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Historical Fiction December 2025 |
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All Things Under the Moon
by Ann Y. K. Choi
In 1924, Korea is an occupied country. In Seoul's secret, underground networks and throughout the countryside, rebellion against the Japanese Empire simmers, threatening to boil over. Kim Na-Young lives a simple life in the rural village of Daegori, where she watches the moon rise and set over the pine-wooded mountains, tends to her household alongside her best friend, Yeon-Soo, and cares for her sick mother. But the occupation touches every Korean life--even Na-Young's. In the wake of a tragedy that stuns the village, Na-Young's father arranges her marriage to a man she's never met, and Na-Young and Yeon-Soo decide to flee, taking their fate into their own hands. That decision sets them on their own collision course with the occupying forces, resulting in a violent encounter that will alter both of their lives forever--in shockingly different ways.
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The Mad Wife
by Meagan Church
In the 1950s, nothing is valued more than conformity, and Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the ideal housewife. But after the birth of her daughter, Lulu's carefully constructed life begins to teeter. Exhausted by expectations and haunted by tragic memories, Lulu looks to her new neighbor, Bitsy. Bitsy, always the model of a perfect housewife, is not quite what she seems and Lulu knows something dark lurks beneath Bitsy's constant smile. Increasingly fixated on Bitsy and her perfectly crafted life, Lulu's mental state begins to fracture, and memories she had suppressed long ago begin to rise to the surface. Soon, Lulu is forced to confront the possibility that she might be headed down a path much darker than she could ever foresee.
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The Last Witch
by C. J. Cooke
Innsbruck, 1485. Helena Scheuberin should be doing what every other young wife is doing: keeping house, supporting her husband, and bearing his children, but as an outspoken, strong woman, she sometimes has difficulty fitting in. Then she draws the unwanted attention of a priest who is just starting his campaign to root out witches from among the women of her town, and when her husband's footman dies, she finds herself accused not only of murder but of witchcraft. Helena must find the courage to risk her life and the lives of others by standing up to a man determined to paint her as the most wicked of all.... Based on the incredible true story of a woman who challenged a man who went on to become one of Europe's most notorious and cruel witchfinders.
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Sharpe's Storm
by Bernard Cornwell
The year is 1813. France is a battlefield, and winter shows no mercy. Amid brutal conditions, Major Richard Sharpe finds himself saddled with an unexpected burden: Rear-Admiral Sir Joel Chase, dispatched by the Admiralty with sealed orders, unshakable confidence, and a frankly terrifying enthusiasm for combat. Sharpe's mission from Wellington is clear, yet anything but simple: Keep Sir Joel alive. Sir Joel could hold the key to defeating Napoleon once and for all. But to pull off his audacious plan, he needs someone who knows how to fight dirty, think fast, and survive the impossible. He needs Sharpe...
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If the Dead Belong Here
by Carson Faust
When a young girl goes missing, the ghosts of the past collide with her family's secrets in a mesmerizing Native American Southern Gothic.
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The Letter Carrier
by Francesca Giannone
A woman arrives at a small Italian town in the 1930s, with her husband and baby, and is the permanent outsider. She decides to become the town postmistress, the first female to hold that position. An epic novel that spans decades.
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| The Gun Man Jackson Swagger by Stephen HunterIn 1897 Arizona Territory, sharpshooter and Civil War vet Jack Swagger takes a job guarding deliveries to and from Mexico for prosperous rancher Colonel Callahan. But not everything is as it seems in this western by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter. |
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Queen Esther
by John Irving
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine; her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won't be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther; in fact, he won't find any family who'll adopt her. When Esther is fourteen, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren't Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther's gratitude for the Winslows is unending; even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is seventy-six.
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Lion Hearts
by Dan Jones
1350. The Essex Dogs have scattered. In Winchelsea, Loveday struggles to keep his tavern afloat in the aftermath of the Black Death. Nowadays, the only battles he fights are the ones within his own mind. In Windsor, Romford thrives as a squire at King Edward III's court, his days as an archer fading into memory. But when an unpaid debt threatens everything he's built, Romford must call upon the lessons he learned all those years ago: be cunning. Be ruthless. Be quick. With England still reeling from the Death and a new threat from Spain on the rise, the kingdom's future has never been more uncertain. Each man had reasons for leaving the Essex Dogs behind. But a life like that isn't so easily forgotten. And for these men the fighting isn't over yet.
