Forsyth County Public Library: Historical Fiction: January 2026

Recent Releases

Huguette
by Cara Black

Huguette, a teenager ill-treated by her father and others, survives the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. In the lawless aftermath, she assists a famous film director and deals in underground goods for him. Fans of the author's acclaimed Aimée Leduc mysteries set in contemporary Paris will appreciate meeting Aimée's grandfather, a kind cop who helps Huguette, in this compelling standalone tale. Read-alike: Pam Jenoff's Last Twilight in Paris.

Fire Sword and Sea
by Vanessa Riley

From Vanessa Riley, acclaimed author of Queen of Exiles, comes a dual-timeline saga based on the life of the legendary pirate Jacquotte Delehaye, a fearless woman of mixed parentage who forged her own life plundering wealth and battling slavers on the treacherous Caribbean seas of the 17th century. Try these next: The Ballad of Jacquotte Delehaye by Briony Cameron; The Vengeance by Emma Newman.

The Land in Winter
by Andrew Miller

As one of the coldest winters in English history bears down in late 1962, two neighboring couples with London connections navigate rural life and the upcoming births of their firstborns. Neither marriage is what it used to be, but Irene, who's married to the local doctor, and Rita, a former dancer turned farmer's wife, connect with each other over their pregnancies in this quiet, interior novel that gathers momentum as a blizzard hits. Read-alike: Jessica Anthony's The Most.

The Bookbinder's Secret
by A. D. Bell

A young bookbinder begins a hunt for the truth when a confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book reveals a story of forbidden love, lost fortune, and murder. Try these next: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd; The Binding by Bridget Collins.

Books You May Have Missed

Junie
by Erin Crosby Eckstine

Enslaved 16-year-old Junie loves poetry and her family. As maid to Violet, the only child of Alabama plantation owners, Junie knows that if Violet marries the wealthy man her father has brought home, they'll both end up in faraway New Orleans. Distraught, Junie asks her dead sister Minnie for help, unleashing her ghost. In this moving debut, the author "evokes the earthly and supernatural to equally powerful effect" (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: Jesmyn Ward's Let Us Descend.

Red Clay
by Charles B. Fancher

In 1943 Alabama, an 80-something white woman visits a Black household who've just lost their grandfather, Felix Parker. Felix was once enslaved by the visiting woman's family, and surprising information surfaces due to her visit in this thought-provoking tale that flows back to the Civil War and Reconstruction. Based on the author's ancestors, this sweeping debut doesn't shy away from violence and complex topics. Try this next: The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers.

Before Dorothy
by Hazel Gaynor

Emily Gale and her new husband Henry move to Kansas to start a farm, leaving Emily's dear sister Annie and her newborn Dorothy behind in the city. Just a few years later, in 1932, Annie dies and the couple adopt Dorothy. But the youngster isn't the only big change in the couple's world -- drought and devastating dust storms threaten everything. For other Oz retellings, try: After Oz by Gordon McAlpine; Toto by A.J. Hackwith, or Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts.

Strangers in Time
by David Baldacci

Navigating life in London as World War II rages, Ignatius Oliver (a widowed bookseller with secrets), Charlie Matters (an orphaned 14-year-old who steals for food), and Molly Wakefield (a well-to-do 15-year-old whose parents are missing), create a safe haven with each other even as bombs fall. Read-alike: The Lilac People by Milo Todd; The Keeper of Lost Art by Laura Morelli.

Anima Rising
by Christopher Moore

In 1911 Vienna, celebrated artist Gustav Klimt saves a woman from drowning in the Danube, but she has no memory of her past. That is, until Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung help out and the woman recalls, among other things, being in the Arctic over 100 years earlier with Victor Frankenstein. For fans of: offbeat novels that mix real characters and fictional ones into irreverent and compelling plots.

Contact your librarian for more great books!