3 'diverse' historical fiction novels that transport you to another time
Talia Kliot shares her top must-read historical fiction picks on The Next Chapter with Antonio Michael Downing
Ever since she was a child, CBC Books associate producer and columnist Talia Kliot has been drawn to historical fiction.
While she enjoys stories set in eras or places she already finds intriguing, what truly captivates her is the genre's ability to introduce readers to unfamiliar histories and cultures.
"I like to look for books that are part of different time periods and different places that I don't necessarily know so much about," said Kliot.
"The stuff that we don't always cover in school, the places that I've never been, or never even thought of exploring."
For Kliot, historical fiction is more than escapism; it's a way to learn about the world through the lens of personal stories and lived experience.
On The Next Chapter with Antonio Michael Downing, she shared three of her recent favourites — diverse novels set in different countries and time periods — and what she learned from them.
The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue
The Paris Express provides a vivid account of late 19th-century France, exploring the fears and desires of the time through a group of passengers — diverse in their social class, age and occupation, aboard the Granville-Paris express. The fascinating stories of the passengers, including a young boy traveling solo, a pregnant woman on the run, a medical student and the devoted railway workers, are woven around the central, suspenseful plot of a young anarchist on a mission. But this is no ordinary journey. The story unfolds on the day of the infamous 1895 French railway disaster.
Donoghue is an Irish Canadian writer whose books include the novels Landing, Room, Frog Music, The Wonder, The Pull of the Stars, Learned by Heart and the children's book The Lotterys Plus One. Room was an international bestseller and was adapted into a critically acclaimed film starring Brie Larson.
Talia Kliot says: "Trains in this period are new, they're exciting. [They] are the hot commodity. It connects all of Europe, the whole country. [Donoghue] just plops you in the head of each [of] the perspective of each of the characters ... they all have such distinct personalities and perspectives. The humanness and the stuckness of all of them on this train really shines through, through the jumping of perspectives."
Finding Flora by Elinor Florence
In Finding Flora, Scottish newcomer to Canada, Flora, escapes her abusive husband to the Alberta prairie, determined to rebuild her life. But when a hostile government threatens their land and her violent husband is on the hunt for her, Flora forms a bond with her neighbours — a Welsh widow with three children, two American women raising chickens and a Métis woman training wild horses. United, the women come together to face their challenges.
Elinor Florence is an author, journalist and member of the Métis Nation of B.C. Her debut novel was Bird's Eye View, and her second novel, Wildwood, was one of Kobo's Hundred Most Popular Canadian Books of All Time. Florence holds degrees in English and journalism. She grew up in Saskatchewan and currently lives in Invermere, B.C.
Talia Kliot says: "It's really powerful to see these people of different backgrounds who don't necessarily all get along super well at the beginning, because they don't want to be lumped in together as the 'women homesteaders [who] all need help.' They want to prove that they can do it on their own, but end up finding such a powerful community and togetherness in the work that they're doing."
The Immortal Woman by Su Chang
In the novel The Immortal Woman, Lemei's daughter, Lin, struggles with distancing herself from her Chinese heritage while studying in America. At the same time, she is taken aback by her mother's increasing nationalism toward China — this shift is especially surprising considering her mother had once been a student Red Guard leader who had witnessed the atrocities of the Tiananmen Square protests.
Su Chang is a Chinese Canadian writer born and raised in Shanghai. The Immortal Woman is her debut novel. Her writing has been recognized in numerous contests, including Prairie Fire's Short Fiction Contest, the Master Review's Novel Excerpt Contest and the Canadian Authors Association Toronto National Writing Contest, among the others.
Talia Kliot says: "I really like how you're learning about history and a time period that, like, I really didn't know a lot about, but you're learning it through humans, through stories, through people that you can relate to. We're learning about politics, but you're getting such a human perspective, and this mother-daughter relationship that mothers and daughters can certainly relate to."
Talia Kliot's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
