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Historical Fiction January 2026 |
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| Huguette by Cara BlackHuguette, a teenager ill-treated by her father and others, survives the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. In the lawless aftermath, she assists a famous film director and deals in underground goods for him. Fans of the author's acclaimed Aimée Leduc mysteries set in contemporary Paris will appreciate meeting Aimée's grandfather, a kind cop who helps Huguette, in this compelling standalone tale. Read-alike: Pam Jenoff's Last Twilight in Paris. |
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| Helm by Sarah HallThe Helm, a ferocious, mischievous wind in Northwest England, occasionally makes its way down the highest mountain in the Pennines. Narrated by a personified Helm, this intriguing, inventive novel covers the wind's beginnings when the world was new and on through time via the stories of various humans, including Neolithic tribe members, a medieval mathematician, early balloonists, a Victorian child, meteorologists, Royal Air Force pilots, and more. For fans of: Irene Solà's When I Sing, Mountains Dance. |
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| The Land in Winter by Andrew MillerAs one of the coldest winters in English history bears down in late 1962, two neighboring couples with London connections navigate rural life and the upcoming births of their firstborns. Neither marriage is what it used to be, but Irene, who's married to the local doctor, and Rita, a former dancer turned farmer's wife, connect with each other over their pregnancies in this quiet, interior novel that gathers momentum as a blizzard hits. Try this next: Jessica Anthony's The Most. |
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A Bitter Wind
by James R. Benn
To solve a murder at an English airbase, US Army Captain Billy Boyle must immerse himself in the fascinating and secretive world of WWII radio espionage. Christmas Day 1944: After his last mission put him in the tailspin of the Battle of the Bulge, Captain Billy Boyle travels to southeast England to visit his girlfriend, Diana Seaton, for a brief holiday respite. Diana is engaged in classified work at RAF Hawkinge, including Operation Corona, which recruits German-speaking Women's Auxiliary Air Force members--many of them Jewish refugees from the Kindertransport rescue--to countermand German orders and direct night fighters away from Allied bombers. It's fascinating and critical espionage work, but it's laced with peril, as Billy finds out. On a scenic Christmas walk along the White Cliffs of Dover, Billy and Diana stumble upon the dead body of a US Air Force officer. In the dead man's pocket are papers with highly confidential information about radio interception operations. Information worth killing over. As Billy digs into the secret world of codebreakers and radio jammers stationed at Hawkinge, another body turns up. Now Billy must find out what connects these two men--and who was so hell-bent on silencing them. Enlisting the help of his long-time associates, Billy undertakes another thrilling investigation that brings him to war-torn Yugoslavia, where he must rescue an escaped POW who may be the only person who knows the truth.
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To Save a Life
by Larry Zuckerman
In 1909, Malka Kaminsky steals her dowry to flee Russia and an arranged marriage, arriving in New York hungry for freedom. Drawn into the hustle of the Golden Land, Malka joins a sweatshop strike and is nearly beaten by thugs, but a stranger and fellow Russian Jew, Yaakov Rogovin, rescues her. Malka doesn't thank him, refusing to acknowledge her debt, but when chance brings Yaakov to her Sabbath table, they laugh and trade warm glances -- only to deny their mutual attraction. After all, they carry deep scars from Russia, where admitting to desires always led to heartache. But as they strive to become entrepreneurs -- Yaakov as a musician, Malka as a dressmaker -- they hope that independence will show them how to live unafraid. despite the past. And they will need that lesson soon, because when Malka's fiancé arrives, determined to reclaim her, she seeks Yaakov's help, neither of them aware what fighting for their dreams will cost.
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Books You May Have Missed
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| Strangers in Time by David BaldacciNavigating life in London as World War II rages, Ignatius Oliver (a widowed bookseller with secrets), Charlie Matters (an orphaned 14-year-old who steals for food), and Molly Wakefield (a well-to-do 15-year-old whose parents are missing), create a safe haven with each other even as bombs fall. Read-alike: The Lilac People by Milo Todd; The Keeper of Lost Art by Laura Morelli. |
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| Junie by Erin Crosby EckstineEnslaved 16-year-old Junie loves poetry and her family. As maid to Violet, the only child of Alabama plantation owners, Junie knows that if Violet marries the wealthy man her father has brought home, they'll both end up in faraway New Orleans. Distraught, Junie asks her dead sister Minnie for help, unleashing her ghost. In this moving debut, the author "evokes the earthly and supernatural to equally powerful effect" (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: Jesmyn Ward's Let Us Descend. |
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| Before Dorothy by Hazel GaynorEmily Gale and her new husband Henry move to Kansas to start a farm, leaving Emily's dear sister Annie and her newborn Dorothy behind in the city. Just a few years later, in 1932, Annie dies and the couple adopt Dorothy. But the youngster isn't the only big change in the couple's world -- drought and devastating dust storms threaten everything. For other Oz retellings, try: After Oz by Gordon McAlpine; Toto by A.J. Hackwith, or Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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