Recently arrived historical fiction
A Death in Diamonds by S.J Bennett
A pair of murders near Buckingham Palace embroils the young Queen Elizabeth in the world of high stakes gambling as she seeks to protect the reputation of a loved one. Rich with historical detail that transports the reader to London in the 1950s, and packed full of fun, this series will appeal to fans of The Thursday Murder Club and other humorous royal outings.
The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West by Sara Ackerman
1927: Olivia "Livy" West, a fearless young pilot hungers to cross the vast Pacific Ocean. The Dole Air Race, a daring opportunity to conquer the 2,400-mile stretch to Hawaii, ignites her spirit. But the harsh reality of a male-dominated world threatens. Undeterred, Livy fights for a chance, any chance, to participate. In a last-gasp gamble, she secures a spot as a navigator for one of the pilots, but the treacherous journey across the ocean will test not only their skills, but their very will to survive. Decades later, Wren Summers, adrift in a sea of misfortune, inherits a forgotten piece of land on the Big Island of Hawaii. She soon discovers that this inheritance holds the key to unlocking one of aviation history's greatest mysteries – a mystery intertwined with the fate of the Dole Air Race and a courageous female pilot. Readers who enjoyed Her Last Flight and The Great Circle will appreciate this adventure story set in dual time periods.
The Secrets of Blythswood Square of Sara Sheridan
Charlotte Nicholl, inheriting a fortune from her late father, stumbles upon a most unwelcome truth – it's tethered to a secret collection of scandalous art. Sell it and risk the family's reputation, or lose their grand home. Faced with this impossible choice, Charlotte finds a glimmer of hope in Ellory McHale, a talented working-class photographer new to Glasgow. To Charlotte, she's a potential savior, a friend who might navigate this crisis. But Ellory too harbors secrets, shadows that grow longer as she's drawn into Charlotte's world. A rich, vivid and well researched exploration of the society of 1840s Glasgow, a gothic Scottish Bridgerton.
The Star on the Grave by Linda Margolin Royal
30 years after WWII, a young Australian woman, Rachel Margol is set to marry her Greek Orthodox fiancee, but there's a problem. For decades, Rachel's family has meticulously concealed their heritage – a secret shrouded in the horrors of World War II. Their true story, a remarkable tale of survival intertwined with an act of immense courage, is about to surface. Unbeknownst to Rachel, her family is of Jewish descent, their lives spared by a single, extraordinary man during the darkest hour. Inspired by the real-life heroism of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese vice-consul in Lithuania who defied orders and issued life-saving visas to thousands of Jews, The Star on the Grave delves into the author's family's legacy.
Eric Blair, not yet the renowned author George Owell, but a fresh-faced Eton graduate at nineteen sets sail for India, destined for a posting in colonial Burma. There, alongside other young conscripts, Eric embarks on a three-year odyssey. Transformed from a young Englishman into a servant of the British Empire, he faces the daunting reality of empire, navigating a complex web of social, racial, and class hierarchies, both within his own ranks and with the Burmese people. Mastering local languages becomes imperative, yet the task of controlling his men proves equally challenging.
Yet self-doubt gnawed at him. He questioned his suitability for the role, a feeling that intensified with every clash with his superiors. Burma, with its sweltering heat and stark beauty, would become the crucible of his transformation. Inspired by Theroux's own experiences in Burma (now known as Myanmar), Burma Sahib is a richly detailed novel of a literary great.
The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
A historic mystery/thriller set in bustling 1900s San Francisco and the halls of Versailles, where the lives of two very different women - a down on her luck soprano and a embroideress from Chinatown - collide bringing new opportunities to both. They fall in with a charming railroad magnate who owns a fabled array of Chinese antiques including the famed Phoenix Crown, but when the crown goes missing during the devastating 1906 earthquake, the two women are confronted with a far reaching mystery.
The Space Between by Lauren Keenan(Te Āti Awa ki Taranaki)
Frances is an unmarried Londoner newly landed in New Zealand, 1860, at the dawn of the First Taranaki War. Once well-regarded, her family's fall from grace sees them struggling to learn the strange etiquette of settler life.
When Frances comes face-to-face with Henry White, the man who jilted her a decade earlier, he's standing outside Thorpe's General Store with a sack of flour in his arms. Henry is married now - to the proud and hardy Mataria, who is shunned by her whanau due to this controversial marriage.
As conflict between settlers and iwi rises, both women must find the courage to fight for what is right, even if it costs them everything they know.
To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flowers
For decades, Katharine Wright, younger sister to pioneering aviators Wilbur and Orville was largely excluded from their biographies, despite the key roll she played in their success, running their bicycle business back home while they were making their historical flight, and managing correspondence and business affairs. Flowers reimagines Katharine as a amateur detective in this cosy mystery, when plans for the brother's flying machines are stolen from a party. And when the chief suspect is found dead, she must prove that her brothers are not murderers. For readers of Marie Benedict and Melanie Benjamin.
With comparisons to Ducks, Newburyport, Pachinko and the works of William Faulkner in its content, breadth and masterful prose, this hugely (it's over 700 pages) ambitious multigenerational novel spans 100 years of Korean history from the 1930s to the modern day. When a young woman, living in Japan and training for a marathon, employs a shaman to contact the spirit of her late Grandfather who was a running prodigy, she inadvertently disturbs the spirits of his brother and neighbour who was forced to become a comfort woman to Japanese soldiers during the war. A sweeping historical novel set against a backdrop of death, love, betrayal, and political upheaval.
The Island of Mist and Miracles by Victoria Mas
Inspired by the Marian visionary Saint Catherine Labouré, Sister Anne, hoping to be similarly blessed, takes a posting on on Ile de Batz, at the northern tip of Finistère in Britanny, France, where miracles are in short supply and a plague of earthquakes is causing concern. But when the vision comes not to her, but to a local boy, a tidal wave of outsiders crashes upon the secluded island, ripping open the past and setting in motion a sequence of events no one could have predicted. A short and beautiful mix of historical and contemporary fiction.
