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Historical Fiction June 2026 |
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The Bureau of Unknown Fates: A Heartbreaking Novel about Wwii's Forgotten Objects and the Lives They Hold
by Gaëlle Nohant
When a young French woman marries and moves to her German husband's small hometown, Bad Arolsen, she finds a world where no one discusses what the locals did during the war. She has no idea that her life will be changed forever when she accepts a job at the secretive International Tracing Service—founded by the Allies at the end of WWII to help trace the fates of millions of wartime dead and displaced. Meticulous and conscientious, Irene quickly becomes obsessed with her work—at the cost of her personal life.
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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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Children of the Wild
by Kevin Powers
From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Yellow Birds comes a gorgeous, haunting love story set in the Virginia mountains and on the battlefields of World War I France.
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The Library of Leaving
by Emily Dunlay
In the wake of the Great War, American Helen Fox lives a solitary life in Switzerland as a librarian, cataloguing books left as bequests by diplomats and other expatriates. Bookish and buttoned up, Helen is shocked when she receives a package that hints at her far more colorful past: it's a draft chapter of a novel written by a man she knew intimately during the war--a soldier she nursed at a camp in the Alps for wounded Allied troops. Though he claims his book is fiction, Helen is afraid of what it might reveal about who she used to be, really, and whose side she might have been on. . . .
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| Gunner by Alan ParksIn March 1941, former Glasgow police detective Joseph Gunner is home after being wounded on the front lines in France, using morphine to ease his pain. Running into his old boss, he's pulled into a strange case involving a dead German POW who's been mutilated to hide his identity. Soon, Gunner is dealing with gangs, secret German plots, and more. This gritty, suspenseful 1st in a new crime series is based on real events. Try this next: James R. Benn's acclaimed Billy Boyle World War II mysteries. |
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The Amateur
by Chris Bohjalian
1978. In the sleepy New York suburb of Tallmadge, eighteen-year-old Mira Winston is beguiling, talented, and full of youthful recklessness. She spends her summer perfecting her swing at her parents’ country club – and continuing her long-running affair with her father’s golf buddy, a married man twice her age. Then, one August afternoon, a freak accident occurs, and Mira’s classmate Kenny is killed. In the days and years that follow, the events of that day become inextricably tied to the choices she has made – with devastating, unpredictable consequences for her family, her neighbours and friends, and Mira herself.
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Tyrant of Rome (Eagles of the Empire 24): Macro and Cato Are Back - And Emperor Nero Has a Mission for Them
by Simon Scarrow
AD 63. Under the reckless and tumultuous leadership of Emperor Nero, Rome has descended into near-anarchy. The brutal execution of 400 slaves has causes riots and worse. Only the strongest military commander could maintain control. And Nero has learned of one man who could save the day - and his own reign. Prefect Cato has been lying low after a heroic campaign to quash the Boudica uprising. Now furlough is over. As the new Prefect of the Urban Cohort of the Praetorian Guard, Cato needs a loyal and proven military hero by his side. Centurion Macro is willing to step up.
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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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The Barman of the Ritz
by Philippe Collin
1940. The Nazis have descended on Paris and the Occupation has begun. Businesses across the city have shuttered, but the legendary Ritz Hotel remains open, its dazzling lights still burning bright on the Place Vend me. When it becomes the favorite watering hole of the occupying forces, its barman, Frank Meier, is forced to adapt to a new clientele. But Frank has a secret: he is Jewish. Tensions rise as the war progresses, but Frank refuses to leave his post behind the bar. Unbeknownst to the Nazi officers he serves night after night, Frank forms precarious alliances with unlikely accomplices in order to save other Jewish families in the city and keep his loved ones alive.
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The House of Boleyn
by Tracy Borman
Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to a newly anointed King Henry VIII, he sets in train events that ensure the Boleyn name will never be forgotten. His daughters Mary and Anne were young then, and though he was ambitious for his family to prosper, he could not imagine what would transpire in the two decades to come.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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