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UnderratedReads is devoted to discovering underrated books and under-represented authors. We highlight hidden gems from around the world–honest reviews only, never pay-to-play.
Category Archives: Historical Fiction
The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden
(Reviewed by JD Jung) It’s 1961, almost twenty years after the war, and it would appear as if the Netherlands has recovered. However, scars linger beneath the surface in unimaginable ways. Isabel, who is almost thirty years old, doesn’t have … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks, World Literature
Tagged Dutch literature, Netherlands
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Goldenseal – Maria Hummel
(Reviewed by JD Jung) Lacey and Edith, ages seventy and seventy-one respectively, have been estranged for forty-four years. It’s now 1990, and Edith decides to travel across the country to visit her one-time best friend. Lacey, born in Prague, … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Modern Literary Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks
Tagged friendship, Los Angeles, relationships, socio-economic class, WWII
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Mission Churchill – Alex Abella
(reviewed by JD Jung) 1933-Havana Cuba: Irishman Marcus Riley’s objective is to kidnap the visiting Winston Churchill and hold him hostage in exchange for IRA members serving time in London prisons. However former Detective Inspector Walter Thompson, now serving as … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction
Tagged Cuba, London, Nazism, political fiction, thrillers, Winston Churchill, WWII
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Forgottenness – Tanja Maljartschuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins
(reviewed by JD Jung) “I was an inconsequential being who had suddenly become deathly afraid of life.” Our present-day narrator suffers from mental/psychological disorders: frequent panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse, and changing levels of agoraphobia. Eventually she breaks … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Slavic Literature, World Literature
Tagged history, mental illness, political activism, politics, Ukraine
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The Inimitable Jeeves, Deluxe Edition – P.G. Wodehouse
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned I must admit that I was not familiar with the celebrated British humorist P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) until now, when I thoroughly enjoyed the recent release of The Inimitable Jeeves, Deluxe Edition. This sidesplitting story, taking … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Humor & Satire, Lost and almost forgotten
Tagged English literature, humor, Jeeves, valet
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Sherlock Holmes & the Silver Cord -M.K. Wiseman
(reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “I had my holiday. I had enjoyed three years without a single thread binding me to this or that place, any one responsibility save for my own to myself and the fishing of what I … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction
Tagged Sherlock Holmes
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The Blue is Where God Lives – Sharon Sochil Washington, PhD
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “If Satan is successful, the family’s history will end with the blue baby girl.” It is currently 2008, and Blue (referenced above) is grieving the murder of her daughter. She questions God’s existence, which leads … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi/Speculative/Fantasy/Mythology
Tagged African literature, class, folkore, magical realism, mysticism, poverty, slavery
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PRIMO—a stageplay: Auschwitz through the lens of time – Ed Davidson
(Reviewed by Heidi A. Swan) #CommissionsEarned Primo Levi was a writer, chemist, and a survivor of the Holocaust. This tightly written one act play is a fictional account of the last day of his life. As he goes through his … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction
Tagged audio book, Auschwitz, Holocaust, stage play
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The Safe Game – Wes Verde
(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch) #CommissionsEarned The Safe Game by Wes Verde is undoubtedly one of the best books I have ever read. Set in the late 1920’s America, it follows the story of three con artists trying to pull … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks
Tagged crime fiction, grift, Historical fiction
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