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Historical Fiction November 2025 |
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| Venetian Vespers by John BanvilleIn Booker Prize winner John Banville's atmospheric latest, newlyweds Evelyn and Laura, who don't know each other very well, visit 1899 Venice. Struggling British writer Evelyn, who narrates, has been pulled to the city by his recently disinherited American wife, and there he meets a man claiming to know him. Though Evelyn doesn't remember the man, he quickly falls for his sister, which leads to violence and a disappearance. For another view of Venice, try: Alyssa Palombo's The Assassin of Venice. |
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Bog Queen
by Anna North
In 2018, a young forensic scientist, homesick and adrift in the North of England, is heading to a coroner's office to identify a body. But this body, found in a moss-layered bog, is not like any Agnes has seen before: its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, yet it is almost perfectly preserved. Soon Agnes is drawn into a mystery from the distant past: the death of an Iron Age queen more like her than she knows. Along the way, she must contend with numerous groups who want to profit from the bog and activists who demand that the land be left undisturbed. Meanwhile, underfoot, there's the land itself: the wet, teeming colony of moss has its own dark stories to tell.
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| Circle of Days by Ken FollettExploring the creation of Stonehenge, Circle of Days follows Seft, a flint miner who's physically abused by his widowed father. Falling for Neen, he's embraced by her herding family and ends up helping Neen's priestess sister bring her vision for a massive stone circle to life while facing weather issues, tribal conflicts, and logistical problems in this intricately plotted epic with a large cast of characters. Try this next: Conn Iggulden's The Abbot's Tale. |
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| Amity by Nathan HarrisIn 1866 Louisiana, formerly enslaved siblings Coleman and June continue to work for the Harper family after the war. When Mr. Harper heads to Mexico hoping to get rich via silver mines, he takes June with him. Soon Mrs. Harper, her adult daughter, bookish Coleman, and a dog follow them, but no one's journey is smooth in this incisive, intricately plotted western. For fans of: Paulette Jiles' Chenneville; Chris Bohjalian's The Jackal's Mistress. |
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Small Acts of Resistance
by Anita Frank
When his aircraft crashes in Northern France, British airman Henry finds himself stranded behind enemy lines. His survival depends on the courage and compassion of a local family who risk everything by hiding him in their farmhouse.
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Last Train to Freedom
by Deborah Swift
1940. As Soviet forces storm Lithuania, Zofia and her brother Jacek must flee to survive. A lifeline appears when Japanese consul Sugihara offers them visas on one condition: they must deliver a parcel to Tokyo. Inside lies intelligence on Nazi atrocities, evidence so explosive that Nazi and Soviet agents will stop at nothing to possess it. Pursued across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Express, Zofia faces danger at every turn, racing to expose the truth as Japan edges closer to allying with the Nazis. With the fate of countless lives hanging in the balance, can she complete her mission before time runs out?
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The Lies They Told
by Ellen Marie Wiseman
In rural 1930s Virginia, a young immigrant mother fights for her dignity and those she loves against America's rising eugenics movement - when widespread support for policies of prejudice drove imprisonment and forced sterilizations based on class, race, disability, education, and country of origin - in this tragic and uplifting novel of social injustice, survival, and hope...
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The House of Wolf
by Tony Robinson
Sir Tony Robinson - actor, presenter, historical expert and star of Blackadder and Time Team - makes his adult fiction debut with this earthy, entertaining and gloriously witty recreation of the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred the Great, and the making of England.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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