A visual preview of American historical fiction for 2016
There was a time, a mere decade ago, when historical fiction set in the United States was considered unfashionable. Compared to their more glamorous British and European cousins, these books were dismissed as dreary and unexciting by many editors, agents, and readers. Fortunately, this isn't the case any more; American settings are flourishing. Here are 15 upcoming historical novels, all set to be published in 2016, that use American political and social history as a backdrop.
The close friendship and clandestine romantic relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and AP reporter Lorena Hickok, which spans thirty years. Albert's previous biographical novel, A Wilder Rose, was one of my favorites of 2013. Persevero Press, February 2016.
A literary love story set during the last year of the Civil War, featuring a young Irishman and a woman from the South who travel across the ravaged landscape of Georgia, fleeing bounty hunters. It's being mentioned in the same breath as Cold Mountain. St. Martin's, January 2016.
The story of a pioneer family in frontier Ohio at the time of Johnny Appleseed; Chevalier's second American-set historical novel after The Last Runaway. Viking, March 2016.
An epic about Martha "Patsy" Jefferson, oldest daughter of one of the Founding Fathers, and guardian of his controversial legacy. William Morrow, March 2016.
This sequel to The Kitchen House, a favorite read of mine from five years ago, is also a standalone novel that begins in Virginia in 1830, and features a young man passing as white whose secret threatens to be revealed. Simon & Schuster, April 2016.
The setting of Harrigan's newest historical novel sits close to home for me: Springfield, Illinois, in the 1830s and '40s, as a young Abraham Lincoln comes into his own. Knopf, February 2016.
How much did Mary Surratt know about the plans for Lincoln's assassination? Susan Higginbotham's first novel set in the U.S. examines her story, basing her novel on primary sources. Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2016.
Hoover's second novel, following The Quickening, is likewise set in the U.S. Midwest, and deals with the aftermath of the mysterious disappearance of two German-American sisters during the WWI years. Black Cat, March 2016.
Re-introducing a girl formerly held captive by the Kiowa to white culture proves a traumatic experience, as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd discovers when he's asked to transport her to relatives in post-Civil War Texas. William Morrow, April 2016.
The close friendship between Isabella Stewart Gardner, society doyenne in Gilded Age Boston, and noted painter John Singer Sargent. Harper, July 2016.
The story of an African-American musician, from his birth in WWI-era Georgia to his musical career in Harlem, his travels overseas, and his imprisonment with his best friend in Buchenwald. The author's website says the main character, Harlan, is based on her paternal grandfather. Akashic, May 2016.
Known for her lively epics spanning centuries of Texas life, Meacham offers a new 600-page novel centering on a wealthy heiress and a farm boy whose destinies intertwine in early 20th-century Texas. Grand Central, April 2016.
The story of two women's friendship in Golden Age Hollywood, and their adventures and desires in a glittering world where dreams can come true or falter. NAL, January 2016.
A woman seeking to reinvent herself in the raw, ambitious world of miners and fortune-seekers in 1898 Alaska finds her past catching up with her. She Writes Press, May 2016.
The latest in Thorland's Renegades of the Revolution series brings readers to New York in 1778, and to a young woman of Dutch extraction who takes the side of the rebels. NAL, March 2016.
The close friendship and clandestine romantic relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and AP reporter Lorena Hickok, which spans thirty years. Albert's previous biographical novel, A Wilder Rose, was one of my favorites of 2013. Persevero Press, February 2016.
A literary love story set during the last year of the Civil War, featuring a young Irishman and a woman from the South who travel across the ravaged landscape of Georgia, fleeing bounty hunters. It's being mentioned in the same breath as Cold Mountain. St. Martin's, January 2016.
The story of a pioneer family in frontier Ohio at the time of Johnny Appleseed; Chevalier's second American-set historical novel after The Last Runaway. Viking, March 2016.
An epic about Martha "Patsy" Jefferson, oldest daughter of one of the Founding Fathers, and guardian of his controversial legacy. William Morrow, March 2016.
This sequel to The Kitchen House, a favorite read of mine from five years ago, is also a standalone novel that begins in Virginia in 1830, and features a young man passing as white whose secret threatens to be revealed. Simon & Schuster, April 2016.
The setting of Harrigan's newest historical novel sits close to home for me: Springfield, Illinois, in the 1830s and '40s, as a young Abraham Lincoln comes into his own. Knopf, February 2016.
How much did Mary Surratt know about the plans for Lincoln's assassination? Susan Higginbotham's first novel set in the U.S. examines her story, basing her novel on primary sources. Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2016.
Hoover's second novel, following The Quickening, is likewise set in the U.S. Midwest, and deals with the aftermath of the mysterious disappearance of two German-American sisters during the WWI years. Black Cat, March 2016.
Re-introducing a girl formerly held captive by the Kiowa to white culture proves a traumatic experience, as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd discovers when he's asked to transport her to relatives in post-Civil War Texas. William Morrow, April 2016.
The close friendship between Isabella Stewart Gardner, society doyenne in Gilded Age Boston, and noted painter John Singer Sargent. Harper, July 2016.
The story of an African-American musician, from his birth in WWI-era Georgia to his musical career in Harlem, his travels overseas, and his imprisonment with his best friend in Buchenwald. The author's website says the main character, Harlan, is based on her paternal grandfather. Akashic, May 2016.
Known for her lively epics spanning centuries of Texas life, Meacham offers a new 600-page novel centering on a wealthy heiress and a farm boy whose destinies intertwine in early 20th-century Texas. Grand Central, April 2016.
The story of two women's friendship in Golden Age Hollywood, and their adventures and desires in a glittering world where dreams can come true or falter. NAL, January 2016.
A woman seeking to reinvent herself in the raw, ambitious world of miners and fortune-seekers in 1898 Alaska finds her past catching up with her. She Writes Press, May 2016.
The latest in Thorland's Renegades of the Revolution series brings readers to New York in 1778, and to a young woman of Dutch extraction who takes the side of the rebels. NAL, March 2016.
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