Historical Fiction We Love Recommending

If you enjoy immersing yourself in the past, this collection of historical fiction is perfect for you. It includes both recent bestselling releases and a few timeless classics that readers continue to cherish. These stories highlight strong, complex women and are set in vivid locations, ranging from war-torn cities to peaceful countryside estates.

The Calamity Club By Kathern Stockett Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, elevenyearold Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan ... Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she's left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister's seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates-and Meg's-converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan to claim what's rightfully theirs. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women's freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences. The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer-an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious-the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. From the publisher Spiegel & Grau | 666 pages | May 5, 2026 | ISBN: 9781954118812 | Historical Fiction / Women's Fiction read more

The Young Will Remember By Eve J. Chung A sweeping novel about a correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War, and the women who help her find her way home, from the national bestselling author of Daughters of Shandong ... When I found the courage to lift my head, I expected to stare down the barrel of a gun, but instead there was a woman in front of me, the back of her white skirt embroidered with columns of yellow chrysanthemums. 1950. It's the coldest winter in decades, and twenty-eight-year-old Chinese American journalist Ellie Chang is on a military flight to cover a battle in the mountains of North Korea when her plane is shot down. As she emerges from the fallen aircraft onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, Ellie is sure it's the end, certain she'll never make it home to her parents...until a woman pushes her way through the crowd and claims Ellie as the lost daughter that she's been searching for since the last war ended. Never mind that Ellie doesn't speak a word of Korean. Ellie is taken in by her rescuer-a woman who calls herself "Emma"-and the Paks, a pastor's family. She knows she can't stay and yet there's no way she'll survive on her own. As the war intensifies, the sky alighting with bombs overhead, Ellie convinces Emma and the Paks to travel south towards an elusive promise of safety, and where Ellie insists they are more likely to find Emma's real daughter, stuck on the other side of the frontlines. Emma's decision to claim Ellie, and Ellie's choice to take her hand will connect their lives forever. Moving and triumphant, The Young Will Remember sheds light on a "Forgotten War," the resilience of love within our darkest histories, and the indefatigable determination of mothers to protect their children. From the publisher Penguin Random House / Berkley | May 5, 2026 | 448 pages | ISBN: 9780593640562 | Literary Fiction / Historical Fiction read more

kin By Tayari Jones OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage-Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and ... deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy. "Tayari Jones's storytelling washed over me like a trip back home ... Kin is a masterpiece of a novel that will live with you long after you turn the last page." -Oprah Winfrey Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother's death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life. A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction. From the publisher Penguin Random House / Knopf | 368 pages | Feb 24, 2026 | ISBN:9780525659181 | Women's Fiction read more

Keeper of Lost Children By Sadeqa Johnson In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman's vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in an unexpected way.Ethel Gathers, the proud wife ... of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. After discovering a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GI's, Ethel feels compelled to help find these children homes. Philadelphia born Ozzie Phillips volunteers for the recently desegregated army in 1948, eager to make his mark in the world. While serving in Manheim, Germany, he meets a local woman, Jelka, and the two embark on a relationship that will impact their lives forever. In 1965 Maryland, Sophia Clark is given an opportunity to attend a prestigious all white boarding school and escape her heartless parents. While at the school, she discovers a secret that upends her world and sends her on a quest to unravel her own identity. Toggling between the lives of these three individuals, Keeper of Lost Children explores how one woman's vision will change the course of countless lives, and demonstrates that love in its myriad of forms-familial, parental, and forbidden, even love of self-can be transcendent. From the publisher Simon & Schuster/ 37 Ink | Feb 10, 2026 | 464 pages | ISBN13: 9781668069912 | Historical Fiction read more

