This month at our New Writers Corner, we are looking at authors who view history as a chance to tell fascinating stories through the eyes of real people. It’s a genre that is hard to pull off, but when it’s done right, as these authors did, it gives the reader a chance to get lost in an era other than their own. Check out these authors and buy their work. After all, we want to encourage them to keep writing!

The Painter from Shanghai is a historical fiction novel based on the life of Pan Yuliang, a Chinese artist born in 1899. Based in New York, Jennifer Cody Epstein has written for Self, The Wall Street Journal, and the Chicago Tribune. She has published short fiction in several journals and was a finalist in a Glimmer Train fiction contest.

Fighting Castro: A Love Story is a fascinating glimpse into the world of Cuba during the time of Castro’s takeover of the country as seen through the eyes of an actual couple:  Lino and Emy.  The book combines historical fact and storytelling of a turbulent time.  Kay Abella is a professional journalist, author, and editor who has been a magazine journalist in New York and in France where she worked as a translator and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. She is now a full-time writer of fiction and nonfiction.

Coffeyville by C. E. L. Welsh is an interesting mixture of using a historical character like Harry Houdini in a novel full of misdirection and mystery.  This is a short novel at a great price ($2.99). C.E.L. Welsh is an author of fiction living in Texas.

Have you come across a book like the one above that you’d like to share with us? Be sure to tell us in a comment below.