Women in Historical FictionLike this list

40 items

• Babylonia

  a Novel

  Casati, Costanza, 1995-

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  "When kings fall, queens rise. Nothing about Semiramis's upbringing could have foretold her legacy or the power she would come to wield. A female ruler, once an orphan raised on the outskirts of an empire - certainly no one in Ancient Assyria would…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Stolen Queen

  a Novel

  Davis, Fiona, 1966-

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  In 1978, as a valuable Egyptian artifact disappears during the Met Gala, Met curator Charlotte Cross and young assistant Annie Jenkins embark on a high-stakes search that leads them to Egypt, where Charlotte must confront an ancient curse and the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• By Any Other Name

  a Novel

  Picoult, Jodi, 1966-

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  In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Wild and Distant Seas

  a Novel

  Roberts, Tara Karr,

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  "Evangeline Hussey has made a home for herself on Nantucket, though she knows she is still an outsider to the island's small, close-knit community, one that by 1849 has started to feel the decline of a once-thriving whaling industry. Her husband,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Phoenix Crown

  a Novel

  Quinn, Kate,

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  Offered patronage by Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate, in 1906, Gemma, a silver-voiced soprano, and Suling, a Chinatown embroideress, when Henry disappears, along with the fabled Phoenix Crown, are brought together five years later in one…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Witching Tide

  a Novel

  Meyer, Margaret (Therapist),

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  Inspired by historical events—a deadly witch hunt in 17th-century England that claimed many innocent lives.

• The Brightest Star

  a Novel

  Tsukiyama, Gail,

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  Arriving in Hollywood to become an actress, Anna May Wong discovers her beauty and talent aren't enough to overcome the racism that relegates her to supporting roles and, over the years, fights to win lead roles, accept risquae parts, and keep her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Absolution

  a Novel

  McDermott, Alice,

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  "Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. In Saigon in 1963, the two women form a wary alliance as they balance the era’s…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Lioness of Boston

  a Novel

  Franklin, Emily,

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  A deeply evocative portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner, a daring visionary who created an inimitable legacy in American art and transformed the city of Boston itself.

• The Paris Bookseller

  Maher, Kerri,

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  "Anyone fascinated by Paris in the 1920s and Hemingway's Lost Generation will be familiar with Shakespeare and Company and by extension, its founder, Sylvia Beach. Maher (The Girl in White Gloves, 2020) allows Beach to tell her own story, not only…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Women

  a Novel

  Hannah, Kristin,

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  Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Becoming Madam Secretary

  Dray, Stephanie,

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  She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it...Author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins, who ultimately became the secretary of labor in FDR's…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Finding Margaret Fuller

  a Novel

  Pataki, Allison,

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  Young, brazen, beautiful, and unapologetically brilliant, Margaret Fuller accepts an invitation from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the celebrated Sage of Concord, to meet his coterie of enlightened friends. There she becomes "the radiant genius and fiery…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Diva

  Goodwin, Daisy,

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  Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman whose extraordinary talent, unremitting drive and natural chic made her a legend. But it was only in confronting the heartbreak of losing the man she loved that Maria Callas found her true voice and went on to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The House of Eve

  Johnson, Sadeqa,

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  From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife, a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

• Belle Greene

  Lapierre, Alexandra,

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  New York in the 1900s. A young girl fascinated by rare books defies all odds and becomes the director of one of the country's most prestigious private libraries. It belongs to the magnate J.P. Morgan, darling of the international aristocracy and one…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Moonrise Over New Jessup

  a Novel

  Minnicks, Jamila, 1977-

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  A thought-provoking and enchanting debut about a Black woman doing whatever it takes to protect all she loves at the beginning of the civil rights movement in Alabama.

• The Seed Keeper

  a Novel

  Wilson, Diane, 1954-

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  A haunting novel spanning several generations, The Seed Keeper follows a Dakota family's struggle to preserve their way of life, and their sacrifices to protect what matters most.

• Dust Child

  a Novel

  Nguyẽ̂n, Phan Qué̂ Mai, 1973-

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  In 1969, sisters Trang and Quỳnh, desperate to help their parents pay off debts, leave their rural village and become “bar girls” in Sài Gòn, drinking, flirting (and more) with American GIs in return for money

• Woman of Light

  Fajardo-Anstine, Kali,

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  Luz "Little Light" Lopez, a tea leaf reader and laundress, is left to fend for herself after her older brother, Diego, a snake charmer and factory worker, is run out of town by a violent white mob. As Luz navigates 1930's Denver on her own, she…Read moreRead more of this annotation