It Girl By Allison Pataki At the dawn of the twentieth century, New York's streets teem with change: electricity, automobiles, the brash young President Teddy Roosevelt-and the It Girls. As artists' muses and working models, these ... independent young women soar to stardom not because of their pedigrees or inherited wealth, but because of their talent, charisma, and irresistible beauty. Pop culture is born, and in a world alight with Mr. Edison's new bulbs, no one shines brighter than America's sweetheart, Evelyn Talbot. But the journey to stardom is not simple or straight. While working as a shopgirl, the young Evelyn is recruited as a studio model and soon catches the eye of the preeminent artists of the age. When Broadway comes calling, Evelyn solidifies her status as the first self-made American female celebrity: the iconic Gibson Girl, the most sought-after figure and face of her time. Enter a parade of powerful and power-hungry men, from world-famous architect Stanley Pierce, the visionary behind Manhattan's mansions and iconic landmarks, to Hal Thorne, the shockingly wealthy railroad heir and premier "playboy" of high society. Each man promises comfort, glamour, security-even love. But fame and fortune are cruel teachers, and Evelyn learns that the only person she can rely on is herself. When Evelyn finds herself at the center of a murder of passion declared "the Crime of the Century," she is blamed for the acts of the men in her life. In the media frenzy that spirals around her, Evelyn realizes that to survive, she will have to write her own ending. But can this artists' muse turned showgirl pull off the greatest act of her life? It Girl is a breathtaking ride inspired by a singular artist and icon who captured the collective imagination of American society. Allison Pataki has crafted yet another unforgettable leading lady, a heroine who must find the power to change not only the world around her but her own destiny. From the publisher Penguin Random House / Ballantine Books | Mar 10, 2026 | 416 pages | ISBN: 9780593873410 | Historical Fiction / Literary Fiction read more

Cleopatra By Sadeqa Johnson Cleopatra tells her own story in this evocative and sensuous historical epic from the bestselling and award-winning author of Faebound and The Final Strife. ... "Enchanting, smart, and subversive-this is El-Arifi's masterpiece."-R.F. Kuang, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Katabasis This stunning edition includes designed endpapers and a custom case stamp. YOU KNOW MY NAME, BUT YOU DO NOT KNOW ME. Your historians call me seductress, but I was ever in love's thrall. Your playwrights speak of witchcraft, but my talents came from the gods themselves. Your poets sing of my bloodlust, but I was always protecting my children. How wilfully they refuse to concede that a woman could be powerful, strategic, and divinely blessed to rule. Death will silence me no longer. This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived. From the publisher Ballantine Books | Feb 24, 2026 | 352 pages | ISBN13: 978-0593875643 | Ancient Historical Fiction read more

The Amalfi Curse By Sarah Penner Powerful witchcraft. A hunt for sunken treasure. Forbidden love on the high seas. Beware the Amalfi Curse...Haven Ambrose, a trailblazing nautical archaeologist, has come to the sun-soaked village of Positano to investigate ... the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast. But Haven is hoping to find more than old artifacts beneath the azure waters; she is secretly on a quest to locate a trove of priceless gemstones her late father spotted on his final dive. Upon Haven's arrival, strange maelstroms and misfortunes start plaguing the town. Is it nature or something more sinister at work? As Haven searches for her father's sunken treasure, she begins to unearth a centuries-old tale of ancient sorcery and one woman's quest to save her lover and her village by using the legendary art of stregheria, a magical ability to harness the ocean. Could this magic be behind Positano's latest calamities? Haven must unravel the Amalfi Curse before the region is destroyed forever... Against the dazzling backdrop of the Amalfi Coast, this bewitching novel shimmers with mystery, romance and the untamed magic of the sea. Sarah Penner transported me to the sea-swept cliffs of Positano and introduced me to characters I'll never forget. A magical read!" -Emilia Hart, New York Times bestselling author of Weyward From the publisher read more

The First Witch of Boston By Andrea Catalano A gripping and intimate novel based on the true story of Margaret Jones, the first woman to be found guilty of witchcraft in seventeenth-century Massachusetts. Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1646. Thomas and Margaret ...Jones arrive from England to build a life in the New World. Though of differing temperaments, cautious Thomas and fiery Margaret, a healer, are bound by a love that has lasted decades. With a child on the way, their new beginning promises only blessings. But in this austere Puritan community, comely faces hide malicious intent. Wrong moves or words are met with suspicion, and Margaret's bold and unguarded nature draws scorn. Soon, Margaret is mistrusted as more cunning woman than kind caregiver. And when personal tragedies, religious hysteria, and wariness of the unknown turn most against her, even the devotion Margaret and her husband share is at risk. Inspired by actual diary entries and court records, The First Witch of Boston is at once the riveting story of a woman unjustly accused and a love story set amid the political and social turmoil of both Old and New England. Harrowing, and with a deep understanding of the human heart, history is brilliantly imagined. 2025 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist for Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction. Andrea Catalano draws a tender, intimate portrait of a marriage and a bold defense of an independent woman ahead of her time." -Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code From the publisher read more

