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Historical Fiction May 2026 |
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| The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis HallWorld War II separates tight-knit twins Theo and Tessa when Theo joins the Royal Air Force and French-speaking Tessa trains as a Special Operations Executive (SOE) operative. Afterwards, a wounded Theo mourns war casualties, hides his homosexuality since it's still illegal, and wonders about his still-missing sister. Decades later, PhD candidate Edie researches women in the SOE, leading her and Theo to team up and investigate what happened to Tessa. Try this next: Lucy Caldwell's These Days. |
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The Parisian Chapter
by Janet Skeslien Charles
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and Miss Morgan's Book Brigade , a charming and "richly populated" ( New York Journal of Books ) novel about two small-town girls with big dreams who move to Paris to become artists. But dreams don't just come true. They require nurturing, as do friendships.
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| The Sisters of Book Row by Shelley NobleIn 1915 New York, the three Applebaum sisters live together and run the rare bookshop they inherited from their dad. Olivia handles repairs, while friendly Daphne and youngest Celia run the store. But they each have secrets, including Celia's distribution of banned women's health articles. With classic literature and art also at risk due to the censorious Comstock Laws, New York's Book Row shopkeepers work together. For fans of: timely historical tales; well-researched, slow-burn novels. |
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The Young Will Remember
by Eve J. Chung
1950. It's the coldest winter in decades, and twenty-eight-year-old Chinese American journalist Ellie Chang is on a military flight to cover a battle in the mountains of North Korea when her plane is shot down. As she emerges from the fallen aircraft onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, Ellie is sure it's the end, certain she'll never make it home to her parents...until a woman pushes her way through the crowd and claims Ellie as the lost daughter that she's been searching for since the last war ended.
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The Yankee Sphinx: An FDR Novel
by Mark Frost
In 1934, Will Hassett is working as a journalist when he gets a call from an old friend who now works at the White House. He arrives expecting to catch up on old times but is instead brought right into the Oval Office to meet with Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR needs help on his speeches; Will takes the job on the spot. For the next twelve years, Will is at FDR's side through the worst of the Depression, three reelection campaigns, and World War II.
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A Very Vexing Murder: Harriet Smith Investigates
by Lucy Andrew
No longer Emma's naïve companion, Harriet Smith is a feisty con-woman-turned-detective tasked with breaking off Frank Churchill's engagement and uncovering his aunt's would-be murderer. While Harriet has doubts that the deadly threats are little more than society scandal, the shrewd Mrs. Churchill suspects Frank's unsuitable fiancée, Jane Fairfax, is out to kill her. What begins as a routine investigation among Highbury's elite quickly spirals into a web of deception, dangerous secrets, and a game of survival.
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| Evil Genius by Claire OshetskyIn 1970s San Francisco, 19-year-old Celia works at the telephone company, where an adulterous coworker has been murdered by her husband. Unhappily married to a controlling man 11 years her senior, Celia finds the sex and violence of the story tantalizing, and begins to dream of freedom and killing her spouse in this slightly surreal and darkly humorous novel. Try this next: Alex Kadis' Big Nobody. |
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The Hope Keeper
by Heather Webb
1919, Washington D.C. Elisabeth Beaumont comes from a renowned jeweler family, but after the untimely death of her twin brother, she's left on her own to run the failing family business. Desperate for work, she approaches the affluent crowd her brother Julien once courted to expand Beaumont Jewelers. Their ringleader is wealthy socialite Evalyn McLean, owner of the world's most infamous gemstone, rumored to curse all who travel within its orbit.
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A Perfect Hand
by Ayelet Waldman
A richly drawn, captivating, and endlessly amusing novel of love and subterfuge between a lady's maid and her clandestine lover, set in the country estates of nineteenth-century England.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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