It’s been a while since I posted a Historical Fiction wrap up for which I apologise! It has been interesting to look at three months worth of data instead of a month at a time though! That doesn’t mean to say I intend to leave it quite so long until the next wrap up!

Without doubt there is one book that continues to dominate the historical fiction reviews for AWWC and that is Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Between March and May which was reviewed six times. There were two other books that were reviewed three times and three books that were reviewed twice which shows just how much this book is dominating in this genre. I am not going to put up any quotes or anything in relation to Burial Rites because it is a book which has been mentioned extensively in both the literary and historical wrap up posts previously.

CicadaMoiraMckinnon

Cicada by Moira McKinnon was one of the books that was reviewed three times over the last couple of months. It certainly sounds like a very interesting read, set in the 1930s in the Kimberley region and with a strong focus on indigenous themes. Louise Allan says of it:

I’d describe this story as a tribute to the Kimberley. It is also a tribute to indigenous culture and highlights how little we, as a predominantly white society, have understood the depth of indigenous knowledge and skill. Wirritjil is the true heroine of this story.

RonansEchoJoanneVanOs

The other book to have three reviews posted of it was Ronan’s Echo by Joanne Os. Given that it has a dual narrative style following a modern storyline and then also a storyline back in World War I, it was classified as mixed genre by a couple of people when they entered the data into our spreadsheet, but I have chosen to add it to the historical fiction round up because of the strong historical threads.

Shelleyrae from Book’d Out says of Ronan’s Echo

A moving exploration of the legacy of war and family secrets, Ronan’s Echo is a well crafted and eloquent novel. I found it to be an absorbing and thought provoking story which I’d recommend to readers of both historical and contemporary fiction.

Marcia from Book Muster Down Under also enjoyed the book saying

 

A fine descriptive writer with a strong eye for detail, Joanne’s vivid descriptions of life on the frontline are compelling, right from the brilliant prologue through to the poignant epilogue and her words are brought to life in the construction of authentic war scenes, from the deep bloody trenches and broken bodies to the courage that is always under fire – not  to mention her geographical descriptions and the intricacies involved in the exhumation of old bones – which all pays homage to the amount of research that must have gone into this novel.

 

TheYellowPapersDominiqueWilson

I mentioned before that there were three books that had been reviewed twice during the last three months. Two are books that have been reviewed quite regularly for the challenge, being Elemental by Amanda Curtain and The Light Between Oceans by D L Stedman. I thought I would focus more on the third book in this group which is The Yellow Papers by Dominique Wilson. Both the review at Writenote Reviews and at Booklover Book Reviews were touched by the issues that were raised in the book around war and separation. For example, here is an excerpt from the review at Writenote Reviews.

 

What stood out for me, and still does a week after reading it, is the way Wilson conveys the pain of war and racism – it’s honest, emotive, vivid and at times, raw. A recommended read for anyone who likes historical fiction and has a tendency to think over the issues raised for some time afterwards. A big thumbs up from me.

all-the-rivers-run

I was happy to see that Tarla Kramer reviewed All the Rivers Run by Nancy Cato. I have fond memories of reading this book as a young woman and loving it. A couple of years ago I rewatched the mini series, and if I ever find myself on a paddle steamer or at Goolwa my thoughts inevitable turn to this story! This was not Tarla’s first read of the book and I found it interesting to read how her thoughts about the book have changed over the years.

I’ll be back next month (yes, really!) with more reviews. As always you can find more of the historical fiction reviews at any time by clicking on the Historical Fiction Weebly page.

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Marg has long been an avid reader of all genres but especially historical fiction and she loves to read about all different eras and locations. Marg has been blogging about all different genres and other things at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader for more than 8 years, and was a founding member of Historical Tapestry, a group blog that has been focusing only on Historical Fiction for more than 7 years. You can tweet to her either @margreads or @historytapestry.