Becoming Madam Secretary By Stephanie Dray She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it... New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins....Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference. When she's not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell's Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists, and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love. But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. She thinks he's a rich, arrogant dilettante who gets by on a handsome face and a famous name. He thinks she's a priggish bluestocking and insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House. Frances is destined to rise in a political world dominated by men, facing down the Great Depression as FDR's most trusted lieutenant-even as she struggles to balance the demands of a public career with marriage and motherhood. And when vicious political attacks mount and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, she must decide what she's willing to do-and what she's willing to sacrifice-to save a nation. From the publisher read more

One Good Thing By Georgia Hunter From the New York Times-bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones, an unforgettable story of hardship and hope, courage and resilience, that follows one young woman's journey through war-torn Italy ... 1940, Emilia Romagna. Lili and Esti have been best friends since meeting at the University of Ferrara; when Esti's son Theo is born, they become as close as sisters. There is a war being fought across borders, and in Italy, Mussolini's Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an 'inferior' Jewish race, but life somehow goes on-until Germany invades northern Italy, and the friends find themselves in occupied territory. Esti, older and fiercely self-assured, convinces Lili to flee first to a villa in the countryside to help hide a group of young war orphans, then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false identification papers for the Underground. When disaster strikes at the convent, a critically wounded Esti asks Lili to take a much bigger step: To go on the run with Theo. Protect him while Esti can't. Terrified to travel on her own, Lili sets out on an epic journey south toward Allied territory, through Nazi-occupied villages and bombed-out cities, doing everything she can to keep Theo safe. A remarkable tale of friendship, motherhood, and survival, One Good Thing is a tender reminder that love for another person, even amidst darkness and uncertainty, can be reason to keep going. From the publisher read more

Good Dirt By Charmaine Wilkerson NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The daughter of an affluent Black family pieces together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom in this moving novel from the bestselling author... of Black Cake, a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick. When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England - the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that's exactly what they get. So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago- the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family's history- it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future. In this sweeping, evocative novel, Charmaine Wilkerson brings to life a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present. From the publisher read more

The Frozen River By Ariel Lawhon Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes ... on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town's most respected gentlemen-one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie. Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon's newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day. From the publisher Vintage | 464 pages | Nov 5, 2024 | ISBN:978-0593312070 | Historical Fiction read more

Isola By Allegra Goodman NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A young woman and her lover are marooned on an island in this "lushly painted" (People) historical epic of love, faith, and defiance from the bestselling author of Sam. Heir to a fortune, Marguerite ... is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian-an enigmatic and volatile man-spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. That journey takes a unexpected turn when Marguerite, accused of betrayal, is brutally punished and abandoned on a small island. Once a child of privilege who dressed in gowns and laced pearls in her hair, Marguerite finds herself at the mercy of nature. As the weather turns, blanketing the island in ice, she discovers a faith she'd never before needed. Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival. From the publisher read more

The Storm We Made By Vanessa Chan In this "espionage-laden family epic" (Vanity Fair), an ordinary housewife becomes an unlikely spy-and her dark secrets will test even the most unbreakable ties. Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara's family is in terrible danger: ... her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth. A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fujiwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an "Asia for Asians." Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction-and she will do anything to save them. Told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made spans years of pain, triumph, and perseverance. "The tenderness in its details, the ordinary ways that these characters love and laugh in the face of the extraordinary...Chan shows us, with clarity and care, how the truest mirror comes from the intimacy of human connection" (The New York Times Book Review) From the publisher read more

Babylonia By Costanza Casati From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history, painting the brutal and captivating empire of gods and men, and the one queen destined to rule them all. ... A common woman. The governor she married. The king who loved them both. Babylonia across the centuries has become the embodiment of lust, excess, and dissolute power that ruled Ancient Assyria. In this world you had to kill to be king. Or, in the case of Semiramis, an orphan raised on the outskirts of an empire: Queen. Nothing about Semiramis's upbringing could have foretold her legacy. But when she meets a young representative of the new Assyrian king, a prophecy unfolds before her, one that puts her in the center of a brutal world and in the hearts of two men - one who happens to be king. Now a risen lady in a court of vipers, Semiramis becomes caught in the politics and viciousness of ancient Assyria. Instead of bartering with fate, Semiramis trains in war and diplomacy. And with each move, she rises in rank, embroiled in a game of power, desire, love, and betrayal, until she can ascend to the only position that will ever keep her safe. In her second novel, Costanza Casati brilliantly weaves myth and ancient history together to give Semiramis, the only female ruler of the Assyrian Empire, a voice, charting her captivating ascent to a throne no one promised her. From the publisher read more

