Villa Coco

Villa Coco
by Andrew Sean Greer
Doubleday, 2026. 269 pages. Fiction

A young American takes a job in the Italian countryside as the assistant to Lisabetta, known to her friends as Coco - a strong-willed, wealthy widow of great local renown. He thinks he's been hired to catalogue the contents of the beautiful, crumbling mansion nestled in the green Tuscan hills but what are his actual duties? Days are spent ridding the house of a marten - whatever that is - locating the antediluvian septic system, entertaining a unique cast of guests, participating in the annual olive harvest (la raccolta) and traveling the Italian countryside.

This book was such a delight to listen to. I found all the characters, flaws and all, charming and full of life. I caught myself laughing out loud many times. The relationship between Coco and our American is what makes this book a joy to read. I wouldn't say the book is driven by plot. It is more about the characters and their relationships to each other. It takes place in Italy and has a very strong sense of place making me wish I could visit and see the beautiful art and landscapes described in the book. If you listen to the audiobook the reader is top notch and pulls off quite the performance. 

If you like Villa Coco you might also like:

Heart the Lover
by Lily King
Grove Press, 2025. 249 pages. Fiction

In the fall of her senior year of college, she meets two star students from her 17th-Century Lit class: Sam and Yash. Best friends living off campus in the elegant house of a professor on sabbatical, the boys invite her into their intoxicating world of academic fervor, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games. They nickname her Jordan, and she quickly discovers the pleasures of friendship, love and her own intellectual ambition. Youthful passion is unpredictable though, and she soon finds herself at the center of a charged and intricate triangle. As graduation comes and goes, choices made will alter these three lives forever. Decades later, Jordan is living the life she dreamed of, and the vulnerable days of her youth seem comfortably behind her. But when a surprise visit and unexpected news brings the past crashing into the present, she returns to a world she left behind and is forced to confront the decisions and deceptions of her younger self.

One Italian Summer
by Rebecca Serle
Atria Books, 2022. 253 pages. Fiction

When Katy's mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn't just Katy's mom, but her best friend and first phone call. To make matters worse, the mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone. But as soon as she steps foot on the beautiful Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother's spirit. And then Carol appears for real-in the flesh, healthy and sun-tanned ... and thirty years old. Katy doesn't understand what is happening, or how. But over the course of her time in Italy, Katy gets to know Carol in this new form, and soon she must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue. One Italian Summer is Rebecca Serle's next great love story, a transcendent novel about how we move on after loss, and how the people we love never truly leave us.

JK

The Silent House of Sleep

The Silent House of Sleep

By Allan Gaw

The Mysterious Press, 2026. 277 pages. Mystery

No one who meets Dr. Jack Cuthbert forgets him. Tall, urbane, and brilliant, the Scottish pathologist is the best that Scotland Yard's new detective chief inspector has seen. But Cuthbert is also a damaged man--a man who lives with secrets, and who still battles demons brought back from the trenches even ten years after the end of the Great War. When not one but two corpses are discovered in a London park in the winter of 1929, Cuthbert must use every tool at his disposal, including cutting-edge forensics of the period, to solve the mystery of their deaths. In the end, the horrifying truth is more shocking than even he could have imagined.

This is one of the most compelling mysteries I've read in a long time. Jack Cuthbert is such a sympathetic and interesting character, and the flashbacks to his time at university, and in the trenches during World War One flow seamlessly with the story taking place in 1929. Warning: the murders are pretty grotesque, and maybe not for a weak stomach. If you can handle the gritty details, though, the story and characters make it worth the journey. I'm looking forward to the second book coming out next year.  

If you like The Silent House of Sleep, you might also like: 

A Test of Wills

By Charles Todd

New York: Harper. 305 pages. Mystery

In 1919 Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after fighting in the war, still suffering from shell shock. His next case, with a war-ravaged ex-soldier as the witness, could spell disaster for him.

No Graves as Yet

By Anne Perry

Ballantine Books. 363 pages. Fiction

On a sunny afternoon in late June 1914, Cambridge professor Joseph Reavley learns that his parents have died in an automobile crash. Joseph's brother, an officer in the Intelligence Service, reveals that their father had been en route to London with a mysterious secret document--allegedly possessing the power to disgrace England and destroy the civilized world. Now that explosive paper has vanished, and Joseph is left to wonder: How had it fallen into the hands of his father, a quiet countryman? But Joseph is soon burdened with a second tragedy: the shocking murder of his most gifted student, who was loved and admired by everyone. Or so it appeared. As England's seamless peace begins to crack, the distance between the murder of an Austrian archduke and the death of a brilliant student grows shorter every day.

