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Historical Fiction February 2026 |
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| The Bookbinder's Secret by A.D. BellIn this "stellar debut" (Publishers Weekly), apprentice bookbinder Lily Delaney works at her widowed father's failing bookshop in 1901 Oxford, England. After a customer gives her a burned book, she finds a cryptic 50-year-old love letter hidden in the binding that speaks of murder. Drawn into the mystery, Lily looks for other books by the obscure author, discovering she's not the only one after them. |
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Fire Must Burn
by Allison Montclair
Sparks fly when an old friend comes to town . . . London, 1947. After recent events have left the normally steadfast Iris Sparks thoroughly shaken, she's looking forward to some peace. With The Right Sort doing well, she and business partner Gwen Bainbridge are due a holiday. Until Iris's former boss enlists their help for a secret mission. Iris, who left British intelligence after the war, is being recruited for her Cambridge connection to one Anthony Danforth. She hasn't seen Tony in almost ten years, yet she and Gwen must manipulate him into hiring their marriage service. Tony's suspected of being a Soviet operative, and an undercover agent posing as his perfect match could discover the truth. Despite her reluctance at being dragged back into the world of espionage, Iris agrees. After all, Tony was once a very good friend. If he's innocent, she'll happily prove it. If not? Well, no one ever said being a spy was easy.
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The Marriage Method
by Mimi Matthews
The Academy always comes first . . . which makes marriage to its most formidable adversary an exceedingly inconvenient arrangement. Well removed from London's more curious eyes, the Benevolent Academy for the Betterment of Young Ladies strives toward one clandestine goal: to distract, disrupt, and discredit men in power who would seek to harm the advancement of women-by appropriate means, of course. When intrepid newspaper editor Miles Quincy starts to question the school's intentions, the Academy appoints Penelope Nell Trewlove, one of their brightest graduates, to put this nuisance to rest. An easy enough mission, she supposes. Or it would be, if Miles wasn't so fascinating-too fascinating to resist-and if Nell's visit to London didn't perfectly coincide with the murder of one of Miles's reporters. When the inexorable claws of fate trap Nell and Miles in a compromising situation, they agree to an arrangement that will save their reputations while enabling them to investigate the story that led to a man's death, as well as the surprising chemistry between them. -- Provided by publisher.
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When We Were Brilliant
by Lynn Cullen
They were an unlikely pair--a blond bombshell and a photographer determined to be taken seriously--but Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold would make a deal that would change their lives. In 1952, Norma Jeane Baker follows documentary photographer Eve Arnold into a powder room on the night they first meet. She has a proposition for her. Norma Jeane created Marilyn Monroe to be photographed, and she wants Eve to do it. Eve is better than anyone she's seen at revealing a person's inner truth. Together they can help each other. Skeptical of this cipher of a young woman, Eve demurs. She's looking for more serious subjects than this ambitious starlet. But she keeps getting drawn back into Marilyn's orbit, and the women come to recognize something in each other--something fundamental. Nothing will get in the way of what they want, and when Marilyn's star takes off to teetering heights, neither will ever be the same. A lavish and transporting novel, When We Were Brilliant captures the halcyon days of an icon and the grit of women determining their own futures as it explores the exceptional and complicated friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Eve Arnold.
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The Great Disillusionment of Nick and Jay
by Ryan Douglass
A 1920s Black reimagining of a popular classic, where Gatsby and Nick execute a masterful heist to rid Tom Buchanan of his ill-gotten wealth-- Provided by publisher.
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The Library of Lost Girls
by Kristen Pipps
When Gwen's sister returns from finishing school a total stranger, she seeks out the cause and discovers that the cost of becoming a perfect lady is much higher--and sinister--than ever expected--
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Hattie Mae Begins Again
by Sharon G. Flake
From the three-time Coretta Scott King Honor winning author comes a poignant story about a southern girl far from home at an elite girls boarding school in the north, who must find the courage to be herself and to dream of a brighter future. Set against the backdrop of the great migration in South Philly. (early 1900s)
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The Lions' Run
by Sara Pennypacker
The acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of Pax delivers an historical novel about an orphan during WWII who discovers unexpected courage within himself when he becomes involved with the Resistance.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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