Fairies and Folktales: Historical Fantasy

For those of you who like a little more magic than magical realism, I've got some books for you. These are all what could be considered historical fantasy, taking place in a specific time and place that actually existed. However, these books contain stuff that couldn't possibly occur in our current universe. Buckle up and prepare yourself for something out of the ordinary.

An Almond for A Parrot by Wray Delaney follows the ups and downs of Tully Truegood, a young woman who can fly and see ghosts and make others see them, too. Treated like a servant by her improvident father, Tully's life is forever changed by Queenie and her charges Mercy and Hope. The three start out as stepmother and stepsisters respectively, but become part of London's most elegant bordello, the Fairy House. Tully quickly has gentlemen who are willing to pay for the exclusive rights to her charms, some gentler than others. In the meantime,  she is tormented both by the man she was forced to wed when she was twelve and by her love for her first gallant. In a dramatic courtroom scene, Tully makes her talent work for her and wins her freedom. This book is in a nonlinear style, told by Tully as a letter from prison. In addition to its historical and fantasy elements, it is also a romance, and it is as charming as the heroine herself.

Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus concerns two lovers Celia and Marco, both with psychic abilities, during the heyday of the circus. The problem is, they are the mentees of two great magicians who despise each other and are being trained for a magic showdown that is meant to kill one of them. Celia's circus is known as the Circus of Dreams, and performs only at night, giving the book a creepy edge. The poetic, inventive narrative takes us across America and Europe in this generous, fun book.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was a hit in the last decade, and Susana Clarke's first novel deserves to have attention paid to it. Mr. Norrell is the lone practitioner of magic in Austen's England until brash Jonathan Strange shows up and becomes his pupil. In a novel full of incident, Napoleon is defeated, magic in Britain is revived, and the two partners/rivals summon the Raven King, a former ruler of the sceptered isle who had gotten magic from Faerie. With a great deal of wit and some hilarious footnotes, this is a delightful epic fairy tale.

Occurring around the same time as The Night Circus, Helene Wecker's The Golem and the Jinni takes New York City for its milieu. Chava was created to be a wife for a Polish-Jewish immigrant who died on the crossing to America. She is the golem of the title. Ahmad was released from his small prison after hundreds of years by a Syrian metalworker, also an immigrant. He is the jinni. These two creatures from different folk traditions, one made of earth and the other of fire, find their fates and love intertwined as they go up against a powerful enemy as supernatural as they are. There's plenty to say about getting out of one's own insular community along with  philosophical musings in this highly original take on folktales and Old New York.

Got more historical fantasy? Let us know in the comments.