Historically Speaking

I had a great day in Salem, MA on Saturday. Ever since I visited Salem one October with my Girl Scouts a few years ago it has become a tradition to visit around Halloween. This year my family stayed for an evening presentation of the Spirits of the House of Seven Gables . It was terrific. Wonderful costumed actors performed bits and pieces from the House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne throughout the house. The town itself was spirited! What a mix of history and hoax! Celebration and scare! Here's a few historical fiction reads inspired by the Salem witch trials that are perfect for your nightstand these nights before Halloween. Witch Child - by Celia Rees The Sacrifice - by Kathleen Benner Duble Beyond the Burning Time by Kathryn Lasky I Walk In Dread: The Diary of Deliverence Trembly, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials (A Dear America book) by Lisa Rowe Fraustino And for a little fact with all that great fiction read Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials by ...

Kashmira Sheth’s new title, Keeping Corner , is a powerful work of historical fiction about Leela, a child widow. It has already received praise and will be released in the coming days. I'm not sure if we choose our stories or if they choose us. What was the case with Keeping Corner? Keeping Corner chose me. The story is based on my great-aunt who was a child widow. I met her when I was nine and always wondered about her life. At that time I didn’t realize it, but that was when the story had chosen me. After all these years it still had a hold on me and I had to write it. What were the challenges in bringing this story to life? The most difficult part of the story was how to weave Leela’s story with the larger story of India’s awakening. The research was fun. My dad and mom told me most of the details of that time and I also read many fiction and nonfiction works written in Gujarati about that time. I went to India and visited Gandhiji’s ashram, bought many books written by him an...

I had a great time with Kathleen Ernst at the Historical Novel Society Conference where we sat together on a panel. I was so pleased she agreed to be interviewed. Her latest book is Hearts of Stone, set during the Civil War. The New York Public Library has selected it among their Books for the Teen Age list and it has received many other honors. I'm not sure if we choose our stories or if they choose us. What was the case with Hearts of Stone? Hmmn, a very interesting question! I think Hearts of Stone chose me. I'm never short of ideas; I have so many story ideas swirling in my head that I'll never have time to write them all. But somehow, certain stories wriggle up to the top of my subconscious, nudging until I take the time to write this particular story. Sometimes stories simmer for years before I feel compelled to write them. Other times it happens more quickly, and this was the case with Hearts of Stone . As soon as I started reading and thinking about homeless refug...

Yes, it's that time again - Banned Books Week. Although historical fiction titles do not appear often on the lists of banned and challenged books, they do pop up. Here's a few to consider reading, if you haven't already. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (Newberry Honor Book) The Color Purple by Alice Walker(Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and National book Award) Beloved by Toni Morrison (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (Newberry Medal) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene (National Book Award finalist)