Hi, historical fiction fans!
If you’re in the United States and celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving! If you’re not, Happy Almost-End-of-November! I mentioned last week that I think a great way to give back this time of year is by donating to projects supporting Indigenous American communities like The Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (which has a 3-star rating on Charity Navigator) or your local food bank to make sure everyone has enough to eat this week when so many of us will eat our fill. And, as always, decolonizing your bookshelf by reading Indigenous authors is a must.
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Bookish Goods
“Still I Rise” Scarf from Storiarts
Could there possibly be any better way to stay warm than with the words of Maya Angelou wrapped around your neck? $54
New Releases
The Orphans on the Train by Gill Thompson (November 23, 2023)
At the dawn of WWII, Kirsty moves to neutral Hungary to help at a school for Jewish children. There, she meets Anna, a pupil with whom she becomes fast friends. But when the Nazis invade Budapest, Kirsty and Anna are left to fend for themselves amidst the growing violence. Their friendship guides them, but can it save them from war?
The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper (November 28, 2023)
An orphaned young woman named Theodora hopes to become a nature illustrator, and an aspiring journalist named Verity are connected by a shocking mystery that resonates through the years, from 1868 to 1922. Can Verity solve the mystery of an artist, a maid, and the baby boy who went missing? And what will it mean if she does?
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
The narrative surrounding Thanksgiving in the United States is one shrouded in racism and colonizer sentiment, so I think it’s always an appropriate time to make sure we’re reading books by and about the Indigenous people of North America. Reading widely is how we get a fuller, truer picture of the world. Here are a few particularly good historical fiction novels by Native American authors to read this November.
The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
A girl raised by her science teacher father, who tells her stories of their Dakota ancestors, is sent to live with a foster family when her father fails to return from the woods one day. Years later, after years of living with her white husband on his farm, she returns to her childhood home and searches for answers about what it means to be descended from a long line of powerful women who protected their families and a cache of precious seeds through years of hardship and loss.
Daughters of the Deer by Danielle Daniel
In the 1600s Algonquin territories, a gifted healer was pressured to marry a French settler to help protect her people. While the daughter they have would’ve been revered for her Two-Spirit nature by the Deer Clan, she’s considered unnatural and dangerous by the French—including her father. Caught between worlds and beliefs, with the powerful dictating their fates, how will these women learn to survive?
A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter
Five generations of Métis women, connected by love and loss, search for answers in themselves and each other as they try to reconnect and move on. It’s a beautiful tale of womanhood, family, intergenerational trauma, and bison.
That’s it for now, folks! Stay subscribed for more stories of yesteryear.
If you want to talk books, historical or otherwise, you can find me @rachelsbrittain on Goodreads, Instagram, and Litsy, my favorite bookish social media.
Right now, I’m reading Your Utopia by Bora Chung. What about you?