Historical Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Patriot of the Lowcountry by Tracy Lawson

A stirring historical tale of revolution, romance, and resilience, Patriot of the Lowcountry: Eliza Wilkinson and the Fall of Charleston by Tracy Lawson is a stark portrait of conspiracy and courage in the face of overwhelming odds, highlighting women’s indelible impact on the American Revolution.

Eliza Yonge Wilkinson is a widow whose deepest desire is a life where her liberty can go unchallenged, but with the British violently advancing through South Carolina, she is forced to abandon her estate and indigo harvest, while dodging very different kinds of advances from loutish soldiers. After being invited to spend the season in […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-04-20T18:24:30+02:00April 20th, 2026|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

The Small Hours by Edward Averett

An intense cultural drama that explores the logic of loyalty through a historical lens, The Small Hours by Edward Averett is a reflective and revelatory work of historical fiction.

On the same day that psychologist Michael Virtue’s best friend dies, his wife proposes a separation, sending his life into a spiral that takes him all the way to Andalusia, Spain. Twenty years earlier, he had traveled there in search of his missing uncle, who had disappeared after volunteering to fight fascists in the Spanish Civil War. This time, Michael is accompanied by his deceased friend’s alluring ex, a woman fleeing […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-29T15:35:37+02:00October 29th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Marianne by Alice McVeigh

Expertly adding to her expansion of Jane Austen’s ouevre, Marianne by Alice McVeigh is the fifth thrilling piece of an impressive historical fiction series.

Marianne, recently widowed but prone to unreasonable love, is offered condolences as often as invitations from the endless supply of eager new suitors in London, but her heart is distracted by the presence of her first true love. Navigating this new and overwhelming world of social climbing only becomes more complicated when her firecracker of a younger sister, Margaret, arrives on the scene to stir up trouble and swoon at the resultant drama.

Bouncing between the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-10-23T14:56:00+02:00October 22nd, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Clinging to Hope by Glynda Howard McClure

A character-driven drama from the dawn of the 20th century, Clinging to Hope by Glynda Howard McClure is a meticulously crafted novel of loss, loyalty, and rugged survival against impossible odds.

When the sweltering East Texas summer is shattered by the horrific Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Willie Ann and her husband Gilbert are ill prepared for the deluge of disasters that lay ahead for their family. With their farm destroyed, the Wards are literally torn asunder, forced to rely on the kindness of community as they stubbornly rebuild. However, the loss of a home is just the first calamity for […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-11-24T17:13:52+02:00October 3rd, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Vandemonian Spirit by Missy Birch

An intense period drama laced with the timeless theme of love lost and found, Vandemonian Spirit by Missy Birch is a powerful tale of feminine resilience and the relentless pursuit of joy in the face of systemic indifference.

After a selfless act of desperation to save her sister’s life, Hannah Fearn lands in the hands of the law, and she is sentenced to seven years of servitude in Van Diemen’s Land, the colonial name for present-day Tasmania. Forced to leave her life of squalor, she hardens herself to the inevitable cruelty of the years to come as she sails to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-09-30T11:56:07+02:00September 30th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Afghani by Brendon Patrick

Delicately exploring the dark legacies of war in the Middle East, Australia, and beyond, Afghani by Brendon Patrick is a relentless historical novel following two warriors on parallel journeys.

Lacking a clear path in life, Patterson reluctantly joins the Australian Army, but is soon shipped off to Afghanistan in support of America’s post-9/11 retribution, going to war against his own family history. Meanwhile, a century earlier, a well-traveled Afghani cameleer flees to Australia to escape a Khan’s wrath, only to find himself oppressed by new forms of xenophobia and systemic injustice. These alternating timelines reflect eerily similar themes of identity, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-09-12T12:23:07+02:00September 11th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, International Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Summer of Haight by George Petersen

Mesmerizing, deviant, and steeped in counterculture madness, The Summer of Haight by George Petersen is a psychedelic thriller that dares readers to interrogate their animal nature, and even question their grasp on reality. Set against the legendary backdrop of 1967, this Summer of Love story follows a tangled trio as they navigate existential dilemmas and psychedelic schemes across the highs and lows of San Francisco.

Jonathan St. Amour is a secretive psychiatric researcher and a snake-loving socialite who appears to be spiraling into a midlife crisis, despite his debonair attitude and lavish dinner parties. Longfellow is his loyal friend, lawyer, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-09-12T12:14:31+02:00August 27th, 2025|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

She Rises by Dorianne Ashe

A bold take on time-slip fiction that shines with timely insight, She Rises by Dorianne Ashe is a family drama that stretches across the centuries, presenting a fearless reflection of America’s lingering ghosts.

When Georgia is inexplicably invited to the reading of the will of a reclusive real estate titan, it redirects the course of her life overnight, and infuriates some very powerful people. With her precocious daughter Violet, Georgia explores her new estate and meets her new neighbors, before being mysteriously hurled into an enslaved past by those who would prefer to rewrite history, rather than face it. Aided […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2025-08-11T16:31:07+02:00August 11th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, Time Travel Book Reviews|