
Historical fiction book · Open Library
Better to wish
Unknown author · historical fiction
In 1930 Abby Nichols is an eight-year-old girl growing up in Maine, but as the Depression deepens, and her mother dies, the responsibility of taking care of her family falls to her, and she has to put her dreams of going to college and becoming a writer on hold.
About this historical novel
Better to wish by Unknown author is historical fiction rooted in Global / multiple. In 1930 Abby Nichols is an eight-year-old girl growing up in Maine, but as the Depression deepens, and her mother dies, the responsibility of taking care of her family falls to her, and she has to put her dreams of going to college and becoming a writer on hold.
On HisFic we tag it under 1. Literary historical fiction so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include families, juvenile fiction, friendship, history, and children's fiction.
Use HisFic’s free journey planner to stay in this era or subgenre, save titles to a want-to-read list in your browser, and open Amazon when you are ready to buy. HisFic is discovery-only—not a bookstore—so pages like this exist to help you choose the next historical novel with intent.
Plot summary
In 1930 Abby Nichols is an eight-year-old girl growing up in Maine, but as the Depression deepens, and her mother dies, the responsibility of taking care of her family falls to her, and she has to put her dreams of going to college and becoming a writer on hold.
Subgenres
Eras
- Not classified yet
More like this on HisFic
Curated titles that share era, story type, or themes.
- The Women · Kristin Hannah
A young American nurse serves in Vietnam and struggles to be seen when she comes home.
- The Kite Runner · Khaled Hosseini
A boyhood betrayal in Kabul echoes through war, exile, and a chance at redemption.
- The Help · Kathryn Stockett
Black maids and a young white writer risk everything to tell the truth about life in 1960s Mississippi.
- A Gentleman in Moscow · Amor Towles
Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel as the Soviet century remakes the world outside. Over three decades he builds a life of friendship, purpose, and quiet resistance within the hotel’s walls.
- War and Peace · Leo Tolstoy
Five Russian families move through court, love, and the Napoleonic invasion as 1805 becomes Borodino and Moscow burns. Tolstoy’s epic is Napoleonic historical fiction on a national scale—ballrooms and battlefields, Pierre and Natasha, and the question of who makes history.
- The Essex Serpent · Sarah Perry
In 1893, newly widowed Cora Seaborne leaves London for the Essex marshes, where rumor of a winged serpent collides with a country vicar, a dying wife, and the new sciences of fossils and medicine. Sarah Perry’s novel is Victorian historical fiction of faith, desire, and a coastal town arguing with the modern world.
Regions & places
Global / multiple
Themes
- families
- juvenile fiction
- friendship
- history
- children's fiction
- family life, fiction
- depressions, fiction
- maine, fiction
Tags
open-library