Animal’s People, Indra Sinha
Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People looks at the Bhopal gas explosion in India – one of the most horrific environmental disasters of the 20th-century. A poisonous … Read more
Category Archives: Historical
Heart Wood, Shirley DicKard
Complete title: Heart Wood — Four Women, for the Earth, for the Future Heart Wood is a compelling family saga set in the foothills of … Read more
The Yield, Tara June Winch
Profoundly moving and exquisitely written, Tara June Winch’s The Yield is the story of a people and a culture dispossessed. But it is as much … Read more
Deep River, Karl Marlantes
Layered with fascinating historical detail, this is a novel that breathes deeply of the sun-dappled forest and bears witness to the stump-ridden fields the loggers, … Read more
Alexandria, Paul Kingsnorth
Paul Kingsnorth’s Buckmaster trilogy, a much looser series, also draws to a close this year. It began in 2014 with The Wake, an extraordinary book written … Read more
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau, Michael Zapata
Through litanies of the names of overlooked poets and science fiction writers of color, through multiple survival stories from New Orleanians in the aftermath of … Read more
Klimakvartetten Series, Maja Lunde
We originally posted The History of Bees in June 2017 and then updated this post in December 2019 with the second two books in the … Read more
The Second Sleep, Robert Harris
It’s within this strange and ambiguous historical setting that Harris has also fashioned a cautionary tale for today — a tale over which the 21st … Read more
The Hills Reply, Tarjei Vesaas
Translated by Elizabeth Rokkan Tarjei Vesaas’s final work before his death, this episodic novel drifts between dream-like abstraction and vivid description of seemingly ordinary yet … Read more
Greenwood, Michael Christie
In an era of so much uncertainty, it is comforting to see novelists begin to work through the biggest issue of our age. And, in … Read more
The Old Drift, Namwali Serpell
On the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles from the majestic Victoria Falls, there was once a colonial settlement called The Old Drift. … Read more
She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore
Animals have inspired some of the most memorable moments in African storytelling. In 17th century Ethiopia, Galawdewos repeatedly relies on the appearance or the death … Read more
The Forbidden Place, Susanne Jansson
A book, television show, or movie set somewhere in Scandinavia leads the reader or viewer to expect dark, foreboding landscapes and ominous, threatening events. Susanne … Read more
Bangkok Wakes to Rain, Pitchaya Sudbanthad
Recreates the experience of living in Thailand’s aqueous climate so viscerally that you can feel the water rising around your ankles. -Ron Charles, Washington Post … Read more
The Hungry Tide, Amitav Ghosh
The Hungry Tide was published in 2004 but is still getting accolades in the media and has celebrated many reprints since. The Hungry Tide is a … Read more