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Historical Fiction September 2026 |
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| The Half Life by Rachel BeanlandIn the 1970s, Eileen O'Malley meets and quickly marries charismatic naval officer Paul Archer. Moving to the tiny Mediterranean island of La Maddalena, where Paul works aboard a nuclear submarine tender, Eileen adjusts to life as a navy wife and takes Italian cooking lessons. But when she learns of local concerns about possible nuclear contamination, she finds herself divided and her marriage in trouble. Try this next: Emily Dunlay's Teddy. |
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Jacaranda by Gaël FayeA young man journeys from Paris to Rwanda to discover the truth about his family's past in this bestselling, prize-winning novel from internationally renowned Rwandan-French novelist and hip-hop artist Gael Faye. Partly inspired by acclaimed author Gael Faye's own relationship with Rwanda and its history, Jacaranda is a rich and deeply felt portrait of a man seeking to understand his family and his nation as it heals from the unthinkable. You might also like: Janika Oza's A History of Burning.
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| When Mikan Road Was Ours by D.K. FurutaniReeling from his father's death and his own cancer diagnosis, high school teacher Mr. Murano is in limbo. But everything changes after inheriting his great-uncle Benjiro's unpublished memoir, where Murano learns about his Japanese family, from their bucolic farm in 1930s California to their World War II internment and beyond. This is a well-researched debut and a poignant meditation on life and family. Try this next: Naomi Hirahara's Japantown historical mysteries. |
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| Meet Me in the Garden by Nina LacourIn 1944 New Orleans, 18-year-old Odette, from a Creole family, and her cousin Delphine share secrets, including Odette's affair with a woman and Delphine's with a married white man. To avoid Jim Crow, Odette and her sisters move to California. Passing as white, Delphine moves, too, eventually running into Odette. Inspired by the author's Creole family, this novel is "a masterpiece" (Booklist). Read-alikes: Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul; Kin by Tayari Jones. |
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| Runner by Ashton LattimoreIn 1923 Martha's Vineyard, a mysterious shipwreck kills her father and his crew, so Lena Jameson takes over his rum-running business instead of attending college. With help from her brother, her on-and-off boyfriend, and a glamorous young woman with secrets, Lena branches out to Boston and Harlem while also investigating what caused her dad's shipwreck. For fans of: suspenseful Prohibition-era novels; atmospheric historical fiction featuring ground-breaking Black women. |
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American Han by Lisa LeeGrowing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents demanded: both stellar tennis players and academically gifted, they worked hard to make their parents proud. Their parents, each on their own path toward the elusive American Dream (their mother hell-bent on having the perfect house and the perfect family, their father obsessed with working his way up from one successful business to the next), don't want to see the family unraveling. When Kevin goes missing, no one recognizes his absence as the warning sign it is until it erupts, forcing them all to come to terms with their past and present selves in a country that isn't all it promised it would be. Try this next: Hagwon by Min Jin Lee.
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| The Parisian Heist by Jo PiazzaIn 1996 Paris, American art student Emma cleans the home of Stella Swanson, the widow of a notorious billionaire art dealer, who shares family secrets, leading Emma to plan an art museum heist. In 1891, newly widowed Jo van Gogh inherits worthless paintings by brother-in-law Vincent and champions them with help from new friend Claire. Narrated by Emma and Claire, this atmospheric dual-timeline novel is "a satisfying caper with brains and heart" (Publishers Weekly). You might also like: The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay. |
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The Creek, the Crone, and the Crow by Leah WeissWelcome to Baines Creek, a humble hamlet hidden deep in Appalachia, where the last one-room schoolhouse in North Carolina is on the brink of closing. It's summer 1980, and teacher Kate Shaw has lived in Baines Creek for ten years. A skeptic at heart, she rejects mountain superstition and Appalachian folklore, much to the disappointment of Birdie Rocas, a powerful and reclusive witch with a trove of secrets. Yet, as Kate prepares to leave, a sudden death, a shocking request, and a legacy that spans centuries throw her into a world that overwhelms her. Enter Lydia Brown, a psychic with a curious birthmark whose visions stopped when she needed them most. Grief-stricken without her gift, and desperate for spiritual guidance, she travels to Baines Creek in search of Birdie and the answers she might provide. "The novel effortlessly evokes the magic of the Appalachians and its history of folklore, fortitude, and family" (Booklist).
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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