Historical Fiction
August 2025
Recent Releases
Typewriter Beach
by Meg Waite Clayton

Amid McCarthyism in 1957, Isabella Giori dreams of being Alfred Hitchcock's favorite blonde actress. But while temporarily staying at a Carmel-by-the-Sea cottage, she becomes friends with blacklisted writer Leo, changing both of their lives. In 2018, Leo's granddaughter clears out his cottage after his death, meeting his neighbor Isabella and finding secrets in his safe. Read-alikes: Susan Meissner's A Map to Paradise; Sarah Jane Stratford's Red Letter Days.
Dear Miss Lake : a novel
by A. J. Pearce

During wartime, advice columnist Emmy Lake and the Woman's Friend staff relocate to the countryside, where Emmy balances rural life, a looming wedding and the possibility of war correspondence in the fourth novel of the series following Mrs. Porter Calling.
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau
by Kristin Harmel

In Nazi-occupied France, Colette Marceau's mother is executed while her four-year-old sister disappears and is later found dead. Trained by her mother, Colette becomes a jewel thief, targeting the bad to give to the good, and in 2018 Boston, she's still working when a special bracelet linked to her sister appears in a museum. Elderly Colette seeks answers, hoping to finally learn what happened decades ago in this sweeping dual-timeline tale. Read-alike: Pam Jenoff's Last Twilight in Paris.
The women on platform two
by Laura Anthony

In 1969 Dublin, Maura and Bernie confront dangerous choices around motherhood, while in 2023, Saoirse's hesitation about having children connects her to a hidden history of women's resilience that shaped her freedom to choose.
Tyrant
by Conn Iggulden

In 50 CE Rome, Agrippina has skillfully maneuvered her way to power by becoming Emperor Claudius' fourth wife and now works to ensure her position and that of her son, Nero, by manipulating Claudius into adopting him. This cinematic, action-packed 2nd in a trilogy follows last year's Nero; the final book, Inferno, is due April 2026. Read-alike: Margaret George's Nero novels; Steven Saylor's historical fiction.
Angel Down
by Daniel Kraus

After intense fighting in France's Argonne Forest during World War I, American Cyril Bagger is ordered along with four other misfits to "silence" the soldier stuck in No Man's Land producing unearthly screams -- but what they find is an injured angel wrapped in barbed wire, whom they agree to protect. Compelling and innovative in both structure and story, this is the buzzy latest by the author of Whalefall. Try this next: Chigozie Obioma's The Road to the Country.
The Great Mann
by Kyra Davis Lurie

This evocative take on The Great Gatsby set in 1945 Los Angeles finds Charlie Trammell back from the war and trying out a place that he hopes won't judge people by the color of their skin as much as the South. Pulled into the glamourous neighborhood of Sugar Hill where his married cousin Margie lives, Charlie meets an enigmatic man. Meanwhile, the wealthy Black enclave is threatened by a lawsuit by white homeowners. Read-alikes: Gayl Jones' The Unicorn Woman; Percival Everett's James.
The Lost Masterpiece
by B.A. Shapiro

In late 1800s France, painters Édouard Manet and Berthe Morisot meet and become lovers, resulting in Party on the Seine, a work featuring Berthe. In modern-day Boston, Morisot's lone descendent, executive Tamara Rubin, learns the Nazi-stolen work has been found, leading to legal challenges and romance in this suspenseful multi-timeline novel with hints of the supernatural. For fans of: Maureen Gibbon's The Lost Notebook of Édouard Manet; Robin Oliveira's I Always Loved You.
Wayward Girls
by Susan Wiggs

This moving novel of survival, friendship, and redemption follows six teenage girls at an abusive Catholic reform school in 1968 Buffalo, New York, who have been sent there due to pregnancy, lesbianism, or to protect them from family members. Based on a real place, this character-driven novel also revisits the girls in later years. For fans of: Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These; Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys; V.S. Alexander's The Magdalen Girls.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Rochester Hills Public Library
500 Olde Towne Rd
Rochester, Michigan 48307
248-656-2900
www.rhpl.org/