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Historical Fiction February 2025 |
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| The Stolen Queen by Fiona DavisIn 1937, Charlotte Cross studies anthropology in the Valley of the Kings, but there are odd goings-on. In 1978 New York, she's a Met curator when a priceless artifact disappears during the Met Gala. Along with 18-year-old Annie Jenkins, Gala organizer Diana Vreeland's assistant, Charlotte goes to Egypt to face her past and retrieve the item. Read-alikes: Bryn Turnbull's The Paris Deception; Gill Paul's The Collector's Daughter. |
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The good left undone : a novel
by Adriana Trigiani
This richly woven tapestry of three generations of women faced with impossible choices follows Matelda, the family's matriarch, as she, facing the end of her life, must decide what is worth fighting for and when to let go.
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| The Life of Herod the Great by Zora Neale Hurston; edited by Deborah G. PlantDamaged in a fire and edited by a Zora Neale Hurston scholar, this previously unpublished novel by the anthropologist and author, who died in 1960, offers a reimagined look at biblical villain Herod the Great, portraying him as a talented ruler who brought prosperity to Judea during a tumultuous period in the first century BCE. For another biblical novel by a critically acclaimed writer, try The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks. |
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A happier life : a novel
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
A young woman finds the family she has always yearned for during a transformative summer in North Carolina and finds herself in a house that has protected the secrets, hopes and dreams of the women who have lived there.
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Wandering stars
by Tommy Orange
"Wandering Stars traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Redfeather's shooting in There There"
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All my secrets
by Lynn N Austin
When her husband's unexpected death bestows his fortune on a male heir, Sylvia tries to marry her daughter off to a wealthy husband to maintain their lifestyle, but is stopped by her mother-in-law, who wants more for her granddaughter
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| Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-ValdezNursing school grad Civil Townsend starts a new job at a family planning clinic in 1970s Montgomery, Alabama, where she hopes to help the local Black community. But disturbing choices by white supervisors lead to Civil putting her career on the line to protect two young girls in this "exceptional" (Library Journal) novel inspired by real events. |
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| Women of the Post by Joshunda SandersIn this compelling World War II novel based on the story of the all-Black 6888th Central Postal Battalion, four women join the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, train in Iowa, and work in Birmingham, England, sorting backlogged mail to boost troop morale. Though they form a strong unit, they face racism, sexism, personal losses, and more. Read-alikes: Kristy Manning's The Hidden Book; Kaia Alderson's Sisters in Arms. |
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Harlem rhapsody
by Victoria Christopher Murray
In 1919 Harlem, literary editor Jessie Redmon Fauset is at the forefront of a Black cultural renaissance, discovering talents like Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen, but her ambition and a secret affair with W.E.B. Du Bois threaten her legacy.
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| The Nickel Boys by Colson WhiteheadBased on a real reform school and adapted into a 2024 film, this haunting Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set in 1960s Florida follows the experiences of two Black teenagers, one streetwise and the other a college-bound kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. Together, they try to survive in a place where abuse of all kinds is the norm and where some don't make it out alive. Try these next: Tananarive Due's The Reformatory; Erin Kimmerle's We Carry Their Bones (nonfiction). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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