Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is a genre freebie, and I’m going to surprise you all and not write up a post about romance! I know I’m known for my love of romance novels, but I actually love a lot of different genres! I’ve surprised myself recently, though, and am devouring historical fiction for the first time in my life. I discovered Kate Quinn’s books last year when I read and loved The Huntress. I just finished The Diamond Eye, which was fabulous, and now I’m reading The Alice Network. I just love her books! So now I’m on the hunt for more historical fiction novels like these, and today I’m sharing ten that I’m excited about. If you have any recommendations for books I might like, please share in the comments below!
1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. . . .
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.
2. The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack
Semele Cavnow appraises antiquities for an exclusive Manhattan auction house, deciphering ancient texts—and when she discovers a manuscript written in the time of Cleopatra, she knows it will be the find of her career. Its author tells the story of a priceless tarot deck, now lost to history, but as Semele delves further, she realizes the manuscript is more than it seems. Both a memoir and a prophecy, it appears to be the work of a powerful seer, describing devastating wars and natural disasters in detail thousands of years before they occurred.
The more she reads, the more the manuscript begins to affect Semele’s life. But what happened to the tarot deck? As the mystery of her connection to its story deepens, Semele can’t shake the feeling that she’s being followed. Only one person can help her make sense of it all: her client, Theo Bossard. Yet Theo is arrogant and elusive, concealing secrets of his own, and there’s more to Semele’s desire to speak with him than she would like to admit. Can Semele even trust him?
The auction date is swiftly approaching, and someone wants to interfere—someone who knows the cards exist, and that the Bossard manuscript is tied to her. Semele realizes it’s up to her to stop them: the manuscript holds the key to a two-thousand-year-old secret, a secret someone will do anything to possess.
3. The Address by Fiona Davis
When a chance encounter with Theodore Camden, one of the architects of the grand New York apartment house the Dakota, leads to a job offer for Sara Smythe, her world is suddenly awash in possibility—no mean feat for a servant in 1884. The opportunity to move to America. The opportunity to be the female manager of the Dakota. And the opportunity to see more of Theo, who understands Sara like no one else…and is living in the Dakota with his wife and three young children.
One hundred years later, Bailey Camden is desperate for new opportunities: Fresh out of rehab, the former interior designer is homeless, jobless, and penniless. Bailey’s grandfather was the ward of famed architect Theodore Camden, yet Bailey won’t see a dime of the Camden family’s substantial estate; instead, her “cousin” Melinda—Camden’s biological great-granddaughter—will inherit almost everything. So when Melinda offers to let Bailey oversee the renovation of her lavish Dakota apartment, Bailey jumps at the chance, despite her dislike of Melinda’s vision. The renovation will take away all the character of the apartment Theodore Camden himself lived in…and died in, after suffering multiple stab wounds by a former Dakota employee who had previously spent seven months in an insane asylum—a madwoman named Sara Smythe.
A century apart, Sara and Bailey are both tempted by and struggle against the golden excess of their respective ages–for Sara, the opulence of a world ruled by the Astors and Vanderbilts; for Bailey, the nightlife’s free-flowing drinks and cocaine—and take refuge in the Upper West Side’s gilded fortress. But a building with a history as rich, and often as tragic, as the Dakota’s can’t hold its secrets forever, and what Bailey discovers inside could turn everything she thought she knew about Theodore Camden—and the woman who killed him—on its head.
4. The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang
Two hearts. Twice as vulnerable.
Manhattan, 1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless immigrant, Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for the eager public.
Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts—a legend among grave robbers and anatomists—sought after as an endangered prize.
Now, as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora to die a natural death.
5. What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon
In an unforgettable love story, a woman’s impossible journey through the ages could change everything…
Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.
The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.
As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?
6. The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister
A dozen women join a secret 1850s Arctic expedition–and a sensational murder trial unfolds when some of them don’t come back.
