Goodreads Best Historical Fiction 2023

Weyward

Emilia Hart · 2023

UNLEASH 2023’S BIGGEST DEBUT The New York Times Bestseller * *THE TIMES #2 BESTSELLER*A BBC 2 BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK‘A generational tale of female resilience’ GUARDIAN ‘She’s going to be a huge writing star’ Sara Cox on BBC2’s Between the Covers’ ‘From the moment I started reading it there was a sense of spirit, fire, energy and vitality’ Sophie Duker on BBC2’s Between the Covers KATE, 2019Kate flees London – abandoning everything – for Cumbria and Weyward Cottage, inherited from her great-aunt. There, a secret lurks in the bones of the house, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century. VIOLET, 1942Violet is more interested in collecting insects and climbing trees than in becoming a proper young lady. Until a chain of shocking events changes her life forever. ALTHA, 1619Altha is on trial for witchcraft, accused of killing a local man. Known for her uncanny connection with nature and animals, she is a threat that must be eliminated. But Weyward women belong to the wild. And they cannot be tamed… Weaving together the stories of three women across five centuries, Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world. ‘Very visceral and brave… it’s bold, I loved that’ Mel Giedroyc on BBC2’s Between the Covers ‘Alive, vivid and gripping’ ABIGAIL DEAN‘Humming with a sly, exhilarating magic’ BRIDGET COLLINS‘Totally unique’ GILLIAN MCALLISTER‘Empowering’ GLAMOUR‘A bold witchy debut’ RED Weyward was a Times bestseller w/e 18-02-2023.

The Covenant of Water

Abraham Verghese · 2023

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial new epic of love, faith and medicine, set in Kerala, South India. Named a Most Anticipated Book by the Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oprah Daily, Publishers Weekly (Top 10), Literary Hub and BookPage Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water follows a family in southern India that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning - and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century a twelve-year-old girl, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this poignant beginning, the young girl and future matriarch - known as Big Ammachi - will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life, full of the joys and trials of love and the struggles of hardship. A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humour, deep emotion and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women

Lisa See · 2023

'Despite the inordinate limits placed on women, See allows their strengths to dominate their stories' Washington Post'Poignant . . . quietly affecting' TimeIn 15th century China two women are born under the same sign, the Metal Snake. But life will take the friends on very different paths. According to Confucius, ‘an educated woman is a worthless woman’, but Tan Yunxian – born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separation and loneliness – is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. She begins her training in medicine with her grandmother and, as she navigates the male world of medicine, requiring tact and diplomacy, she struggles against the confining world of her class. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose – despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it – and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. How might a woman like Yunxian break free of tradition, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.Praise for Lisa See 'This novel spans wars and generations, but at its heart is a beautifully rendered story of two women whose individual choices become inextricably tangled’ Jodi Picoult 'No one writes about female friendship, the dark and the light of it, with more insight and depth than Lisa See’ Sue Monk Kidd 'See’s thoughtful and empathetic book sheds necessary attention on this largely ignored event' New York Times 'A powerful and essential story of humanity' Los Angeles Review of Books 'A spellbinding portrait of a time burning with opportunity and mystery' O: The Oprah Magazine 'A lush tale infused with clear-eyed compassion' The Washington Post

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

James McBride · 2023

From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah's Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird, a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe's theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe. As these characters' stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town's white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community-heaven and earth-that sustain us. Bringing his masterly storytelling skills and his deep faith in humanity to The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride has written a novel as compassionate as Deacon King Kong and as inventive as The Good Lord Bird.

The Keeper of Hidden Books

Madeline Martin · 2022

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER—for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz!A BookBub Pick for Best Historical Fiction of Summer 2023A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving.With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto.But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families – and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left - literature.“Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they are transported…with Madeline Martin's vivid and inspiring characters.” —Kelly Rimmer, author of The Warsaw Orphan"Madeline Martin immerses us in the expertly rendered and fascinating worlds.” —Natasha Lester, author of The Riviera HouseDon't miss Madeline Martin's next heartwarming historical novel, The Booklover's Library!Also by Madeline Martin: The Librarian Spy The Last Bookshop in London

The Echo of Old Books

Barbara Davis · 2023

A novel about the magical lure of books and summoning the courage to rewrite our stories by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Keeper of Happy Endings and The Last of the Moon Girls.Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers’ tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story—and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.

