Top Ten Tuesday #362

Hi all! It’s going to be a fairly short one from me today as I worked a long shift at the vaccine centre and I’m back working again tomorrow, so I’m quickly typing this up before I go to bed.

It’s Tuesday, so time for another Top Ten Tuesday courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s topic is a freebie, so I’ve chosen to do the Top Ten Adult Historical Fiction on my TBR. I’ve always liked YA historical fiction but not read much adult, however last year, I started to get into it more after reading Kate Quinn’s books, so I’ve got quite a few on my TBR to read, it was hard to narrow down to ten really! I’ve managed to find 10 that span a reasonably wide range of time too, from the 1820s to the 1970s/80s and not all of them are WWII fiction (though a lot are!), so I’m fairly pleased. Anyway here goes:

1. Looking For Jane-Heather Marshall

This one is inspired by the real underground abortion network in Toronto in the 1970s and 80s, which was known by the code name Jane. I’m really excited for this one because it’s an event I’d not really heard of before, and I’ve not read any historical fiction based in Canada, so that will be something new. It’s easy to forget just how recently abortion became legal (I mean it still isn’t in far too many places) and I think stories like this are massively important to remind us how precious the right to reproductive choice is.

2. The Librarian Spy-Madeline Martin

I really loved The Last Bookshop From London when I read it last year, so naturally Martin’s upcoming WWII story was immediately added to my TBR when I found out about it. This one, as it says in the title, follows a librarian who becomes a spy, as well as a woman who works for a printing press in the French Resistance.

3. The Nightingale-Kristin Hannah

I bought this one last year but haven’t got around to reading it yet. I’m a sucker for sister stories, so this one sounded right up my street. It follows two sisters in Occupied France in WWII, who take vastly different paths during the war, one who fights for the French Resistance, and one who is forced to live with a Nazi captain in order to keep her family alive.

4. The Ladies of The Secret Circus-Constance Sayers

Yes, I may have a slight soft spot for circus stories…..this one is a dual timeline story (another thing I love), one part set in 1925, following Cecile Cabot in a magical circus and the other following her great-granddaughter in 2005 as she sets out to uncover answers as to why her fiance disappeared on their wedding day and ends up finding out about the circus….and a family curse. The blurb is kind of vague, but it sounds fun and I love that the past timeline is set in the 1920s, I feel like I’ve not read enough 1920s set fiction.

5. The Girl From Bletchley Park-Kathleen McGurl

After really enjoying The Rose Code last year, I was quick to add this one to my TBR when I saw it. As the title suggests, it follows a female codebreaker at Bletchley Park in WWII in the past, and her granddaughter Julia in the present who after finding old photographs of her grandmother, sets out to find out about her time at Bletchley Park. I will admit, I’m slightly worried from the blurb that this will be quite romance heavy, which is not really my thing, but I’m willing to give it ago.

6. The Postmistress of Paris-Meg Waite Clayton

I love historical fiction that draws from the lives of real people, because it means that I can find out more about cool people I may not have heard of. This book takes inspiration from Mary Jayne Gold, an American heiress who helped smuggle people out of France during WWII, and she sounds fascinating, so I’d be interested to see how Waite Clayton interpreted her story for this book.

7. The Mad Girls of New York-Maya Rodale

I can’t even tell you how excited I am for this one. I’ve been obsessed with Nellie Bly ever since I listened to a Stuff You Missed In History Class (it’s a great podcast, check it out history fans) episode about her a few years back. If you’ve not heard of her, Nellie Bly was a investigative journalist who went undercover in a New York asylum in the 1880s to expose the horrible conditions there. She sounds like such a brilliant woman and I’m so thrilled that Rodale has decided to write about her!

8. The Diamond Eye-Kate Quinn

I’ve just started this one, and in a running theme, this one is also about a real person. The Diamond Eye follows the most successful female sniper in history, nicknamed Lady Death, Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Pavlichenko is credited with 309 kills during her time as a sniper for the Red Army in WWII. I’m only a few chapters in, but I’m already hooked by Mila and her story. I love Kate Quinn’s books and I’m hopeful that this one will be another winner.

9. The Paris Library-Janet Skeslien Charles

My friend Hannah read this one last year, and she enjoyed it, so I have high hopes as we usually have very similar tastes in books. It’s another dual timeline story, the past timeline follows Odile Souchet in 1939 Paris, who works at the American Library and becomes embroiled in the French Resistance when the Nazis invade. The present follows teenager Lily in 1983 who becomes intrigued by her mysterious elderly neighbour and sets out to learn more about her. I suspect I will probably enjoy the 1939 timeline more than the 1983, as that always seems to be the way, but we’ll see.

10. The Fair Botanists-Sara Sheridan

I started trying to read this one last year, but I didn’t get very far through due to my reading slump at the time, so I think I’m going to try it on audiobook this time. I really want to like this one as it’s quite a niche book, all about botany in the 1820s and two women who find a common bond over their vested interest in the flowering of a rare plant. 19th century Scotland is not a setting I read a lot in my historical fiction usually, so I’m interested to see Sheridan’s take on it.

So there we go, those are some of the historical fiction books on my TBR, this ended up being slightly more lengthy than I’d anticipated! Have you read any of these (of the ones that are already released)? Are any also on your TBR? Do you like historical fiction? What did you do with your freebie this week? Let me know in the comments!

I’ll be back next week with another Top Ten Tuesday, where we’ll be talking about Authors We Haven’t Read But Want To (that would be a lot!).