MGB

Land

Land

By Maggie O’Farrell

Alfred A. Knopf, 2026. 383 pages. Fiction 

On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster. The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is unexpectedly sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and the lives of those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás, and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping and get them both home? 

This summary is only the beginning of this epic family saga that takes place after the potato famine in Ireland. This work of literary fiction has a very strong sense of place. The land is one of the main characters of the story. O’Farrell’s writing is very vivid and I could easily imagine the landscape in Ireland and the copse that sets the story on its path. That being said, this isn’t a quick read nor is it light hearted. But if you’re looking for a book that takes you on a journey of a family and their relationship to the land and each other, you’re in for a treat. I think this book is going to be on many best books of 2026 lists.

If you like Land, you might also like: 

Bog Queen

By Anna North 

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2025. 264 pages. Fiction 

When a body is found in a bog in northwest England, Agnes, an American forensic anthropologist, is called to investigate. Agnes has always been more comfortable with the dead than the living, but this body is not like any she's ever seen. Though its bones prove it was buried more than two thousand years ago, it is almost completely preserved. The mystery of the Iron Age body draws the attention of numerous groups with competing interests : the archaeologists who want to study the surrounding bog, the peat-cutters who want to profit from the land's resources, and a group of environmental activists and neo-pagans who demand the body be returned to its resting place and that the moss-layered bog -- a marvel of carbon capture on a warming planet -- be left undisturbed. Then there's the moss itself ; a complex repository of artifacts and remains, with its own dark stories to tell. As Agnes is drawn into the controversy stirred by the body and its habitat, she must face not only the deep history of what she has unearthed, but also the relationships she has forsworn in her bid for independence.

 

Librarian Review

This is Where the Serpent Lives 

By Daniyal Mueenuddin 

Alfred A. Knopf, 2026. 343 pages. Fiction 

Set in urban and rural Pakistan, this novel follows the interconnected lives of multiple characters whose experiences reflect the country's feudal, political, and social structures. The narrative traces the rise and struggles of individuals shaped by poverty, power, loyalty, and ambition, including servants, landowners, and political elites. Through their personal relationships and moral choices, the novel examines issues of class, authority, corruption, and survival within contemporary Pakistani society, combining intimate.

JK

Small Things Like These

 Small Things Like These
By: Keegan, Claire
Grove Press, 2021. 116 pages. Fiction 

In a small Irish town in 1985, coal merchant and family man, Bill Furlong, while delivering an order to the local convent, makes a discovery that forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.

In the days leading up to Christmas, the main character Bill is weighed down by the monotony and demands of his life. Working hard to provide for his family he wonders what it is all for? The author Keegan writes beautifully as she describes the intricacies of Bill's place in his small Irish community and his relationships with his family. Through moving dialogue, you are placed within his internal struggle and feel the weight of the choices he has to make. This book is perfect for the holidays, as it grounds you in what is really important. Though short, it packs a punch with poignant and lyrical writing. I read it in one sitting and was engrossed by the story. This impactful story will inspire the reader to stand up for the oppressed and to have the courage to do the right thing in the face of opposition.

If you like Small Things Like These, you might also like:

The Deal of a Lifetime

 Atria Books, 2017. 65 pages. Fiction

A holiday novella about a successful businessman contemplating the choices he made in his life and the little girl battling cancer who provides him with the inspiration he needs

Time of the Child

Bloomsbury Publishing. 2024. 287 pages. Fiction

In the Advent season of 1962, Doctor Jack Troy and his daughter Ronnie, long isolated from their small Irish town of Faha, find their lives and their understanding of family and community transformed when a baby is unexpectedly left in their care.