The House of Eve

Sadeqa Johnson · 2023

'Amazing' Reese Witherspoon 'Heart-rending' Taylor Jenkins Reid 'Luminous and moving!' Kate Quinn 'Unforgettable' Kristen Harmel The heartbreaking and completely unputdownable instant New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick about the pain and sacrifice of forbidden love, the lengths a mother will go to protect her child, and survival against the odds. Philadelphia, 1948: Fifteen-year-old Ruby's dreams are almost within reach. She's going to be the first in her family to attend college, despite having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising her only daughter. But falling madly in love with the one boy she is forbidden from threatens to pull Ruby back into poverty and desperation. When she's imprisoned in a home for unwed mothers - locked in the House of Eve with other 'fallen girls' - everything she's worked so hard for starts slipping through her fingers. Washington, DC, 1948: Eleanor arrives in the city with ambition, hope and a past she's trying her hardest to run from. When she meets William at Howard University, with his inky black eyes and broad shoulders, it's love at first sight. But William hails from one of Washington, DC's elite Black families, who don't let just anyone into their inner circle - especially not a girl from 'the wrong side of the tracks'. Eleanor hopes that a baby will mean they finally accept her, and that her secrets won't see the light of day - but fate has other plans in store... In the dawn of the 1950s, Ruby and Eleanor are complete strangers - until their paths unexpectedly collide. Forced to make the most heartbreaking decisions of their lives, will their choices save them... or be their undoing? Fans of Kate Quinn, Lisa Wingate and Kristin Harmel will fall head over heels for this totally gripping and heart-wrenching historical-fiction page-turner. See what readers are saying about The House of Eve: 'I read this book in one sitting and loved it!!... I was blown away... I couldn't read this fast enough' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Everything. This book was everything' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'I LOVED THIS BOOK!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'I was completely captivated' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars '5 brilliant stars! I'm definitely not crying right now. That's a lie. I totally am' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'All the stars!!!... It absolutely blew me away. I finished it several days ago and am still thinking about it! It packed one powerful punch' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'The House of Eve

The Wind Knows My Name

Isabel Allende · 2023

An upcoming book to be published by Penguin Random House.

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

Crystal Smith Paul · 2023

When white silver screen icon Kitty Karr Tate dies and bequeaths her multimillion-dollar estate to the three Black St. John sisters, it prompts questions. A celebrity in her own right, Elise St. John would rather focus on sorting out Kitty’s affairs than deal with the press. But what she discovers in one of Kitty’s journals rocks her world harder than any other brewing scandal could—and between a cheating fiancé and fallout from a controversial social media post, there are plenty. And if this isn’t enough, her Vogue shoot has been complicated by the arrival of Jasper, a handsome and knowing photographer who may offer the Elise a chance at her most authentic pose yet—if she can defy her publicist, plan Kitty’s memorial, and figure out how she really feels under the harsh gaze of the paparazzi, the public—and her mother. The discovery that her longtime neighbor and mentor was her grandmother, a Black woman who had been passing for white for over sixty years, threatens to expose a web of unexpected family ties, debts owed, and debatable crimes that could, with one pull, unravel the all-American fabric of her sisters and those closest to them. Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? is a sprawling tale that explores the celebrity machine, the burdens of being Black­, the privileges gained by fading to white, and the power that family secrets have to erode and complicate the lives of future generations.

Looking for Jane

Heather Marshall · 2022

'A fascinating and compelling story peopled with strong, brave women who had me cheering them on and moved to tears' Tracy Rees, bestselling author of The Rose Garden 'Just tell them you're looking for Jane...' 2017 When Angela discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten letters, she begins to look for the intended recipient. Her search takes her to the 1970s and 80s, when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network known only by its whispered code name: Jane . . . 1971 As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was forced to give her baby up for adoption. Swearing she'll do everything she can to make sure other women have the right to choose, she joins the Jane Network to provide safe but illegal abortions. There, she crosses paths with Nancy, who was told that if she ever found herself 'in a position', she should ask for Jane. Nancy soon becomes the Network's newest volunteer, desperately trying to help others while family secrets threaten everything she knows to be true. Over the years, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela's lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried secrets that will always find a way to the surface . . . Spanning decades, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela's lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried truths that will always find a way to the surface... 'A compelling, courageous must-read about motherhood and choice' Genevieve Graham, bestselling author of The Forgotten Home Child 'A beautifully written meditation on the lengths mothers will go to for their children as well as an eye-opening history of women' Janet Skeslien Charles, bestselling author of The Paris Library

