6 Intriguing Novels About Lesser-Known Historical Figures and Events

In New York City history, the name Colonel Jacob Ruppert is synonymous with the Yankees, but as author Kim Van Alkemade explores in BACHELOR GIRL, his life and eccentricities were full of so much more than baseball. Helen Winthrope Weyant is a “bachelor girl”: an independent woman working and living in the city during the early twentieth century. Following a botched surgery that has seemingly ruined her acting career, Helen finds herself in the company of Jacob Ruppert, millionaire owner of the Yankees. It isn’t long before Ruppert takes Helen on as a type of protégé. She and Ruppert’s secretary, Albert Kramer, serve the millionaire’s every wish, receiving gifts and fortunes in exchange for their loyalty. Albert and Helen develop a close personal relationship that eventually blossoms into a romance—that is, until Ruppert dies. With that comes the revelation of secrets that challenge Helen and her budding relationship. A deep dive into New York’s Jazz Age, BACHELOR GIRL is a fascinating exploration of the real-life Jacob Ruppert and the company he kept.

Few names in literary history are referenced as often as Charles Dickens, but what do we know of his role as a father? That’s exactly the question Thomas Keneally, bestselling author of SCHINDLER’S LIST sought to answer in his novel THE DICKENS BOY about Edward Dickens—the tenth child of Charles. The story follows young Edward during his adventures in the Australian outback. Looking to prove his own worth—and not that of his famous father—Edward finds himself in unchartered territory amongst Aboriginals, colonials, ex-convicts, and very few women. And, while his relationship with his father is estranged, Edward maintains a secret that many literary fans would never understand: he’s never read a single word of his father’s writing. Vibrant and mesmeric, THE DICKENS BOY comes out next spring and is a portrait of Charles Dickens that has seldom been experienced and few will ever forget.

Revolutionary Paris is not an uncommon backdrop for a novel, but Edward Carey’s LITTLE offers a twist: a witnessing of the city’s activities and royal personalities from the perspective of a fictional orphan who becomes the famed Madame Tussaud. Readers follow young Marie as she grows and furthers her unique talents, starting from her beginnings in a remote village, working as a physician’s housekeeper—watching him create wax models of organs and body appendages—to her eventual move with the same doctor to Paris, where the two open a wax museum. In addition to understanding the path and passion of the future Madame Tussaud, Carey’s novel explores other historical figures like that of Charles Dickens and the Brothers Grimm. Dark, captivating, and often quirky, LITTLE is a tale of art, revolutionaries, and a meditation of how a legendary reputation is formed.

Another historical figure who most aren’t familiar with is Mahmood Hussein Mattan, a Somali sailor charged with a murder he didn’t commit. THE FORTUNE MEN is Nadifa Mohamed’s novelization of a true story about a father and petty criminal. Set in Cardiff’s Tiger Bay in 1952, amongst the busy life on the docks, a shopkeeper is discovered dead and believed to have been murdered. Initially, as the community’s suspicions fall on Mahmood, he remains unconcerned. A “relatively” clean worker, he believes that the truth will eventually be borne out and that he will no longer suffer the ire of the public. But what Mahmood doesn’t suspect, and what Mohamed does brilliantly to bring the novel to life is to outline a police conspiracy that ultimately condemns Mattan. She intricately describes his rich life and love for his wife, Laura, and readers follow along as an innocent man is charged, convicted, and eventually hanged. This is a gripping tale of a little-known historical figure that will leave you deeply affected and eager to recommend.

Speaking of a novel that explores true events, Michaela Carter’s LEONORA IN THE MORNING LIGHT illuminates the life of surrealist painter and writer Leonora Carrington. Leonora is only twenty when she meets one of Europe’s most talked about artists: Max Ernst. Much older than her, Max brings Leonora to Paris where she meets a community of artists looking to truly capture the Surrealist movement—including Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, and Salvador Dali. Amid such a talented crowd, Leonora is inspired to create some of her very best works, most of which bring to life the stories of her youth. All is well until the shadow of war begins to blanket all of Europe leaving her group to be labeled “degenerates.” The novel follows the many adventures of Leonora and Max, including their love affair and eventual efforts to help those persecuted by the Nazi regime. Featuring dozens of historical figures and true events, LEONORA IN THE MORNING LIGHT is a dazzlingly vivid account of a painter, her work, and her coming-of-age journey.

Equally as interesting as some of history’s most famous figures are specific events that captured an era and inspired questions of “what could have been?” Award-winning author Francis Spufford does just that in his novel LIGHT PERPETUAL, in which he documents the 1944 bombing of London Woolworths—a V-2 rocket attack during World War II that killed 168 people, including fifteen children. Spufford elects to “save” five of those young victims and gives them an opportunity to evade death by imagining their futures. With this as the premise, readers follow the five children into adulthood, watching as they grow with the theme of war snaking through each of their lives, especially as they occasionally intersect. Amid all manner of societal transformation, we begin to understand each of these five souls that were spared through their interactions and personal progresses (and setbacks). An ingenious novel that creatively explores a historical tragedy, Spufford’s LIGHT PERPETUAL illuminates the preciousness of life.