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Historical Fiction August 2025 |
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| Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite ClaytonAmid 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. |
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Bent but not broken
by Mary Monroe
Trapped in a loveless marriage, Naomi Simmons finds hope with a new love, but her husband's stroke and shocking news from her daughter threaten to upend her life in the fifth novel of the series following Double Lives.
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| The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin HarmelIn 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. |
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Austen at Sea
by Natalie Jenner
Sisters Henrietta and Charlotte, who adore Jane Austen's books, sail to England in 1865 to visit Jane's last surviving sibling, Frank. On board are two brothers who deal in rare books (also going to see Frank) and Henrietta's secret beau. Dramatic events on ship and in England see all their lives transformed in this evocative tale. Try this next: Gill Hornby's Godmersham Park.
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All the men I've loved again : a novel
by Christine Pride
In 1999, shy college freshman Cora Belle is swept into a whirlwind of first love, heartbreak, and self-discovery between two unforgettable men and, 20 years later, must face her unresolved choices when a surprise reunion brings them all back together.
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The Stolen Queen
by Fiona Davis
In 1937, Charlotte Cross studies anthropology in the Valley of the Kings, but there are odd goings-on. In 1978 New York, she's a Met curator when a priceless artifact disappears during the Met Gala. Along with 18-year-old Annie Jenkins, Gala organizer Diana Vreeland's assistant, Charlotte goes to Egypt to face her past and retrieve the item. Read-alikes: Bryn Turnbull's The Paris Deception; Gill Paul's The Collector's Daughter.
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Homeseeking
by Karissa Chen
Separated by war and reunited after 60 years, Haiwen and Suchi navigate decades of love, loss and survival across continents, as their shared past clashes with their hopes for a second chance at life.
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| The Lost Masterpiece by B.A. ShapiroIn 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. |
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| Wayward Girls by Susan WiggsThis 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. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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