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Historical Fiction June 2026* |
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| Love & Other Monsters by Emily FranklinIn 1816, 17-year-old Claire Clairmont lives in London with her stepsister Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary's fiancé, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Falling for their friend, charming libertine Lord Byron, Claire talks them into spending the summer next door to him on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Mary writes Frankenstein during this time, but this lyrical novel focuses on oft-forgotten Claire, spotlighting her life and relationships. For fans of: Caroline Lea's Love, Sex, and Frankenstein. |
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These Empty Places
by Sarah Loudin Thomas
Claire Roth sacrificed love for a life of comfort on Lake Toxaway--until the dam broke. Lena Hawkins and her husband arrive in town after losing everything, and she forms an unexpected connection with Claire. When Claire is given a second chance at love and Lena a tempting chance at wealth, both women must release the past to fill tomorrow with promise.
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| The Foursome by Christina Baker KlineUsing their tour earnings, famous cojoined twins Eng and Chang Bunker settle in 1839 North Carolina, buying land and enslaved people and making powerful local friends. Sarah and Adelaide Yates, sisters from a once-prominent family, become their wives and collectively they have 21 children. Told from Sarah's perspective over the course of several decades, this "remarkable" (Publishers Weekly) novel is based on the author's family history. Try this next: Elizabeth Weiss' The Sisters Sweet. |
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| The Lost Girl of Craven County by Emily MatcharDuring the Great Depression in 1939, unmarried 25-year-old Millicent Green lives in New Bern, North Carolina's small Jewish community with her disapproving mother and older brother while grieving for her beloved younger brother. Finding an injured young woman one hot summer day, Millie takes the unidentified woman home and eventually learns her disturbing story in this moving look at loss, friendship, and injustice. Read-alike: Donna Everhart's Women of a Promiscuous Nature. |
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The Fire Agent by David BaerwaldBorn into an aristocratic German Jewish family, Ernst Baerwald is a gifted linguist, talented musician, and fearless idealist. When he's recruited in 1900 to become a spy--his cover working for a company that would become the notorious chemical conglomerate IG Farben--his life becomes an extraordinary adventure spanning two continents, two world wars, and impossible choices that will haunt him forever.From Frankfurt to Milan to Tokyo, Ernst moves through a world of intrigue and passion. He battles Japan's Yakuza while entertaining its royalty and hosts Europe's most brilliant performers. He falls deeply in love . . . with two women. He witnesses the rise of fascism in both Japan and Germany. And when the forces of fascism in Japan meet the horrors of Hitler's Germany, this German Jew faces an impossible choice: destroy the country he loves most or become complicit in unimaginable evil.Based on the life of author David Baerwald's grandfather, The Fire Agent is historical fiction that reads like a thriller. It carries us from nineteenth-century German idealism to the onset of chemical warfare; from Japan's organized crime syndicates to FDR's spy networks; from the Nanking Massacre to the dawn of the Cold War. At its center is the unforgettable character of Ernst--a man who has the courage to fight for what's right, even when the cost is everything.
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| The Original by Priya ParmarAfter a successful screen test, strong-willed 21-year-old Katharine Hepburn heads to 1930s Hollywood, and as part of the studio system, she's positioned as a star. But this means hiding a marriage, her romantic relationships with women, and more, while making friends with David and Irene Selznick, George Cukor, Cary Grant, John Ford, and Howard Hughes. Focusing on the iconic actor's early career, this is an "immersive portrait" (Publishers Weekly). Read-alike: Ginny Kubitz Moyer's A Golden Life. |
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| Mrs. Benedict Arnold by Emma ParryIn 1770s Philadelphia, young socialite Peggy Shippen becomes close to British Army rising star Captain John André. When the colonists take the city and the Brits and the Captain flee, Peggy quickly takes up with General Benedict Arnold, trading Loyalist parties for Patriot salons. Marrying Arnold, she schemes to end the war to help her own family, leading to a stunning act of treason. For fans of: Hamilton and other stories about the American Revolution. |
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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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| Lidie by Jane SmileyAfter her abolitionist husband's murder in Kansas Territory, Lidie Newton is back in Quincy, Illinois in December 1857. Though grieving, Lidie's happy to chaperone her niece Annie, just a year younger than herself, as she travels to Liverpool, England, to be an actress. Working for Annie's wealthy sponsor, Lidie adjusts to a new country and a new life. This sequel to 1998's The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton is for fans of smart, courageous women and richly detailed writing. |
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| A Perfect Hand by Ayelet WaldmanIn 1879 England, clever Alice Lockey has risen from tenant farmer's daughter to lady's maid for the eldest daughter at Alderwick Park. In a ploy to spend time with handsome valet Charlie, Alice tries to end her lady's infatuation with one (no-good) man and push her toward Charlie's employer. If they marry, then Alice and Charlie can work together as husband and wife. But soon the women's suffrage movement causes Alice to ponder what she really wants. For fans of: amusing, richly detailed stories of class, gender, and changing times. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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