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Historical Fiction October 2026 |
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| The Barman of the Ritz by Philippe CollinIn 1940 Paris, while other businesses close, the legendary Ritz Hotel hosts locals, celebrities, and Nazis. Frank Meier, the hotel’s acclaimed barman who’s secretly Jewish, adapts to his new clientele while doing what he can to help other Jewish people, including his young mentee and the hotel manager’s wife. Based on a true story and translated from French, this is an absorbing, thought-provoking novel. |
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| The Library of Leaving by Emily DunlayIn 1920s Switzerland, American Helen Fox handles book bequests from American diplomats and expatriates. She lives a quiet life and is shocked to receive a draft book chapter written by a former lover and spy that hints at Helen's colorful past during the Great War, including a relationship with an Austrian baron. Using multiple perspectives, this sweeping novel examines the power of books and love while serving up a slow-burn spy story. Try these next: Maggie Stiefvater's The Listeners; Beatriz Williams' The Golden Hour. |
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| The Witches of Cambridge by Alice HoffmanNew to Radcliffe College in 1950 Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ava and Lauren become friends and join the Lilith Society, a secret group of witches. Beautiful Ava from small-town Maine falls for a Harvard student descended from a 17th-century witch hunter, but wealthy, orphaned Lauren disapproves of the match. Meanwhile, McCarthyism ripples through the country and several girls go missing. This Read with Jenna pick mixes magical realism with dark academia to create a compelling, atmospheric read. Try this next: Silvia Moreno-Garcia's The Bewitching. |
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| The Pirate Queen by Ariel LawhonIn 16th-century Ireland, Grace O'Malley dreams of a life at sea, but her chieftain father insists she marry to forge an alliance. She obeys and has children, but after her husband’s death, she becomes the leader of her clan’s ships, fights battles, and finds real love. This well-researched, adventure-filled saga moves back and forth across time, with alternating chapters depicting the three eras of Grace’s life (Maiden, Mother, and Matriarch). For fans of: intriguing biographical novels with strong heroines, like Molly Aitken's Bright I Burn and Vanessa Riley's Fire Sword & Sea.
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| Sunlight Finds You by Laura MoriartyIn 1949 St. Petersburg, Florida, 17-year-old Nora falls for Leonard, the shy, brilliant son of wealthy transplanted New Yorkers. Though the young couple's love grows, his parents interfere. Rebelling, Leonard skips college to enlist and ends up in the Korean War. Meanwhile, Nora discovers she's pregnant and is sent to a mother-and-baby home where her only choice is to give up her child for adoption. Told from Nora's point of view a few years later, this novel follows what happens to these complex characters. Try this next: Laney Katz Becker's In the Family Way. |
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The Unfinished Work: A Novel of Abraham Lincoln
by Jeff Shaara
Beginning with his election as President in 1860, through his time in the Oval Office, Shaara reveals the complexities behind the man who refused to let the deep divisions and conflicting emotions permanently sunder the country itself, at great personal cost. The Unfinished Work is the finest work yet by one of the most popular, most acclaimed historical novelist of our time, a capstone to a life's work.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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