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Past Tense

Wintery Historical Fiction To Read in December

Winter came on slow in my part of the southern U.S. this year, but having almost frozen my toes off last night at a forest lights show, I can say it has definitely come. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who just does not do cold well. I want a steaming fireplace, a blanket, something warm to drink, and a good book, please. That’s more to my liking. Of course, I guess you could also argue it’s the cold that gives me the opportunity to cozy up like that, so maybe I’m grateful for it in a way, too.

I may have a complicated personal relationship with cold weather, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy reading about chilly places. In fact, I find stories set in the Arctic particularly fascinating–probably because it’s such a different landscape than the one in which I grew up. So join me in making the most of the freezing cold weather by staying inside, bundling up, and reading these historical fiction novels set in the coldest of places.

The Artic Fury Book Cover

The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister

A group of extraordinary women are tasked with journeying into the Artic to search for the lost Franklin Expedition in 1853. Experienced trail guide, Virginia Reeve, is to lead them. But one year later, she is on trial back in Boston. Not all of the woman returned from the expedition. In an alternating timeline, the perilous journey unfolds, taking readers on an unforgettable and heart-pounding adventure across the Arctic and in the courtroom as the trial seeks to answer one question: what happened out there on the ice?

Between Shades of Gray Book Cover

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

At one of Stalin’s infamous work camps in the coldest reaches of Siberia, a young Lithuanian girl along with her mother and little brother are forced to dig for beets and survive in the cruelest of conditions. Lina finds solace the only way she knows how: in drawings she hopes will find their way to her father’s prison camp and show him the rest of their family is still alive. It’s a haunting tale of survival and hope.

Split Tooth Book Cover

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

Growing up in a small, Arctic town in Nunavut in the 1970s, a girl experiences the power of ice and nature, the ravages of alcohol in her community, and the violence around her. But the electrifying proximity of the animal world is everywhere, too, and with it all the blurred lines between good and evil, human and animal, real and imagined. This lyrical poem from internationally acclaimed Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq is a fierce and tender story unlike any other.

The Mercies Book Cover

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

In Finnmark, the northernmost region of Norway, a fishing village loses almost the entire male population during a terrible storm. The women of Vardø must now fend for themselves. That would be all fine and good if not for the arrival of Absalom Cornet. Having burned witches already in Scotland, he comes now with a new mission to bring God to this place and root out evil. And all he sees when he looks at the independent women of Vardø surviving the harsh conditions on their own without the help of their men is evil.

A Line of Driftwood Book Cover

A Line of Driftwood: The Ada Blackjack Story by Diane Glancy

How did Ada Blackjack, a young Inupiat woman, become the lone survivor of a doomed Arctic expedition in 1921, enduring for two years before a rescue party could break through the ice to find her? The answers lie within A Line of Driftwood. After discovering her Blackjack’s diary in the Dartmouth archives, Diane Glancy wrote this remarkable tale based on the historical record and Ada Blackjack’s own testimony. It is a story of endurance, hardship, and faith, as one woman survives where four “experts” cannot.

Mr. Dickens and His Carol Book Cover

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

With his latest book a publishing failure, Charles Dickens is given an ultimatum: write a Christmas book within the month or his publishers will call in his debts and he will lose everything. Reluctant, but desperate, the famed writer has no choice but to agree in this sentimental tale of how one of the most famous Christmas stories ever came to be.

Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!

MORE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

These 18 novels set in winter are CNN’s picks for read to get you excited for the first snow.

Ruta Sepetys, author of Between Shades of Gray, is on a one-woman mission to unearth secret histories.

BOOK RIOT RECS:


That’s it for now, folx! Stay subscribed for more stories of yesteryear.

If you want to talk books (historical or otherwise), you can find me @rachelsbrittain on Instagram, Goodreads, Litsy, and occasionally Twitter.

Right now I’m reading Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan and The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister. What about you?