Searching for non-Western historical fiction

Historical fiction tends to be set in Western countries and, even then, it tends to cluster around certain places and certain time periods: Great Britain during the Tudor era, France during either the decadence of the Bourbons or the downfall of the French Revolution, the World Wars in all their various theaters. (I surpassed my own limit for books about the French resistance at least four heroic tales ago.) Here are three books that take place in non-Western countries and reveal lesser known pieces of history that are equally as captivating as all six of King Henry VIII's wives.

“The Poisonwood Bible” (2009) by Barbara Kingsolver is perhaps one of the most technically accomplished and emotionally wrenching books I've ever read. Set in the Belgian Congo during the 1950s and 1960s, it follows the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a zealous Baptist missionary, as they attempt to transplant everything from tomato seeds to the Bible into the Congo and discover just how impossible that is. It's a family epic, a post-colonial parable and a tale of political intrigue, as the Congo unravels around them due to the CIA assassination of Patrice Lumumba. Most of all, it's the story of a group of remarkable women. If you're looking for complex, well-written female characters, this is the book for you. Kingsolver manages to craft five distinct points of view, all of them rich in detail and characterization, and, best of all, she's not afraid to write flawed, real female characters. So often, female characters are only written as saints or sinners, but in one book, Kingsolver captures the whole spectrum.

“Night of Many Dreams” (1998) by Gail Tsukiyama also tells the story of women caught in the midst of conflict. It's the story of two sisters, Emma and Joan, who flee to Macau after Hong Kong is captured by the Japanese during World War II, ending their idyllic childhood. This is a novel that might appeal to those who are interested in World War II but are also looking for a more character-driven, less bombastic story. Tsukiyama captures the atmosphere of 1940s Hong Kong with graceful, elegant prose and crafts two very different but equally appealing main characters in Emma and Joan. “Night of Many Dreams” also features a clever non-chronological timeline, slipping back and forth in its characters' lives as it constructs a subtly powerful story.

Finally, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's “Half of a Yellow Sun” (2006), which takes place in Nigeria during the Biafran War, is highly emotional and simply devastating. One quick note about this book: do not, as I did, attempt to turn it into a beach book. This is a book that demands your full attention and concentration and, perhaps, some appropriately solemn weather outside. It will reward you accordingly. Adichie truly brings 1960s Nigeria to life and her sharply pointed observations, whether they're about characters, events or the setting itself, are well-written and ring uncomfortably true. The fact that the reader knows what's coming only makes the events of the novel more heartbreaking. “Half of a Yellow Sun” may not be an easy or comfortable novel to read, but it shouldn't be.