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Historical Fiction August 2025 |
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| Typewriter Beach by Meg Waite ClaytonAmid McCarthyism in 1957, Isabella Giori dreams of being Alfred Hitchcock's favorite blonde actress. But while temporarily staying at a Carmel-by-the-Sea cottage, she becomes friends with blacklisted writer Leo, changing both of their lives. In 2018, Leo's granddaughter clears out his cottage after his death, meeting his neighbor Isabella and finding secrets in his safe. Read-alikes: Susan Meissner's A Map to Paradise; Sarah Jane Stratford's Red Letter Days. |
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Dear Miss Lake : a novel
by A. J. Pearce
During wartime, advice columnist Emmy Lake and the Woman's Friend staff relocate to the countryside, where Emmy balances rural life, a looming wedding and the possibility of war correspondence in the fourth novel of the series following Mrs. Porter Calling.
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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. Read-alike: Pam Jenoff's Last Twilight in Paris. |
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| Days of Light by Megan HunterOn Easter Sunday, 1938, 19-year-old Ivy is questioning her path in life when her older brother goes missing while swimming at their English estate, reshaping her world. Taking place on this and five other significant days in Ivy's life, this thoughtful novel follows her as she grows close to her brother's fiancée, marries, has children, and makes changes in her later years. Read-alikes: Yael van der Wouden's The Safekeep; Virginia Woolf's novels. |
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| Tyrant by Conn IgguldenIn 50 CE Rome, Agrippina has skillfully maneuvered her way to power by becoming Emperor Claudius' fourth wife and now works to ensure her position and that of her son, Nero, by manipulating Claudius into adopting him. This cinematic, action-packed 2nd in a trilogy follows last year's Nero; the final book, Inferno, is due April 2026. Read-alike: Margaret George's Nero novels; Steven Saylor's historical fiction. |
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The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of our Kitchen
by Shokoofeh Azar
Spanning fifty years in the history of modern Iran, this lush, layered story embraces politics and family, revolution and reconstruction, loss and love as it recounts the colorful destinies of twelve children who get lost one long-ago night inside a mysterious palace.
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| The Great Mann by Kyra Davis LurieThis evocative take on The Great Gatsby set in 1945 Los Angeles finds Charlie Trammell back from the war and trying out a place that he hopes won't judge people by the color of their skin as much as the South. Pulled into the glamourous neighborhood of Sugar Hill where his married cousin Margie lives, Charlie meets an enigmatic man. Meanwhile, the wealthy Black enclave is threatened by a lawsuit by white homeowners. Read-alikes: Gayl Jones' The Unicorn Woman; Percival Everett's James. |
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A Daughter's Secret
by Josephine Cox
As a servant below stairs at the big manor house, Rose dreams of running her own teashop one day, and carefully saves a few shillings each week from the money she sends back home to her mother.
But on her next visit to see her family, Rose is shocked to find that their savings have disappeared, and her headstrong sister Daisy is keeping secrets.
Discovering that a poisonous menace has taken root in their happy family, Rose feels powerless to stop it. Can she save them from disaster, before they lose everything?
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| Wayward Girls by Susan WiggsThis moving novel of survival, friendship, and redemption follows six teenage girls at an abusive Catholic reform school in 1968 Buffalo, New York, who have been sent there due to pregnancy, lesbianism, or to protect them from family members. Based on a real place, this character-driven novel also revisits the girls in later years. For fans of: Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These; Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys; V.S. Alexander's The Magdalen Girls. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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