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Historical Fiction June 2026 |
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| Love & Other Monsters by Emily FranklinIn 1816, 17-year-old Claire Clairmont lives in London with her stepsister Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary's fiancé, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Falling for their friend, charming libertine Lord Byron, Claire talks them into spending the summer next door to him on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Mary writes Frankenstein during this time, but this lyrical novel focuses on oft-forgotten Claire, spotlighting her life and relationships. For fans of: Caroline Lea's Love, Sex, and Frankenstein. |
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| Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung HanGenerations of a Korean family have special abilities (a sister can take the form of a tiger; a mother can make people tell the truth), but that doesn't stop war and violence from invading their lives. Centering on Young-Ja, who can infuse food with her emotions, this powerful and sometimes disturbing debut follows Young-Ja during the turbulent 1930s and 1940s and in later years. For fans of: powerful, thought-provoking books; Yu Miri's The End of August. |
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| The Foursome by Christina Baker KlineUsing their tour earnings, famous cojoined twins Eng and Chang Bunker settle in 1839 North Carolina, buying land and enslaved people and making powerful local friends. Sarah and Adelaide Yates, sisters from a once-prominent family, become their wives and collectively they have 21 children. Told from Sarah's perspective over the course of several decades, this "remarkable" (Publishers Weekly) novel is based on the author's family history. Try this next: Elizabeth Weiss' The Sisters Sweet. |
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A Fortune of Sand
by Ruta Sepetys
Detroit, 1927. A city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets. Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit dynasty--a family rich in money and poor in charm. Creative, reckless, and never quite what they wanted, Marjorie has spent her life overlooked by her controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. But when she secretly applies to an elite arts program backed by a mysterious patron, she grabs the chance to finally step out of her family's shadow.
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Land
by Maggie O'Farrell
On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster
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The Unicorn Hunters
by Katherine Arden
Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies. But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany.
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| The Mountains We Call Home by Kim Michele RichardsonPack horse librarian Cussy marries for love, but she's a Blue (caused by methemoglobinemia) and her husband is white, so in 1953 both are thrown into Kentucky prisons for miscegenation. Cussy works her way to a prison librarian position, but incarceration holds many dangers. Newcomers can start here, but fans of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, which begins Cussy's story, will best enjoy this atmospheric, well-researched novel. Try this next: Brianna Labuskes' The Boxcar Librarian. |
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| Lidie by Jane SmileyAfter her abolitionist husband's murder in Kansas Territory, Lidie Newton is back in Quincy, Illinois in December 1857. Though grieving, Lidie's happy to chaperone her niece Annie, just a year younger than herself, as she travels to Liverpool, England, to be an actress. Working for Annie's wealthy sponsor, Lidie adjusts to a new country and a new life. This sequel to 1998's The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton is for fans of smart, courageous women and richly detailed writing. |
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| A Perfect Hand by Ayelet WaldmanIn 1879 England, clever Alice Lockey has risen from tenant farmer's daughter to lady's maid for the eldest daughter at Alderwick Park. In a ploy to spend time with handsome valet Charlie, Alice tries to end her lady's infatuation with one (no-good) man and push her toward Charlie's employer. If they marry, then Alice and Charlie can work together as husband and wife. But soon the women's suffrage movement causes Alice to ponder what she really wants. For fans of: amusing, richly detailed stories of class, gender, and changing times. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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