MT

One Good Thing

One Good Thing
by Georgia Hunter
Pamela Dorman Books, 2025. 417 pages. Historical Fiction

Italy, 1941. Lili and Esti have been best friends since meeting at the University of Ferrara. When Esti's son Theo is born, they become as close as sisters. Mussolini's Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an 'inferior' Jewish race, but life somehow goes on—until Germany invades northern Italy, and the friends find themselves in occupied territory. Esti, older and fiercely self-assured, convinces Lili to flee first to a villa in the countryside to help hide a group of young war orphans, then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false identification papers for the Underground. When disaster strikes at the convent, a critically wounded Esti asks Lili to take a much bigger step: to go on the run with Theo. Protect him while Esti can't. Terrified to travel on her own, Lili sets out on an epic journey south toward Allied territory, through Nazi-occupied villages and bombed-out cities, doing everything she can to keep Theo safe.

Georgia Hunter's One Good Thing is World War II historical fiction that's going to stay with me for a while. I appreciated learning about the plight of the Italian Jewish community, and learning about the underground movement in Italy. An especially interesting piece was the inclusion of a real-life renowned Italian cyclist, who stored forged paperwork in the frame of his bicycle and worked as a runner in the underground network. Where this novel really shines, though, is in its portrayal of the bond of Lili and Esti. Esti is brave and determined, while Lili is much more afraid of consequences. It's Lili's love of both Esti and Theo that encourages Lili to overcome her fear and face terrifying situations with courage. While this book is obviously sad and tragic, I appreciated the hopeful message of the power of love that drives the novel.

If you like One Good Thing you might also like:

Our Darkest Night
by Jennifer Robson
William Morrow, 2021. 362 pages. Historical Fiction

Hiding from the Nazis in the guise of a Christian farmer's wife, a Jewish woman is met with suspicion by a Nazi official who harbors a vendetta against the former seminary student posing as her husband.

Once We Were Home
by Jennifer Rosner
Flatiron Books, 2023. 278 pages. Historical Fiction

Four Jewish individuals—Ana, Oskar, Roger, and Renata—are all trying to move on from trauma and loss of loved ones during World War II. Twenty years later, the four connect in Israel. As their stories converge in unexpected ways, they begin to question where and to whom they truly belong.

MB

We Don't Talk About Carol

We Don't Talk About Carol
By Kristen Berry
Bantam, 2025. 328 pages. Fiction

Yes, the title drew me in because when I read it, the Disney song We Don't Talk About Bruno started playing, immediately, in my head. Same for you? It's unrelated to this book, but a fun little anecdote. 

After her grandmother's passing, Sydney Singleton finds a hidden photograph of a little girl who looks more like Sydney than her own sister or mother. She soon discovers the mystery girl in the photograph is her aunt, Carol, who was one of six North Carolina Black girls to go missing in the 1960s. For the last several decades, no one has talked about Carol or what really happened to her. But now, with her grandmother gone and Sydney looking to start a family of her own, she is determined to unravel the truth behind her long-lost aunt's disappearance, and the sinister silence that surrounds her. As she delves deeper into Carol's fate, her own troubled past reemerges, clawing its way to the surface with a vengeance. Without spoiling everything, Sydney’s quest leads to a number of revealing truths about Carol’s fate and about her own family’s role in keeping the past buried. The process forces her to reckon with what it means to heal, both personally and within her family.

The novel balances suspense (a cold case, possible cover‑ups, hidden truths) with emotional, psychological drama (trauma, motherhood, trust, identity). It is also commentary on racial injustice — specifically, how cases of missing Black girls have historically been neglected or minimized by both law enforcement and the media. This book was haunting, captivating, and will stick with me for a long time.

If you like We Don't Talk About Carol, you might also like: 

The Kindest Lie 
By Nancy Johnson
William Morrow, 2021. 326 pages. Fiction

It's 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He's eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to--and was forced to leave behind--when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she'd never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past. Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging into the past, she unexpectedly befriends Midnight, a young white boy who is also adrift and looking for connection. Just as Ruth is about to uncover a burning secret her family desperately wants to keep hidden, a traumatic incident strains the town's already searing racial tensions, sending Ruth and Midnight on a collision course that could upend both their lives.

The Care & Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
By Anissa Gray
Berkley, 2019. 294 pages. Fiction

The Butler family has had their share of trials, as sisters Althea, Viola, and Lillian can attest, but nothing prepared them for the literal trial that will upend their lives. Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband Proctor are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened. As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister's teenage daughters. What unfolds is a stunning portrait of the heart and core of an American family in a story that is as page-turning as it is important.

