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Zeitgeist Novels
Return to Fiction_L Booklists Menu
March 2000
Compiled by Mary Rindfleisch
of Ridgefield (CT) Library, from contributions by the members of Fiction_L.
(To use this list in your library, book club, etc., please include the following credit line: "Compiled by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list." This list may not be used for commercial purposes.)
The original query was for books which somehow encapsulate the spirit of a specific place or group at a particular moment in time and have become identified with that setting (like The Great Gatsby has become a symbol of America in the high-flying flapper era). The books suggested tended to be historical fiction (i.e. written with the advantage of hindsight), although
some were from authors capturing ineffably their own generation. The main common characteristic seems to be that all of these books bring a particular place and time so vividly to life that you can believe "you are there."
While I have to the best of my ability indicated the general time and place where these titles are set, some evoke a very specific neighborhood or social group (the criminal underworld, professional baseball, the military in battle, a religious community) which adds to the richness of the reading experience. Some also are dominated by a particular person, issue, or location more than an era, but all are guaranteed by Fiction_L participants to be powerful in evoking a particular milieu.
Alexander, Bruce Sir John Fielding mysteries (Georgian England)
Amado, Jorge Dona Flor and her Two Husbands (Brazil, 1940s)
Anderson, Kurt Turn of the Century (US, 1999)
Atwood, Margaret Alias Grace (Canada, mid-1800s)
Belfer, Lauren City of Light (Buffalo, NY, 1900)
Boyd, William Blue Afternoon (Phillipines, 1902)
Brock, Darryl If I Never Get Back (US, post-Civil War - also a time travel element)
Carr, Caleb The Alienist; Angel of Darkness (NYC, 1890s)
Chadwick, Elizabeth Love Knot; Wild Hunt (medieval Britain)
Chisholm, P.F. Sir Robert Carey mysteries (Elizabethan England)
Christilian, J.D. Scarlet Women (NYC, 1870s)
Clair, Maxine Rattlebone (all-black Kansas town, 1950s)
DeLillo, Don Underworld; Libra & others (various 20th century settings)
Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime (NYC & environs, early 1900s) & others
Douglas, Marcia Madame Fate (Jamaica, 20th century)
Duggan, Alfred Rome/Middle East/medieval Europe
Finney, Jack Time and Again; From Time to Time (NYC, 1880s & 1914, plus time travel element)
Finney, Patricia Firedrake's Eye; Unicorn's Blood (Elizabethan England)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby (Long Island high society, 1920s)
Flagg, Fanny Coming Attractions (Mississippi, 1950s)
Frazier, Charles Cold Mountain (US South, Civil War period)
Gabaldon, Diana Outlander series (Scotland, 1740s - US, colonial period, plus time travel element)
Gaines, Ernest J. A Lesson Before Dying (Louisiana, 1940s)
Garrett, George Death of the Fox; others (Elizabethan England)
George, Margaret Autobiography of Henry VIII; Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles (Tudor/Elizabethan England)
Golden, Arthur Memoirs of a Geisha (Japanese geisha community, early-mid 20th century)
Gregory, Phillipa Earthly Joys (England, early 1600s)
Gutcheon, Beth Saying Grace (California "gold coast" day school, late 20th century)
Hamill, Pete Snow in August (working-class Brooklyn, NY, 1947)
Heyer, Georgette many Regency romances
Hoffman, Alice Seventh Heaven (US suburbia, 1950s)
Holland, Cecelia Great Maria (medieval Italy)
Ingram, Grace Red Adam's Lady (medieval Europe)
Kennedy, William Flaming Corsage (Albany & NYC, 1884-1912)
King, Stephen Dead Zone (New England, 1970s)
Korelitz, Jean Hanff Sabbathday River (small town New England, 1980s)
Lawrence, Margaret Midwife Hannah Trevor series (Maine, 1780s)
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird (Alabama, 1930s)
Liss, David Conspiracy of Paper (London financial world, early 18th century)
Llewelyn, Morgan 1916 (Ireland, early 20th century)
McInerney, Jay Bright Lights, Big City (NYC, 1980)
Michener, James various epics (more about a place over time than one moment in history)
Mitchell, Margaret Gone with the Wind (US South, Civil War period)
Morgan, Robert Gap Creek (Appalachia/Carolinas, 1900)
Newman, Sharan Catherine LeVendeur mysteries (medieval France)
O'Brian, Patrick Aubrey/Maturin naval adventures (British Royal Navy at sea around the world, Napoleonic War era)
Pears, Iain Instance of the Fingerpost (Restoration England, 1660s)
Peters, Ellis Brother Cadfael mysteries (medieval England)
Potok, Chaim Davita's Harp (NYC Jewish & leftist commmunities, 1930s-40s)
Renault, Mary Praise Singer; Mask of Apollo; others (Ancient Greece)
Ross, Kate Julian Kestrel mysteries (Regency England)
Santmyer, Helen Hooven And Ladies of the Club (small-town Ohio, 1860s-1920s)
Shaara, Michael Killer Angels (US - Battle of Gettysburg, Civil War period)
Shreve, Anita Fortune's Rocks (New England, 1899)
Soos, Troy Mickey Rawlings baseball mysteries (various US cities, early 20th century)
Steinbeck, John Grapes of Wrath (US Dust Bowl & California migrant worker communities, Depression era)
Thane, Elswyth Queen's Folly (a family estate from Elizabethan times through modern day)
Treece, Henry various titles (pre-Roman Britain & Ancient Greece)
Tsukiyama, Gail Women of the Silk (China, early 20th century)
Uris, Leon Exodus (Israel, post-WW II)
Walker, Mildred Winter Wheat (Montana wheat country, 1940s)
Willis, Connie Doomsday Book (medieval England, plus a time travel element)
Wolfe, Tom Bonfire of the Vanities (NYC, 1980s)
Youmans, Marly Catherwood (New York frontier, late 17th century)
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