I’m honored to share that From the Drop of Heaven received the prestigious Book of the Year Awards Honorable Mention from the Historical Fiction Company. This recognition places the novel among a select group of works celebrated for their literary merit, historical accuracy, and immersive storytelling.
Each year, the Historical Fiction Company shines a light on the best historical fiction books across the globe—novels that not only entertain but also educate, transport, and endure. Their awards celebrate writers who bring the past to life with authenticity and artistic excellence. Receiving an Honorable Mention is a meaningful validation of the countless hours spent researching archives, visiting historic sites in the Vosges Mountains, and shaping characters who feel as real and conflicted as the people who lived centuries ago.
Book of the Year Awards Honorable Mention
The award committee evaluates submissions based on several criteria, including historical accuracy, character development, setting, dialogue, emotional resonance, and overall literary quality. To be recognized in such a competitive field—alongside authors whose work has redefined the genre—is both humbling and motivating.
What makes this acknowledgment particularly special is the Historical Fiction Company’s commitment to serious scholarship as well as storytelling. These aren’t awards handed out lightly. Their reviewers and judges are historians, editors, and seasoned readers who demand more than a good plot—they seek works that reconstruct the past with integrity. That’s why this recognition feels like a shared victory: for the characters I wrote, the time period I sought to resurrect, and the readers who joined me on the journey.
From the Drop of Heaven is a novel set in late 16th-century France, during an age of seismic shifts in faith, science, and power. While the story is fictional, it’s rooted in the real-life tensions of the Enlightenment, particularly in rural Protestant regions where ideas and identities clashed with consequence. To have this particular novel honored means the themes still resonate—that the questions we ask of the past are still deeply relevant today.
As with all honors, this one belongs to more than just the writer. I’m grateful to the Historical Fiction Company for their encouragement of independent authors, to my publisher for their unwavering support, and to the many readers who believed in the book and helped it find its way. Every review, message, and conversation matters.
You can view the official announcement and the full list of winners and honorees on the Historical Fiction Company’s website. I’m proud to be in such excellent company and thrilled to see historical fiction continuing to thrive in such diverse, vibrant forms.
This is an excerpt of my 5-Star review from the Historical Fiction Company.
“For lovers of rich, immersive history wrapped in a captivating and heartbreaking story, this book grabs hold from the very beginning and refuses to release until the very last word. Juliette Godot is a master storyteller, taking her own astounding family history and offering the reader a beautifully crafted tale worthy of ten stars!”
Reedsy, one of the largest author support networks in the world, recommended The Historical Fiction Club’s Book of the Year contest as one of the top writing contest for 2022.
I don’t know how many hundreds of people entered their books in the Book of the Year Awards. Simply making it into the contest was a great honor, but then, my book advanced into the semi-finals!
Book of the Year Awards Honorable Mention
That I did not win the Book of the Year did not surprise me, but getting into the semi-finals and then winning the Honorable Mention did!
It’s hard to believe that my debut novel was considered among the best books of 2022. I have to pinch myself whenever I think that it made the Book of the Year Awards Honorable Mention.
Thank you for celebrating this recognition with me—and for supporting books that keep history alive, one story at a time.
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