Hello Loves!
2022 has been the year of Historical Fiction for me. My sister has always enjoyed reading from this genre, and in the past whenever I've shared one of these posts- you know, Top Historical Fiction Reads, it's usually always just been her picks. I almost never read from this genre and not because I have something against it, I don't, I am just not drawn to this particular type of book. But something changed in 2022, I just fell in love with all things historical fiction, especially Indian Historical Fiction.
Here are our (my sister and mine) favourite HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS FOR 2022:
1. The Mendicant Prince by Aruna Chakravarti: The life and death, and then mysterious return of the Sanyasi Raja is a tale that every Bengali has an opinion on. Or you've heard of his remarkable life and the court case that went on for years. It is something I've grown up hearing about and so when this book popped up on my radar, I knew I had to read it. I initially thought this was a work of non-fiction but this was a slightly fictionalized account of the Bhawal Raja and his return from the grave. This book does a fantastic job of showing the relationships at play, the people who make up this tale and it focuses a chunk of it's time on the the actual court case. The research is thorough and sound, and the writing is fantastic. I have read and utterly loved everything Aruna Chakravarti has ever written and for that alone I'd recommend you pick this up. And honestly, Bengali or not, you'll enjoy this tale of human follies.
2. A Bend in the Ganges by Manohar Malgonkar: I have a full review up for this book, you can read it here.
So won't go into detail on this one, but I cannot recommend this enough.
3. Chronicles of the Lost Daughters by Debarati Mukhopadhyay, Trans. Arunava Sinha: I loved this book so much, even though it made me so mad and broke my heart. Set in one of my favourite periods in time, Bengal in it's Golden Age, this book mainly focuses on the less than blissful lives of women. Especially vulnerable women- young and widowed and how the world and society didn't often do right by them.
We follow a couple of story lines, and a couple of characters through some impossible situations and this book made stop and thank my stars I wasn't around in those times or my life would for most part be some kind of hellish. Brilliant and wonderful and so important to read.
4. Breaking Free by Vasanthi, Trans. N. Kalyan Raman: This beautiful book is about two women, two young girls both born into the Devdasi tradition. While one wants no part of this life and lifestyle and follows a path that takes her away from this way of living, the other follows tradition and finds herself eventually questioning her choices and her lack of freedom. Very well-written and thought provoking, this book was a great read.
5. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo: This is a lovely book set in the US during the 'Red Scare' of the 1950s. Set in San Francisco in the Chinese community, this book delves into the lives of Chinese immigrants and their quest to prove their 'American-ness' in the midst of the Red Scare. This is also a wonderful LGBTQ story.
6. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: A wonderful book that is about othering, nature and the determination of one young girl to make a worthy life for herself. Full review can be found here.
7. The Missing Sister by Dinah Jefferies: Set in Burma (Myanmar) at the brink of World War II, The Missing Sister is the quest of one young British woman to find out more about the cataclysmic event from twenty years ago that tore apart her family. 20 years ago, Belle's parents lived in Burma- happy, very much in love and with a newborn daughter. One day, the baby goes missing- stolen from the garden in broad daylight. Belle's parents were never the same. A really wonderful book about families, connections and about life in Burma in the 1930s from a colonizer's point of view.
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