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Historical Fiction January 2026* |
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| Huguette by Cara BlackHuguette, a teenager ill-treated by her father and others, survives the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. In the lawless aftermath, she assists a famous film director and deals in underground goods for him. Fans of the author's acclaimed Aimée Leduc mysteries set in contemporary Paris will appreciate meeting Aimée's grandfather, a kind cop who helps Huguette, in this compelling standalone tale. Read-alike: Pam Jenoff's Last Twilight in Paris. |
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| Helm by Sarah HallThe Helm, a ferocious, mischievous wind in Northwest England, occasionally makes its way down the highest mountain in the Pennines. Narrated by a personified Helm, this intriguing, inventive novel covers the wind's beginnings when the world was new and on through time via the stories of various humans, including Neolithic tribe members, a medieval mathematician, early balloonists, a Victorian child, meteorologists, Royal Air Force pilots, and more. For fans of: Irene Solà's When I Sing, Mountains Dance. |
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| The Land in Winter by Andrew MillerAs one of the coldest winters in English history bears down in late 1962, two neighboring couples with London connections navigate rural life and the upcoming births of their firstborns. Neither marriage is what it used to be, but Irene, who's married to the local doctor, and Rita, a former dancer turned farmer's wife, connect with each other over their pregnancies in this quiet, interior novel that gathers momentum as a blizzard hits. Try this next: Jessica Anthony's The Most. |
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| Beasts of the Sea by Iida TurpeinenPart of Captain Bering's Great Northern Expedition in 1741, naturalist Georg Steller notices an animal that's never been documented. But the starving men kill the gentle sea cows for food, which leads to their extinction in just 27 years. Later, a Steller's sea cow skeleton is found, studied, and moved to a museum in the 1950s in this "masterful debut" (Booklist) that fuses science and literature. Read-alike: Ethan Rutherford's North Sun, or The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther. |
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Books You May Have Missed
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| Strangers in Time by David BaldacciNavigating life in London as World War II rages, Ignatius Oliver (a widowed bookseller with secrets), Charlie Matters (an orphaned 14-year-old who steals for food), and Molly Wakefield (a well-to-do 15-year-old whose parents are missing), create a safe haven with each other even as bombs fall. Read-alike: The Lilac People by Milo Todd; The Keeper of Lost Art by Laura Morelli. |
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| Before Dorothy by Hazel GaynorEmily Gale and her new husband Henry move to Kansas to start a farm, leaving Emily's dear sister Annie and her newborn Dorothy behind in the city. Just a few years later, in 1932, Annie dies and the couple adopt Dorothy. But the youngster isn't the only big change in the couple's world -- drought and devastating dust storms threaten everything. For other Oz retellings, try: After Oz by Gordon McAlpine; Toto by A.J. Hackwith, or Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts. |
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| Last Stop Union Station by Sarah JamesWork is drying up for middle-aged Hollywood star Jackie Love, who has a reputation for being difficult. Out of options in 1942, she joins the Hollywood Victory Caravan, a cross-country train trip raising money for the war effort. But a suspicious death causes a pause in Chicago, where Jackie teams up with Officer Grace Sullivan to prove it's a case of murder, leading them to danger and homegrown Nazis. Try this next: The Starlets by Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne. |
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| Anima Rising by Christopher MooreIn 1911 Vienna, celebrated artist Gustav Klimt saves a woman from drowning in the Danube, but she has no memory of her past. That is, until Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung help out and the woman recalls, among other things, being in the Arctic over 100 years earlier with Victor Frankenstein. For fans of: offbeat novels that mix real characters and fictional ones into irreverent and compelling plots. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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