Historical Fiction Stars: 2002

Lists of historical fiction titles receiving starred reviews.

Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless otherwise noted.

Historical fiction is loosely defined on this page - a book set 25 years ago may qualify for inclusion.

Historical fiction is loosely defined on this page - a book set in an earlier time frame than the present may qualify for inclusion. Categories on this page include general (period setting), mystery & suspense, and also worthy of note (time slip, alternate history, generational sagas, etc.)

2002

• Bow's Boy
  Author: Babcock, Richard
  Publisher: Scribner $ 24 ISBN: 0743227271
  Kirkus
  In the tradition of Peace Like a River and Plainsong comes a richly textured and moving novel about friendship and heroism in small-town America in the early days of the Vietnam War.
  Updated 9.9.02
• Shadows of Blue and Gray: The Civil War Writings of Ambrose Bierce
  Author: Bierce, Ambrose
  Publisher: Forge $ 24.95 ISBN: 0786302446
  Kirkus
  Suggested Reading: Civil War Stars
  
• Moon of Bitter Cold
  Author: Chiaventone, Frederick J.
  Publisher: Forge $ 26.95 ISBN: 0765300931
  Kirkus
  In 1866, the war in the West, with its bloody collision of cultures, is increasing in tension and danger. As the U.S. Army builds ever more forts on the Great Plains, Red Cloud, a Lakota Sioux war leader, assembles more than 3,000 warriors to drive out the white man.
  Suggested Reading: Western Stars
  
• Casanova in Bohemia
  Author: Codrescu, Andre
  Publisher: Free Press $ 25 ISBN: 0684868008
  Kirkus Library Journal
  Beloved NPR commentator and popular author Codrescu makes a stunning return to historical fiction, detailing the adventurous life and erotic times of the famed illuminist Giacomo Casanova. Codrescu creates a surreal portrait of the legendary Casanova, as the old adventurer plays out his final years in a dilapidated castle in Bohemia.
  
• The Book of the Heathen
  Author: Edric, Robert
  Publisher: Dunne $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312288883
  Kirkus
  Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars
  Updated 9.9.02
• Gods and Legions: A Novel of the Roman Empire
  Author: Ford, Michael Curtis
  Publisher: Dunne $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312275382
  Library Journal
  Fresh on the heels of his successful debut, The Ten Thousand, Ford recreates the remarkable life and times of the Emperor Julian.
  Updated 9.8.02
• The Monsters of St. Helena
  Author: Hansen, Brooks
  Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux $ 25 ISBN: 0374270198
  Library Journal
  Brooks Hansen's new novel is the story of Napoleon Bonaparte's last exile, in 1815, on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic, "the place on earth farthest from any other place." - Publisher Marketing.
  Updated 11.20.02
• The Mulberry Empire
  Author: Hensher, Philip
  Publisher: Knopf $ 26 ISBN: 0375414886
  Kirkus Booklist
  Spanning a decade and moving between London and Calcutta, The Mulberry Empire explores the doomed 1839 mission of some 50,000 forces of the British Empire as they entered Afghanistan to overthrow a hostile amir.
  Suggested Reading:First Fiction Debuts
  Updated 9.7.02
• When the Elephants Dance
  Author: Holthe, Tess Uriza
  Publisher: Crown $ 24.95 ISBN: 0609609521
  Kirkus Library Journal PW
  Inspired, in part, by the experiences of her father, who was a boy in the Philippines during World War II, this debut novel begins during the final week of the Japanese-American battle for the islands. As they hide in a cellar from the Japanese, several Filipino civilians tell magical tales to help pass the time, fuel their courage, and teach important lessons of hope.
  Suggested Reading: World War Stars
  
• A Parchment of Leaves: A Novel
  Author: House, Silas
  Publisher: Algonquin $ 23.95 ISBN: 1565123670
  Kirkus
  When House made his debut with Clay's Quilt, it touched a nerve and became a bestseller. His second novel, set in 1917, tells the story of Vine, a beautiful Cherokee woman who marries a white man. As haunting as an old-time ballad, this book is filled with the imagery, dialect, music, and thrumming life of the Kentucky mountains.
  Updated 8.13.02
• Enemy Women
  Author: Jiles, Paulette
  Publisher: Morrow $ 24.95 ISBN: 0066214440
  Kirkus PW LJ
  The Colley family are modest farmers in the Missouri Ozarks. The Colleys try to remain neutral, a fact ignored by the Union militia who confiscate their livestock, burn their farm, and arrest their daughter on charges of "enemy collaboration." Yet as this innocent young woman soon discovers, fate can have a double edge. In unsentimental yet elegant prose, Jiles reveals the universal horrors of war and its irreparable damage, and introduces a wonderful new character in a memorable story.
  Suggested Reading: Civil War Stars
  
• Piano Tuner
  Author: Mason, Daniel Philippe
  Publisher: Knopf $ 24 ISBN: 0375414657
  Kirkus Library Journal
  A hypnotic tale of myth, romance, and self-discovery, this extraordinary fiction debut tells the story of a British piano tuner sent deep into Burma in the 19th century, where he encounters thieves, soldiers, and an enchanting but elusive woman.
  Suggested Reading: First Fiction Debuts
  Updated 8.16.02
• Cloud of Sparrows
  Author: Matsuoka, Takashi
  Publisher: Delacorte $ 24.95 ISBN: 0385336403
  PW
  Set amid the violence and beauty of 19th century Japan Matsuoka takes readers beyond the epic tradition of James Clavell's Shogun and into a majestic realm of samurai and geishas, ninjas and Zen masters.
  Updated 8.13.02
• Terrible Angel: A Novel of Michael Collins in New York
  Author: McEvoy, Dermot
  Publisher: Lyons $ 22.95 ISBN: 1585747424
  PW
  Updated 9.7.02
• As Above, So Below: A Novel of Peter Bruegel
  Author: Rucker, Rudy
  Publisher: Forge $ 23.95 ISBN: 0765304031
  Booklist
  In 16 chapters, each headed by one of the artist's famous works, Rucker brings the painter's progress and his colorful world to vibrant life, doing for Bruegel what the bestselling Girl With a Pearl Earring did for Vermeer.
  Updated 12.2.02
• The Glorious Cause
  Author: Shaara, Jeff
  Publisher: Ballantine $ 29.95 ISBN: 0345427564
  PW
  New York Times bestselling author Shaara brilliantly portrayed the origins of the American Revolution in Rise to Rebellion--now he continues the amazing saga of how thirteen colonies became one nation.
  Updated 9.30.02
• The Winter Queen
  Author: Stevenson, Jane
  Publisher: Houghton $ 25 ISBN: 0618149120
  Library Journal
  Set in Holland in the 17th century, The Winter Queen is a sweeping portrait of the tumultuous history and politics of the era as well as an immensely moving account of a strange and magical love affair. At its center are two royal exiles: Elizabeth of Bohemia, the Winter Queen, and her clandestine lover, an African prince of shamanic gifts, sold into slavery and freed after years of bondage.
  Updated 10.16.02

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