![]() Set in 15th century Bruges and eventually farther afield, each of the novels revolves around the boy Claes who will become known as Niccolò, and in every one of them he is opposite a very strong woman. This is my favourite series of historical novels, hands down. I re-read this novel every year.ĥ Niccolò Rising (The House of Niccolò, #1). Instead there is a calm authenticity to each of her characters, as if she grew up with all of them. Callie speaks up last when she is near the end of her life, braiding together the small mysteries and larger tragedies into a compelling whole.Ĭarleton, who grew up on a Missouri farm, never over-indulges in emotion. That impression fades away as the story evolves, told in turns by all but one of the daughters and by Matthew. Matthew Soames is the head teacher at the only school in a small town, but in the summer breaks they move back to the family farm.Ĭallie seems at first to be the typical country-raised, hard-working wife and mother, and secondary to her husband. This novel about Callie and Matthew Soames and their four daughters is set in Missouri in the early 1900s. There’s also Quierin, a quirky, sharp Dutch/Indonesian specialist in the analysis of biological remains. How clearly can you get to know a character in a barely sentient state? Kerr does it masterfully. His June Mooney, his wife, was once a railway engineer, but is now in a long-term care facility. How would you go about plotting a novel that combines Bosnian war crime tribunals, a man severely brain-damaged in a train accident, his wife, who he may have attacked, and his adult step-daughter. I didn’t realize that until I was almost done, and it occurred to me that he belongs here because he is so good at creating complex female characters. Note that Kerr is the only male novelist on this list. In bringing that long-ago France into clear focus she tells a story of two serious adults who fall in love. Cuevas (who wrote later novels as Judith Ivory) draws her characters and France in sharp relief. ![]() This is probably my favourite romance novel of all time, and it’s primarily because of Marie Du Gard, prickly, creative, unconventional, and determined to make her way as a film director in turn-of-the-century Paris. A bonus: She uses her many years of experience at university to skewer academics with delicious accuracy. It is set both in both polite Victorian England and modern-day academia, a setting Byatt knows very well. This is complex novel that includes the poetry of two of the characters (written by Byatt, of course). ![]() In her home and heart she is courageous and true to herself, sometimes in ways she comes to regret. Christabel is the ultimate trailblazer, but she is in camouflage, living a quiet life as a poet in Victorian London. There are multiple strong women who make this masterpiece of Byatt’s take flight, but at the centre of it all is Christabel LaMotte. ‘Equally compelling are the lives of quiet women whose stories are seldom told.’ Here, Sara shares with us 5 inspiring books with trailblazing female characters. ‘I write about women who lived in male-dominated societies, who fought for education, acknowledgement, and self-determination, often against all odds,’ said Sara. Sara’s sharp observation of this era backed by her extensive research reflects the critical issues we, especially women, face today. The novel navigates prevalent issues from illegal abortions, domestic abuse, sexual assault and racism. Her latest book, Where the Light Enters delves into the heart of 1884 New York as we follow Sophie and Anna Savard, two trailblazing female doctors as they work together to solve the mysteries behind missing wives and murdered women on the streets. A native of Chicago, she lives with her husband, daughter, and various pets between Bellingham Bay and the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Sara Donati, the pen name of Rosina Lippi, is the bestselling author of the Wilderness series.
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