27 Unforgettable Historical Fictions That Will Leave You With the Best Book Hangover

If you’ve ever finished a historical novel and just sat there for a minute, not ready to pick up anything else, you know that feeling. That quiet book hangover. It’s the kind readers secretly enjoy.
I keep coming back to historical fiction because of the emotion, the atmosphere, and the characters who feel real long after the story ends. These books don’t just tell you about the past. They make you feel it.
In this post, I’m sharing some of the most unforgettable historical fiction books I’ve read over the years as a book blogger. You’ll find highly rated historical novels, powerful books with strong female leads, and more.
If you’re building your 2026 book club list, this is a good place to start.

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Historical Fiction Books With The Hangover

The Butterfly Garden by Rachel Burton

The Butterfly Garden is a gripping and beautiful story of love and heartbreak. It’s told across two timelines.
In 1963, Clara Samuels shocks her village when she buys Butterfly Cottage. A single woman owning property is not the done thing in Carybrook. The cottage reconnects her with her childhood friend James. But within six months, Clara leaves England under mysterious circumstances, and the cottage stands empty for over fifty years. In 2018, Meredith inherits the cottage from a great aunt she never knew. She hopes it will fix her financial problems. Instead, she finds a young gardener already living there, claiming half the property. This is one of the heartwarming historical romance book set in England.

A gripping and beautiful tale of love, loss and secrets.

1963: When Clara Samuels buys Butterfly Cottage, she knows the scandal she’ll cause. A single woman buying property is not the ‘done thing’, especially not in a village like Carybrook. But Clara has been in love with Butterfly Cottage, and its garden, since she used to play there before the War. And when she reconnects with her childhood friend James, her decision feels serendipitous. But the true scandal is yet to come, because within six months, Clara will leave England under mysterious circumstances, and Butterfly Cottage will stand empty for more than 50 years.

2018: No one is more surprised than Meredith when she’s bequeathed a cottage by a great aunt she’d never heard of. She hopes, briefly, that the inheritance could be the answer to her financial problems. But when she arrives in Suffolk, she is shocked to discover a man is already living there. A young gardener, who claims he was also bequeathed half of Butterfly Cottage.

As the pair try to unravel their complicated situation, they unearth a decades old mystery involving Clara, the garden, and a stack of letters left unread for over 50 years.

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Land of Dreams by Gian Sardar

Land of Dreams is set in 1933 Hollywood. There is scandal, secret loves, and murder.
Frankie Donnelly is very ambitious. She works as a fixer at RCO Studios under Nico Marconi. Her newest job is managing the wedding of screen stars Jack Sawyer and June Finney. The public sees romance. Frankie knows it is a cover for secrets.
When a shocking murder happens, Hollywood begins to crack. Soon Frankie must decide who to protect and who to destroy. This is one of the most anticipated historical fictions of 2026.

In the 1930s, scandal, secret loves, and murder shatter a woman’s Hollywood dream.

It’s 1933, and though the country is stuck in the Great Depression, movies are the ultimate escape. But Hollywood is skilled at selling lies, and nothing is as it seems.

Frankie Donnelly is scrappy, smart, and ambitious. Her knack for spinning any story into stellar publicity has made her an invaluable “fixer” at RCO Studios, where she works under the tutelage of powerful Nico Marconi. Frankie’s latest fix is the upcoming marriage of Hollywood royals Jack Sawyer and June Finney, and millions of fans can’t wait to see their favorite silver-screen lovers tie the knot. But Frankie knows the truth: The marriage is an artful cover for Jack and June’s darkest secrets.

When a shocking murder occurs, allegiances fracture, the tabloids go wild, and a devastated public is left reeling. Frankie uncovers new layers of scandal and deception and is forced to choose which Hollywood player to protect and who to destroy. Now, more than ever, the country needs a happy ending—but at what cost?

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The Mad Wife by Meagan Church

The Mad Wife is a story about identity, motherhood, and the pressure of societal expectations.
Lulu Mayfield has spent years trying to be the perfect 1950s housewife. She keeps her husband pleased and her home flawless, even while painful memories follow her. After the birth of her second child, her carefully built life starts to fall apart.
A new neighbor, Bitsy, arrives with a constant smile that feels wrong. Lulu becomes fixated on her and begins uncovering unsettling truths. As doubts grow, others question Lulu’s sanity. Is she truly unraveling, or is she seeing something others refuse to see? This historical mystery is perfect for your 2026 book club.