Eccentric Lady Jane Franklin makes an outlandish offer to adventurer Virginia Reeve: take a dozen women, trek into the Arctic, and find her husband’s lost expedition. Four parties have failed to find him, and Lady Franklin wants a radical new approach: put the women in charge.
A year later, Virginia stands trial for murder. Survivors of the expedition willing to publicly support her sit in the front row. There are only five. What happened out there on the ice?
Set against the unforgiving backdrop of one of the world’s most inhospitable locations, USA Today bestselling author Greer Macallister uses the true story of Lady Jane Franklin’s tireless attempts to find her husband’s lost expedition as a jumping-off point to spin a tale of bravery, intrigue, perseverance and hope.
7. The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles
Paris, 1939. Odile Souchet is obsessed with books and the Dewey Decimal System, which makes order out of chaos. She soon has it all – a handsome police officer beau, an English best friend, a beloved twin, and a job at the American Library in Paris, a thriving community of students, writers, diplomats, and book lovers. Yet when war is declared, there’s also a war on words.
Montana, 1983. Widowed and alone, Odile suffers the solitary confinement of small-town life. Though most adults are cowed by her, the neighbor girl will not let her be. Lily, a lonely teenager yearning to break free of Froid is obsessed by the older French woman who lives next door and wants to know her secrets.
As the two become friends, Odile sees herself in Lily – the same love of language, the same longings, the same lethal jealousy. The Paris Library’s dual narratives explore the relationships that make us who we are – family and friends, first loves and favorite authors – in the fairy tale setting of the City of Light. It also explores the geography of resentment, the consequences of unspeakable betrayal, and what happens when the people we count on for understanding and protection fail us.
The wit, empathy, and deep research that brings The Paris Library to life also brings to light a cast of lively historical characters and a little-known chapter of World War II history: the story of the American librarian, Miss Reeder, who created the Soldiers’ Service to deliver books to servicemen, and who later faced the Nazi ‘Book Protector’ in order to keep her library open. She and her colleagues defied the Bibliotheksschutz by delivering books to Jewish readers after they were forbidden from entering the library.
8. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of East-End London poverty, works the legendary code-breaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.
1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter—the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger—and their true enemy—closer…
9. The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson
An uplifting and inspiring novel based on the true story of a librarian who created an underground shelter during World War II, perfect for readers of The Paris Library or The Last Bookshop in London.
London, 1944 : Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While war ravages the city above her, Clara has risked everything she holds dear to turn the Bethnal Green tube station into the country’s only underground library. Down here, a secret community thrives with thousands of bunk beds, a nursery, a café, and a theater—offering shelter, solace, and escape from the bombs that fall upon their city.
Along with her glamorous best friend and assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war drags on, the women’s determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.
10. The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
The New York Times bestselling author of the The Book of Lost Names returns with an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.
After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror. Stunned to learn what’s happening in the outside world, she vows to teach the group all she can about surviving in the forest—and in turn, they teach her some surprising lessons about opening her heart after years of isolation. But when she is betrayed and escapes into a German-occupied village, her past and present come together in a shocking collision that could change everything.
Inspired by incredible true stories of survival against staggering odds, and suffused with the journey-from-the-wilderness elements that made Where the Crawdads Sing a worldwide phenomenon, The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a heart-wrenching and suspenseful novel.
Have you read any of these?
Any recommendations for me?
The Arctic Fury sounds really good! My most recent historical fiction read that I loved was Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan
Surviving Savannah sounds amazing! Adding it to my wishlist right now. Thank you for the recommendation!
Loved Surviving Savannah – and have now read most her books.
i’ve added it to my wish list! It sounds so good! Thank you for your recommendation. :)
Kate Quinn writes a great story and I really enjoyed The Paris Library as well.
Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed The Paris Library! Makes me more excited to read it. :)
I’m not really a historical fiction reader so the book or author is always a small list for me. I do love Sarah Sundin’s books and much to my surprise did enjoy ‘Guernsey’ as well! Plus I hear Amy’s books are fabulous. :) Hope you enjoy!
