Historical / XXth century (<1945)

When We Were Young & Brave

by Hazel Gaynor

"Gaynor's story of courage and strength will make you believe in the heroic spirit in each of us." —Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

Their motto was to be prepared,...

The Most Precious of Cargoes

by Jean-Claude Grumberg

Set during the height of World War II, a powerful and unsettling tale about a woodcutter and his wife, who finds a mysterious parcel thrown from a passing train.

Once upon a time in an enormous forest lived a...

The Nesting Dolls

by Alina Adams

Spanning nearly a century, from 1930s Siberia to contemporary Brighton Beach, a page turning, epic family saga centering on three generations of women in one Russian Jewish family—each striving to break free...

Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook

by Celia Rees

"A perfect summer read; gripping, original, well-drawn and compassionate"--Joanne Harris 

"Celia Rees is a superb writer, and this novel has one of the most irresistible and unique story hooks I've ever come...

The Wicked Redhead

by Beatriz Williams

The dazzling narrator of The Wicked City brings her mesmerizing voice and indomitable spirit to another Jazz Age tale of rumrunners, double crosses, and true love, spanning the Eastern seaboard from Florida...

Finding Callidora

by Stella Leventoyannis Harvey

A horrific betrayal sets the destiny of the Alevizopoulos family, farmers who dare to choose a side, first in the Great War of 1914-1918, then in the Greco-Turkish war of 1919-1922. Theodore, the patriarch,...

The Last Train to London

by Meg Waite Clayton

National bestseller

A Historical Novels Review Editors' Choice

A Jewish Book Award Finalist

The New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Exiles conjures her best novel yet, a pre-World War II-era story with...

Resistance Women

by Jennifer Chiaverini

One of BookBub's best historical novels of the year and Oprah magazine's buzziest books of the month.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, an enthralling historical saga...

The Darkest Hour

by Barbara Erskine

From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes an epic tale of love, passion and heartbreak.

In the summer of 1940, eyes are focussed on the skies above the South of England: the Battle for Britain has just...

Dear Evelyn

by Kathy Page

A portrait of a turbulent and beautiful seventy-year-long marriage forged during the onset of World War II.

Born in the 1920s on a working-class London street, Harry Miles wins a scholarship and grows into adulthood...

Yesternight

by Cat Winters

From the author of The Uninvited comes a haunting historical novel with a compelling mystery at its core.  A young child psychologist steps off a train, her destination a foggy seaside town. There, she begins...

Winter

by Christopher Nicholson

A November morning in the 1920s finds an elderly man in his eighties walking the grounds of his Dorchester home, pondering his past and future with deep despondence. That man is the revered novelist and poet...

The Race for Paris

by Meg Waite Clayton

National Bestseller

David J. Langum, Sr. Prize for American Historical Fiction, Honorary Mention for 2015

The New York Times bestselling author of The Wednesday Sisters returns with a moving and powerfully dynamic...

Newport

by Jill Morrow

Following in the steps of Beatriz Williams and Amor Towles, this richly atmospheric, spellbinding novel transports readers to the dazzling, glamorous world of Newport during the Roaring Twenties and to a mansion...

Mademoiselle Chanel

by C. W. Gortner

For readers of The Paris Wife and Z comes this vivid novel full of drama, passion, tragedy, and beauty that stunningly imagines the life of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel—the ambitious, gifted laundrywoman’s...

The Heroes' Welcome

by Louisa Young

April 1919. Six months have passed since the armistice that ended the Great War. But new battles face those who have survived.

Only 23, former soldier Riley Purefoy and his bride, Nadine Waveney, have their whole...

After the War is Over

by Jennifer Robson

The International bestselling author of Somewhere in France returns with her sweeping second novel—a tale of class, love, and freedom—in which a young woman must find her place in a world forever changed....

Land of Dreams

Ellis Island #3

by Kate Kerrigan

Set in 1940s Los Angeles, the compelling final installment in New York Times bestselling author Kate Kerrigan’s sweeping immigrant trilogy begun in Ellis Island and City of Hope—a story of family, love,...

The Visitors

by Sally Beauman

Based on a true story of discovery, The Visitors is New York Times bestselling author Sally Beauman’s brilliant recreation of the hunt for Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings—a dazzling...

One Night in Winter

by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Inspired by a true story, prize-winning historian and acclaimed novelist Simon Sebag Montefiore explores the consequences of forbidden love in this heartbreaking epic of marriage, childhood, danger, and betrayal...