Go as a River

Shelley Read · 2023

For fans of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING, GREAT CIRCLE and THE PAPER PALACE- lush, immersive, soaring tale of a young woman's journey to becoming, of love and loss, home and resilience, and finding those where least expected, and a breathtaking exploration of our connection to nature 'Shelley Read's lyrical voice is a force of nature. Tragic, uplifting and completely unforgettable' BONNIE GARMUS, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY 'A lush, beautiful, strong book. It took me on such a transformative life journey. I could not put it down' CLOVER STROUD I've come to understand how the exceptional lurks beneath the ordinary like the deep and mysterious world beneath the sea On a cool autumn morning, Torie Nash heads into her village pulling a rickety wagon filled with late-season peaches. As she nears an intersection, a mysterious drifter with grimy thumbs and smudged cheeks and eyes as dark as a raven's wing stops to ask her the way. She could turn left or cross over. But she does not. Her heart skips a beat as he whispers, 'Go as a river.' So begins a mezmerising story that unfolds over a tumultuous lifetime as Torie begins to absorb and follow his words. Soon, she will gather all the pieces of her small and extraordinary life, spin through the eddies of desire, heartbreak and betrayal, and arrive at a single rocky decision that will change her life for ever. Completely spellbinding, vivid, and luminous' JANE GREEN 'Go As a River delivers so very much- the tenderness and curiosity of young love, the eternal pangs of loss, the brutality of racism, the sustaining power of nature and the miracle of a mother's love. Suffused with wisdom and compassion, this shattering testimony to life must be savored, treasured, shared' MEG WAITE CLAYTON, author of The Postmistress of Paris

The Paris Daughter

Kristin Harmel · 2023

Taking the reader from wartime Paris to 1960s New York, The Paris Daughter is a story about mothers and daughters, the way loss transforms us, and the roads we find to beginning anew in the face of impossible odds. A heartwrenching and evocative wartime novel, perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore, Rachel Hore and Lucinda Riley. Two mothers. Two daughters. Two families torn apart forever. Paris, 1939. Elise and Juliette, both young mothers-to-be, are certain nothing can come between them. So, when war breaks out and Elise must flee the Nazis, she entrusts Juliette with her young daughter, playmate to Juliette's own little girl. But Juliette's world is destroyed when a bomb falls on the neighbourhood of her small bookshop, La Librairie des Reves. Elise returns after the war to reclaim her daughter, only to learn that Juliette survived, along with a little girl - but which little girl? Elise's desperate search for answers ultimately leads her to New York, and to Juliette, one final, fateful time. The Paris Daughter is a story about mothers and daughters, the way loss transforms us, and the roads we find to beginning anew in the face of impossible odds.

The Secret Book of Flora Lea

Patti Callahan Henry · 2023

When a woman stumbles across a mysterious children’s book, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed in this “transporting, heartfelt, and atmospheric” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author) novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.1939: Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the Aberdeen family in a charming stone cottage, Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own: Whisperwood. But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes after playing near the banks of the River Thames. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, carrying the guilt into adulthood. Twenty years later, Hazel is back in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore for a career at Sotheby’s. With a cherished boyfriend and an upcoming Paris getaway, Hazel’s future seems set. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the storybook world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years? Or is something sinister at play? For fans of Kate Morton, Janet Skeslien Charles, and Kristin Hannah, this is a “fantastical” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) celebration of sisterhood and the magic of storytelling wrapped up in a “heartrending, captivating tale of family, first love, and fate” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).

