 Supporting COMMUNITY. Inspiring DISCOVERY. Promoting LITERACY. |
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Historical Fiction October 2026 |
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| The House of Boleyn by Tracy BormanNobleman Thomas Boleyn inherits Hever Castle and raises his three young children there, including clever Anne, who becomes the second wife of Henry VIII. Set at the castle between the 1510s and 1540, this compelling novel includes family and servant viewpoints as it traces the rise and fall of the House of Boleyn. This is “first-rate historical fiction,” raves Kirkus Reviews. |
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| Hocus Pocus by Brinda CharryArriving in 1816 Boston, 25-year-old magician Samuel Thomas, who was born in Madras, India, and raised in an orphanage there, finds work at Walter Mepham’s New Boston Museum as its first human exhibit. But Walter is in debt, his wife can only get so much money from her Puritan father, and Samuel is still grieving for his dead partner. This lyrical, leisurely paced novel explores identity, obsession, and ambition. |
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| The Barman of the Ritz by Philippe CollinIn 1940 Paris, while other businesses close, the legendary Ritz Hotel hosts locals, celebrities, and Nazis. Frank Meier, the hotel’s acclaimed barman who’s secretly Jewish, adapts to his new clientele while doing what he can to help other Jewish people, including his young mentee and the hotel manager’s wife. Based on a true story and translated from French, this is an absorbing, thought-provoking novel. |
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Ply
by Hernan Diaz
Centuries from now, at the dawn of a historical epoch filled with both uncertainty and promise, an orphan is adrift in a city on the brink of a great transformation. The state has been dismantled, and humans are reinventing social bonds and learning new ways to coexist with nature. Following a childhood defined by loss, survival, and found family, the orphan grows up to become a pincher, someone who steals electricity from the grid to sell it on the black market. It's a high-risk life, one that brings her into a rich art and music scene where she powers underground concerts. It also leads her to a colossal scientific invention that could change the very fabric of reality. After rewriting America's past with his two previous novels, Hernan Diaz defies expectations with his third and gives us a breathtaking glimpse into the future.
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| The Witches of Cambridge by Alice HoffmanNew to Radcliffe College in 1950 Cambridge, Massachusetts, Ava and Lauren become friends and join the Lilith Society, a secret group of witches. Beautiful Ava from small-town Maine falls for a Harvard student descended from a 17th-century witch hunter, but wealthy, orphaned Lauren disapproves of the match. Meanwhile, McCarthyism ripples through the country and several girls go missing. This Read with Jenna pick mixes magical realism with dark academia to create a compelling, atmospheric read. Try this next: Silvia Moreno-Garcia's The Bewitching. |
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| The Pirate Queen by Ariel LawhonIn 16th-century Ireland, Grace O'Malley dreams of a life at sea, but her chieftain father insists she marry to forge an alliance. She obeys and has children, but after her husband’s death, she becomes the leader of her clan’s ships, fights battles, and finds real love. This well-researched, adventure-filled saga moves back and forth across time, with alternating chapters depicting the three eras of Grace’s life (Maiden, Mother, and Matriarch). For fans of: intriguing biographical novels with strong heroines, like Molly Aitken's Bright I Burn and Vanessa Riley's Fire Sword & Sea.
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| Fallen for France by Elizabeth LettsApprenticed to a saddle maker in Morocco, young Beddou connects with a magnificent Arabian filly. When a soldier steals the horse, taking her to France as World War I looms, Beddou is determined to follow. In France, Estelle cares for her younger brother and finds the distressed mare in a field, while burnt-out English veterinarian Thomas also encounters the horse. Memorable characters, poetic writing, and fascinating history make this a moving read. Try these next: Ann Hood's The Stolen Child; Leila Slimani's Watch Us Dance. |
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| Sunlight Finds You by Laura MoriartyIn 1949 St. Petersburg, Florida, 17-year-old Nora falls for Leonard, the shy, brilliant son of wealthy transplanted New Yorkers. Though the young couple's love grows, his parents interfere. Rebelling, Leonard skips college to enlist and ends up in the Korean War. Meanwhile, Nora discovers she's pregnant and is sent to a mother-and-baby home where her only choice is to give up her child for adoption. Told from Nora's point of view a few years later, this novel follows what happens to these complex characters. Try this next: Laney Katz Becker's In the Family Way. |
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| The Chinese Lady by Bo WangBased on a real person, this moving debut novel imagines the groundbreaking life of Afong Moy, the first known Chinese woman to enter the United States. She's born in early 1800s China to a concubine, before being sold and sent to America at 14. Taught English by the wife of a ship’s captain, she is later put on display by P.T. Barnum before she eventually makes her way to San Francisco’s Chinatown. For fans of: The Foursome by Christina Baker Kline. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Mary Riley Styles Public Library
120 N. Virginia Ave, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 703-248-5030 (TTY 711) mrspl.org
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