Time's Undoing: A Novel
By Anastasia Hastings
Dutton, 2023. 371 pages. Fiction

Birmingham, 1929: Robert Lee Harrington, a master carpenter, has just moved to Alabama to pursue a job opportunity, bringing along his pregnant wife and young daughter. Birmingham is in its heyday, known as the "Magic City" for its booming steel industry, and while Robert and his family find much to enjoy in the city's busy markets and vibrant nightlife, it's also a stronghold for the Klan. And with his beautiful, light-skinned wife and snazzy car, Robert begins to worry that he might be drawing the wrong kind of attention. 2019: Meghan McKenzie, the youngest reporter at the Detroit Free Press, has grown up hearing family lore about her great-grandfather's murder--but no one knows the full story of what really happened back then, and his body was never found. Determined to find answers to her family's long-buried tragedy and spurred by the urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement, Meghan travels to Birmingham. But as her investigation begins to uncover dark secrets that spider across both the city and time, her life may be in danger.

LKA

Isola

Isola
by Allegra Goodman
The Dial Press, 2025. 346 pages. Historical Fiction

France, 1531. Orphaned Marguerite de la Rocque was heir to a chateau with its own village and lands. But her guardian, Jean Francois de la Rocque de Roberval, sells Marguerite's property to embark on an expedition to New France, bringing Marguerite and her maidservant with him. When Roberval discovers Marguerite has fallen for his secretary, he is furious, seeing their affection as betrayal. As punishment, Marguerite, the man she considers to be her husband, and her servant are marooned on a small island off the coast, condemned to certain death. When the weather turns and the island is blanketed in ice, survival becomes nearly impossible and Marguerite must find the inner strength to survive.

Goodman's account of the real-life survival adventure of Marguerite de la Rocque is a novel of stark contrasts. It has a lyrical and thoughtful writing style, while also depicting fast-paced moments filled with tension. Goodman takes a while to set the scene, and I appreciated the chance to immerse myself in the world of 1500s France. This depiction of Marguerite's early life in the French countryside helps show what a shock it would be to suddenly find yourself abandoned on a remote island with hardly any provisions, and no knowledge of how to fend for yourself. I also appreciated the nuances religion adds to Marguerite's life—both for good and bad. This is a book that I'll be thinking about for a while.

If you like Isola you might also like:

The Vaster Wilds
by Lauren Groff
Riverhead Books, 2023. 256 pages. Historical Fiction

Escaping from a colonial settlement in the wilderness, a servant girl, with nothing but her wits, a few possessions and some faith, is tested beyond the limits of her imagination, forcing her to question her belief of everything her own civilization taught her.

Whale Fall
by Elizabeth O'Connor
Pantheon Books, 2024. 209 pages. Historical Fiction

In 1938, when a dead whale washes up on the shores of a remote Welsh island, Manod, seeing this as a sign of things to come, is drawn to two English ethnographers who are studying their cultures, reckoning with a sensual awakening inside herself, despite her misgivings that her community is being misconstrued.

The Marriage Portrait
by Maggie O'Farrell
Alfred A. Knopf, 2022. 339 pages. Historical Fiction

In Florence during the 1550s, captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici, having barely left girlhood behind, marries the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, and now, in an unfamiliar court where she has one duty—to provide an heir—fights for her very survival.

MB

Junie

Junie
By Erin Crosby Eckstine
Ballantine Books, 2025. 361 pages. Fiction.

A strong-willed enslaved girl is haunted by her sister's ghost as she grapples with circumstances beyond her control, risking her life as the Civil War looms in this lush and tenderhearted debut. Junie has always yearned for more. Born and raised on the Bellereine plantation in the Alabama countryside, the sixteen-year-old spends her days working for the McQueens and serving as a maid for their daughter Violet, her oldest and closest friend. In the daytime, she entertains herself with poetry and imagines grand romances and faraway worlds. Under the cover of night, she steals away to the woods, curling up by the riverbank. But consumed by grief over the recent death of her older sister Minnie, she has vowed never to leave her family's side. Her world is capsized at the arrival of the Taylors, a wealthy brother and sister from New Orleans. The McQueens are keen to marry Violet off to Mr. Taylor, and if they succeed, Junie would be ripped away from everyone she knows and loves. Committing a desperate act, she awakens Minnie's tempestuous spirit, who can only move on once Junie completes three crucial tasks. She enlists the aid of Caleb, Mr. Taylor's chauffeur, and the two strike up a quick friendship that soon becomes something more. Yet time is ticking, and as secrets and betrayals rise to the surface, Junie must wade into unfamiliar territory as she pushes against the current that has controlled her entire life.

