6 Reflective Historical Novels That Explore Changing Eras

One of the most significant transformations of society in American history is the repercussions of land ownership and the role that it plays in American life. Such is the central theme that drives Alice Elliott Dark’s powerful novel FELLOWSHIP POINT, about two Quaker families and their long-standing vacation property in Maine, spanning the twentieth century. Lifelong best friends Agnes Lee, a childless children’s book writer, and Polly Wister, devoted wife and mother, have known each other since youth as neighbors spending every summer on Fellowship Point—a secluded peninsula in Maine. Both shareholders in a generations-old land partnership, Agnes seeks to convince Polly to create a trust to donate the land to so that’d it’d always be protected, and forgo her allegiance to her family and her history. What follows is the revelation of long-buried memories and secrets that shake the women’s friendship and the land upon which they spent so much of their time together. With a plot twist that will make you gasp, FELLOWSHIP POINT is a portrait of class divides, land disputes, and familial bonds that will stay with you for years to come.

Speaking of familial bonds, THE GOOD LEFT UNDONE is Adriana Trigiani’s expansive novel following three generations of Tuscan artisans, with a focus on the women who have been outcast for their decisions over the decades. Beginning with Matelda Cabrelli, the family’s matriarch, readers learn of her own mother’s experience witnessing the banishment of a dear friend. Domenica, as Matelda tells us, soon finds herself exiled when the church learns of her role in aiding a young mother, forcing her to Scotland where her marriage to a Scottish military officer is derailed following Italy’s involvement in World War II. Matelda’s daughter, Anina, now ready to marry herself, must reckon with the family’s secrets and the many struggles the Cabrelli women faced in pursuit of their own happiness and the small freedoms available to them in the early twentieth century. An epic story of the strong women that occupied several generations, THE GOOD LEFT UNDONE is a unique insight into the sacrifices women make to preserve their family’s existence and their dignity.

A novel based on geographical displacement and the violent happenings that caused them, NO COUNTRY, is Kalyan Ray’s American debut about two Irish “brothers,” Padraig and Brendan in the nineteenth century. When Padraig is forced onto an East India Company trading ship (following a grave mistake), it is Brendan who must play father to the child that Padraig unknowingly left behind. As Padraig prospers in India, Brendan and Maeve, Padraig’s daughter, narrowly escape the deadly potato famine aboard a “coffin ship,” which is shipwrecked off the coast of Canada. Father and “daughter” make their way to Vermont, then we follow the family to New York, where tragically Maeve’s own daughter, Bibi, perishes in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. From there, Padraig’s and Brendan’s familial lines only move closer, coming together in a brutal murder of an Indian American family in upstate New York. Full of twists and turns, Kalyan Ray delicately, but deftly, navigates the violence that separates an unconventional family and, ultimately, brings them back together in a fascinating portrait of immigration and the coincidences and circumstances that touch each of the family members.

Eras will come and go but the need for political revolutions always remains constant. Such is the basis for Kalani Pickhart’s incredible debut, I WILL DIE IN A FOREIGN LAND. Following four characters in the events that preceded the violent 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, this novel jumps between points of view to deliver a haunting look at human perseverance amidst tragic turmoil. There’s Katya, a Ukrainian American doctor; her patient Aleksandr Ivanovich, a former KGB agent; Misha, an engineer in Kyiv where the protests take place; and Slava, an activist on the front lines of the revolution. Each has a role to play in the volatile Ukrainian winter, which brings our characters' plotlines together in face of a turbulent period in their country’s history. Perhaps more relevant than ever, this work injects folklore and Slavic history to make Kalani Pickhart’s book a deafening depiction of political violence and the collateral damages that come of it.

Nothing quite captures the changing of eras like a premise about reincarnation of a thousand years. Susan Barker’s masterpiece THE INCARNATIONS is the tale of Wang Jun, a Beijing taxi driver who learns of his many previous lives through the mysterious letters that fall from the driver’s side visor of his cab. Claiming to be from his “soulmate,” readers are treated to story after story of Wang’s former incarnations. Apparently, in addition to his present life as a husband, father, and taxi driver in Beijing on the eve of the 2008 Olympics, Wang has been a slave to the Mongols, a student at an anti-capitalist school, and even a humble fisherman during the Opium Wars. All throughout, we learn of Wang’s previous iterations existing alongside this soulmate, in some shape or form. Filled with dark humor and a grand perspective that covers the historical gambit, THE INCARNATIONS is one of the most unique looks at human history and the relationships that have seemingly endured for centuries.

Perhaps the most romantic way to reflect upon previous eras and generations is, well, through romantic relationships. Vince Passaro, author of VIOLENCE, NUDITY, ADULT CONTENT, returns nearly twenty years later to deliver CRAZY SORROW, an equally propulsive book that is even more grand in scope. Spanning four decades in New York City, the story follows George and Anna from their first passionate meeting in 1976, during the nation’s Bicentennial celebration, up through the present after that short-lived romance. Going their separate ways following that brief but unforgettable encounter, George and Anna experience a number of different relationships—of varying degrees of success, over the next forty years. Despite the distance and time, each can’t help but wonder what might have happened had those two young lovers stayed together. In a series of dramatic events, at the turn of the century, fate intervenes and brings them back to each other. With readers experiencing the later part of the twentieth century from both vantage points, CRAZY SORROW is a loving portrait of romance and the loves that have shaped them over tumultuous times.