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My Fair Frauds
by Lee Kelly
A high society fraud and a scrappy swindler team up to take down Gilded Age New York in this tale of intrigue, drama, and female friendship.
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| The Silver Book by Olivia LaingLeaving London after an unspecified incident, art student Nicholas Wade heads to Italy in 1974. In Venice, he has a one-night stand with famed production and costume designer Danilo Donati and becomes his assistant, working with celebrated directors Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini. But the country is in turmoil, which leads to murder in this “mesmerizing, contemplative, and haunting work” (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Christmas at the Women's Hotel by Daniel M. LaveryAt New York’s Biedermeier Hotel in the 1960s, where unmarried working class women of all ages live, Christmas means jobs, some more legal than others. Meanwhile, the hotel manager ponders a large phone bill, secretive tenants, and missing jewels. Full of period charm and witty narration, this holiday follow-up novella to Women's Hotel will please fans. |
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The Mademoiselle Alliance
by Natasha Lester
Morocco, 1928. Marie-Madeleine Mâeric is a woman of many skills, but dabbling in intelligence work to assist the French government helps her recognize who she is at heart: an adventurer. Paris 1936. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, Marie-Madeleine is living in France when an enigmatic spy recruits her to help build a resistance network. She conceals her identity and gender as she navigates a perilous double life. Eventually, she steps into the role of leader of what is now known as Alliance. At the helm of Alliance, she achieves feats of espionage that help turn the tide of war.
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The Hong Kong Widow
by Kristen Loesch
Hong Kong, 1953: In a remote mansion, witnesses insist a massacre took place. The police see nothing but pristine rooms and declare it a collective hallucination. Until decades later, when one witness returns...
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The Women of Artemis
by Hannah Lynn
When she first married at fourteen, Otrera imagined a relationship full of love. A partnership. Years later, living in destitution with her abusive husband, she knows that no such thing exists with a man. It is simply a woman's lot in life to accept the treatment of her husband. Until it's not. Rallying the women around her, Otrera fights back, taking no prisoners. Because it's clear to her: when men are in power, freedom isn't granted. It's bought with blood. It's a price she is more than willing to pay, if it means building a new life with other women far from the reaches of their abusers. But a community of women - an army of women - is bound to make enemies of gods and men alike. This is the story of Otrera and the first Amazons.
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| The Last Spirits of Manhattan by John A. McDermottIn 1956, 20-something Midwesterner Carolyn Banks ponders her future and visits her Aunt Bella in Manhattan. Bella is selling the family mansion there, but not before renting it to Alfred Hitchcock for a “haunted” party with guests like Henry Fonda and Charles Addams. Since there really are ghosts there, Carolyn attends, hoping to keep her late relatives from causing too much trouble in this evocative and banter-filled debut novel. |
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| Bog Queen by Anna NorthThis immersive dual-timeline novel follows a young druid priestess from two thousand years ago and an American forensic anthropologist, Dr. Agnes Linstom, who’s been called to examine a body found in an English bog. As Agnes battles both a corporation and climate activists for access, the priestess deals with local rivals and an influx of Romans. |
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Shadow Ticket
by Thomas Pynchon
Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he's found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who's taken a mind to go wandering. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them.
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The Missing Pages
by Alyson Richman
Harry Widener boards the Titanic holding tight to a priceless book--and his last known words are that he must return to his cabin for his treasure. Neither the young man nor the book will ever be seen again. In his honor, his mother builds the Harry Widener Memorial Library at Harvard to memorialize her son and house his extensive book collection. Decades later, Violet Hutchins, a Harvard sophomore recovering from her own great loss, is working as a page at the Widener Library. When strange things begin happening at the library, Violet wonders if Harry Widener's ghost is trying to communicate the missing pieces of his story from beyond the grave.
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| The Hitchhikers by Chevy StevensAfter a loss, Tom and Alice try to save their marriage and heal by taking an RV trip across Canada in 1976. But giving a ride to a young couple who are far more dangerous than they appear leads to stunning consequences in this gritty, slow-burn historical thriller that’ll please fans of twisty plotting and memorable characters. For fans of: Simone St. James’ Murder Road. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Centerville Library
111 W. Spring Valley Rd
Centerville, OH 45458
(937) 433-8091
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Woodbourne Library
6060 Far Hills Ave Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 435-3700
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Creativity Commons
895 Miamisburg Centerville Rd
Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 610-4425
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