Historical Fiction
February 2026

Recent Releases
The Bookbinder's Secret
by A.D. Bell

In this "stellar debut" (Publishers Weekly), apprentice bookbinder Lily Delaney works at her widowed father's failing bookshop in 1901 Oxford, England. After a customer gives her a burned book, she finds a cryptic 50-year-old love letter hidden in the binding that speaks of murder. Drawn into the mystery, Lily looks for other books by the obscure author, discovering she's not the only one after them. Read-alike: Jess Armstrong's Ruby Vaughn mysteries, starting with The Curse of Penryth Hall.
Sharpe's Storm
by Bernard Cornwell

Amid brutal winter conditions in 1813 France, Major Richard Sharpe is ordered to keep Rear Admiral Sir Joel Chase safe, as Chase has plans that may finally defeat Napoleon. But Sharpe's task is made difficult by Chase's extreme confidence and thirst for battle. This is the latest in the long-running Sharpe series, which started in the 1980s and spawned the popular TV series starring Sean Bean. For fans of: thrilling adventures that beautifully blend history and fiction.
Liberty Street by Heather Marshall
Liberty Street
by Heather Marshall

From the #1 bestselling Canadian author of Looking for Jane comes a riveting novel about one journalist's harrowing journey into an infamous real-life 1960s women's prison—and the detective who uncovers her story decades later.
Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi
Cleopatra
by Saara El-Arifi

Cleopatra tells her own story in this evocative and sensuous historical epic from the bestselling and award-winning author of Faebound and The Final Strife. 
All in Her Hands by Audrey Blake
All in Her Hands
by Audrey Blake

From USA Today bestselling author Audrey Blake comes a story of love, hope, and perseverance, following one woman's fight against an invisible enemy. One woman physician. A group of talented midwives. A deadly disease spreading.1849. Dr. Nora Gibson is the only female surgeon in London. In all of England, even. Soon, she finds herself on the frontlines of the disease, and as those around her begin to fall, she'll have to find the strength to stand alone and maintain her greatest oath: to save lives. Whether she'll make it through, though, is up to fate.
Call Me Ishmaelle
by Xiaolu Guo

After her family dies, young Ishmaelle dresses as a cabin boy, leaving Kent, England, to travel the world. In the 1860s, she joins a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man haunted by the past. Amidst the violence of whaling, she finds friends and discovers a strange bond between herself and the white whale who claimed Seneca's leg. This compelling take on American classic Moby Dick by a Chinese British writer is "a rich addition to Melvilliana" (Kirkus Reviews).
Railsong by Rahul Bhattacharya
Railsong
by Rahul Bhattacharya

A breathtaking novel about a woman forging a life for herself on the railways, Railsong is the heartwarming story of an individual coming of age amid the social and political upheavals of twentieth-century India.
And the Ancestors Sing by Radha Lin Chaddah
And the Ancestors Sing
by Radha Lin Chaddah

Spanning decades of seismic change in post-Cultural Revolution China, And The Ancestors Sing is a sweeping, multigenerational novel of resilience, sacrifice, and the unbreakable pull of home, perfect for fans of Pachinko and The Island of Sea Women. 
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Brantford Public Library
173 Colborne Street
Brantford, Ontario N3T 2G8
519-756-2220

www.brantfordlibrary.ca