Although this is a ghost story I would argue the only horror included is that of slavery and casual human cruelty.  There is no way to tell this story without it. However, enslaved people lived full lives, experiencing the full range of human, and the author does a brilliant job of showing that.  The characters are nuanced and varied, and they quickly burrowed their way into my heart.  If you want to see ghosts in a new light, divine justice, and a sister that loves and hates (as all sisters do) please pick up this book.

If you like Junie, you might also like: 

The Water Dancer

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

One World, 2019. 403 pages. Fiction.

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage--and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child--but he is also gifted with a mysterious power. Hiram almost drowns when he crashes a carriage into a river, but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn't understand, a blue light that lifts him up and lands him a mile away. This strange brush with death forces a new urgency on Hiram's private rebellion. Spurred on by his improvised plantation family, Thena, his chosen mother, a woman of few words and many secrets, and Sophia, a young woman fighting her own war even as she and Hiram fall in love, he becomes determined to escape the only home he's ever known. So begins an unexpected journey into the covert war on slavery that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia's proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the deep South to dangerously utopic movements in the North.

The Prophets

By Robert Jones, Jr.

G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2021. 388 pages. Fiction.

Isaiah was Samuel's and Samuel was Isaiah's. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man--a fellow slave--seeks to gain favor by preaching the master's gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel's love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation's harmony. With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr., fiercely summons the voices of slaver and enslaved alike, from Isaiah and Samuel to the calculating slave master to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries--of ancestors and future generations to come--culminates in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets fearlessly reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.

Conjure Women

By Afia Atakora
Random House, 2020. 400 pages. Fiction.

Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother's footsteps as a midwife; and their master's daughter Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom. Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, richly imagined, Conjure Women moves back and forth in time to tell the haunting story of Rue, Varina, and May Belle, their passions and friendships, and the lengths they will go to save themselves and those they love.

KJ

An Unlikely Proposition

An Unlikely Proposition 

by Rosalyn Eves 

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2024. 298 pages. Young Adult Fiction. 

Seventeen-year-old widow Eleanor devises a plan to survive the Season and keep her fortune intact, while Thalia, after a disastrous first season, struggles to be taken seriously as a female writer but instead finds herself smitten with a man from her past. 

This is a sweet book with a main character, Eleanor, who is hesitant to trust people and learns that she can have a family and people who care about her through both her fake engagement and the friendships that ensue. The secondary story, Thalia, is about a woman who has sworn off love after a scandalous failed elopement, but comes to learn what real love is, and has a fun adventure into the poet society of London (with plenty of mentions of your favorite poets from that time period). This is a wholesome read with complex characters, recommended for fans of Sarah M. Eden, Bridgerton, and the like. This book is the second in a duology (the first book is listed below) but can be read as a stand-alone. 

If you like An Unlikely Proposition, you might also like: 

 

An Improbable Season 

by Rosalyn Eves 

Farrar Straus Giroux, 2023. 346 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

In this extravagant, 1817-set Regency drama by Eves (Beyond the Mapped Stars), teenage cousins Thalia, Kalliope, and Charis—each with ambitions of their own—together arrive in London for their first collective social season . Each teen’s plan is quickly derailed by a series of curveballs. Thalia’s hopes to impress the literary cognoscenti to make inroads for a career as a poet lead to her swooning for a disreputable rake; softhearted Kalli’s goal to make waves as the life of the party until she ensnares the right husband is upended when she finds herself accidentally engaged after her first event; and bookish Charis, who wants to make connections in the scientific community, unexpectedly becomes a social butterfly. As scandal arises and the trio’s loyalties are tested, they are forced to reconcile their initial desires and current predicaments if they hope to move forward together into their uncertain futures. 

