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Historical Fiction August 2025 |
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The antidote by Karen RussellIn a Dust Bowl-era Nebraska town burdened by the Great Depression and its dark past, a witch guarding memories, a grieving athlete, a cursed farmer, and a photographer with a time-bending camera grapple with buried secrets and the consequences of a nation's forgotten history.
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Blonde dust by Tatiana de Rosnay"Pauline, a young chambermaid who works at the legendary Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada, is asked to step in for a colleague and clean Suite 614. Although she was told the rooms were empty, a dazed, sleepy woman appears before her. This is Mrs. Miller, aka Marilyn Monroe, whose stay in Reno coincides with the breakdown of her marriage to Arthur Miller and the filming of what was to be her last film, The Misfits. Set in the American West in 1960 where the mustang horses run wild, an unexpected friendship unfolds between the most famous movie star in the world and a young cleaning woman whose life will be changed forever through the course of a few weeks. A testament to the enduring power of female friendship and a re-imagining of a side of Marilyn Monroe that has never been seen before."
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The filling station : a novel by Vanessa Miller"The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is, shockingly, little more than a footnote in history . . . Miller's book, thankfully, reverses that egregious oversight . . . we viscerally learn how this vibrant Black community fought devastation with resilience, faith, and grit."
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| How to Dodge a Cannonball by Dennard DayleVolunteering for the Union Army to escape his abusive mother, wily 15-year-old flag bearer Anders changes sides when he's captured. But after surviving the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, the white teen passes as biracial and joins an all-Black Union regiment. |
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The queens of crime : a novel by Marie BenedictIn 1930 London, the Queens of Crime, a secret society of renowned women writers led by Dorothy L. Sayers investigates the murder of nurse May Daniels, found strangled in a park, and must navigate a web of intrigue and danger as they challenge societal norms.
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| The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin HarmelIn Nazi-occupied France, Colette Marceau's mother is executed while her four-year-old sister disappears and is later found dead. Trained by her mother, Colette becomes a jewel thief, targeting the bad to give to the good, and in 2018 Boston, she's still working when a special bracelet linked to her sister appears in a museum. Elderly Colette seeks answers, hoping to finally learn what happened decades ago in this sweeping dual-timeline tale. |
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That which binds us by Cathy Rigg"In the 1860s, on Virginia's Appalachian frontier, the fates of five people are forever linked as they navigate love, loss, and the cost of buried secrets amid the strife and turmoil of an unimaginable civil war. Punctuated by class and the realities of a devastating conflict, That Which Binds Us is a broad work of historical fiction that celebrates our best and explores our worst, that serves to remind us that across continents and cultures and generations, love holds the greatest power of all."
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Philadelphia, 1921. When Edie Shippen returns home after spending years in California recovering from Influenza, she’s shocked to discover that her childhood sweetheart is engaged to her twin sister. Heartbroken and adrift, Edie vows to begin living her life as a modern woman—and to hell with anyone who gets in her way. But as young women start to disappear from the city, her newfound independence begins to feel dangerous. With a lush Roaring Twenties setting and a wickedly smart sleuth to cheer for, A Deadly Endeavor is the perfect puzzling romp for fans of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.
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Perspective(s) : a novel by Laurent BinetBursting with characters and historical color, Laurent Binet’s Perspective(s) is a whodunit like no other―a labyrinthine murder mystery that shows us Renaissance Florence as we’ve never seen it before. This is a dark, dazzling, unforgettable read.
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Bug Hollow : a novel by Michelle HunevenSally's brother Ellis goes missing after high school but turns up at Bug Hollow, where a freak accident kills him weeks later; mother and father Sybil and Phil and sisters Katie and Sally each seek their own solace, and after his pregnant girlfriend comes to their door, Sally cares for Ellis's child Eva.
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We don't talk about Carol : a novel by Kristen L. Berry"A dedicated journalist unearths a generations-old family secret-and a connection to a string of missing girls that hits way too close to home-in this gripping debut novel." Delving into family, community, secrets, and motherhood, We Don’t Talk About Carol is a gripping and deeply emotional story about overcoming the rot at the roots of our family trees—and what we’ll do for those we love. |
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The Devil three times : a novel by Rickey Fayne"Yetunde awakens aboard a slave ship en route to the United States with the spirit of her dead sister as her only companion. Desperate to survive the hell that awaits her at their destination, Yetunde finds help in an unexpected form--the Devil himself. Steeped in the spiritual traditions and oral history of the Black diaspora, The Devil Three Times is a baptism by fire and water, heralding a new voice in American fiction."
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.The ghostwriter : a novel by Julie Clark"June, 1975. The Taylor family shatters in a single night when two teenage siblings are found dead in their own home. The only surviving sibling, Vincent, never shakes the whispers and accusations that he was the one who killed them. Decades later, the legend only grows as his career as a horror writer skyrockets. Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of Vincent Taylor. Now on the brink of financial ruin, she's offered a job to ghostwrite her father's last book. What she doesn't know, though, is that this project is another one of his lies. Because it's not another horror novel he wants her to write. After fifty years of silence, Vincent Taylor is finally ready to talk about what really happened that night in 1975."
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The Baker of Lost Memories by Shirley Russak WachtelAspiring baker Lena navigates friendship, love, and family secrets in 1960s Brooklyn, but when revelations about her parents' wartime past and her own history emerge, she must confront the pain that has shaped their lives to find healing.
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