Historical Fiction South Africa

This is the most distinguished novel that has come out of South Africa in the 20th century, and it is one of the most important novels of the modern era. Cry, the Beloved Country is in some ways a sad book; it is an indictment of a social system that drives native races into resentment and crime; it is a story of Fate, as inevitable, as relentless, as anything of Thomas Hardy's. Beautifully wrought with high poetic compassion, Cry, the Beloved Country is more than just a story, it is a profound experience of the human spirit.

Abigail was the last keeper of the house, the last to know the Howland family's secrets. Now, in the name of all her brothers and sisters, she must take her bitter revenge on the small-minded Southern town that shamed them, persecuted them, but could never destroy them.

Waiting to enter a movie theater to see "Dr. No," the first James Bond movie, Simon sees a cute Black girl standing in a separate line that leads to the balcony, the "colored" section. A friend tells him, "You're in the South. Stick with your own kind.” Simon doesn't. It's the steamy summer of 1963. Simon Klein has moved with his family, Jews from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Pickettville, Alabama, where his father has taken a job at a nearby Army base. He is as mystified of the South as Southerners are of a Jew While gathering information for a story he is writing for his school paper, Simon ...

The Weight of Her Name: The Cost of Obedience is a historical novel set on a Southern plantation in 1860, on the eve of the Civil War. Sarah is an enslaved woman whose life is governed by routine, silence, and unspoken expectation. Within the Harrison household, obedience is not merely demanded, it is watched for, measured, and rewarded or punished in ways that are rarely explicit and never simple. Survival depends on knowing when to speak, when to remain still, and when even compliance carries its own danger. As Sarah navigates the intimate power structures of the house, small choices ...

Ya'll, let me tell you my story! Glad you could find your way here, and I welcome you to the Sellers Plantation here in the deep south of Mobile, Alabama. I'm anxious to get started with my story tellin,' so, I'm sharin' a little bout the story that I be tellin' to ya'll down below. When I wuz born, I be given the name Gertrude Ida Rollins, but as I be growin' folks just be callin' me Ms. Gertie. I wuz born in Mobile, Alabama in the year eighteen and eighty-eight. Yes, that be a long time ago for most of ya'll, but I thinks it be good to be learnin' bout the history that be comin' before ...

The team of rescuers from Sweet Vine Saloon has pulled Annie from the claws of C.W.'s plantation in Missouri. The year is 1861, and the Civil War is breaking out in small skirmishes all over the South, including St. Louis. The band of rescuers must make their way Northeast through uncertain territory, always wondering if the next town is full of abolitionists or slavers. With only the grace and mercy of strangers to guide and protect them, Cookie, Annie, Clara, Jed, and Zeke fight hunger, exhaustion, and the ever-present danger of Bushwackers and slave catchers. Annie makes a shocking ...

A forbidden affair. A city on the edge. A choice that could cost everything. In the pre–Civil War South, New Orleans is a city divided by wealth and bondage, power and desperation. Trent, a plantation master, finds his world spiraling out of control when his secret affair with a slave unleashes betrayal, vengeance, and the threat of ruin. Caught in the storm are Amana, Tabari, and others whose lives intertwine in a struggle for dignity and freedom. Every decision they make carries a price — and survival demands both courage and sacrifice. Keeper of Slaves is the second novel in the ...

From the two-time Emmy Award–winning producer and host of the Black and Published podcast comes a sweeping multi-generational epic following seven generations of Dupree women as they navigate love, loss, and the unyielding ties of family in the tradition of Homegoing and The Love Songs of W.E...

For years, it was called a "deteriorating situation." Now it is war. All over South Africa, mobs of fugitive white people scramble to board departing flights. But Bam and Maureen Smales have no such option. They take up their servant July's suggestion and seek refuge in his remote home village, forever altering the relationship of servant and master. Now it is the Smales who are dependent on their host, their savior - their keeper. Nadine Gordimer is the winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Secrets buried in the Delta. Freedom paid for in blood. In the 1850s Deep South, Amana is born into bondage. Torn from her family and sold to a ruthless Louisiana plantation master, she must fight for dignity, survival, and the faint hope of freedom. As alliances form and betrayals spread, Amana’s every choice carries deadly consequences—not just for herself, but for those she dares to love. Antebellum Struggles launches a sweeping three-part saga of love, loss, and resistance. From the sugarcane fields to the riverbanks of New Orleans, slaves and masters alike are caught in a world ...

