Saturday, August 30, 2025

Seven top novels set during times of great political upheaval

Daphne Fama was born in the American South, embedded in its tight-knit Filipino community. When she’s not writing stories about monsters and the women who love them, she’s writing about video games. And when she’s not writing, she’s spending every minute adoring her partner and pup.

Fama's new novel is House of Monstrous Women.

At CrimeReads she tagged seven novels "of political upheaval [that] capture the terror and resilience of those caught in history’s undertow, where survival is an act of defiance." One title on Fama's list:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Beginning in a poor Korean fishing village during Japanese occupation, Pachinko follows four generations of one family as they migrate to Japan and struggle to build a life in a country that will never fully accept them. Against the backdrop of war, poverty, and relentless discrimination, they endure through sacrifice and resilience. Min Jin Lee’s epic is a powerful family saga of identity, belonging, and survival.
Read about another novel on the list.

Pachinko is among Mia Barzilay Freund's eighteen best historical fiction books of the last several decades, Courtney Rodgers's best historical fiction of the 21st century so far, Bethanne Patrick's twenty-five best historical fiction books of all time, Asha Thanki seven books about families surviving political unrest, the Amazon Book Review editors' twelve favorite long books, Gina Chen's twelve books for fans of HBO’s Succession, Cindy Fazzi's eight books about the impact of Japanese imperialism during WWII, Eman Quotah's eight books about mothers separated from their daughters, Karolina Waclawiak's six favorite books on loss and longing, Allison Patkai's top six books with strong female voices, Tara Sonin's twenty-one books for fans of HBO’s Succession, and six books Jia Tolentino recommends.

--Marshal Zeringue