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At Vassar in 1946, Anne Bishop hides that she is Jewish because she doesn't want to be socially ostracized. She develops a friendship with another Jewish girl, Delia, in secret. Delia is unabashedly herself and doesn't care that she has no friends at the university. At times, Anne, is in awe of how self-confident Delia is. One day Anne betrays Delia and their bond is fractured.

Katherine Arden's most recent novel, The Warm Hands of Ghosts (2024), expanded my understanding of what a novel dealing with an actual historical event can do.

In 2023 Dublin, after Saoirse has an argument with her boyfriend about whether or not to have children, she meets an older woman, Maura, on a train platform, who turns out to have been instrumental in the founding of the 1970s Irish Women’s Liberation Movement.

Zadie Smith became a famous author at the ripe old age of twenty-four, with the publication of her first novel, White Teeth (2000). Since that time she has published numerous books of fiction and nonfiction, all of which deal with issues of race, class, and politics.

I really enjoyed Emilia Hart’s debut novel Weyward and was excited to read her next book, The Sirens (2025).

Shy Creatures (2024) takes inspiration from a true event to bring us the story of a ‘hidden man’. In 1964 William, a man in his late thirties, is found secluded in a house, mute and disheveled, after his last remaining relative dies. No one knew he lived there; he hadn’t left the house in decades, and neighbors never even knew he existed.  

Kaia Alderson writes historical fiction inspired by real people. Her sophomore effort, In a League of Her Own (2024), tells the fictionalized story of powerhouse Effa Manley. In 1930s Harlem, independent Effa works hard toward her dream of opening a hat shop. A chance meeting at a baseball game brings Abe Manley into her life.

I have been on a bit of a Geraldine Brooks kick lately. Having recently read Horse, I decided to immerse myself in an earlier novel of hers, Caleb’s Crossing (2011).

The Sisters Brothers (2011) by Patrick deWitt is a dip into Westerns that I wasn't expecting to take.

The Australian author Geraldine Brooks is known for her sweeping historical novels. A meticulous researcher, she infuses her characters, settings, and plots with a wealth of detail and insight. She typically picks subject matter that has yet to be explored by other novelists, which makes her work interesting and enlightening too.

Emma Donoghue’s latest work of historical fiction, The Paris Express (2025), takes place in 1895 during a single, doomed train ride in fin de siècle France. As the train prepares to depart from Normandy, a large cast of characters is introduced, including both railroad employees and passengers from all walks of life.

In this compelling historical adventure, siblings Lizzie (14) and Jakob (19) contribute to the war effort in 1940s England while also investigating what happened to their mother. Told in alternating points of view, reserved Jakob and precocious Lizzie share how they arrived at Bletchley Park, the epicenter of Allied codebreaking efforts to unlock the German Enigma machine (hint: one was recruited at school and the other evaded efforts to send her to America).