Historical Fiction
June 2025
Recent Releases
My Name Is Emilia del Valle
by Isabel Allende

Raised by her Irish former nun mother and a loving stepdad in San Francisco, Emilia del Valle never knows her Chilean aristocrat father. As a young journalist covering the Chilean Civil War of 1891, she begins a romance and also meets the father who abandoned her. Isabel Allende fans will relish reading about the del Valles, whose various members often appear in her work. Try this next: Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie.
Strangers in Time
by David Baldacci

London, 1944. A bereaved bookshop owner, Ignatius, and two teenagers, Charlie and Molly, scarred by the Second World War, find in each other the spirit of family each has lost.  But Charlie’s escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed, and someone’s been following Molly since she returned to London. And Ignatius is harboring his own secrets, which could have terrible consequences for all of them.  You might also like: The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson. 
Gabriële
by Anne Berest and Claire Berest

Talented young French musician Gabriële Buffet meets mercurial Spanish artist Francis Picabia in 1908 and soon marries him. In Paris, the couple grows close with artist Marcel Duchamp while embracing the avant-garde as World War I approaches. Written by two of Buffet's great-granddaughters, this eye-opening biographical novel spotlights a woman integral to art history. Try this next: Jeanne Mackin's Picasso's Lovers.
The Book Club for Troublesome Women
by Marie Bostwick

In 1963 suburban Virginia, four married women form a book club: arty newcomer Charlotte; former Army nurse Vivian, now pregnant with her seventh child; Ohio transplant and mom-to-three Margaret; and newlywed Bitsy, who'd dreamed of being a veterinarian. Starting with Betty Friedan's controversial The Feminine Mystique, the women read, change, and draw closer over the course of a year. For fans of: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
The Story She Left Behind
by Patti Callahan Henry

In 1927, a famed author leaves her South Carolina home in the middle of the night. In 1952 London, Charles Jameson finds the author's papers and a letter addressed to Clara, the daughter she left behind. This soon leads Charles, Clara, and Clara's young daughter to the Lake District in search of answers. Try these next: Rhys Bowen's The Tuscan Child; Ann Hood's The Stolen Child.
Six Days in Bombay
by Alka Joshi

Whispers of independence swirl in 1930s Bombay, India, as young Anglo-Indian nurse Sona bonds with her latest charge, famous painter Mira Novak, who's also mixed race. After Mira dies, Sona is determined to honor her new friend's request: hand-delivering paintings to people in Prague, Florence, and Paris. Read-alike: Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb.
The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club
by Martha Hall Kelly

Inspired by real events, this compelling novel follows Mari Starwood in 2016 as she visits reclusive Martha's Vineyard painter Elizabeth, who has ties to Mari's recently deceased mother. Elizabeth tells Mari about the island during World War II, focusing on two teenage sisters who form a book club, run the family farm, and look for German U-boats and spies. For fans of: Madeline Martin's The Last Bookshop in London; Amy Lynne Green's The Blackout Book Club.
The Eights
by Joanna Miller

In 1920, Oxford University admits degree-seeking women for the first time. On Corridor Eight, insecure Beatrice, socialite Otto, scholarship student Marianne, and grieving Dora bond as they navigate sexism, personal loss, societal expectations, and the lingering trauma of World War I. This well-researched, character-driven debut will please fans of Natalie Jenner's Bloomsbury Girls and Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night.
Happy Land
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

When Nikki visits her estranged grandmother in North Carolina, she uncovers a hidden legacy tied to a forgotten kingdom of freed people, unraveling her family's secrets and her own identity while fighting to protect their endangered heritage. Inspired by true events, Happy Land is a transporting multi-generational novel about the stories that shape us and the dazzling courage it takes to dream. You might also like: The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton.  
The Original Daughter
by Jemimah Wei

In turn-of-the-millennium Singapore, sisters Genevieve and Arin navigate intense familial and societal pressures to achieve academic perfection, but a devastating betrayal forces Genevieve to confront the cost of ambition, loyalty, and the bonds that define her identity. Try this next: Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok.
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