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Historical Fiction April 2025 |
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| The Jackal's Mistress by Chris BohjalianWith her Confederate husband in a Union prison, Libby Steadman runs their gristmill in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, helped only by her 12-year-old niece, a 60-year-old freedman, and his freed wife. Libby faces many dangers as war surrounds her, especially when she hides an injured Union officer. If you enjoy this fast-paced book, which is based on a true story, try Paulette Jiles' Chenneville or Robert Hicks' Widow of the South. |
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On Isabella Street
by Genevieve Graham
Toronto, 1967. Two young women with different backgrounds, attitudes, and aptitudes are living in an exciting but confusing time, the most extreme counter-culture movement the modern world has ever seen. They have little in common except for the place they both call home: an apartment building on Isabella Street.
Inspired by the unfettered optimism and crushing disillusionment of the sixties, On Isabella Street is an extraordinary novel about the enduring bonds of friendship and family and the devastating cost of war.
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The keeper of lost art : a novel
by Laura Morelli
During World War II in a Tuscan villa, young Stella befriends Sandro, an orphaned artist, as they protect hidden masterpieces like Botticelli's *Primavera* amid family tensions, encroaching German troops, and the mounting peril of war.
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The pretender
by Jo Harkin
In 1480s England, peasant boy Lambert Simnel is thrust into royal intrigue as he is declared a hidden heir to the throne and must face court politics, rebellion and an alliance with the cunning Joan that could shape the fate of the monarchy.
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| Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher MurrayIn 1919, Jessie Redmon Fauset becomes the first Black woman literary editor of The Crisis magazine, putting her at the forefront of Harlem's cultural renaissance, where she discovers talents such as Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen. But her ambitions and a secret affair with W.E.B. Du Bois threaten it all. Try these next: Piper Huguley's By Her Own Design; Tia Williams' A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. |
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| The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O'ConnorWith the Nazis in control of Rome, Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty (who's based on a real person) leads the Choir, a covert network made up of an Italian countess, a British diplomat, an Irish medical student, and others. As the Gestapo desperately try to stop them, they help Allied soldiers and Jewish people escape. Though this is the stirring sequel to My Father's House, readers can start here. Try these next: From These Broken Streets by Roland Merullo; Shanghai by Joseph Kanon. |
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| The Café With No Name by Robert SeethalerIn 1966 Vienna, Austria, 31-year-old laborer Robert Simon takes a leap and signs a lease for a café. He builds a neighborhood hub, where patrons navigate life and love together. Fans of evocative, character-driven stories will love this "gem of a novel" (Kirkus Reviews). For a more contemporary novel about found family, pick up Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. |
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Happy land
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
When Nikki visits her estranged grandmother in North Carolina, she uncovers a hidden legacy tied to a forgotten kingdom of freed people, unraveling her family's secrets and her own identity while fighting to protect their endangered heritage.
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| The Riveter by Jack WangBarred from military service in 1942 due to his race, Chinese Canadian Josiah Chang works in a Vancouver shipyard where he meets white Poppy Miller, but her parents take exception to their relationship. Trying to prove himself, Josiah goes to Toronto, where he's allowed to join the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion headed to Europe. Read-alikes: Adriana Allegri's The Sunflower House; Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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