Fictional Lives of Real People
20th Century
The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle
This novel can be read as a case study of the price paid by ordinary human beings when they become the apostles to men of genius, in this case Alfred Kinsey.
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
This novel is based on the true story of how German war profiteer and prison camp Direktor Oskar Schindler came to save more Jews from the gas chambers than any other single person during the second World War.
Lucy: a novel by Ellen Feldman
This novel details the love affair between Franklin Roosevelt and his wife's secretary, Lucy Mercer
Rutherford, told from Rutherford's viewpoint.
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
This is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, best known as the woman who wrecked Frank Lloyd Wright's first marriage. Despite the title, this is not a romance, but a portrayal of an independent, educated woman at odds with the restrictions of the early 20th century.
Signed, Mata Hari: a novel by Yanick Murphy
In life, at least before the espionage charges, it was Mata Hari's body that made her mesmerizing; in this alluring novel, it is her hypnotic voice. As softly poetic as it is insistent, it entices the reader from the first lines to give Mata Hari what she always craved: not the secrets that are the currency of a spy, but the rapt attention that is oxygen to a performer.
Blonde: a novel by Joyce Carol Oates
Dramatic, provocative and unsettlingly suggestive, Blonde is as much a bombshell as its protagonist, the legendary Marilyn Monroe. Writing in highly charged, impressionistic prose, Oates creates a striking and poignant portrait of the mythic star and the society that made and failed her.
18th - 19th Centuries
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
Every Australian grows up hearing the legend of outlaw Ned Kelly, whose exploits are memorialized in
the old Melbourne Gaol, where he and his comrades were imprisoned before their execution in 1880. Carey's inspired "history" of Kelly from his destitute youth until his death at age 26 is as genuine as a
diamond in the rough.
Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton
Darwin's theories have been under attack since he first published The Origin of Species in 1859, but this grandly ambitious novel goes a few steps further to intimate that he was a fraud – and a murderer.
Patriot Hearts: a novel of the Founding Mothers by Barbara Hambly
Moving back and forth in time from 1787 to 1814, Hambly presents the lives of four founding mothers: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings and Dolley Madison.
The Last Empress by Anchee Min
Readers will be enthralled by the gorgeously woven cultural tapestry and the psychologically astute portrait of the empress – a talented girl from the provinces who married (way) up.
Renaissance
The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir
Weir lends her considerable historical knowledge to the early years of England's famous queen in this absorbing novel. Weir lends a refreshing perspective to well-known characters and events in British history, such as the fates of Elizabeth’s father's six wives and the brief reign of Lady Jane Grey.
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
As youngest daughter to the Spanish monarchs and crusaders King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Catalina, princess of Wales and of Spain, was promised to the English Prince Arthur when she was three. She leaves Spain at 15 to fulfill her destiny as queen of England. The author presents a thorough, sympathetic portrait of her heroine and her transformation into Queen Katherine.
Artemisia: a novel by Alexandra Lapierre
LaPierre's heavily researched but racy historical novel covers the passionate life of Italian Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi (1592-1653), who survived rape, ostracism and public scandal and went on to imagine powerful women in her energetic paintings.
Ancient
Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
Retelling the story of legendary warrior Genghis Khan, Iggulden plants his subject firmly into historical context, fictionalizing the early years of Temujin, the son of a khan brutally murdered by invading Tartars. When his family is betrayed by a rival and abandoned by their clan, young Temujin vows revenge and dreams of the day he will become the conqueror rather than the conquered.
Book of Samson by David Maine
This is a wildly pleasurable first-person account of the life of Samson, the Israelite judge remembered for his voluminous hair, Herculean strength and ill-advised relationship with Delilah. Samson delivers his monologue from the Philistine temple of Dagon where, shorn and shackled and awaiting execution, he reflects upon a life of "frustration and pain plus a fair bit of sex and lots of killing and broken bones.”
Sword of Attila: a Novel of the Last Years of Romeby Michael Curtis Ford
A massively long, brutal spectacle, supremely well-executed...again, Ford offers solidly researched and lustily violent military historical fiction.”
Emperor: The Gods of War by Conn Iggulden
Despite Julius Caesar's larger-than-life historical reputation, Iggulden humanizes his hero and juxtaposes his bloodlust in battle and ruthless ambition in politics with an unexpected tenderness in his personal relations.
Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra
The Buddha's story is compelling, and Chopra captures the essence of the spiritual seeker, sometimes shockingly single-minded in the pursuit of illumination.