Popular Historical Fiction Books for Adults
Hundreds of books are added to the Library's collection each month. Here are the most popular Historical Fiction books for adults.
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Queen Charlotte
"In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours. Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent--not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she needed because George had secrets-- secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy. Thrust into her new role as a royal, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court, all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King, even as he pushes her away"--Dust jacket flap.
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Rules of Civility
A chance encounter with a handsome banker in a jazz bar on New Year's Eve 1938 catapults Wall Street secretary Katey Kontent into the upper echelons of New York society, where she befriends a shy multi-millionaire, an Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, and a single-minded widow.
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Jamie MacGillivray: The Renegade's Journey
"It begins in the heat of a vicious war: At the Battle Culloden, in Scotland in 1746-- the last desperate stand of Bonnie Prince Charlie, "pretender" to the British throne-- Jamie MacGillivray narrowly escapes a roadside execution... only to be recaptured and sentenced to indentured servitude in colonial America. There, Jamie must navigate the treacherous no-man's-land of the proxy war between the British and French, and ever-shifting Native American alliances, ultimately becoming a valued member of the Lenape Nation that is desperately resisting the tide of European encroachment. His travels are paralleled by those of Jenny Ferguson, a poor young woman likewise sent in chains to the New World. Jenny becomes a mistress, a wife, and a bride of Christ in her own struggle to escape bondage or the gallows, somehow never losing her sense of adventure. Pawns in a deadly imperial chess game where the rules keep changing, the two continue to cross paths with each other, as well as some of the leading figures of the era-- the devious Lord Lovat; a young and ambitious George Washington; the obsessive, doomed General James Wolfe; and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley, Shingas the Terrible. Capturing the power shifts of the mid-18th century in cinematic and picaresque detail, Jamie MacGillivray confirms John Sayles's status as one of America's great storytellers."--Dust jacket.
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To Track A Traitor
"Early one May morning Lane is pulled awake by a call from Scotland -- her grandfather has had a heart attack. As Lane makes plans to fly overseas, Inspector Darling prepares himself for a stint of bachelorhood. But before he can begin to dwell on it, the Nelson Police learn that Ben Arden, a local cad, has gone out for a late-night boat ride and not returned. In Scotland Lane finds her grandfather on the mend but her estranged sister Diana caught up in stressful circumstances of her own. As Lane follows a thread leading from South Africa to Aberdeen to the War Office in London it becomes apparent that her sister is not missing, as Lane feared, but on the run. Back at the Nelson Police station clues amass around the Arden case, but progress is interrupted when the mayor himself issues a demand that Darling travel to England to tie up a decades-old mystery. True to form, upon Darling's arrival in London he is swept up in Lane's mission, which threatens to endanger the entire family."-- Provided by publisher.
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The Master and Margarita
Presents a satirical drama about Satan's visit to Moscow, where he learns that the citizens no longer believe in God. He decides to teach them a lesson by perpetrating a series of horrific tricks. Combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem.
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The God of Endings
"By turns suspenseful and enchanting, this breathtaking first novel weaves a story of love, family, history, and myth as seen through the eyes of one immortal woman. Collette LeSange is a lonely artist who heads an elite fine arts school for children in upstate New York. Her youthful beauty masks the dark truth of her life: she has endured centuries of turmoil and heartache in the wake of her grandfather's long-ago decision to make her immortal like himself. Now in 1984, Collette finds her life upended by the arrival of a gifted child from a troubled home, the return of a stalking presence from her past, and her own mysteriously growing hunger. Combining brilliant prose with breathtaking suspense, Jacqueline Holland's The God of Endings serves as a larger exploration of the human condition in all its complexity, asking us the most fundamental question: is life in this world a gift or a curse?"-- Provided by publisher.
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Half A Soul
After a faerie's curse leaves her with no sense of fear, embarrassment, or happiness, Theodora Ettings tries to not disrupt her cousin's chances of finding a husband during the London Season and unwittingly attracts the attention of Elias Wilder, the strange, handsome, and ill-mannered Lord Sorcier.
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Making a Faustian bargain to live forever but never be remembered, a woman from early eighteenth-century France endures unacknowledged centuries before meeting a man who remembers her name.
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Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel
"The #1 national bestselling, award-winning author of Life after Life transports us to the dazzling London of the Roaring Twenties in a whirlwind tale of corruption, seduction, and debts that have come due. 1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven, whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost. With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson gives us a window in a vanished world. Slyly funny, brilliantly observant, and ingeniously plotted, Shrines of Gaiety showcases the myriad talents that have made Atkinson one of the most lauded writers of our time"-- Provided by publisher.
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The Paris Library: A Novel
"Paris, 1939. Young, ambitious, and tempestuous, Odile Souchet has it all: Paul, her handsome police officer beau; Margaret, her best friend from England; her adored twin brother Remy; and a dream job at the American Library in Paris, working alongside the library's legendary director, Dorothy Reeder. But when World War II breaks out, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear - including her beloved library. After the invasion, as the Nazis declare a war on words and darkness falls over the City of Light, Odile and her fellow librarians join the Resistance with the best weapons they have: books. They risk their lives again and again to help their fellow Jewish readers. When the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal. Montana, 1983. Odile's solitary existence in gossipy small-town Montana is unexpectedly interrupted by Lily, her neighbor, a lonely teenager longing for adventure. As Lily uncovers more about Odile's mysterious past, they find they share a love of language, the same longings, the same lethal jealousy. Odile helps Lily navigate the troubled waters of adolescence by always recommending just the right book at the right time, never suspecting that Lily will be the one to help her reckon with her own terrible secret. Based on the true story of the American Library in Paris, The Paris Library explores the geography of resentment, the consequences of terrible choices made, and how extraordinary heroism can be found in the quietest of places"-- Provided by publisher.
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