Historical FictionSeptember 2025
Recent Releases
The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn
The Lost Passenger
by Frances Quinn

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. "Impressively well-executed and fast-paced," raves Kirkus Reviews.
The Antidote by Karen Russell
The Antidote
by Karen Russell

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.
The Martha's Vineyard beach and book club : a novel by Martha Hall Kelly
The Martha's Vineyard beach and book club : a novel
by Martha Hall Kelly

In 2016, grieving Mari Starwood visits Martha's Vineyard and uncovers a surprising connection to the Smith sisters, who, during World War II, balanced family struggles, romance, and whispers of espionage while running a farm and forming a transformative book club.
No precious truth : a Cathy Marsden thriller by Chris Nickson
No precious truth : a Cathy Marsden thriller
by Chris Nickson

"Leeds, 1941. As the war rages across Europe, Police Sergeant Cathy Marsden's life since she was seconded to the Special Investigation Branch has remained focused on deserters and home-front crimes. Until now. Things take a chilling turn when Cathy's civil servant brother, Dan, arrives from London with a dark secret: he is working for the XX Committee - a special MI5 unit set up to turn German spies into double agents. But one of these agents has escaped and is heading for Leeds, sent to destroy targets key to the war effort. Suddenly Cathy and the squad are plunged into an unfamiliar world of espionage and subterfuge. With the fate of the country and the war in the balance, failure is not an option, and Cathy must risk everything, including her own life, to stop a spy"
The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
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.
Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi
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 Director by Daniel Kehlmann; translated by Ross Benjamin
The Director
by Daniel Kehlmann; translated by Ross Benjamin

Austrian film director G.W. Pabst, who helped Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks become stars, goes to Hollywood but ends up back in 1930s Europe when his mother becomes ill. As the Nazis grow in power, he's forced to stay there and create films for them. This thought-provoking biographical novel melds art and history and serves up "a searing look at the mechanics of complicity" (Publishers Weekly). 
The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris
The Girls of Good Fortune
by Kristina McMorris

Facing anti-Chinese sentiment in 1880s Oregon, biracial Celia hides her heritage and works as a maid for Portland's mayor. His son, who knows Celia’s secret, loves her and proposes. But with him away at school, her father murdered, and her unexpectedly pregnant, Celia ends up housekeeping at a brothel, before other dangers surface. Recipes and an author's note add to this compelling tale. Read-alike: Jenny Tinghui Zhang's Four Treasures of the Sky.
Contact your librarian for more great books!