Historical Novel – Write on the World

Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth: Obsession, family loyalty, and the danger of loving too much

January 26, 2026January 24, 2026 Mandy Webster

Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth is a gothic, psychologically rich literary novel that burrows under your skin and stays there. Set in 1965 in the quietly watchful town of Ballycrea, the story opens with the arrival of the O’Leary siblings, whose carefully guarded past and tightly bound loyalty to one another immediately raise questions no one is quite asking out loud.

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Following her acclaimed novel Sunburn, Howarth once again writes with precision and restraint, layering unease rather than rushing toward easy answers. At its heart, this is a novel about grief and survival, and about what happens when sibling devotion turns inward and begins to do real harm. The O’Learys have lost their parents and, in the absence of any other safety net, have clung to one another so fiercely that none of them are truly allowed to grow.

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Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

The Pōhaku by Jasmin Iolani Hakes: An epic, indigenous saga about land, memory, and survival

January 23, 2026January 17, 2026 Mandy Webster

Jasmin Iolani Hakes’s The Pōhaku is the kind of novel that reminds you why sweeping, multi-generational storytelling can feel so immersive and necessary when it’s done well. Spanning from the 1800s into the 1990s, this ambitious saga follows generations of women from one Hawaiian family, all bound by their responsibility to protect an ancient stone—the pōhaku—and by the land that shaped them.

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The novel opens in 1992 as Hurricane Iniki bears down on Hawaiʻi. A young woman lies comatose in a hospital after a mysterious fall from a cliff, watched over by her estranged grandmother. Did she jump, was she swept away by a wave, or was something else at play? The grandmother believes the answer lies not only in the pōhaku itself, but in a devastating omission: her granddaughter was never told about the stone, nor about the family’s sacred responsibility to protect it. As the storm approaches, the grandmother begins telling her the story anyway, hoping that restoring this broken line of knowledge might be enough to bring her back.

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Author Interview

Author interview with historical novelist Adelina Leo

August 12, 2025August 7, 2025 Mandy Webster

When author Adelina Leo set out to write River of Silence, she didn’t just craft a novel—she built a bridge across time, memory, and identity. Released June 11th, Leo’s debut explores love, loss, and the scars of Argentina’s past with a lyrical touch shaped by her passion for storytelling and her love of Latin dance. In this interview, she shares the literary influences that shaped her voice, the emotional discoveries she made while writing, and why family and identity are themes she returns to again and again. Whether you’re a fan of historical fiction or stories that stir empathy, you’ll find something to connect with in her thoughtful reflections.

In River of Silence, Isabel Hartley returns to Buenos Aires decades after her mother vanished under Argentina’s dictatorship, determined to uncover the truth. As political unrest surges and buried secrets surface, her search leads to a heartbreaking revelation—and the possibility of healing through love.

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Q: What’s a memory of a story or book that made you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I spent months thinking about Cesar Castillo, the protagonist in The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos. He was so tragically grand, full of spirit and musical genius, but his childhood trauma led to spectacular self-sabotage. All of Hijuelos’s characters were crafted so carefully and sensitively that I re-read the book almost immediately after I had finished it. I started writing soon after. The passion in his writing inspired me to create worlds that absorb the reader. I wanted to draw my audience in so that they walk in the shoes of somebody that they would be unlikely to meet in their own lives. These kinds of experiences sow the seeds of empathy and human connection in our everyday lives and that’s why I write.

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Book Reviews, Education

The role of fiction in the understanding of history: Why everyone should read more historical novels

January 11, 2015 Mandy Webster

The Book of Night Women by Marlon James provides a graphic view of the life of a slave.

History has always fascinated me. I enjoy historical novels that allow me to immerse myself in other times and places and understand how people lived “back then.” However, history classes have always bored me. I have learned far more about history from historical novels than I ever learned in any history class.

Every history course I have ever taken has focused on dry facts – dates, names of battles, lists of names on important historical documents – that students were required to memorize and then regurgitate on that next test. Most of these details immediately flew out of my brain as soon as I turned in my final exam.

Ask me when the U.S. Constitution was signed. I can’t remember, but I can Google it for you if you like.

While these factual elements are important to setting a story in time and place, they never quite tell the entire story. Unfortunately, the “story” part of history seems to be missing from many American history classrooms. (Although, we do seem to get the “his” part right in most cases.) Continue reading “The role of fiction in the understanding of history: Why everyone should read more historical novels” →