What we’re about
This is a book club for fans of Historical Fiction. We meet once a month at the historic Sorrento Hotel to discuss the month's book, and it's era.
What do we consider Historical Fiction?
We categorize Historical Fiction as a fiction novel written by a contemporary but taking place in the past.
What are meetings like? Do you actually discuss the book?
There is no formal format for the meetings and type of discussion varies book by book. Many of our regular attendees enjoy learning about history through novels. So though our meetings start with discussing the book, the conversations usually diverge into talking about that era. A lot of "fact checking" happens by our members when reading so there are always fun history facts thrown around! You can also expect an anthropological conversation or two, especially when life for those in the book's time period is drastically different than ours. And sometimes, the conversation will end up somewhere else, but it's typically related to history and arrived there organically!
When do we meet?
We will meet last Monday of every month at 7pm in the Sorrento Hotel's Fireside Room. If an event is going on in the Fireside room, we meet in the bar. You pay for what you order. Though no orders are required, the Sorrento Hotel allows us to meet for free without a minimum order, so it's recommended to order at least one drink :)
How strict are you on RSVPs?
After 3 no-shows without notification, you will be removed from the group. Accurate RSVPs help us prepare for meeting space size.
If you are interested in past books, check out our Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/185193...
Upcoming events
16
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
TeKu Tavern, 552 Denny Way, Seattle, WA, USAn utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history.
On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they’ve herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of Medea. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realize that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship.
Told in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127278133-glorious-exploits?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=7j4y3b5joq&rank=18 attendees
James by Percival Everett
TeKu Tavern, 552 Denny Way, Seattle, WA, USA brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view
When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/173754979-james3 attendees
Q1 Loooong Sub-book Club - The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory
TeKu Tavern, 552 Denny Way, Seattle, WA, US## This is for the quarterly sub-book club, where we read longer (500+ pgs) historical fiction books over the span of one quarter. We will meet at the end of each quarter, in the middle of the month, at the usual times and places.
Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg and kinswoman to half the royalty of Europe, was married to the great Englishman John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI. Widowed at the age of 19, she took the extraordinary risk of marrying a gentleman of her household for love, and then carved out a new life for herself.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9542439-the-lady-of-the-rivers3 attendees
Daughters of Shandong by Eva J. Chung
TeKu Tavern, 552 Denny Way, Seattle, WA, USA propulsive, extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ harrowing escape to Taiwan as the Communist revolution sweeps through China, by debut author Eve J. Chung, based on her family story.
Daughters are the Ang family’s curse.
In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls and spends her days looking after her sisters. Headstrong Di, who is just a year younger, learns to hide in plain sight, and their mother—abused by the family for failing to birth a boy—finds her own small acts of rebellion in the kitchen. As the Communist army closes in on their town, the rest of the prosperous household flees, leaving behind the girls and their mother because they view them as useless mouths to feed.
Without an Ang male to punish, the land-seizing cadres choose Hai, as the eldest child, to stand trial for her family’s crimes. She barely survives their brutality. Realizing the worst is yet to come, the women plan their escape. Starving and penniless but resourceful, they forge travel permits and embark on a thousand-mile journey to confront the family that abandoned them.
From the countryside to the bustling city of Qingdao, and onward to British Hong Kong and eventually Taiwan, they witness the changing tide of a nation and the plight of multitudes caught in the wake of revolution. But with the loss of their home and the life they’ve known also comes new freedom—to take hold of their fate, to shake free of the bonds of their gender, and to claim their own story.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195888874-daughters-of-shandong4 attendees
Past events
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