6 Historical Fiction Novels That Feature Questionable Characters
From the author of the highly anticipated debut novel The Storm We Made, a reading list full of characters who make questionable decisions
By Vanessa Chan
While reading or watching a historical novel or movie, I often wonder what I would’ve done if faced with similar circumstances. Would I have been as heroic or as cowardly? My novel The Storm We Made is about the unlikeliest of spies, Cecily Alcantara, who, in 1930s British Malaya, decides to become a spy for the Japanese and unwittingly ushers in the most violent occupation her country has ever seen. The novel also follows her three children making choices, and not always the morally right ones, as they try to survive the consequences of their mother’s actions ten years later, during WWII.
Morality is often a function of one’s circumstances, and when those circumstances are compounded by complicated historical realities, it makes for a fascinating conundrum. Here are six historical novels with characters who toe the line between hero and villain. As you read about the decisions they make, ask yourself: What would you do if you found yourself living the same story?
Lust, Caution by Eileen Chang, translated by Julia Lovell
A giant of this sub-genre, Lust, Caution is a slim, 70-page, 1979 novella by Eileen Chang about a young Chinese woman who seduces a war collaborator in hopes of getting close enough to assassinate him. As the story progresses, she finds herself confused about her loyalties. In 2007, Ang Lee adapted the novella into an award-winning movie that set off a storm of controversy in China, but I would recommend the source material, which has enough twists, turns, and morally confounding moments to elicit gasps.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Vanishing Half is a widely read bestseller—and for good reason: the story of Desiree and Stella Vignes, twins born in the fictional Louisiana town of Mallard where generations of Black people married to ensure their children became lighter skinned over time, captivated me from the first line. The twins’ stories diverge—one stays in the town with her unmistakably Black child, while the other chooses to hide her Black heritage from the white family she marries into. Their decisions, especially the one made by Stella to pass as white, were both intriguing and stressful to read in equal measure.
The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng
In The Great Reclamation, a young boy named Ah Boon comes of age as Singapore begins its land reclamation project—filling in the ocean in its quest for progress and modernity—which puts the lives and livelihoods of villagers living on the coast, including Ah Boon’s own family, at risk. Even as Ah Boon becomes more and more problematic as the novel progresses, you cannot help but empathize with his choices and his desire to change his destiny.
Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias
Where There Was Fire is not strictly historical fiction; instead, the novel mixes historical facts with magical realism. Whatever the genre, the characters in Arias’s novel make choices that made me want to scream at them. While the plot circles a mysterious fire that is set on an American Fruit Company’s banana plantation in Costa Rica, it is the choices made by members of the Cepeda Valverde family in the wake of that fire that make this story sing.
These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card
In These Ghosts Are Family, the stories of the Paisley family all hinge on a crucial decision made by its patriarch, who steals the identity of his best friend when he is killed by falling cargo. This decision reverberates throughout generations of the family, and we are left to wonder, was it worth it?
Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang
Set for release in May 2024, Cinema Love is about gay men in rural China, the women who marry them, and the things these characters do to survive and hide in plain sight. Most, if not all, of Tang’s characters have a crooked moral compass. Their motivations are driven by noble things like survival and loyalty, but also by the pettier instincts like jealousy and selfishness. Despite their questionable decisions, as you read, you cannot help but love these characters.
Vanessa Chan was born and raised in Malaysia. Her short stories have been published in Electric Lit, Kenyon Review, Ecotone, and more. She was the 2021 Stanley Elkin scholar at the Sewanee Writers Conference and has also received scholar awards to attend the Bread Loaf and Tin House writers’ conferences.
The Storm We Made is her first novel.
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