Historical Fiction
September 2025
Recent Releases
Cover of A Promise to Arlette by Serena Burdick
A Promise to Arlette
by Serena Burdick

In an idyllic Massachusetts neighborhood, local boy Sidney and his British bride Ida haven't recovered from the war. They hide it well until 1952 when a neighbor shows off a Man Ray photo, leading Ida to steal it. She heads to California to confront the artist, knowing her beloved friend Arlette was actually the photographer. Set in England, France, and the United States before, during, and after World War II, this is an evocative, haunting novel. Try this next: Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey.
Cover of The Harvey Girls by Juliette Fay
The Harvey Girls
by Juliette Fay

In 1926, two new Harvey Girls (waitresses who must be single and between the ages of 18 and 30) are hired on the same day. But both have lied: Charlotte is married to an abusive college professor and Billie is only 15 but needs money to send home. The two secretive roommates are at odds but grow close while completing their extensive training in Kansas and working at the Grand Canyon's El Tovar hotel. For fans of: atmospheric, well-researched novels that center female friendship.
Cover of Fonseca by Jessica Francis Kane
Fonseca
by Jessica Francis Kane

Mining a real 1952 trip to Mexico by Penelope Fitzgerald, this “masterful” (Publishers Weekly) novel follows the acclaimed English writer who's traveling with her six-year-old son while broke and pregnant. She’s come at the behest of the eccentric Delaney sisters, who’ve dangled an inheritance before her, but it turns out, she's not the only one. For fans of: Penelope Fitzgerald; witty stories starring real people.
Cover of When Sleeping Women Wake by Emma Pei Yin
When Sleeping Women Wake
by Emma Pei Yin

Set during the Japanese invasion and occupation of Hong Kong in 1941, this moving debut follows three women: a Chinese wife who was unable to birth the son her wealthy husband desired; her maid, who's been like a sister to her for decades; and her beloved daughter. Navigating a new world, each will resist in her own way. Read-alikes: Andrew X. Pham's Twilight Territory; Eve J. Chung's Daughters of Shandong.
Cover of The English Masterpiece by Katherine Reay
The English Masterpiece
by Katherine Reay

At London's Tate Modern Gallery, Lily Summers happily works as powerful curator Diana Gilden's assistant. But after viewing a painting Diana has authenticated at a 1973 Picasso exhibit, Lily blurts out that it's a fake, shocking the crowd and threatening her own career. Digging into the past, Lily tries to uncover the truth. Well-researched and evocative, this compelling novel has intrigue, memorable characters, and a bit of romance. For fans of: Kate Quinn; Fiona Davis.
Cover of The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
The Art of a Lie
by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

After her husband's violent murder, Hannah Cole still runs her confectionary shop in 1749 London, but money is tighter than ever. She gets a bit of help from a stranger who knew her husband, but Chief Magistrate Henry Fielding thinks she may have been involved in her husband's death, leading her to look for the killer. Read-alikes: Katharine Schellman's The Body in the Garden; Kate Saunders' The Secrets of Wishtide.
Cover of The Original by Nell Stevens
The Original
by Nell Stevens

In 1899, 25-year-old Grace Inderwick, who has face blindness, travels with her aunt to Rome to meet someone claiming to be her cousin Charles, thought to have been lost at sea years ago. While Grace ponders growing up with her cold relatives and her remarkable ability to copy paintings, she and others wonder if the man is an imposter hoping to inherit a sizeable English estate. For fans of: captivating, evocative stories about art forgery; Sarah Waters; Emma Donoghue.
Cover of The Lost Baker of Vienna by Sharon Kurtzman
The Lost Baker of Vienna
by Sharon Kurtzman

Zoe Rosenzweig investigates her family's Holocaust history, uncovering the 1946 story of her ancestor Chana, a young Viennese baker torn between survival, family duty, and love in a fragile postwar world still shadowed by trauma.
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