Monck’s Corner, South Carolina, 1739. When Mae Briscoe learns that a small group of slaves plans to flee to Florida for freedom among the Spanish, she knows she must go with them. The master’s son has been far too friendly lately, and there’s no one to protect her. She knows the trek will be rough, and it will be hard adapting to a new culture, but given the circumstances, the call of freedom is too strong to resist. Thus, she begins an adventure of a lifetime, heading south to freedom.

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! · A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOKS OF 2025 PICK · A BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE PICK FOR 2025 · A heart wrenching and hopeful novel from the bestselling author of The American Queen "Absolutely worthy." --Booklist, starred review "Should be required reading." --Library...

As a young woman, Naomi Simmons grabbed her one chance to escape the overwhelming demands of her selfish family by marrying devout older man Jacob Purcell. But it only landed her with a controlling, unfaithful husband who delights in hurling insults at her and their troubled now-teenage daughter, Ethel Mae. So, Naomi is amazed and touched when Homer Clark sees her for the vibrant, intelligent woman she truly is. Believing the handsome, worldly widower is her love of a lifetime, Naomi plans to leave with Homer and start fresh in the big city.

Born in a South Africa divided by racism and hatred, this one small boy will come to lead all the tribes of Africa. Through enduring friendships with Hymie and Gideon, Peekay gains the strength he needs to win out. And in a final conflict with his childhood enemy, the Judge, Peekay will fight to the death for justice.

🏆 2025 American Writing Awards Winner — History: United States 🏅 2025 American Writing Awards Finalist — Historical Fiction 📘 2025 Kindle Book Review Awards Semifinalist — Literary Fiction 🌎 2025 Independent Author Network — Book of the Year Awards Finalist Blood for Pearls: 1498 – The First American Genocide A Legacy Written in Blood and Pearls… Blood for Pearls is a sweeping, emotionally powerful historical novel based on real events that transformed the entire Western Hemisphere. Set during the third voyage of Christopher Columbus, this richly detailed narrative ...

Betrayal cuts deep. Freedom demands everything. In the antebellum South, loyalties collapse and secrets erupt as masters and slaves are forced to choose sides. Rivalries flare, alliances shift, and every decision could mean survival — or destruction. At the heart of it all lies one final reckoning: a moment where courage collides with cruelty, and love risks being consumed by power. Slaves of Fools is the third novel in the Antebellum Struggles series — but it can be read as a standalone story. Gripping and unflinching, it delivers a powerful tale of resilience, sacrifice, and the ...

One girl. One journey. A fight for freedom against impossible odds. Virginia, 1858. Torn from one plantation to the next, young Venus endures cruelty at every turn — yet discovers glimmers of unexpected kindness and courage. As she struggles to survive in a world ruled by greed and violence, her path collides with fellow slaves yearning for freedom and abolitionists willing to risk their lives along the Underground Railroad. With every step, Venus must choose between fear and defiance, despair and hope. Her choices will shape not only her future, but the lives of all who walk beside her. ...

A forbidden love. A dangerous secret. A choice that could cost everything. 1858, South Carolina. Thandi and her brother Isaac arrive at the Lexington plantation to help with the harvest. Tom, the plantation heir who grew up beside them, welcomes them back with warmth and affection. But his wife, Anna, refuses to tolerate “slaves in her house,” forcing Thandi and Isaac back into the quarters — and igniting a cruel tension that spreads through every room of the estate. As Tom and Thandi steal moments in the quiet of the garden, friendship becomes longing… Longing becomes desire… And...

“A debut of enormous ambition” spanning eight generations of a Black family in West Tennessee as they are repeatedly visited by the Devil (Nathan Harris, New York Times bestselling author of The Sweetness of Water) Yetunde awakens aboard a slave ship en route to the United States with the...

A queer Gulf-Coast odyssey—fully illustrated in rich, full color—where punk songs, saints, disco ghosts, and mythic archetypes collide on Galveston Island. On a humid Saturday night at the MOD Coffeehouse, Amy promises herself she’s only going to listen. Not fall. Not leap. Not get pulled under by the gravity of Lena—dark curls, sea-glass eyes, a voice like a velvet razor, and a text that reads like a spell: Wear something dangerous. But Galveston isn’t a city that lets you stay on the surface. As music turns into invocation and open-mic poetry becomes prophecy, Amy’s life knots...