5 new works of historical fiction feature painful secrets

Be they sniper, pirate, orphan, anthropologist, labor unionist or craftswoman, the characters in this selection of new historical fiction strive to conceal painful secrets as readers journey from the frigid Finnish forests to the sweltering Caribbean, Jim Crow America and war-torn Paris.

“The Winter Warriors” by Olivier Norek, translated from French by Nick Caistor

Olivier Norek’s novel conjures the majestic yet bleak wintry backdrop of Finland in World War II. The portrayal of Simo Häyhä, a young man who proves to be his country’s most deadly sniper, demonstrates the uniquely Finnish ideal of “sisu” — resilience and stoicism. This quality will be essential against the Soviet soldiers who pour into the dense, snow-covered forests of eastern Finland in 1939. The sense of glacial cold stalks through the pages, as Simo becomes “the White Death,” a figure the Soviet soldiers learn to fear even more than their bullying commanders and the regime’s sinister political officers. Translated from French, Norek’s novel brings to life an often-overlooked part of the war in all its futile carnage.

“Where the False Gods Dwell” by Denny S. Bryce

Joining choreographer Katherine Dunham on her anthropological expedition to Jamaica in 1935, Vivian Jean hopes to reconcile herself with her first husband’s death and resolve the tensions of her unhappy second marriage. The two are joined by Othella, a former pickpocket fleeing her own dark past. The Jamaica they find is an island riven by turmoil, with police cracking down on a burgeoning labor movement led, in part, by an activist named Zinzi. Hired as the Dunham party’s guide to the island’s interior, Zinzi sees a chance to reveal the cruelties of the Jamaican sugar plantations, while the visitors are more interested in the beliefs of the local Maroon people. What none of them count on is the past coming back to haunt them all. As in her earlier novels, Denny S. Bryce offers an impeccably researched and assuredly told story of tenacity and solidarity.

“Skylark” by Paula McLain

Returning to Paris, the setting of her breakout novel, “The Paris Wife” (2011), Paula McLain’s lyrical new story explores the French capital’s fascinating underground history, with two seemingly disparate stories artfully linked by the maze of quarries and catacombs beneath the city’s streets. In the 1660s, as quarrymen carve out stone below her village of Saint-Marcel, Alouette angers the dyers’ guild by employing her knowledge of plants and herbs to create a richer, more extravagant fabric color — the work of men alone. Sentenced to imprisonment in the city’s asylum, she realizes the path to freedom might lie closer than she believed. Centuries later, after long nights wandering the network of tunnels under Paris, psychiatrist Kristof recognizes the network’s use for those under threat, like his Jewish neighbors. McLain’s poetic prose knits together these two tales of courage under extraordinary circumstances.

“Keeper of Lost Children” by Sadeqa Johnson

Sadeqa Johnson’s latest is a heartrending novel that contemplates familial love in its many forms, playing out across adjacent timelines in the mid-20th century. Centered on the story of orphans born to German mothers and African American fathers in the aftermath of World War II, the novel deftly weaves a tale of three protagonists: the woman whose campaigning led to the Brown Babies Adoption Program, the father of one of these children, and a young girl who is among the first African American students at a prestigious American boarding school. Johnson’s consummate and engaging prose sweeps the reader along as the novel twists and turns toward an emotional climax.

“Fire Sword and Sea” by Vanessa Riley

With its striking descriptions of the jungles of Tortuga and the seas around Hispaniola (today’s Haiti), Vanessa Riley’s new book immerses readers in the 17th-century world of buccaneers and pirates, as Jacquotte Delahaye fights to rescue enslaved women and protect her mute younger brother. Disguised as Jacques, she gathers an eclectic gang of companions, spurs a mutiny and turns pirate, storming ships and amassing wealth. Exploring the maritime and political history of the Caribbean through the eyes of a woman determined to follow her own path, Riley’s latest is a welcome addition to her collection of work uncovering forgotten or overlooked women of color from the past.