Union Street by Pat Barker
Among the many things I admire about this novel is the way Barker dismantles the idea of history as neatly parcelled up into decades. Union Street is set in the 1970s, yet the poverty and neglect we witness here seems to belong to an earlier century. At the same time, we see the future hinted at on the horizon in the newer houses, the modern supermarket. The novel is told through the perspective of individual girls and women at various stages in life. It’s a confronting read and powerfully unforgettable.
These Days by Lucy Caldwell
For me, this book is the template for how a work of literary fiction can engage with historical sources. These Days is a tightly contained novel told over the course of four nights and through the eyes of two sisters, Emma and Audrey. Although driven by the fictional characters and their interactions, Caldwell sets the narrative against the backdrop of the real events of the Belfast Blitz of 1941. The novel is perfectly crafted around the pressures such devastating events cause within families and relationships, but it is made so much stronger by the underpinning and accuracy of the author’s historical research.
The Gathering by Anne Enright
I have to admit, this novel is like literary catnip to me, a large family, long-held secrets, cultural and religious shame, all leading to a truth gradually revealed. I’ve chosen it as a reminder that history plays out at kitchen tables as much as it does in corridors of power. The Gathering is a sweeping family epic in which adult siblings have to make sense of their childhood and the actions of previous generations. Enright’s prose is uncompromising and compassionate all at once.
Growing out of the #WomenInHistory online campaign, this book is Mosse’s contribution to the ongoing project of restoring women’s names to history, told alongside the story of her own great-grandmother, the novelist Lily Watson. The book is ambitious in scope, referencing the lives of almost one thousand women, all of them gifting the reader with compelling (and often overlooked) stories. It’s a book to browse and consult for inspiration as well as a stark reminder of all that has already been lost.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
I defy anyone not to be engrossed by this beautiful and unforgettable book. Persepolis opens with an introduction to the history of Iran, taking the reader as far back as the second millennium BC all the way to the cultural revolution of the twentieth-century. Both the writing and artwork in this groundbreaking graphic memoir are delivered with such precision and impact. It’s an exemplar of how personal and national history can be intertwined.
Dust by Carolyn Steedman
A book about how historians use archives doesn’t sound like a witty page-turner, but do trust me on this. In some ways Dust provides an explanation of how history is written by pointing out the fetishisation of the past. The book asks provocative questions, reminding us that archives are the remnants that have survived, as much by chance as design. In her focus on both the romanticism and practicality of archival work, Steedman reveals the relationship between the historian and her beloved dusty pages.