The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, a spellbinding novel by Katherine Howe, interweaves modern historical research with the harrowing reality of the Salem witch trials. It explores the legacy of real historical women and asks the question: what if the persecuted actually practiced magic? In the summer of 1991, Connie Goodwin, a stressed Harvard University
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane Read More »
March by Geraldine Brooks is a richly imagined historical novel that reinterprets the absent father from Little Women, offering a powerful and intimate portrait of the man known simply as Mr. March. Set during the American Civil War, the novel follows March as he leaves his wife, Marmee, and their four daughters in Concord, Massachusetts,
I had a friend write the description below. ————– Wreck of the Gossamer, written in 2016 by Shawn P. McCarthy, is a sweeping historical novel set in 1891, a time when America is being transformed by industry, electricity, labor unrest, and expansion into the West. The story begins dramatically when Victor Marius, a brilliant inventor
Wreck of the Gossamer: The Puzzle Box Chronicles Book 1 Read More »
In The First Witch of Boston by Andrea Catalano, Margaret “Maggie” Jones and her husband, Thomas, flee London for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1646 to escape prior witchcraft accusations. Struggling against rigid Puritan expectations, Maggie’s bold nature and healing talents ultimately make her the first woman executed for witchcraft in colonial Boston. Set in
The First Witch of Boston Read More »
Painting the Light by Sally Cabot Gunning is a richly atmospheric historical novel set on Martha’s Vineyard in 1898, exploring themes of grief, independence, artistic rebirth, and the changing role of women at the turn of the twentieth century. Published in 2021, the story follows Ida Russell Pease, a gifted watercolor painter whose life has
Edith Wharton’s 1911 tragic novella, Ethan Frome, is set in the bleak, fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. Starting in 1881, it explores themes of repressed desire, duty, and the inescapable weight of fate. The story follows a ruined farmer trapped in a loveless marriage. This book is not a happy read. The story is framed
A Girl Called Samson, by Amy Harmon, was published in 2023. It’s a sweeping historical fiction novel that follows the remarkable true story of Deborah Samson. Abandoned by her father and forced into indentured servitude as a child, she defies the rigid gender norms of the 18th century to disguise herself as a man and
A Girl Called Sampson Read More »
Set in 1761 in colonial Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Sally Gunning’s novel The Widow’s War follows Lyddie Berry. When her husband is lost at sea, Lyddie faces the devastating realization that 18th-century law strips her of her independence, transferring control of her home and property to her overbearing son-in-law. Refusing to be cast aside or placed
Julia Bryan Thomas‘s novel The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club is a mid-1950s historical fiction about four college freshmen and a bookstore owner who bond over feminist literature while navigating the rigid social and patriarchal constraints of post-war America. Set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1954, this 2023 novel begins when a newly divorced Chicago transplant named
The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club Read More »
The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin was written in 2023 and details the fierce and unconventional life of Isabella Stewart Gardner. Facing the stifling restrictions of 19th-century society, Gardner overcame profound personal tragedy—the death of her only child—to rebel against upper-class norms. She forged her own path as a visionary art collector, reshaping Boston’s
The Lioness of Boston Read More »