I’m off to look up Sarah Sundin! Thank you, Rissi!
I just finished the Paris Library and loved it. Have also read and so enjoyed 1 and 5. #8 and 10 are on my TBR shelf. Too many good books and not enough time!
Happy reading – you’ve got some wonderful books to look forward to.
You’re so right! I will never have enough time to read everything I want to, I don’t think. lol. So glad to hear you loved The Paris Library! I get more excited to read books when I know people loved them! Thanks for stopping by!
What the Wind Knows is wonderful! I’ve read it once and listened to it once and both times were so good!
Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! I’ve got the audio version queued up on Kindle Unlimited, and can’t wait to start it! I love Saskia Maarleveld, so when I saw that she’s one of the readers it was a no-brainer for me.
That’s a lot! I’ve seen The Alice Network literally everywhere.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2023/02/28/top-ten-tuesday-ya-books-with-multiple-pov-narration/
I just finished it a couple days ago, and it was great! Not my favorite of Kate Quinn, but a solid read that I enjoyed. :) Thanks for stopping by!
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of my favorites. Great list!
I’m so glad to hear that! I see it everywhere, and I think it’s time. Have you seen the movie? I’m curious how it compares, but won’t be watching it until after I’ve read the book.
Nice! Not one of my genres, although I have read a few good historical fictions that mix with paranormal that made for fun reads! Great looking picks!
Here’s my Tuesday Post
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
Ooo, I’m intrigued by the paranormal aspects. Would you mind sharing which ones you enjoyed?
Mostly older series that I can think of. Lol. Kristen Callihan’s Darkest London series was really good! Gail Cartiger’s Parasol Protectorate series was another fave! I still need to read the spin-off to that one. She also had a YA series set in the same world that took place before the Parasol Protectorate. Kady Cross had another fun YA series called The Steampunk Chronicles that also had a few paranormal events in it.
Sadly haven’t read anything newer lately but those are ones that easily came to mind!
Oh, I’ve seen Kristen Callihan’s series pop up over the years! I’m glad to know it’s good. I’m going to go look at those and the others you’ve mentioned as well. Thanks for the recs!
I also love historical novels though I have only read the first book, the one about Guernsey. It is one of the best books I ever read, so I hope you will enjoy it, as well. The film is not too bad, either, which I rarely say. But the book is a lot better, of course.
I have done historical fiction before, so this week I have been concentrating on another favourite genre of mine, dystopian literature.
Thanks for all your work.
I’m so glad to know you enjoyed Guernsey. I can’t wait to read it. I’m sure you’re right that the book is better than the movie. That’s usually the case, isn’t it?
I love dystopian novels, so I’m going to come look at your recommendations!
There are very few exceptions where the movie is just as good or (even rarer) better than the book, I think we all made that experience.
I hope you find some interesting ones on my list.
Ah Jana, my time has come, I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction over the past couple of years, so I have quite a few recs! I also love Kate Quinn so heartily echo The Rose Code from your list, it’s a brilliant book, was actually the first one of hers I read, I read that, then The Alice Network and then The Diamond Eye. I’ve still yet to read The Huntress though. She has a new one coming out this year, co-authored with Janie Chang called The Phoenix Crown which sounds really great. As for the actual recommendations for you: I definitely think you’d like Madeline Martin, she was a historical romance author who has recently turned to historical fiction in the last couple of years, her books The Last Bookshop In London and The Librarian Spy are both excellent (Last Bookshop In London is about a woman working at a bookshop during the Blitz and The Librarian Spy is about two women, one a French Resistance fighter, the other an intelligence gatherer for the US Embassy in Portugal whose paths cross when trying to save a Jewish refugee). I’d also really recommend Looking For Jane by Heather Marshall, it was one of my favourite books of last year, it’s about the abortion rights movement in Canada in the 60s, 70s and 80s and it’s really brilliant. And the last one I read which I really enjoyed last year was The Mad Girls of New York by Maya Rodale (much like Madeline Martin she comes from historical romance) which is about the stunt reporter Nellie Bly and her undercover reporting in Blackwell’s Asylum in the 1880s. Hopefully there’s something that might interest you in those!
