Literary Fiction with a Historical Perspective

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Literary books
• Fiction
• Historical background

Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress
By Die Sijie
F SIJIE
During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, two boys are sent to the country for reeducation, where their lives take an unexpected turn when they meet the beautiful daughter of a local tailor and stumble upon a forbidden stash of Western literature. The boys become the story tellers to the otherwise isolated hill top community—this novel explores questions of intellectual freedom and the limits of cultural bondage.

The Memory Keepers Daughter
By Kim Edwards
F EDWARDS
In a tale spanning twenty-five years, a doctor delivers his newborn twins during a snowstorm and, rashly deciding to protect his wife from their baby daughter's affliction with Down Syndrome, turns her over to a nurse, who secretly raises the child. This book reminds us that parenthood is an infinite series of opportunities for redemption. In regards to the Doctor’s decision one character remarks” You missed a lot of heartache, sure. But David, you missed a lot of joy." Readers of The Memory Keeper's Daughter will find ample stores of both.

My Name is Asher Lev
By Chiam Potak
F POTAK
Yearning to make art, young Asher Lev is ostracized from his orthodox Jewish family-especially his stern father. This novel examines questions of how religion intersects with personal and family life.

The Poisonwood Bible
By Barbara Kingsolver
F KINGSOLV
The family of a fierce evangelical Baptist missionary—Nathan Price, his wife, and his four daughters—begins to unravel after they embark on a 1959 mission to the Belgian Congo, where they find their lives transformed over the course of three decades.

The Bonesetter’s Daughter
By Amy Tan
F TAN
Suffering from Alzheimer's, Lu Ling's references to the past are confusing and often contradictory to her Daughter Ruth. When Ruth translates her mother’s lengthy journal, she learns that her mother was once a strong-willed, courageous girl who overcame a background of family secrets and lies, persevered despite romantic heartbreak and survived tremendous hardships and suffering in war-torn China.