House of Eve By Sadeqa Johnson From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife, a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to ... achieve her greatest goal. 1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright. Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC's elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don't let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William's family and grant her the life she's been searching for. But having a baby-and fitting in-is easier said than done. With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives. From the publisher read more

Looking For Jane By Heather Marshall This "powerful debut" (Hello! Canada) for fans of Kristin Hannah and Jennifer Chiaverini about three women whose lives are bound together by a long-lost letter, a mother's love, and a secret ... network of women fighting for the right to choose-inspired by true stories. 2017: When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane. 1971: As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for "fallen" women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption-a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had. 1980: After discovering a shocking secret about her family, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates "Jane" and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network's ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her. Looking for Jane is "a searing, important, beautifully written novel about the choices we all make and where they lead us-as well as a wise and timely reminder of the difficult road women had to walk not so long ago" (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author). From the publisher read more

Strangers in Time By David Baldacci From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Calamity of Souls comes a novel set in 1940s London about a bereaved bookshop owner and two teenagers scarred by the Second World War, and the healing ... and hope they find in one another. Fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters is up to no good, but for a very good reason. Without parents, peerage, or merit, he steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he's old enough to enlist to fight the Germans. After barely surviving the Blitz, Charlie knows there's no telling when a falling bomb might end his life. Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognizable London. One of millions of children to have been evacuated to the countryside Molly has been away from her home for nearly five years. Her return, however, is not the homecoming she'd hoped for as she's confronted by a devastating reality: neither of her parents are there. Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver, and solace at his bookshop, The Book Keep. Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kinship with both children, and in each other they rediscover the spirit of family each has lost. But Charlie's escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed, and someone's been following Molly since she returned to London. And Ignatius is harboring his own secrets, which could have terrible consequences for all of them. As bombs continue to bear down on the city, Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius learn that while the perils of war rage on, their coming together and trusting one another may be the only way for them to survive. From the publisher Praise "A masterpiece of a historical thriller." -Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of Eternal "Oliver Twist meets the Blitz. A beautiful read." -Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network read more

The Lion Women of Tehran By Marjan Kamali A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. From nationally bestselling author Marjan Kamali, this perfect book club read is "evocative...and a powerful portrait of friendship, feminism, and political activism" (People) set against three ... transformative decades in Tehran, Iran. In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother's endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation. Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa's warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming "lion women." But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls' high school in Iran, Ellie's memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie's privileged world alters the course of both of their lives. Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences. Praise Elegant...A tender, beautifully written examination of two women—and their choices—over more than 30 years."-Oprah Daily "Riveting...Reminiscent of The Kite Runner and My Brilliant Friend, The Lion Women of Tehran is a mesmerizing tale featuring endearing characters who will linger in readers' hearts." -BookPage read more

Behind Every Good Man By Sara Goodman Confino A wronged wife goes toe to toe with her cheating husband at the polls in this hilarious and heart-lifting novel by the bestselling author of Don't Forget to Write. It's a doozy of a bad day for Beverly Diamond when she catches ... her husband, Larry, in a compromising position with his secretary. What's a DC suburban wife to do with a soon-to-be ex, two young kids, and no degree or financial support in 1962? Beat the louse at his own game, that's what. Larry runs the Maryland senatorial campaign for the incumbent candidate projected to win against his younger underdog opponent, Michael Landau. But Beverly has the pluck, political savvy, and sheer drive to push Landau's campaign in a successful new direction, even if he already has a campaign manager who is less than pleased she has inserted herself into the race. Now it's rival against rival. She and Michael do make a great team…maybe in more ways than one. But with the election heating up, she needs to focus on one thing at a time. If Bev can convince Michael to go modern, pay attention to women's issues, and learn how to dress himself properly, maybe she can show Larry exactly how much he has underestimated her their entire marriage-and make her own dreams come true in the process Lake Union Publishing | Aug 6, 2024 | 349 pages | ISBN-13:978-1662517723 | Historical Women's Fiction entire marriage-and make her own dreams come true in the process Praise "[A] delightful cast of well-rounded secondary characters and sprinkled with a dash of romance, the novel shows the power of blazing one's own trail, even against frightening odds. Readers who love strong female leads won't want to miss this one. Highly recommended." -Historical Novels Review, Editors' Choice read more

