Historical Fiction
October 2025

Recent Releases
L.A. Women
by Ella Berman

New to Los Angeles’ party scene in 1965, ambitious writer Lane connects with socialite and fellow writer Gala. They eventually fall out and a decade later, Lane mines Gala’s life for a novel, only to learn she’s gone missing. This slow-burn latest from book club favorite Ella Berman serves up a sharp look at female friendship and rivalry. Try this next: The Sunset Crowd by Karin Tanabe; Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik (nonfiction).
Six Weeks by the Sea
by Paula Byrne

Before moving to Bath, England, Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra, and her parents stay at coastal Sidmouth for several weeks during the summer of 1801. Jane relishes the views, sea bathing, and visiting with her brother Frank, who’s temporarily home from the Navy with a handsome friend in tow. But there are other intriguing men with whom Jane spends time in this delightful novel. Read-alikes: Natalie Jenner's Austen at Sea; Gill Hornby’s Godmersham Park.
All the colors of the dark by Whitaker, Chris
All the colors of the dark
by Whitaker, Chris

After a string of disappearances in 1975 Missouri, a one-eyed boy heroically thwarts a kidnapping, igniting a chain of events that blur the lines between triumph and tragedy as the townspeople of Monta Clare confront hidden truths.
The god of the woods by Liz Moore
The god of the woods
by Liz Moore

In 1975, when a camp counselor discovers the 13-year-old daughter of the summer camp's owners has disappeared just like her brother 14 years earlier, a panicked search begins as the secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow are revealed.
The Secret Book Society
by Madeline Martin

In 1895 London, wealthy widow Lady Duxbury handpicks three women to join a secret book club, where they not only discuss novels, but become friends who help each other in a world where a wife can be put in an asylum at the behest of her husband. Read-alikes: Joanna Miller’s The Eights; Helen Simonson’s The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club.
This Here Is Love
by Princess Joy L. Perry

In the 1690s, three young people come of age in Virginia: enslaved Bless, who’s all her mother has left; enslaved David, whose father is a free Black man; and Scots Irish indentured servant Jack, who’s an orphan. As they grapple with survival, love, and tough decisions, their lives eventually converge. This evocative, accomplished debut uses multiple voices to tell a powerful story. For fans of: Red Clay by Charles B. Fancher; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
The Hounding
by Xenobe Purvis

In 18th-century Oxfordshire, a ferryman claims he saw one of the Mansfield girls turn into a dog. Soon villagers blame the girl and her four sisters, aged between six and 19, for the terrible heat, failing crops, and the dead body at the edge of the Thames River. Menacing and atmospheric, this timely Gothic-tinged debut explores misogyny, herd mentality, and resentment. For fans of: Chris Bohjalian’s Hour of the Witch; Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
The academy by Elin Hilderbrand
The academy
by Elin Hilderbrand

When a surprise national ranking thrusts underachieving Tiffin Academy into the spotlight, a viral gossip app begins exposing students' and staff's secrets, unraveling reputations and relationships as the boarding school's carefully curated image gives way to chaos, scandal and unexpected alliances.
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