From bestselling author Meagan Church comes a haunting exploration of identity, motherhood, and the suffocating grip of societal expectations that will leave you questioning the lives we build―and the lies we live.

They called it hysteria. She called it survival.

Lulu Mayfield has spent the last five years molding herself into the perfect 1950s housewife. Despite the tragic memories that haunt her and the weight of exhausting expectations, she keeps her husband happy, her household running, and her gelatin salads the talk of the neighborhood. But after she gives birth to her second child, Lulu’s carefully crafted life begins to unravel.

When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman’s constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew―and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept?

In the vein of The Bell Jar and The Hours, The Mad Wife weaves domestic drama with psychological suspense, so poignant and immersive, you won’t want to put it down

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The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner

The Amalfi Curse has themes of witchcraft, sunken treasure, and forbidden love along with an incredible setting.
Haven Ambrose, a nautical archaeologist, arrives in Positano to study mysterious shipwrecks. Secretly, she hopes to find gemstones her late father discovered on his final dive. Soon, strange storms and misfortunes begin troubling the town.
As Haven searches beneath the sea, she uncovers a centuries-old story of sorcery and stregheria, a magic tied to the ocean. This is one of the best audiobooks of 2025, with an incredible plot.

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.

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Homeseeking by Karissa Chen

Homeseeking is an epic and intimate story of love, family, and the Chinese diaspora across sixty years.
Haiwen unexpectedly sees Suchi in a Los Angeles market after decades apart. For him, it feels like a second chance. For her, survival meant never looking back.
Their love began in Shanghai as children. War and sacrifice tore them apart. The novel follows them through Hong Kong, Taiwan, New York, and California. It explores loyalty, distance, and what it means to find home far from your homeland.

An epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.

A single choice can define an entire life.

Haiwen is buying bananas at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles when he looks up and sees Suchi, his Suchi, for the first time in sixty years. To recently widowed Haiwen it feels like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back.

Suchi was seven when she first met Haiwen in their Shanghai neighborhood, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossomed into soul-deep love, but when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, she was left with just his violin and a note: Forgive me.

Homeseeking follows the separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history as war, famine, and opportunity take them separately to the song halls of Hong Kong, the military encampments of Taiwan, the bustling streets of New York, and sunny California, telling Haiwen’s story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi’s from her childhood to the present, meeting in the crucible of their lives. Throughout, Haiwen holds his memories close while Suchi forces herself to look only forward, neither losing sight of the home they hold in their hearts.

At once epic and intimate, Homeseeking is a story of family, sacrifice, and loyalty, and of the power of love to endure beyond distance, beyond time.

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The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin

The Keeper of Hidden Books is a heartwarming WWII story about the power of books to bring us together.
In Nazi-occupied Warsaw, Zofia finds comfort in books and her best friend Janina. As destruction spreads, Zofia begins saving books from the ruins and even starts a secret book club.
When Janina is forced into the ghetto, danger grows. Zofia risks everything to protect her friend and preserve their culture.

A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.

All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler’s forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving.

With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto.

But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families—and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left—literature.

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Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

Looking for Jane moves between 1971, 1980, and 2017, centered on an underground abortion network in Toronto known as Jane.
In 2017, Angela finds a letter with a life-changing confession and begins searching for its owner.
In 1971, Dr. Evelyn Taylor joins the illegal Jane Network after being forced to give up her own baby.
In 1980, Nancy Mitchell faces an unexpected pregnancy and turns to Jane for help. Their stories connect through choice and the fight for women’s rights.

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 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

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River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

River Sing Me Home begins with the end of slavery in 1834 Barbados. But freedom proves to be an illusion.
Rachel learns she and others must remain as “apprentices.” So she runs.
She begins a journey across Barbados, British Guiana, and Trinidad to find the five children who were sold away from her.
This is a powerful story of motherhood, loss, and the search for freedom. If you love a powerful historical fiction with a strong female lead, this book is for you.

