Novels alive with ghosts of history
By Carol Memmott
USA Today
King Kalakaua plays a major role in James Houston's new novel "Bird of Another Heaven." And here are other historical figures who are popping up in fiction.
Genre: Literary fiction
Setting: 18th-century London
Historical figure: English poet/artist William Blake
Plot: The Kellaway family moves to London. Blake is their neighbor.
Genre: Thriller
Historical figure: French general Napoleon Bonaparte
Setting: 18th-century Paris and Alexandria, Egypt
Plot: A protege to Ben Franklin escapes enemies who want his mysterious medallion by accompanying Bonaparte to Egypt.
Genre: Mystery
Setting: 14th-century Florence
Historical figure: Italian poet Dante Alighieri
Plot: Dante, Prior of the City of Florence, investigates the murder of an artist.
Genre: Mystery
Setting: Ancient Egypt
Historical figure: Queen Nefertiti
Plot: Rahotep, chief detective of the Thebes Medjay division, must find the missing queen.
Genre: Literary fiction
Setting: 16th-century England
Historical figure: English statesman Sir Thomas More
Plot: Against the backdrop of England's Protestant Reformation, two men vie for the hand of More's ward, Meg Giggs.
Genre: Literary fiction
Setting: 19th-century Amherst, Mass.
Historical figure: Poet Emily Dickinson
Plot: An independent woman's outlook is informed by her friendship with the poet.
Genre: Mystery
Setting: 21st-century Cambridge, England
Historical figure: British mathematician Sir Isaac Newton
Plot: A contemporary historian writing an opus on Newton's alchemy is found murdered.
