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Historical Fiction September 2024 |
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| The Volcano Daughters by Gina María BalibreraIn an El Salvador led by a cruel dictator, sisters Graciela and Consuelo are born into an Indigenous community, but are taken away at different times for different reasons. After a 1932 massacre, the sisters, each believing the other is dead, flee, stopping in France, New York, and California, all while followed by ghosts of their friends, who narrate this sweeping, vibrant debut novel. For fans of: The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James. |
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| House of Shades by Lianne DillsworthIn 1833 London, Hester Reeves, a 23-year-old Black doctor/herbalist, takes a high-paying job caring for dying Gervaise Cherville at his mansion. When he asks Hester to find two women whom he enslaved in Honduras and later employed in England, things get complicated and she wonders if he's being truthful about wanting to make amends. Read-alike: The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé. |
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| Teddy by Emily DunlayTexas debutante Teddy Huntley Carlyle has finally, at 34, married, albeit to a man she barely knows. Though she aims to be a good wife, her American diplomat husband's secretive travels leave her lonely in glamorous 1969 Rome, and she finds herself questioned by investigators after being caught up in a scandal. For fans of: Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner; The Beautiful People by Michelle Gable. |
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| A Pair of Wings by Carole HopsonBessie Coleman, the daughter of a former enslaved woman, navigates discrimination to become the first Black person to obtain an international pilot's license, leading to her becoming a famous barnstormer in this inspiring, well-researched debut novel written by a pilot and vividly depicting the world of early flight. Read-alikes: Paula McLain's Circling the Sun; Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle. |
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| Beyond Summerland by Jenny LecoatAfter World War II ends and the English island of Jersey is liberated from its German occupiers, 19-year-old Jean Parris learns that her father, arrested 15 months earlier for owning a radio, may have been turned in by a neighbor. She sets out to uncover the truth while keeping a dangerous secret of her own. Read-alikes: Kate Thompson's The Wartime Book Club; Jacqueline Winspear's The White Lady; Ruth Druart's The Last Hours in Paris. |
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| The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-GarciaIn 1955 Hollywood, Mexican newcomer Vera Larios is cast as Salome, the title role in a big-budget movie -- but vengeful actress Nancy Hartley believes Vera stole the role in this atmospheric novel that also explores the first-century life of the titular character. Read-alikes: Miss Del Río by Barbara Mujica; The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict; The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont. |
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| Lion's Den by Iris MwanzaIn this evocative debut set in the '90s, young Zambian lawyer Grace Zulu works her first pro bono case: a gay teen dancer has been arrested and beaten. With help from her corporate boss dying of AIDS and others who care, Grace fights prejudice and corruption, even as the teen goes missing. For a contemporary look at LGBTQIA+ life in an African country, try Kwei Quartey's gritty Ghana-set mystery The Whitewashed Tombs. |
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| Scandalous Women by Gill PaulTaking place in New York and England between 1965 and 1975, this gossipy, fun novel is narrated by a trio of women trying to make it in a man's world: recent college grad and editorial assistant Nancy White and the groundbreaking real-life authors she works with, Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins (who, in this fictional tale, become best friends). Read-alike: Park Avenue Summer by Renée Rosen. |
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| The Nightingale's Castle by Sonia VeltonIn 1610 Hungary, 15-year-old servant Boróka navigates castle life with cruel taskmasters. Becoming a favorite of Countess Erzsébet Báthory, Boróka is on hand when the powerful widow is put on trial, accused of serial torture and murder. This richly detailed, feminist take on the real-life Blood Countess story includes a supernatural touch and an informative author's note. For fans of: Bram Stoker's Dracula; Maggie O'Farrell's The Marriage Portrait. |
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| Tiananmen Square by Lai WenNarrator Lai Wen, who shares her name with the pseudonymous author, grows up in an unhappy middle-class family in the 1970s and '80s in a changing Beijing. Exposed to her rebellious grandmother and Western literature, Wen becomes an activist in this moving coming-of-age novel that culminates at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Read-alikes: Beijing Coma by Ma Jian; Their Divine Fires by Wendy Chen. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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