Historical Fiction
October 2025

Recent Releases
L.A. Women
by Ella Berman

New to Los Angeles’ party scene in 1965, ambitious writer Lane connects with socialite and fellow writer Gala. They eventually fall out and a decade later, Lane mines Gala’s life for a novel, only to learn she’s gone missing. This slow-burn latest from book club favorite Ella Berman serves up a sharp look at female friendship and rivalry. Try this next: The Sunset Crowd by Karin Tanabe; Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik (nonfiction).
The French kitchen : a novel by Kristy Cambron
The French kitchen : a novel
by Kristy Cambron

As Paris rebuilds in the aftermath of World War II, Kat Fontaine never expected the skills she learned in a French chateau kitchen to be the key that unlocks the secrets swirling in her new post-war life.
One of Us
by Dan Chaon

In 1915, 13-year-old orphaned twins Bolt and Eleanor, who share a psychic connection, run away from a murderous man claiming to be their uncle. They end up with Mr. Jengling’s Emporium of Wonders, which includes a death-foretelling woman and a dog-faced boy. While Bolt settles in, Eleanor doesn’t, and they still have their “uncle” on their trail in this “mesmerizing and macabre historical adventure” (Booklist). For fans of: Amiee Gibbs’ The Carnivale of Curiosities.
The lost baker of Vienna by Sharon Kurtzman
The lost baker of Vienna
by Sharon Kurtzman

Zoe Rosenzweig investigates her family's Holocaust history, uncovering the 1946 story of her ancestor Chana, a young Viennese baker torn between survival, family duty, and love in a fragile postwar world still shadowed by trauma.
The Secret Book Society
by Madeline Martin

In 1895 London, wealthy widow Lady Duxbury handpicks three women to join a secret book club, where they not only discuss novels, but become friends who help each other in a world where a wife can be put in an asylum at the behest of her husband. Read-alikes: Joanna Miller’s The Eights; Helen Simonson’s The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club.
This Here Is Love
by Princess Joy L. Perry

In the 1690s, three young people come of age in Virginia: enslaved Bless, who’s all her mother has left; enslaved David, whose father is a free Black man; and Scots Irish indentured servant Jack, who’s an orphan. As they grapple with survival, love, and tough decisions, their lives eventually converge. This evocative, accomplished debut uses multiple voices to tell a powerful story. For fans of: Red Clay by Charles B. Fancher; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
The Hounding
by Xenobe Purvis

In 18th-century Oxfordshire, a ferryman claims he saw one of the Mansfield girls turn into a dog. Soon villagers blame the girl and her four sisters, aged between six and 19, for the terrible heat, failing crops, and the dead body at the edge of the Thames River. Menacing and atmospheric, this timely Gothic-tinged debut explores misogyny, herd mentality, and resentment. For fans of: Chris Bohjalian’s Hour of the Witch; Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
The slip : a novel by Lucas Schaefer
The slip : a novel
by Lucas Schaefer

In 1998 Austin, teen boxer Nathaniel Rothstein vanishes, while across the city, a teen called X searches for belonging; years later, a shocking tip sends Nathaniel's uncle on a relentless search, uncovering unexpected connections that challenge everything he thought he knew.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Round Rock Public Library
200 E. Liberty Avenue Round Rock, Texas 78664
512-218-7000

www.roundrocktexas.gov/library