|
|
Historical Fiction May 2025 |
|
|
|
|
| 33 Place Brugmann by Alice AustenWhat it's about: Set just prior to and during the Nazi occupation of Brussels, Belgium, this thought-provoking debut examines the challenges and choices of an apartment building's residents, who take turns narrating. They include an architect, his art student daughter, an art dealer, his 18-year-old son, a seamstress, a maid, a widowed colonel, and others.
Try this next: The Keeper of Lost Art by Laura Morelli. |
|
| Broken Country by Clare Leslie HallWhat happens: In 1955 Dorset, England, teenage Beth falls for wealthy Gabriel, who leaves town. In 1968, Beth, now married to sheep farmer Frank, is still mourning the death of her young son two years before when Gabriel reappears with his own son, setting in motion events that lead to a courtroom trial.
For fans of: This emotionally intense Reese's Book Club pick will please fans of Chris Whitaker's All the Colors of the Dark and Miranda Cowley Heller's The Paper Palace. |
|
| The Pretender by Jo HarkinWhat It's about: Lambert Simnel, a ten-year-old peasant in 1480s England, is tutored and trained, and then declared the hidden heir to the throne. Amid court politics, Lambert becomes part of the Yorkist cause in this witty, "wildly entertaining" (Booklist) novel based on a little-known true story.
For fans of: Maggie O'Farrell, Alison Weir, and Hilary Mantel. |
|
| The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna LabuskesWhat it is: Inspired by real events, this slow-burn novel combines romance, murder, and mystery as it follows three women whose lives eventually connect: a Works Progress Administration editor sent from Washington, D.C. to Montana in 1936, a librarian who delivers books to areas around Missoula in 1924, and an avid reader in rural 1914 Montana.
Read-alike: Janet Skeslien Charles' Miss Morgan's Book Brigade. |
|
| A Map to Paradise by Susan MeissnerWhat it's about: In 1956 California, actress Melanie Cole is blacklisted by association, reducing her circle to her European maid Eva, her agoraphobic screenwriter neighbor Elwood, and his sister-in-law caregiver, June. When Elwood disappears, Melanie enlists Eva get to close to June and find Elwood as wildfires draw close.
Read-alike: Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne's The Starlets. |
|
|
|
Red Clay
by Charles B. Fancher
What it's about: Chronicles the interwoven lives of an enslaved Black family and their white owners as the Civil War ends and Reconstruction begins.
Reviewers say: "Fancher imbues the narrative with a rich humanity...There's plenty for historical fiction fans to admire." (Publishers Weekly)
|
|
| The Lost Passenger by Frances QuinnWhat it's about: Teenage Elinor marries an earl, finding out afterwards he only wants her money. Belittled and given little access to her young son by his family, she looks forward to the Titanic voyage with no governess. When disaster strikes, her father, husband, and servants die, so Elinor takes her maid's identity to keep her son from her in-laws.
Reviewers say: "Impressively well-executed and fast-paced," (Kirkus Reviews) |
|
| The Antidote by Karen RussellWhat happens: A severe dust storm devastates a 1930s Nebraska town already suffering due to the burdens of its dark past and the Great Depression. Narrated by a teen basketball star, a Polish farmer, a scarecrow, a prairie witch who keeps memories, and a New Deal photographer with a time-bending camera, this buzzy latest by a Pulitzer finalist weds the supernatural to the historical.
Read-alikes: Kali Fajardo-Anstine's Woman of Light; William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|