The Vanishing Half By Brit Bennett From The New York Times-bestselling author of The Mothers, a stunning new novel about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who ultimately choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white. ... The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect? Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins. As with her New York Times-bestselling debut The Mothers, Brit Bennett offers an engrossing page-turner about family and relationships that is immersive and provocative, compassionate and wise. has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind? From the publisher Riverhead Books | Jun 2, 2020 | 343 pages | ISBN:9780525536291 | Historical Fiction read more

Time Tested Historical Fiction

The Red Tent By Anita Diamant In the Bible, Dinah's life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that tell of her father, Jacob, and his twelve sons. ... The Red Tent begins with the story of the mothers--Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah--the four wives of Jacob. They love Dinah and give her gifts that sustain her through childhood, a calling to midwifery, and a new home in a foreign land. Dinah's story reaches out from a remarkable period of early history and creates an intimate connection with the past. Deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling and the valuable achievement of presenting a new view of biblical women's lives. From the publisher read more

Before We Were Yours By Lisa Wingate NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - For readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale comes a "thought-provoking [and] complex tale about two families, two generations apart ... based on a notorious true-life scandal."* ... Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family's Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge-until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children's Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents-but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility's cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiance, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family's long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. Based on one of America's most notorious real-life scandals-in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country-Lisa Wingate's riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. read more

The Dovekeepers By Alice Hoffman The New York Times bestselling novel by the author of A Single Thread and At the Edge of the Orchard.Translated into thirty-nine languages and made into an Oscar-nominated film, ...Over five years in the writing, The Dovekeepers is Alice Hoffman's most ambitious and mesmerizing novel, a tour de force of imagination and research, set in ancient Israel. In 70 C.E., nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman's novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael's mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker's wife, watched the horrifically brutal murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior's daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and an expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power. The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets-about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love. The Dovekeepers is Alice Hoffman's masterpiece. From the publisher Scribner | ISBN: 978-1451617481 | 528 pages | April 3, 2012 | Historical Fiction read more

Memoirs of a Geisha By Arthur Golden A literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel tells with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha. ... Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read. Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono, elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist; competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction-at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful-and completely unforgettable. Listen to a Vintage | January 10, 1999 | 448 pages | ISBN 9780679781585 From the publisher read more

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas By John Boyne A story of innocence existing within the most terrible evil, this is the fictional tale of two young boys caught up in events entirely beyond their control. The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas... is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about. If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. We hope you never have to cross such a fence. EXTRA- THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, was made into an award-winning Miramax film. The novel itself won 2 Irish Book Awards, the Bisto Book of the Year, and was shortlisted or won a host of international awards. Amongst other accolades, it spent more than 80 weeks at no.1 in Ireland, topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and was the bestselling book in Spain in both 2007 and 2008. Worldwide, it has sold more than 5 million copies. From the publisher read more

Pachinko by Paulette Jiles By Min Jin Lee LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION National Bestseller. In this bestselling, page-turning saga, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny ... in 20th-century Japan, exiled from a home they never knew. "There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones." In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant-and that her lover is married-she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations. Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters-strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis-survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. From the publisher read more

The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan ... at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies. Since its publication in 2003 Kite Runner has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic of contemporary literature, touching millions of readers, and launching the career of one of America's most treasured writers. From the publisher read more

The Underground Railroad By Colson Whitehead Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, the #1 New York Times bestseller from Colson Whitehead, a magnificent tour de force chronicling a young slave's adventures ... as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hell for all the slaves, but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood-where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned-Cora kills a young white boy who tries to capture her. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor-engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom. Like the protagonist of Gulliver's Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey-hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share. From the publisher read more

An American Marriage By Tayari Jones Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. ... But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy's time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward--with hope and pain--into the future. read more

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