Her search begins with an ending….

The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect. The cries of joy fall silent when he announces that they are no longer his slaves; they are now his apprentices. No one can leave. They must work for him for another six years. Freedom is just another name for the life they have always lived. So Rachel runs.

Away from Providence, she begins a desperate search to find her children–the five who survived birth and were sold. Are any of them still alive? Rachel has to know. The grueling, dangerous journey takes her from Barbados then, by river, deep into the forest of British Guiana and finally across the sea to Trinidad. She is driven on by the certainty that a mother cannot be truly free without knowing what has become of her children, even if the answer is more than she can bear. These are the stories of Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. But above all this is the story of Rachel and the extraordinary lengths to which a mother will go to find her children…and her freedom.

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Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Broken Country follows Beth, whose quiet life is turned upside down when Gabriel, her first love, comes back to their small village after many years. Seeing him again stirs up old emotions and painful memories, especially when she notices his little boy, who reminds her of the child she once lost. The story shifts between the past and the present, which adds so much depth. I loved how it blends a sweeping love story with the fast pace of a thriller. This is one of the best books of 2025.

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love

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Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven

Meet the Newmans centers on a well-known TV family in the 1960s whose polished public image begins to crack behind closed doors. Every member of the family carries secrets. The novel highlights the gap between fame and reality, showing what really happens inside a household under pressure. I enjoyed the mix of humor and heart, especially the way it explores marriage, fame, and identity during a time of social change. One of the charming books of 2026.

For two decades, Del and Dinah Newman and their sons, Guy and Shep, have ruled television as America’s Favorite Family. Millions of viewers tune in every week to watch them play flawless, black-and-white versions of themselves. But now it’s 1964, and the Newmans’ idealized apple-pie perfection suddenly feels woefully out of touch. Ratings are in free fall, as are the Newmans themselves. Del is keeping an explosive secret from his wife, and Dinah is slowly going numb—literally. Steady, stable Guy is hiding the truth about his love life, and the charmed luck of rock ‘n roll idol Shep may have finally run out.

When Del—the creative motor behind the show—is in a mysterious car accident, Dinah decides to take matters into her own hands. She hires Juliet Dunne, an outspoken, impassioned young reporter, to help her write the final episode. But Dinah and Juliet have wildly different perspectives about what it means to be a woman, and a family, in 1964. Can the Newmans hold it together to change television history? Or will they be canceled before they ever have the chance?

Funny, big-hearted, and deeply moving, Meet the Newmans is a rich family story about the dual lives we lead. Because even when our lives aren’t televised weekly, we all have a behind-the-scenes.

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Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Atmosphere tells the story of Joan, an astronomy professor who takes a bold step by applying to NASA’s early space program for women. Through demanding training, she builds meaningful friendships and experiences an unexpected love. The novel combines science, ambition, and deep emotion, building toward a mission that alters everything. This is a must-listen audiobooks for 2026.

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easygoing even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.

Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, creating complex protagonists, and telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love—this time among the stars.

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Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards

Canticle follows Aleys, a young girl in medieval Bruges who escapes an arranged marriage and finds safety among a group of independent religious women. As she discovers faith, music, and friendship, outside threats from church and political powers grow stronger. The strong heroine and rich historical atmosphere make this story especially powerful.

Set in thirteenth-century Bruges, this debut novel follows a young woman’s explorations of faith, agency, and love among a community of fiercely independent women.

Aleys is sixteen years old and serious, stubborn, prone to religious visions. She and her only friend, a young scholar, have been learning Latin together in secret—but just as she thinks their connection might become something more, he abandons her for the monastery. When her family falls on hard financial times, her father promises her in marriage to the unctuous head of the weavers’ guild, and in desperation she runs away from home, eventually finding shelter within a community of religious women who do not answer to the church.

Among the hardworking and strong-willed Beguines, Aleys glimpses for the first time the joys of a life of song, friendship, and time spent in the markets and along the canals of Bruges. But forces both mystical and political are afoot. Illegal translations of scripture, the women’s independence, and a sudden rash of miracles all draw the attention of an ambitious bishop—and bring Aleys and those around her into ever-increasing danger, a danger that will push Aleys to a new understanding of love and sacrifice.