Thank you, Jo! I think I’ll read The Rose Code when I’m done with my current read. I decided to take a break from Kate Quinn after I read The Diamond Eye and The Alice Network back-to-back, but I’m missing her words! Hopefully you get to The Huntress soon. It was super good, but I think The Diamond Eye is my favorite. I just saw the listing for her upcoming book with Janie Chang and am really excited about that one!
I see that both The Last Bookshop In London and The Librarian Spy are available in audio on Hoopla, and are both narrated by one of my favorite narrators so I’m super excited to check those out! I’m going to go look up Looking for Jane and The Mad Girls of New York now. Thanks for the recs, and if you have more keep them coming! I’m building my wish list. :)
I don’t really read historical fiction but so many of them intrigue me! I need to just bite the bullet and do it!
The Arctic Fury sounds interesting! And The Rose Code is on my TBR as well. Happy reading!
Thanks for stopping by, Molly! Historical fiction has always scared/intimidated me, but I think it’s because until now I’ve really only read it for school. It’s been super lovely to read it for leisure rather than as a school assignment. There’s just something different about being able to sink into a story without having to keep a look-out for answers to essay questions. lol.
I’ve only read #1 and #5 but both were excellent. I hope you love them when you get to them.
So glad to know you enjoyed them both! I always love knowing what people love, because it makes me even more eager to get to them!
I love the Guernsey movie! I haven’t read any historical fiction buy I love watching that genre of movies.
I haven’t watched many historical movies except for in school ages ago, but I’m really interested in watching the Guernsey movie when I finish the book!
Some really good books in your list this week!
Historical Fiction about real people is my post today! It’s covers only since wordpress wasn’t working well.
What a great topic! I’m going to come see your list right now!
Great list! I’ve been enjoying historicals lately too, but I’ve been gravitating toward historical fantasy. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one that’s on my TBR, though. I hope you enjoy all of these!
I’m very interested in historical fantasy, and would love your recommendations!
Comeuppance Served Cold (Marion Deeds) and Even Though I Knew the End (C.L. Polk) are two recent favorites set in fantasy historical versions of the US. For a different setting, I also enjoyed A Master of Djinn (P. Djèlí Clark) set in Egypt and The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (Theodora Goss) and its sequels, set first in England and then across Europe.
Thank you! The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter looks particularly interesting to me, but I’m intrigued by them all!
This is a great list and inspires me to read some historical fiction. I do read a lot of historical mysteries, but not much that are straight fiction. I do have a copy of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I need to read soon.
I’ve been adding a lot of historical mysteries to my TBR lately as well. Do you have any recommendations?
What the Wind Knows is one of my favorites books, hope you enjoy it too
So glad to hear this! You’re in good company with multiple other commenters, which makes me even more excited to read this!
From your list, I’ve read Rose Code and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Both are fantastic reads.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/favorite-historical-fiction-the-1920s-1930s/
Yay! I see you also posted about historical fiction this week, so I’m heading over to see your picks right now!
Great topic! I enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I haven’t read any of the others although I do like Historical Fiction.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is getting so many ringing endorsements this week, which makes me so happy to hear! I need to read it soon and see why everyone loves it so much!
I’ve read the Rose code and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and loved them both. I’ve been really enjoying historical fiction lately too.
So glad to hear you loved both of these! Do you have any other recommendations for me? I’m building my historical fiction wish list, and I’m snatching up any and all recs!
I love that you chose a different genre. I stayed in my comfort zone. Have a great rest of the week! :-)
Comfort zones are the best places to be, and I know I’ll end up back there for my next TTT. LOL. Enjoy your week!
I have read 2 on your list (Guernsey and Paris Library) and loved them both; I have 3 others on my TBR, and now adding the rest!
Guernsey and Paris Library are loved by so many other commenters this week as well, which has me itching to read them both even more now! Happy reading!