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Historical Fiction July 2026 |
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| The Forgotten Midwife by Laura AnthonyAfter her grandmother with dementia shows her a strange 1950s Irish birth certificate, orphaned Riley goes to Ireland to investigate. Back in 1954 Tipperary, Margaret Lannigan is happily engaged, but after her older sister dies, she's forced to become a nun to fulfill the family's commitment to the Catholic Church. Sent to work in a home for fallen girls, she sees terrible things and tries her best to help the pregnant young women. For fans of: Susan Wiggs' The Wayward Girls. |
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| The Fire Agent by David BaerwaldA gifted linguist and musician, aristocratic German Jew Ernst Baerwald is recruited to be a spy in 1900. From working for a chemical company in Japan to adventures in Italy and other locales, he travels, falls in love, watches fascism rise, experiences world wars, and makes difficult choices again and again. This timely, intricately plotted historical spy saga is the debut of acclaimed songwriter and musician David Baerwald and is based on his grandfather's life. Try this next: Joseph O'Connor's My Father's House. |
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| A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher MurrayIn 1930s Manhattan, the city's first Black woman prosecutor, Eunice Carter, interviews Polly Adler, who owns the city's best brothel, and the two women from vastly different worlds realize they can help each other. None of Eunice's male colleagues have been able to touch gangster Lucky Luciano, who's recently put Polly's workers in danger, so the pair utilize a network of women to assemble evidence in this Reese's Book Club pick. Read-alike: Diane Richards' Ella. |
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| The Windsor Affair by Melanie BenjaminWhen King Edward VIII decides to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, it causes his abdication and kindles conflict between Wallis and her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, whose husband must now become king. Using the voices of both women, this fun, gossipy read follows Edward and Wallis, who love a good party, as well as Elizabeth and King George VI, who are faced with World War II and rebuilding in the postwar years. For fans of: The Windsor Conspiracy by Georgie Blalock; The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams. |
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| The Young Will Remember by Eve J. ChungIn 1950, Chinese American journalist Ellie Chang is on a military flight over North Korea when the plane goes down. Emma, a lonely local woman, saves Ellie by claiming she is her missing daughter, and they take refuge with Emma's pastor's family. But as the war rages on, the entire household heads south, seeking safety and the older woman's actual missing daughter in this “riveting story” (Library Journal). Try this next: Bora Lee Reed's Song for Another Home. |
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| An Artful Dodge by Karen OddenKit Jimeson can nick a necklace off a lady in a crowded Victorian London theater, but she can't leave her all-women group of thieves until she completes one last job. She's been saving money so her younger sister can have shot at respectability, but legendary thief Maggie O'Connell has returned after years in an Australian penal colony wanting revenge, and she demands Kit's help. "Historical crime fiction at its most authentic," raves Kirkus Reviews. Try this next: Kristin Harmel's The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau. |
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| Land by Maggie O'FarrellMapping Ireland in 1865 for the British, cartographer Tomás, who survived the Great Hunger, makes sure to record the scars the famine left on the land. But after finding a magical spring, he's a changed man who relocates his reluctant family from Dublin to the remote coastal area. Weaving together several points-of-view and various times and places, this is the lyrical latest from Maggie O'Farrell (Hamnet). Read-alikes: Anna North's Bog Queen; Daniel Mason's North Woods. |
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| The Last Human Bear by Greg SarrisMary Hatcher, an elderly Pomo woman, describes her long, unusual life. Raised alone by her stepmother in 1930s California, who teaches her about shapeshifting human bears, poisoning, and more, Mary doesn't fit in and isn't trusted. Later, able to pass as white or Mexican, she successfully makes her own way, but wonders about her past, future, and capacity to harm in this compelling novel inspired by the author's childhood. Try this next: Oyinkan Braithwaite's Cursed Daughters. |
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| A Fortune of Sand by Ruta SepetysIn 1920s Detroit, Marjorie Lennox, the youngest daughter in an automotive glass dynasty, secretly joins an elite artist residency, but something feels off about the place, which is backed by a mysterious patron. When rumors spread about missing women, Marjorie investigates. Inspired by real events, A Fortune of Sand is the immersive, well-researched adult fiction debut of a popular YA author. For fans of: Crucible by John Sayles. |
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Fishbone Cinderella
by Elizabeth Lim
A mother and daughter must break their family's curse through trials of war and immigration, love, loss, and redemption in this riveting multi-generational saga with a shimmer of magic, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Forgery of Fate .
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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