The Davenports 

by Krystal Marquis 

Dial Books, 2023. 379 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

This stunningly wrought historical fiction debut follows a group of Black teens navigating classism, familial expectations, gender norms, and racism in 1910 Chicago. William Davenport is the formerly enslaved head of one of the city’s few wealthy Black families. As such, his children—Olivia, John, and Helen—and their associates are constantly in the public eye. While Olivia is courted by a proper Black Englishman, she meets a civil rights activist who makes her question her privileged upbringing and encourages her to face ongoing postslavery horrors. Olivia’s best friend, Ruby, is in love with John, though his interest has always been fleeting. But when it becomes clear that marrying John would benefit her family, Ruby starts plotting a scheme to win his heart. Meanwhile, Helen would rather work on vehicles than conform to traditional gender roles, and the siblings’ childhood friend turned maid, Amy Rose, has ambitions to start her own business. Marquis perceptively explores the history and momentous impact of Black achievements and wealth during an underreported period in U.S. history. 

Yours From the Tower 

 by Sally Nicholls 

Walker Books, 2024. 297 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

Tirzah, Sophia, and Polly are best friends who've left boarding school and gone back to very different lives. The year is 1896, and Polly is teaching in an orphanage, Sophia is scouting for a rich husband at the London Season, and Tirzah is stuck acting as an unpaid companion to her grandmother. In a series of letters buzzing with atmosphere and drama, the friends air their dreams, hopes, frustrations, and romances. The three friends want such different things-- the security of marriage, the chance to help others, the excitement of love. Can they find happiness in a world where their opportunities aren't as open as their hearts?

Isola

Isola
by Allegra Goodman
New York: The Dial Press, 2025. 346 pages. Fiction

Based on a piece of history, orphaned Marguerite de la Rocque, in 1531 France, is betrayed by her guardian, Jean Francois de la Rocque de Roberval, who sells her inheritance and takes her on an expedition to New France. Aboard the ship, Marguerite falls in love with the secretary, and their secret romance is discovered by Roberval, who punishes them including Marguerite's maid by marooning them on a remote island. As the harsh winter sets in, they struggle to survive. Soon, Marguerite is the only survivor, forced to confront her despair and uncover a strength she never knew she had.

I love stories that take a piece of history and imagine what it could have been like, and Isola by Allegra Goodman does just that in an incredible way. This novel reimagines a real historical event, and I was in awe of how Goodman brought it to life. It's a story of survival, and the details she weaves into the narrative are both thoughtful and moving. The adventure is gripping, and her lyrical writing pulls you in from the first page. The emotional depth of the characters made me connect with their journey on a deeper level, and it was easy to see why it’s a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. Isola is a heart-filled, unforgettable read that I couldn't put down.

If you liked Isola, you might also like: 

The Vaster Wilds
by Lauren Groff
New York: Riverhead Books, 2023. 256 pages. Fiction

A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.

Whale Fall
by Elizabeth O’Connor
New York: Pantheon Books, 2024. 209 pages. Fiction

In 1938, a dead whale washes ashore on a remote Welsh island, sparking both dread and curiosity in Manod, a young woman trapped in a life of duty to her family. Yearning to escape the island's harsh existence, Manod sees hope in the arrival of two English ethnographers studying the island culture. As she becomes drawn to them, she experiences a sensual awakening, yet grapples with her community being misrepresented. Whale Fall explores how personal ambitions clash with community bonds and the consequences of confronting an outside world encroaching on their way of life.

BWW

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies 

by Alison Goodman

New York: Berkley Prime Crime 2023. 336 pages. Mystery 

A high society amateur detective at the heart of Regency London uses her wits and invisibility as an 'old maid' to protect other women in a new historical mystery series. Lady Augusta Colebrook, "Gus," is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend's goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband. The sisters set out to Caroline's country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. With Lord Evan injured and unconscious, the sisters have no choice but to bring him on their mission to save Caroline. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan. 

This book is a breath of fresh air amongst other Regency-era fiction, which typically focuses on romance between two young characters. This story features two women in their 40s whose goals in life have nothing to do with finding love (although there is a little sprinkling of that in this book too). It’s a fast-paced story with the main characters getting wrapped up into schemes to help other women out of dangerous situations. The characters in this book are well-developed, and throughout the story they struggle with things like loss of faith and health issues, including breast cancer and an interesting look into early treatments for it. This book is recommended for anyone who loves women supporting women, period dramas, or Jane Austen. 

If you like The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies, you might also like:

Of Manners and Murder 

by Anastasia Hastings New York: Minotaur Books 2023. 304 pages. Mystery 

Of Manners and Murder is the first in the delightful new Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings. 1885: London, England. When Violet's Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, "Miss Hermione," in Violet's hands. And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent. Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village where the letters were posted, she find that Ivy is already dead. She'll quickly discover that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course. 

