Historical Fiction April 2026 |
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The Last Woman of Warsaw
by Judy Batalion
A debut novel by the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Light of Days, following two very different Jewish women in Warsaw in the late 1930s as they unexpectedly come together in their search for love, meaning, and a sense of home, and as they grapple with the storm clouds gathering around them 1938: Fanny Zelshinsky is a sophisticated, modern daughter of the city's Jewish elite who wants nothing more than to be recognized as a legitimate artist by her family, her radical professor whom she idolizes, and the world at large. And all while she wonders if she is really going to go through with her wedding. Meanwhile, Zosia Dror has left behind her small northeastern shtetl and religious family in the wake of violence. Part of a budding youth movement that believes in social equality and creating a Jewish homeland, all she wants is to not get distracted by the glitz and hubbub of the city--or by the keen eyes of a certain tall, handsome comrade. When legendary artist Wanda Petrovsky--both a member of Zosia's movement leadership and Fanny's beloved photography professor--goes missing, the two young women are thrown together in the pursuit of the elusive firebrand. Is Wanda simply hiding, or is her disappearance connected to the rise in antisemitic laws and university practices? Fanny and Zosia may be the most unlikely of allies, but they must bridge their differences to help someone they both care for--and dodge the danger mounting around them in the process.
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Daughter of Egypt
by Marie Benedict
Lady Evelyn Herbert defies societal expectations in 1919 and accompanies her father, Lord Carnarvon, and archeologist Howard Carter on digs in Egypt, where she seeks the tomb of Hatshepsut. In 1400s BCE, Hatshepsut becomes pharaoh against the odds. Following the lives of two women whom history almost forgot, this evocative novel is the latest from acclaimed author Marie Benedict. Read-alikes: Gill Paul's The Collector's Daughter; Saara El-Arifi's Cleopatra.
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Yesteryear
by Caro Claire Burke
A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1855--where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel. A bold and biting satire, Yesteryear...will have you cackling and gasping right to the final page.--Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid series My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive. Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie's followers--all 8 million of them--don't know won't hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They're sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn't simply living the good life, she's living the ideal--and just so happens to be building an empire from it. Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn't hers. Her home, her husband, her children--they're all familiar, but something's off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she's expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible. A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.
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| Book of Forbidden Words by Louise FeinIn 1552 England, former nun Lysbette writes of a utopian world for women, but people find her words heretical and she's killed before her book can be printed. This leads Charlotte Guillard, a real-life Parisian publisher, to encode the work for posterity. In 1952 New York, bored housewife and World War II codebreaker Millie decodes the manuscript, but McCarthyism makes the centuries-old ideas inside still dangerous. Try these next: A.D. Bell's The Bookbinder's Secret; Chanel Cleeton's The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes. |
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| Autobiography of Cotton by Cristina Rivera GarzaReal-life 20-year-old activist and writer José Revueltas goes to Tamaulipas to support a 1934 Mexican cotton workers’ strike (which later forms the basis of his revolutionary novel Human Mourning). At the same time, a husband and wife travel to the fields to work. Weaving literary fiction with family history, political history, biography, analysis, and more, this is the intriguing latest by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice. |
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| White River Crossing by Ian McGuireIn the Canadian winter of 1766, news that there's gold further north leads the manager of a Hudson Bay Company outpost to send a secret group to investigate. Led by two Native couples, the party of three prospectors includes the manager's loathsome deputy, the intellectual first mate from the company's whaling sloop, and the manager's naive 19-year-old nephew. But an act of sexual violence will make a dangerous trip even more so in this atmospheric novel. Try this next: Kathleen Grissom's Crow Mary. |
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| A Far-Flung Life by M.L. StedmanOn a vast sheep station in 1958 Western Australia, a fatal accident changes the lives of the MacBrides. Left behind are injured teenager Matt, his older sister Rose, and his grief-stricken mom Lorna, who are eventually joined by a bright young boy. Exploring how loss and secrets reverberate for decades, this emotional family saga is the long-awaited sophomore novel from M.L. Stedman (The Light Between Oceans). Try these next: Heather Rose's A Great Act of Love; Michelle Huneven's Bug Hollow. |
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| The Sea Child by Linda WilgusAfter her husband dies in the Napoleonic Wars, Isabel leaves London to rent a seaside cottage in Cornwall. She was found in the area as a girl, alone and wet on the beach, and hopes to learn about her past, but all she discovers is that locals think she's a sea creature's child. When an injured smuggling ship's captain is brought to her, she secretly nurses him and they become close, but a visiting revenue man signals danger. This romantic, swashbuckling debut novel is full of adventure. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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