Historical Fictionistas discussion

Hi all, time for nominations to commence for May/June. This month's theme will be HF set in Mexico, Central, or South America.

Nominations will go through 4/28 and then we'll vote.

Be sure to link to the title (not cover images).

I'd like to nominate: Mexica but I think it's only available in the US as an ebook so I'll understand if it's not included.

The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende

Consider The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis. It's a lyrical, captivating saga following the lives of three strong women in Uruguay. This novel swept me away, and I highly recommend it.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59...

Her new book is good as well Perla by Carolina De Robertis. About the disappeared with a touch of magical realism. It seems to garnering wonderful reviews.

Not a new one but a great read: Aztec

One of my favorites - Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/69...

Diane wrote: "Her new book is good as well Perla by Carolina De Robertis. About the disappeared with a touch of magical realism. It seems to garnering wonderful reviews."

Yes, Perla also looks good. It's on my to-read list.

I was going to recommend A Storm Hits Valparaiso as well!

Another classic: Mexico by Michener

Wow. A slew of nominations already!

Nidia wrote: "Not a new one but a great read: Aztec"

I second Aztec :)
(not that I read this book yet, but it's on my TBR)

I really enjoyed The Seamstressby Frances de Pontes Peebles. This story is set in Brazil during the Brazilian Revolution in the 1930's.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

I would like to read a novel about Maximilian and Carlotta, but I believe The Cactus Throne: The Ttragedy of Maximilian and Carlotta is non-fiction history. So I'll suggest The House of the Spirits

Chapultepec

Mallory, only one nomination per person.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

K. wrote: "Has to be RAIN OF GOLD - Victor Villasenor ..."
That's one of my all time favorite books--but technically, over half of the book takes place in the United States. Also, isn't it biography rather than historical fiction?

I will nominate Montezuma's Daughter I started it and got side tracked.

My nomination is:

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Jessica wrote: "Consider The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis. It's a lyrical, captivating saga following the lives of three strong women in Uruguay. This novel swept me away, and I highly recommend it.
..."

I have been wanting to read Carolina De Robertis' "The Invisible Mountain" as well so my vote goes to Jessica's nomination. Great suggestions here though!

Queen of the South by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Perla sounds like a great choice to me.

Let my nominate The wide Sargasso Sea.

Wide Sargasso Sea is a 1966 postcolonial parallel novel by Dominica-born author Jean Rhys. Since her previous work, Good Morning, Midnight, was published in 1939, Rhys had lived in obscurity. Wide Sargasso Sea put Rhys into the limelight once more, and became her most successful novel.
The novel acts as a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's famous 1847 novel Jane Eyre. It is the story of Antoinette Cosway (known as Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre), a white Creole heiress, from the time of her youth in the Caribbean to her unhappy marriage with Mr Rochester and relocation to England. Caught in an oppressive patriarchal society in which she belongs neither to the white Europeans nor the black Jamaicans, Rhys's novel re-imagines Brontë's devilish madwoman in the attic. As with many postcolonial works, the novel deals largely with the themes of racial inequality and the harshness of displacement and assimilation.

Nidia wrote: "Not a new one but a great read: Aztec"

I agree this is my favorite

I don't know much about Carolina De Robertis' "The Invisible Mountain" but your recommendations have made it sound intriguing so I'll go with this one

Banyan! It is set in the South and all over.... :) Thanks!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

I would like to nominate The Invisible Mountain, set in Uraguay (already mentioned by Jessica).

I also recommend Gary Jennings "Aztec"...it was a "can't put it down" read for me.

Inés of My Soul

I second Mexico by Michener.

I see there are a lot of nominations for 'Aztec' which I've had for years and finally started a few months ago and found it overburdened by historical fact (at least for the first 60 pp. which is far as I got). Am currently reading 'Invisible Mountain' oddly enough. Very lyrical, nearly Allende, but not quite, but I would go with this one over 'Aztec.'

Jessica wrote: "Consider The Invisible Mountain by Carolina De Robertis. It's a lyrical, captivating saga following the lives of three strong women in Uruguay. This novel swept me away, and I highly recommend it.
..."

i agree good novel

Holly wrote: "I would like to nominate The Invisible Mountain, set in Uraguay (already mentioned by Jessica)."

and its also set in buenos aires argentina too

This Group Read theme also seemed like a good theme for a Listopia list, and, since there did not yet seem to be one in existence, I have started one here, including a lot of the suggestions already found here in this nomination thread. Please feel free to add to the list and/or mark your own favorites among the books already there!

I recently read the The Pearl by John Steinbeck and I think it would be a good book for a group read.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

I'd also like to throw in a vote for The House of the Spirits

Jeanna wrote: "I'd also like to throw in a vote for The House of the Spirits"

I would love to read The House of the Spirits

There are so many good nominations! My recommendation is The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea.

Rebecca wrote: "I haven't read it myself yet, but I have a very good feeling about it: David Gaughran's "A Storm Hits Valparaiso."
A Storm Hits Valparaiso"

I have read Gaughran's A Storm Hits Valparaiso and I strongly support this recommendation!

I recommend "The Underdogs" by Marino Azuela.

My Nomination is By Meaghan Delahunt

Pursued from country to country by Stalin's GPU agents, Leon Trotsky finds refuge in Mexico City in 1937. There he encounters the fire and splendor of the artist Frida Kahlo who, with her husband Diego Rivera, welcomes Trotsky and his wife Natalia into their home, the Casa Azul.

Hi all, just a reminder - you need to link to the title of the book. If you haven't linked, or used a cover image, you'll need to edit your post or I will not count the nomination.

I nominate A Storm Hits Valparaiso.

I nominate The Invisible Mountain

I'll add a vote for David Gaughran's 'A Storm Hit Valparaiso' too.

Samuel Shellabarger's Captain From Castile. On the run from the Inquisition, a young Spanish nobleman enlists in Cortes' campaign to take Mexico from the Aztecs. A wonderful novel!

I nominate "Tampico's Gold" by Elizabeth Braun. It is a historical fiction novel set in Mexico.