Archives de catégorie : Historical Fiction

THE INVITATION de Veronica Henry

Be swept away by the enchanting and devastatingly romantic new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Veronica Henry, set between post-war London and the enchanting Foxwood Manor in the rolling Somerset countryside. Filled with secret love affairs, heartbreak and friendship, expect surprises on every page.

THE INVITATION
by Veronica Henry
Orion, February 2026
(via Mushens Entertainment)

A secret love story.
A chance to stay forever…

London, 1953

Clementine falls for Alfie Arbutus and knows that life will never be the same again. Especially when he invites her to visit Foxwood Manor.

Stella lost a part of her heart when Edwin Arbutus died. Their wartime love affair changed everything, but now she has her son, Ted, to fight for.

Elizabeth hopes that throwing the Foxwood Snow Ball will bring joy to her husband, Michael, for the first time since they lost their son.

Yet as the invitations are sent, the lives of the women collide with unimaginable consequences. Will the secrets of the past break the family apart, or bring them back together?

Veronica Henry is the Sunday Times bestselling author of over 20 bestselling novels published into 25 languages over 30 territories.

Veronica Henry has always been involved in storytelling, from her first job typing scripts for The Archers to being writer-in-residence on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. She was a scriptwriter for many years, working on some of our best-loved dramas including Heartbeat and Holby City. She has written over twenty novels, all published by Orion. She won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award with A Night on the Orient Express. She lives on the North Devon coast where she loves walking on the beach, swimming in the sea or watching the sun set with a killer negroni.

WILD ASTER d’Anna Hogeland

A powerful portrait of an unforgettable woman with a talent for survival, whose life spans the early twentieth century, from a writer acclaimed for her “unwavering passion and insight” (Jess Walter, NYT bestselling author of The Cold Millions)

WILD ASTER
by Anna Hogeland
Bloomsbury, Fall 2026
(DeFiore and Co.)

Mae Smith starts her life as a stolen good: her biological mother, Ida, kidnaps her from her adoptive parents, and Mae grows up on the run, constantly changing towns and names, never able to find a home. After her mother’s death, Mae is determined to live a different kind of life. But over the next half century, as she reinvents herself against the backdrop of the Depression and Second World War and pursues stability amid the personal upheavals of marriage and motherhood, she must reckon with the choices she’s made and life’s inexorable turns.

For readers of Zorrie by Laird Hunt, The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott, and The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant, Wild Aster explores the price of security, the drive to be a different mother than your own, and the daily gains and losses that define who we become. Ultimately, Mae’s story challenges us to confront the choices we make for personal fulfillment and family obligation and the perseverance that even a seemingly ordinary life demands.

Anna Hogeland is the author of the novel The Long Answer (Riverhead, 2022). She is a psychotherapist in private practice, with an MSW from Smith College School for Social Work and an MFA from UC Irvine. Her essays have appeared in Literary Hub, Big Issue, Gloss Magazine, Romper, and elsewhere. She lives in Massachusetts.

WHERE ONLY STORMS GROW d’Alyssa Colman

For Fans of the I Survived series and The War That Saved My Life, this gripping middle-grade novel is set during one of the most dangerous storms in American history.

WHERE ONLY STORMS GROW
by Alyssa Colman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR, August 2025
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

It’s been four years since rain fell on the Oklahoma panhandle and the closeness between the Stanton twins has dried up as much as the land. Howe Stanton has been practicing running away and longs for the family to quit this land of dust where only troubles grow. Despite the scoliosis that causes Joanna Stanton near-constant pain, she isn’t ready to give up like her brother. But when Daddy leaves the family behind to find work in California, saving the farm from ruin falls on Howe’s unwilling and Joanna’s uneven shoulders.

To pay the mortgage, Joanna takes a job at the local hospital and discovers purpose in helping others. Howe finds unexpected joy in caring for his father’s horse and escapes in a borrowed book.

But then a tragedy in town reveals the dust’s deadly dangers. With the worst storm of the Dust Bowl bearing down on their home, Howe and Joanna must put aside their differences and work together, or everyone and everything they love will be lost to the dust.

Alyssa Colman is the author of The Gilded Girl, which won the 2021 Northern Lights Book Award for middle-grade fantasy. Publishers Weekly called the story “a thoughtful and imaginative exploration of friendship, internal change, and perseverance” in a starred review. Alyssa lives in northern Virginia with her family.

A BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIBLE MURDER de Claire Andrews

Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper, this historical murder mystery follows the cunning Irene Adler as she teams up with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to discover who is murdering Oxford’s elite students in the All Souls class.

A BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIBLE MURDER
by Claire Andrews
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, August 2025
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Irene Adler is no ordinary young lady. She’s at the top of the ranks in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford’s brightest minds. But her peers and professors don’t know she’s a lady at all. To them, she is Isaac Holland.

Keeping up her disguise gets trickier when All Souls students start dying, one by one. Determined to find out who’s responsible for the deaths, Irene—as Isaac—teams up with fellow classmate and roommate Sherlock Holmes to track down clues. Their mission grows more dangerous by the day as someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders, and Irene’s own father, Dean Moriarty, begins to threaten her seat in school.

Readers will love following these classic and beloved characters through the twists and turns in the dark halls of Oxford, and discovering what secret lies behind the glitz and glamor of the elite.

Claire M. Andrews was raised in both Alaska and Scotland, but currently lives in Vermont. When not writing, she can usually be found outside swimming, skiing, or hiking across the state’s famous green mountains. She is the author of the Daughter of Sparta series and can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @cmandrewslit.

THE NINE MOONS OF HAN YU AND LULI de Karina Yan Glaser

Breathtaking suspense, unforgettable characters, and a pinch of magic combine in the dual stories of two young people—one in 731 China, and one in 1931 Chinatown—on perilous journeys to save their families. An instant classic from the beloved and bestselling author of the Vanderbeekers series.

THE NINE MOONS OF HAN YU AND LULI
by Karina Yan Glaser
Allida/HarperCollins, September 2025

In ancient Chang’An, Han Yu sells steamed buns in a bustling market full of whispers about his ability to summon tigers.

In New York’s Depression-era Chinatown, Luli gazes out from the roof of her parents’ restaurant, dreaming of dim sum and Chinese art.

Familiar rhythms rule the contained-but-contented lives of Han Yu and Luli. But when plague strikes Chang’An and financial crisis threatens Luli’s family, Han Yu and Luli must each venture out into the larger world—and into danger-filled adventure—to save what they love most. Filled with wondrous caves and conniving thieves, desert storms and magical lakes, Karina Yan Glaser’s epic and rewarding novel is a testament to the bravery required to face the unknown and the power of art to connect us through the ages.

“A page turner that is at once epic and intimate. This is a must read!” —Lisa Yee, New York Times bestselling author of The Misfits

Karina Yan Glaser is the author of the New York Times bestselling Vanderbeekers series and the stand-alone novel A Duet for Home, which received three starred reviews and has been nominated for more than a dozen state awards. A former middle school teacher, Karina lives in Harlem, New York City, with her husband, two teens, and an assortment of pets and houseplants. One of her proudest achievements is raising two kids who can’t go anywhere without a book.