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Historical Fiction June 2025 |
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The Sunflower House
by Adriana Allegri
After the dying uncle who raised her shares that her mother was Jewish, Allina Gottlieb hides her heritage to survive. Even so, she's assaulted by an SS officer and forced to work as a nurse in a Nazi eugenics program, where she meets and grows close to another SS officer, one with his own deadly secret.
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| My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel AllendeRaised by her Irish former nun mother and a loving stepdad in San Francisco, Emilia del Valle never knows her Chilean aristocrat father. As a young journalist covering the Chilean Civil War of 1891, she begins a romance and also meets the father who abandoned her. Isabel Allende fans will relish reading about the del Valles, whose various members often appear in her work. Try this next: Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie. |
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| Gabriële by Anne Berest and Claire BerestTalented young French musician Gabriële Buffet meets mercurial Spanish artist Francis Picabia in 1908 and soon marries him. In Paris, the couple grows close with artist Marcel Duchamp while embracing the avant-garde as World War I approaches. Written by two of Buffet's great-granddaughters, this eye-opening biographical novel spotlights a woman integral to art history. Try this next: Jeanne Mackin's Picasso's Lovers. |
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| The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie BostwickIn 1963 suburban Virginia, four married women form a book club: arty newcomer Charlotte; former Army nurse Vivian, now pregnant with her seventh child; Ohio transplant and mom-to-three Margaret; and newlywed Bitsy, who'd dreamed of being a veterinarian. Starting with Betty Friedan's controversial The Feminine Mystique, the women read, change, and draw closer over the course of a year. For fans of: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. |
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| These Days by Lucy CaldwellGermany rains bombs on Northern Ireland's capital city in spring 1941. Navigating the destruction, sisters Emma, who's secretly in love with coworker Sylvia, and Audrey, who's not-so-happily engaged, do what they can to help others while questioning their futures. For more historical fiction about the Belfast Blitz, read Melanie Maure's Sisters of Belfast or S. Kirk Walsh's The Elephant of Belfast. |
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Daughter of Ruins
by Yvette Manessis Corporon
Demitra's mother died when Demitra was three years old. Her father took her to the Greek island of Cephalonia, where she endures a lonely childhood. When Demitra comes of age, she defiantly begins an affair with a forbidden man. Elena is an Italian woman who dreamed of a life away from the brothels where she was raised. But opportunities are not meant for daughters of prostitutes and Elena has no choice but to become one herself. Maria lives in a poor mountain village with a loving mother and sister. When her father grow desperate to feed his family, he sends her to America to marry a stranger. Only eighteen years old, Maria is terrified of the journey ahead
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Junie : a Novel
by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Sixteen-year-old slave Junie tends to master's daughter Violet at Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, but when Violet's potential marriage leads Junie to commit a desperate act that rouses sister Minnie's spirit, she enlists coachman Caleb's help as horrifying secrets are revealed.
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The Queen of Fives : a Novel
by Alex Hay
A master con woman in 1898 London, Quinn le Blanc has just five days to impersonate a wealthy heiress and ensnare a duke into marriage, but as she infiltrates the high society of the Kendal family, she discovers that deception and hidden motives run on all sides.
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| The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan HenryIn 1927, a famed author leaves her South Carolina home in the middle of the night. In 1952 London, Charles Jameson finds the author's papers and a letter addressed to Clara, the daughter she left behind. This soon leads Charles, Clara, and Clara's young daughter to the Lake District in search of answers. Try these next: Rhys Bowen's The Tuscan Child; Ann Hood's The Stolen Child. |
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One Good Thing
by Georgia Hunter
In occupied Italy, Jewish best friends Lili and Esti hide war orphans in a convent where they forge false papers for the Underground, and when Esti is critically injured, she asks Lili to go on the run with her son Theo through Nazi-occupied villages toward Allied territory.
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| Austen at Sea by Natalie JennerSisters Henrietta and Charlotte, who adore Jane Austen's books, sail to England in 1865 to visit Jane's last surviving sibling, Frank. On board are two brothers who deal in rare books (also going to see Frank) and Henrietta's secret beau. Dramatic events on ship and in England see all their lives transformed in this evocative tale. Try this next: Gill Hornby's Godmersham Park. |
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The Witches of El Paso
by Luis Jaramillo
A lawyer and her elderly great-aunt use their supernatural gifts to find a lost child.
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Last Twilight in Paris
by Pam Jenoff
In London, 1953, a secondhand shop necklace bears the name Lévitan, a Paris department store-turned-Nazi prison camp, leading Louise and former romantic partner Ian to investigate her friend Franny's war death and the fate of Helaine, a woman imprisoned at Lévitan when the Germans invaded France.
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| Six Days in Bombay by Alka JoshiWhispers of independence swirl in 1930s Bombay, India, as young Anglo-Indian nurse Sona bonds with her latest charge, famous painter Mira Novak, who's also mixed race. After Mira dies, Sona is determined to honor her new friend's request: hand-delivering paintings to people in Prague, Florence, and Paris. Read-alike: Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. |
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The Dressmakers of London
by Julia Kelly
After their mother's unexpected death, Isabelle Shelton and her estranged sister Sylvia inherit the family dressmaking shop, prompting Izzie to reluctantly seek Sylvia's help to save it while aiming to buy her out, leading to letters that explore old wounds and the possibility of reconciliation within their shared legacy.
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| The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall KellyInspired by real events, this compelling novel follows Mari Starwood in 2016 as she visits reclusive Martha's Vineyard painter Elizabeth, who has ties to Mari's recently deceased mother. Elizabeth tells Mari about the island during World War II, focusing on two teenage sisters who form a book club, run the family farm, and look for German U-boats and spies. For fans of: Madeline Martin's The Last Bookshop in London; Amy Lynne Green's The Blackout Book Club. |
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| The Eights by Joanna MillerIn 1920, Oxford University admits degree-seeking women for the first time. On Corridor Eight, insecure Beatrice, socialite Otto, scholarship student Marianne, and grieving Dora bond as they navigate sexism, personal loss, societal expectations, and the lingering trauma of World War I. This well-researched, character-driven debut will please fans of Natalie Jenner's Bloomsbury Girls and Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night. |
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| The Lilac People by Milo ToddMoving back and forth in time, this poignant debut follows trans man Bertie and his girlfriend Sofie living happily in 1930s Berlin before Nazi persecution forces them to hide on a farm. In 1945, they risk everything to protect a young trans Holocaust survivor since even the Allies are arresting some LGBTQIA+ people. This "well-written, engrossing story full of suspense" (Library Journal) details a lesser-known aspect of World War II. |
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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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