Introducing a spirited, indelible heroine and a major new talent, Canticle is a luminous work of historical fiction, vividly evoking a world on the verge of transformation.

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The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

The Berry Pickers connects two families through the disappearance of a young Indigenous girl and a secret that remains buried for years. The novel moves across decades, exploring grief, guilt, and the ache of not belonging. One brother keeps searching, while another girl grows up sensing something is missing in her life. Its emotional depth and generational impact make it unforgettable. One of the lesser-known historical fictions for 2026.

One family’s deepest pain. Another’s darkest secret. Who will they be when the truth comes out?

On a hot day in 1960s Maine, six-year-old Joe watches his little sister Ruthie, sitting on her favourite rock at the edge of the blueberry fields, while their family, Mi’kmaq people from Nova Scotia, pick fruit. That afternoon, Ruthie vanishes without a trace. As the last person to see her, Joe will be forever haunted by grief, guilt, and the agony of imagining how his life could have been.

In an affluent suburb nearby, Norma is growing up as the only child of unhappy parents. She is smart, precocious, and bursting with questions she isn’t allowed to ask – questions about her missing baby photos; questions about her dark skin; questions about the strange, vivid dreams of campfires and warm embraces that return night after night. Norma senses there are things her parents aren’t telling her, but it will take decades to unravel the secrets they have kept buried since she was a little girl.

The Berry Pickers is an exquisitely moving story of unrelenting hope, unwavering love, and the power of family – even in the face of grief and betrayal.

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The Names by Florence Knapp

The Names begins with a mother making what seems like a small naming choice, but that decision creates three very different futures for her family. The story spans years and looks closely at identity, abuse, and healing. What makes it stand out is how clearly it shows that one single moment can change an entire life. This is a great historical fiction to add to your books to read before you die list

The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?

In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register the birth of her son. Her husband, Gordon, respected in the community but a controlling presence at home, intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and name the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates….

Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of their lives, shaped by Cora’s last-minute choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities for autonomy and healing.

Through a prism of what-ifs, Florence Knapp invites us to consider the “one … precious life” we are given. Full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark. It is the story of one family and love’s endless capacity to endure, no matter what fate has in store

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Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

Buckeye explores the lives of two families in post-war Ohio whose futures are shaped by a hidden relationship and a long-held secret. As time passes, the truth slowly affects the next generation. The novel focuses on longing, regret, and the search for goodness. This is a great historical fictions for 2026.

In Bonhomie, Ohio, a stolen moment of passion, sparked in the exuberant aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe, binds Cal Jenkins, a man wounded not in war but by his inability to serve in it, to Margaret Salt, a woman trying to obscure her past. Cal’s wife, Becky, has a spiritual gift: She is a seer who can conjure the dead, helping families connect with those they’ve lost. Margaret’s husband, Felix, is serving on a Navy cargo ship, out of harm’s way—until a telegram suggests that the unthinkable might have happened.

Later, as the country reconstructs in the postwar boom, a secret grows in Bonhomie—but nothing stays buried forever in a small town. Against the backdrop of some of the most transformative decades in modern America, the consequences of that long-ago encounter ripple through the next generation of both families, compelling them to reexamine who they thought they were and what the future might hold.

Sweeping yet intimate, rich with piercing observation and the warmth that comes from profound understanding of the human spirit, Buckeye captures the universal longing for love and for goodness.

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James by Percival Everett

James reimagines the story of Jim, the enslaved man, told from his own perspective as he runs from the threat of being torn away from his family. Journeying down the Mississippi with Huck, he reveals intelligence, bravery, and humanity that were once overlooked. The novel transforms him from a background figure into a voice of strength, wit, and survival. Also read 41 Book Club Questions For James by Percival Everett

A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim’s agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

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The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

The Henna Artist follows Lakshmi, who leaves behind an abusive marriage to create a new life in 1950s Jaipur as a sought-after henna artist. She becomes the trusted keeper of wealthy women’s secrets while protecting her hard-earned independence. When her past resurfaces, everything is tested. Lakshmi’s resilience and the vibrant setting make this unforgettable. This was one of the gripping historical fiction books for book clubs

Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.

Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own…

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does

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The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Women shares the powerful journey of Frankie McGrath, who leaves 1960s California to serve as a nurse in the Vietnam War. The story doesn’t end when the war does. Frankie returns home carrying both emotional and physical scars, and rebuilding her life proves just as difficult. The novel honors the overlooked sacrifices of women in wartime. Like other Kristin Hannah books, the writing is incredible. Also check out discussion question for The Women.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

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Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya, who grows up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina and forms a strong connection with nature. The writing makes the setting feel alive and vivid. Alongside her survival story, there’s a mystery about a man’s death that keeps the suspense high. Kya’s resilience and independence are what truly make it shine. One of my favorite Reese Witherspoon’s book club.

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.

But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.

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The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

Set during World War II, The Book of Lost Names follows a young woman working with the French Resistance who creates a hidden code to save lives. It’s a story filled with love, bravery, and the importance of memory. I had a serious book hangover after finishing it. Easily one of the most captivating WWII books I read in the last five years.

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

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Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

In Lessons in Chemistry, Elizabeth Zott is a gifted scientist in the 1960s who refuses to accept society’s limits. She challenges sexism while building her career and raising her daughter on her own. Her intelligence, dry humor, and determination make her unforgettable. And I loved her loyal dog, Six-Thirty. One of the unforgettable books I’ve read as a book blogger.

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

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The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

The Lost Apothecary moves between 1790s London and the present day. Nella secretly provides deadly remedies to abused women, and her path connects with a clever young girl in dangerous ways. In modern times, Caroline uncovers their hidden story while dealing with her own heartbreak. The dual timelines and detailed historical setting make this one of my favorite historical fiction set in England.

A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them – setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.

Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose – selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate – and not everyone will survive.

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Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Set in 1983,Malibu Rising follows the famous Riva siblings during one unforgettable day and night as they throw a massive party in Malibu. As the celebration unfolds, old wounds and family secrets surface. Each sibling has a distinct voice, and the story moves quickly. The strong setting and fast-paced book made it impossible to put down. Perfect if you’re in a reading slump.

Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them… and what they will leave behind.

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Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau

Mary Jane is a coming-of-age story set in 1970s Baltimore about a sheltered teen who spends the summer nannying for a free-spirited family. Through them, she discovers music, independence, and a different way of living. Her innocence and quiet confidence make her easy to root for. By the end, it feels like you’ve grown with her. It’s warm, feel-good, and lovely on audio. The audiobook is also fantastic for road trip.

In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Show Tunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house.

The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, IMPEACHMENT: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. And even more troublesome (were Mary Jane’s mother to know, which she does not): The doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job—helping a famous rock star dry out. A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in.

Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane introduces her new household to crisply ironed clothes and a family dinner schedule, and has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll (not to mention group therapy). Caught between the lifestyle she’s always known and the future she’s only just realized is possible, Mary Jane will arrive at September with a new idea about what she wants out of life, and what kind of person she’s going to be. 

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The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

The God of the Woods opens with a teenage girl vanishing from a summer camp in the Adirondacks during the 1970s. As the investigation unfolds, secrets tied to her influential family and the local community come to light. The forest setting feels almost alive, adding to the tension. I found it tense, haunting, and fully immersive. One of the best engaging thriller audiobooks I listened to.

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

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The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Set in 1930s Kentucky, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek follows Cussy Carter, a horseback librarian delivering books to remote mountain families. Because of her rare blue skin, she faces prejudice, yet she remains devoted to her mission. The story explores discrimination, resilience, and the healing power of books. Cussy’s bravery and the setting make it unforgettable

In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.

The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government’s new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.

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City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

City of Girls is a bold, glamorous novel set in 1940s New York, following Vivian as she embraces ambition, freedom, and desire on her own terms. From theatre life to complicated love affairs, the story shows both the excitement and consequences of living fully. The city feels alive, the characters are vivid, and the journey is emotional. It’s dramatic, romantic, and very steamy , with a heroine who owns her choices. Definitely one of those under-the-radar authors more people should know about.

In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theater called the Lily Playhouse. There Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer, and no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves-and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest.

Now ninety-five years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life – and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it.

Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, City of Girls is a love story like no other.

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