Let Us Descend

Jesmyn Ward · 2023

‘Gripping, mythic, bone-pulverising ... A spectacular achievement’ ANTHONY DOERR ‘Jesmyn Ward is one of the greatest writers of all time. And Let Us Descend, once again, proves it’ JACQUELINE WOODSON ‘Transcendent ... The best book I’ve read in years’ LOUISE KENNEDY ‘Stunning ... Will grip you from the first word to the last’ NATHAN HARRIS ----------------------- The first weapon I ever held was my mother's hand. On a slave plantation in the Carolinas, Annis has survived in the light of her mother’s resilience, comforted by stories of her African warrior grandmother. Everything she knows, she learned from her mother – how to fight, how to be strong, how to grow up in a world shrouded in darkness. When she is sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, Annis must venture onward through the rich but unforgiving landscapes of the American South alone: from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans, and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Searching for relief in memories of her mother, she opens herself to a world beyond her own, teeming with spirits of earth, water, history and myth. A reimagining of American slavery as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching, Let Us Descend offers a magnificent portrait of the strength of the human spirit and its ability to emerge from darkness into light. This is a story of beauty, love, rebirth and reclamation – a masterwork for the ages. Praise for Sing, Unburied, Sing ‘A must’ Margaret Atwood ‘I am a huge fan of Jesmyn Ward's work, and this book proves that she is one of the most important writers in America today’ Ann Patchett ‘Ward is a lyrical, visceral storyteller’ Daily Mail ‘A visceral and intimate drama that plays out like a grand epic … Staggering’ Marlon James ‘A searing, urgent read’ Celeste Ng

Hang the Moon

Jeannette Walls · 2023

From Jeannette Walls, the bestselling author of The Glass Castle, a riveting new novel about an indomitable young woman in Prohibition-era Virginia Most folk thought Sallie Kincaid was a nobody who’d amount to nothing. Sallie had other plans. Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the twentieth century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother, who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is the Duke's daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out. Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger. 'Jeannette Walls created my new favorite hero in her protagonist, Sallie Kincaid. Sallie is sharp, bold, unflinching, and humorous despite, or maybe because of, her hardships.' — Jennette McCurdy, bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died 'Hang the Moon is Jeannette Walls's masterwork. Epic in scope, the novel is a thrill ride through Prohibition and change in the American South . . . The prose is so elegant and so close to the bone you feel Sallie's heartbeat. Glorious.' - Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left Undone 'Does what all good books should: it affirms our faith in the human spirit.' - Dani Shapiro on The Glass Castle 'Like J.D. Salinger or Hemingway before her, Jeannette Walls has the talent of knowing exactly how to let a story tell itself.' - Sunday Independent on The Glass Castle

Beyond That, the Sea

Laura Spence-Ash · 2023

River Sing Me Home

Eleanor Shearer · 2023

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * This beautiful, page-turning and redemptive story of a mother's gripping journey across the Caribbean to find her stolen children in the aftermath of slavery is a "celebration of motherhood and female resilience" ( The Observer ). "A powerful novel that explores how freedom and family are truly defined"--Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal Librarian Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Real Simple , Goodreads, AARP, Boston.com, BookBub and BookRiot Her search begins with an ending.... The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect. The cries of joy fall silent when he announces that they are no longer his slaves; they are now his apprentices. No one can leave. They must work for him for another six years. Freedom is just another name for the life they have always lived. So Rachel runs. Away from Providence, she begins a desperate search to find her children--the five who survived birth and were sold. Are any of them still alive? Rachel has to know. The grueling, dangerous journey takes her from Barbados then, by river, deep into the forest of British Guiana and finally across the sea to Trinidad. She is driven on by the certainty that a mother cannot be truly free without knowing what has become of her children, even if the answer is more than she can bear. These are the stories of Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. But above all this is the story of Rachel and the extraordinary lengths to which a mother will go to find her children...and her freedom.

Banyan Moon

Thao Thai · 2022

Banyan Moon has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

The Vaster Wilds

Lauren Groff · 2023

Set in the 1600s, beginning with a voyage across the Atlantic, this is Lauren Groff's inventive novel The Vaster Wilds FROM THE THREE-TIME NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX Part of a loose trilogy based on the end of empire, The Vaster Wilds is the story of a young girl who is servant to a minister and his young mistress, and in charge of their young daughter Bess. On an epic voyage across the Atlantic, ship-wrecked, far from home and fighting for survival, the protagonist of Lauren Groff's extraordinary new novel must endure but also find meaning in the journey. PRAISE FOR MATRIX- 'Lush, gripping and ferocious' MADELINE MILLER 'An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS 'A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read' SARA COLLINS

North Woods

Daniel Mason · 2023

'A monumental achievement . . . I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell FOUR CENTURIES. A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND. A young Puritan couple on the run. An English soldier with a fantastic vision. Inseparable twin sisters. A lovelorn painter and a lusty beetle. A desperate mother and her haunted son. A ruthless con man and a stalking panther. Buried secrets. Madness, dreams and hope. All are connected. The dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive. Exhilarating, daring and playful, NORTH WOODS will change the way you see the world. 'Ambitious, alive, and lush with generosity . . . an immersive sprint through time' Tess Gunty