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord 

by Celeste Connally New York: Minotaur Books 2023. 304 pages. Mystery 

London, 1815. Lady Petra Forsyth, daughter of the Earl of Holbrook, has made a shocking proclamation. After losing her beloved fiancé in an accident three years earlier, she announces in front of London's loosest lips that she will never marry. A woman of independent means--and rather independent ways--Petra sees no reason to cede her wealth and freedom to any man now that the love of her life is gone. Instead, she plans to continue enjoying the best of society without any expectations. But when ballroom gossip suggests that a longtime friend has died of a fit due to her "melancholia" while in the care of a questionable physician, Petra vows to use her status to dig deeper--uncovering a private asylum where men pay to have their wives and daughters locked away, or worse. Just as Petra has reason to believe her friend is alive, a shocking murder proves more danger is afoot than she thought. And the more determined Lady Petra becomes in uncovering the truth, the more her own headstrong actions and desire for independence are used against her, putting her own freedom--and possibly her life--in jeopardy. 

The Murder of Mr. Wickham 

by Claudia Gray New York: Vintage Books 2022. 336 pages. Mystery 

After many years of happy marriage, Emma Knightley and her husband are throwing a house party, bringing together distant relatives and new acquaintances-not all of whom are well known to the Knightleys but are certainly beloved by every Jane Austen fan: Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, Marianne and Colonel Brandon, Anne and Captain Wentworth, and Fanny and Edmund Bertram. Very much not invited is Mr. Wickham, whose latest financial scheme has netted him newfound wealth-and a broadening array of enemies. With his unexpected arrival, tempers flare and secrets are revealed, making it clear that everyone would be happier if Mr. Wickham got his comeuppance. Yet the Knightleys and their guests are all shocked when Wickham turns up murdered-except, of course, for the killer hidden in their midst. With everyone a suspect, it falls to the house party's two youngest guests to solve the mystery of who finally delivered to Wickham his just deserts: Juliet Tilney, the smart and resourceful daughter of Catherine and Henry Tilney, eager for adventure outside Northanger Abbey; and Jonathan Darcy, Elizabeth and Darcy's eldest son, whose adherence to propriety makes his father seem relaxed.

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All We Were Promised

All We Were Promised
by Ashton Lattimore
Ballantine Books, 2024. 357 pages. Fiction

Philadelphia, 1837. When nineteen-year-old Charlotte escaped from the deteriorating White Oaks plantation four years ago, she'd expected freedom to look completely different from her former life as an enslaved housemaid. Instead, she's locked away playing servant to her white-passing father, hiding their past and identities to protect themselves from slavecatchers who would destroy their new lives. Pennsylvania is a free state, yet abolitionists are struggling to establish a permanent home for the anti-slavery movement, as southern sympathizers incite violence against free Black people, and white vigilantes stalk the streets.

Undeterred, Charlotte sneaks out and forges an unlikely friendship with Nell, a member of one of Philadelphia's wealthiest Black families. When Evie, Charlotte's enslaved friend from White Oaks, shows up in the city, Charlotte and Nell conspire to help her flee North. Yet Charlotte's plans to help her friend threatens her own freedom as well.

I really appreciated the perspectives this story offers. It's not often that you read about how the slavery was perpetuated in the "free" states, and this book exhibits this with a great sense of time and place. Lattimore has written an engrossing, complex story where each character has interesting, and sometimes conflicting, desires and needs. This means that while this book offers a history lesson, readers are also equally invested in each character and in their friendship, making this book one that stands out in multiple ways.

If you like All We Were Promised you might also like:

The Thread Collectors
by Shaunna J. Edwards
Graydon House, 2022. 384 pages. Fiction

In 1863, an ingenious young Black woman, who embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army, crosses paths with a Jewish seamstress who helps her discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save us.

 

American Daughters
by Maurice Carlos Ruffin
One World, 2024. 285 pages. Fiction

When Ady, who is enslaved to a businessman in the French Quarter of New Orleans, is separated from her mother, she meets Lenore, a free Black woman who invites her to join a clandestine society of spies called the Daughters, setting her on a journey toward liberation and imagining a new future.

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