Staff Picks - Historical Fiction

Updated December 4, 2025
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The skystone : the Camulod chronicles
Whyte, Jack.
Paper Book
Explores the turbulent world of Roman-occupied Britain, as two Romans struggle to build lives in a land savaged by warring Picts, Celts, and invading Saxons.
Half of a yellow sun
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Paper Book
A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as "the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe," Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in...
Metropolis
Kerr, Philip
Paper Book
"[Metropolis is] a perfect goodbye--and first hello--to its hero...Bernie Gunther has, at last, come home."--Washington Post New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero's origins, exploring Bernie Gunther's first...
Metropolis
Kerr, Philip
Paper Book
A portrait of Bernie Gunther in his twenties: He's young, but he's seen four bloody years of trench warfare. And he's not stupid. So when he receives a promotion and a ticket out of Vice squad, he knows he's not really leaving behind the criminal gangs, the perverse sex clubs, and the laundry list...
The orphan collector
Wiseman, Ellen Marie
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller From the internationally bestselling author of What She Left Behind comes a gripping and powerful tale of upheaval-a heartbreaking saga of resilience and hope perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams and Kristin Hannah-set in Philadelphia...
The orphan collector
Wiseman, Ellen Marie
Paper Book
In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish...
The summer wives
Williams, Beatriz
Paper Book
"The Summer Wives is an exquisitely rendered novel that tackles two of my favorite topics: love and money. The glorious setting and drama are enriched by Williams's signature vintage touch. It's at the top of my picks for the beach this summer." --Elin Hilderbrand, author of The Perfect...
The summer wives
Williams, Beatriz
Paper Book
"The Summer Wives is an exquisitely rendered novel that tackles two of my favorite topics: love and money. The glorious setting and drama are enriched by Williams's signature vintage touch. It's at the top of my picks for the beach this summer." --Elin Hilderbrand, author of...
The women
Hannah, Kristin
Paper Book
A #1 bestseller on The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times! From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women--at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a...
The women : a novel
Hannah, Kristin
Audiobook
A 2025 Audie Award winner for Best Fiction Narrator! "Kristin Hannah's potent storytelling skills are brilliantly served by narrator Julia Whelan, whose limber, low-pitched voice moves nimbly from person to person, capturing personality and mood, her empathy palpable." --The...
The women
Hannah, Kristin
Paper Book
"Women can be heroes, too." When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in...
Las mujeres de la guerra
Hannah, Kristin.
Paper Book
De la autora superventas de El Ruiseñor, una emocionante historia de mujeres valientes decididas a arriesgar su vida por los demás en uno de los momentos más peligrosos de la historia «Las mujeres también pueden ser heroínas». Cuando Frances, estudiante de enfermería, oye por...
The book of longings
Kidd, Sue Monk
Paper Book
"An extraordinary novel . . . a triumph of insight and storytelling." --Associated Press "A true masterpiece." --Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from...
The book of longings
Kidd, Sue Monk
Paper Book
"An epic masterpiece that is a triumph of insight and storytelling." --Associated Press Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2020 by O, the Oprah Magazine, Good Morning America/ABC-TV, Good Housekeeping, Bustle, TIME, Marie Claireand The MillionsAn...
Last runaway
Chevalier, Tracy.
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions and realities that fueled this...
Last runaway
Chevalier, Tracy.
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author of Girl With a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past in The Last Runaway, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions and realities that fueled this...
The last runaway
Chevalier, Tracy.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestselling Author -- Tracy Chevalier makes her first fictional foray into the American past, bringing to life the Underground Railroad and illuminating the principles, passions and realities that fueled this extraordinary freedom movement.Honor Bright is a modest English Quaker who...
Deacon King Kong
McBride, James
Paper Book
Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction   Winner of the Gotham Book Prize One of Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of the Year" Oprah's Book Club Pick New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
Deacon King Kong : a novel
McBride, James
Audiobook
Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction   Winner of the Gotham Book Prize One of Barack Obama's "Favorite Books of the Year" Oprah's Book Club Pick Named one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by the New York Times,...
The love songs of W.E.B. Du Bois : a novel
Jeffers, Honorée Fanonne
Paper Book
A Kirkus "Best Book of the 21st Century" An instant New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today Bestseller * AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION * ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S "GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS" * BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021 * WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR...
Love songs of W E B Du Bois
Jeffers, Honore?e Fanonne, 1967-
Paper Book
A Kirkus "Best Book of the 21st Century" An instant New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today Bestseller * AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION * ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S "GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS" * BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021 * WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR...
The marriage of opposites
Hoffman, Alice.
Paper Book
Rachel's mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules.
The marriage of opposites : a novel
Hoffman, Alice.
Paper Book
"[A] luminous, Marquez-esque tale." -O, The Oprah Magazine From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things: a forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman who...
Marriage of opposites a novel based on the life of Rachel Pizzarro
Hoffman, Alice.
Paper Book
"[A] luminous, Marquez-esque tale." -O, The Oprah Magazine From the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Museum of Extraordinary Things: a forbidden love story set on the tropical island of St. Thomas about the extraordinary woman who...
The marriage of opposites : a novel
Hoffman, Alice
Audiobook
"A luminous, Marquez-esque tale" (O, The Oprah Magazine) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Museum of Extraordinary Things a forbidden love story set on a tropical island about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro--the Father of...
Outlander : a novel
Gabaldon, Diana.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The first book in Diana Gabaldon's acclaimed Outlander saga, the basis for the Starz original series. This special twentieth-anniversary edition features an original essay, a new map, and more.   One of the top ten best...
Outlander Outlander Series, Book 1
Gabaldon, Diana.
Audiobook
This stunning blend of historical romance and time-traveling adventure has captured the hearts of millions of readers around the world and catapulted author Diana Gabaldon to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Outlander introduces an exhilarating world of heroism and...
Things fall apart
Achebe, Chinua.
Paper Book
"A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world." --Barack Obama "African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe." --Toni Morrison "A...
Between two fires
Buehlman, Christopher.
Paper Book
His extraordinary debut, Those Across the River, was hailed as "genre-bending Southern horror" (California Literary Review), "graceful [and] horrific" (Patricia Briggs). Now Christopher Buehlman invites readers into an even darker age--one of temptation and corruption, of war in heaven...
Love & saffron a novel of friendship, food, and love
Fay, Kim
Digital file
The Instant National Bestseller and #1 Indie Next Pick For fans of The Correspondent by Virginia Evans and 84, Charing Cross Road, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that...
The Hazelbourne ladies motorcycle and flying club : a novel
Simonson, Helen
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "Historical fiction of the highest order . . . an absolute joy of a book, warm and romantic, and with so much to say about the lives of women in the years following World War I."--Ann Napolitano, bestselling author of Hello Beautiful A timeless...
I was Anastasia : a novel
Lawhon, Ariel
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * An enthralling feat of historical suspense that unravels the extraordinary twists and turns in Anna Anderson's fifty-year battle to be recognized as Anastasia Romanov. Is she the Russian Grand Duchess or the thief of another woman's legacy? ...

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