Reporting back on the historical fiction at #BEA2016 in Chicago

I'm just back from BEA in Chicago, which was convenient for me; it's a 3-hour drive, so it didn't involve the usual flight and mailing of books back home.  I had a good time and met up with many friends, librarian colleagues, publisher contacts, and my editor at Booklist.  However, the show was noticeably smaller.  Many publishers, both large and small, decided not to exhibit this year, and the level of energy didn't seem as high.  Some of the booths felt cramped, with little room to move around if someone else was there browsing. These days, having a BEA outside of NYC has its consequences.

I went representing the Historical Novels Review and picked up a number of galleys (and some finished books) that will end up in reviewers' hands.  Others, the signed copies in particular, I got just for me!  Because I had a plan of which historical novels would be available when, I did my best to stick to it and mostly succeeded, although I didn't make it to events late in the day.  Standing on carpeted concrete for an entire day doesn't agree with my back, and by mid-afternoon, I was exhausted.

Here are some piles that I brought back with me.  Rather than repeat myself, I'll link back to the guide to historical novels at BEA 2016 because blurbs for the majority can be found there.  There were some nice surprises, too, books I didn't expect would be there.  Details below on those.


Beth Powning's A Measure of Light (Penguin Canada, March) is biographical fiction about 17th-century Quaker Mary Dyer, who repeatedly defied Puritan authorities.
Kerri Maniscalco's Stalking Jack the Ripper is YA gothic horror, about a lord's daughter with an interest in forensic medicine.  It's out in Sept. from Jimmy Patterson, James Patterson's new children's imprint with Hachette.
These aren't historical fiction but looked interesting:  The Crypt Thief by Mark Pryor is a crime novel set in modern-day Paris, and Robert Olen Butler's Perfume River deals with the aftermath of Vietnam. Daryl W. Bullock's Florence Foster-Jenkins (Overlook) is nonfiction about the world's worst singer, soon to be portrayed in film by Meryl Streep.  Mad Enchantment by Ross King is nonfiction about Monet's painting of the water lilies toward the end of his life.



In this pile, Louis Carmain's Guano (Coach House, Oct. 2015) is a novel about Peruvian independence and lustful adventures in the year 1862.
Taylor Brown's The River of Kings (St. Martin's, March 2017), which was a nice find since it isn't on Amazon yet, is set around the area of Fort Caroline, an early French settlement in 16th century Florida, both centuries ago and in modern periods.
Terry Roberts' That Bright Land (Turner, June) is described as a "southern Gothic thriller" set during the Civil War.
In the Mouth of the Tiger by Derek Emerson-Elliott and Lynette Silver (Sally Milner Publishing, Feb 2015) isn't one I'd come across before.  It's about a young Russian woman's adventures in Singapore and Malaya around the WWII years.  The publisher is Australian.
And Dinitia Smith's The Honeymoon delves into George Eliot's surprising later-in-life marriage and subsequent honeymoon in 1880 Venice.

I picked up some of these at the Friday afternoon speed dating session for librarians, booksellers, and book group leaders, and it was my 3rd year attending this session.  It's one of my favorite events of the show, so I'm kind of upset that I mistakenly left the handout on the table.  Hopefully it will be posted later.

Seeing all these piles, and having some deadlines looming, I'd better get back to reading.