colonize the Americas, the fates of two families--one Islamic African aristocrats, the other Druidic Irish slaves--collide as two young men, one of each dynasty, confront their world and each other.

Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card (Late 1700s & early 1800s, America)
     Alvin Maker is drawn into the political maneuverings of his visionary brother and a French colonel exiled to Fort Detroit named Napoleon Bonapart, in this tale set in the frontier of a magical alternate America.

One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus (1850, America)
     The U.S. government secretly approves an Indian request in 1854 for 1,000 white brides to ensure peace. Their journey west is described by May Dodd, a high-society woman released from an asylum where she was incarcerated by her family for an affair.

Grant Comes East by Newt Gingrich (1800s, America)
     A fictionalized account of an alternate American Civil War recounts events following the capture of Vicksburg by General Ulysses S. Grant and traces the northern army's journey to Gettysburg. 

Gettysburg by Newt Gingrich (1800s, America)
     A fictionalized account of an alternate American Civil War, based on five years of research, considers how history might have transpired if General Robert E. Lee had won the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

Behind the Lines by W. E. B. Griffin (World War II, United States)
     Generals in the Philippines struggle for power during World War II.

Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (14^th century, Europe)
     In an alternate history world in which the population of Europe is almost completely wiped out by the Black Death during the fourteenth century, three superpowers--China, India, and the nations of Islam--battle for supremacy in a World War destined to create a new world order.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (1900s, America)
     In a novel of alternative history, aviation hero Charles A. Lindbergh defeats Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, negotiating an accord with Adolf Hitler and accepting his conquest of Europe and anti-Semitic policies.