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Historical Fiction July 2025 |
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The Dressmakers of London
by Julia Kelly
Kelly (The Lost English Girl; A Traitor in Whitehall) sets her newest in WWII London, where two estranged sisters jointly inherit their mother's dressmaking shop and must rely upon each other to save the business and, perhaps by doing so, heal old wounds.
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| Zeal by Morgan JerkinsOpening at Ardelia and Oliver's engagement party in 2019 New York, this sweeping story flows back to 1865, where star-crossed enslaved lovers Harrison and Tirzah are separated by the American Civil War. They end up marrying others, and Zeal movingly depicts their paths and those of their descendants over the following decades. For fans of: Robert Jones, Jr.'s The Prophets; Honorée Fanonne Jeffers' The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. |
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The Foxhole Victory Tour
by Amy Lynn Green
During World War II, Catherine Duquette and Maggie McCleod come from different worlds but are thrown together on a USO variety show touring North Africa. While they each have secret reasons for accepting the job, neither anticipates the danger and intrigue they'll encounter performing so close to the front lines.
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| The Director by Daniel Kehlmann; translated by Ross BenjaminAustrian film director G.W. Pabst, who helped Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks become stars, goes to Hollywood but ends up back in 1930s Europe when his mother becomes ill. As the Nazis grow in power, he's forced to stay there and create films for them. This thought-provoking biographical novel melds art and history and serves up "a searing look at the mechanics of complicity" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice MonroeIndependent Eliza Rivers, who was born in South Carolina's Lowcountry in 1900, lives through wars, family turmoil, sexism, business growth, and more. At 88, she draws two young women close, sharing her past and hoping they can keep her beloved land safe from her selfish son in this multigenerational novel, the 1st in the Mayfield duology. Read-alikes: Michael Christie's Greenwood; Dolen Perkins-Valdez's Happy Land. |
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| The Red House by Mary MorrisLeaving New Jersey and her troubled marriage, middle-aged Laura goes to Italy, hoping to learn more about her mother, Viola, who disappeared when Laura was a kid. Interspersed with Laura's efforts, readers see Viola as a child during World War II, when Italian Jewish people were imprisoned in detention centers. Exploring intergenerational trauma, this evocative read presents an "unusual and satisfying tale of family secrets" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Listeners by Maggie StiefvaterIn January 1942, war comes to West Virginia when the United States government orders the luxury Avallon Hotel to house Axis Power diplomats. Balancing work, worry, and ethical questions, hotel manager June Porter Hudson also gets to know a handsome FBI agent. This atmospheric adult fiction debut by a bestselling YA fantasy novelist has hints of magic and is a "must-read for all historical fiction fans" (Library Journal). Read-alike: Melanie Benjamin's Mistress of the Ritz. |
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| The Cardinal by Alison WeirTracing Thomas Wolsey's rise from the young son of a village butcher to a wealthy cardinal and Henry VIII's closest advisor, this well-researched tale also depicts his falling in love and becoming a father to several children, despite church rules. But everything, including his life, is at risk when the king decides to divorce Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Read this next: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. |
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Contact your library for more great books! |
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