thoughts on books

Category: historical fiction

  • where the girls were by kate schatz

    “If men could get pregnant, I bet it would be different.” 
    “That, my dear, is certainly true.”

    Where The Girls Were is a historical fiction novel of a girl unexpectedly pregnant in the 1960’s. She goes to a girls home to have the baby and get back to her life. She is a smart and good girl, Baker gave her valedictorian speech then leaves her beloved cousin May and goes to a residential facility.

    The overturning of Roe vs Wade has led to many historical fiction books in this very theme- 
    The Girls Who Grew Big (Panhandle Florida)
    Witchcraft for Wayward Girls (Rural Florida)
    Wayward Girls (Buffalo, NY)

    All books published in 2025, the gem of this theme is that you get multiple strong female characters. Some are more naive than others and there is usually one truly tragic situation. 

    This book, while still tragic, is perhaps the least tragic of these 4, surprising only because the author is a self described queer feminist- but according to the authors note, she learned that her mother spent time in one of these homes and having a baby that went for adoption. It gives the story a kindness and a hopefulness that is endearing to the reader. This story is more of a characterization and doesn’t beat you over the head, this story is the quietest, the least self-righteous. 

    Baker is our main character, this is her middle name that she goes by. Baker, as in, baking the bun in the oven. The father of her baby, Wiley, is literally just a dude. He is not at all a villain nor a romantic lead. I liked that- the father in this case is simply just not all that important. Baker considers breaking the law to have an illegal abortion but lacks the time and courage. She meets friends and goes through a process to have her baby, not being able to make phone calls or go outside for months. 

    This story is a breath of fresh air, well written, and very readable. I can hardly believe it’s a debut, but the author is a skilled writer, just now publishing a novel.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press for the ARC. Book to be published Mar 3, 2025. 

  • women of a promiscuous nature by donna everhart

    An intriguing yet sad historical fiction story about the 1940’s when women were imprisoned under the charge of being “promiscuous.” If you’re paying attention, this book should make you angry and concerned for the way things are going.

    Stella was sent to the detention center by her parents at the age of 15, Ruth was taken off the street on her way to her job at a diner. Despite not having any sexual experience beyond a chaste kiss at the end of a date, Ruth is tested and treated for all manner of sexually transmitted diseases and imprisoned.

    There are no such detention centers for men.

    The narrative allows for secrets to be revealed and things get worse before they get better. The positive aspect of a book like this is that there are many strong female characters. This would be a compelling book to choose for a book club as there are sure to be great conversations.

    Some books with similar themes
    The Girls Who Grew Big
    Wayward Girls

    Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC. Book to be published January 26, 2026.

  • buckeye by patrick ryan

    This is going to be the generational trauma novel of the fall. It is Ohio’s Forrest Gump, without the grandiosity.

    Imagine you are looking at an American history book from around 1920-1976. Then zoom into Ohio, then a town of 6,000 people called Bonhomie. Then zoom further onto two interconnected families. Cal Jenkins was exempt from military service because one leg is longer than the other. He marries local girl Becky Hanover, who soon discovers a special gift. Margaret Anderson was an abandoned infant who grows up in a girls’ orphanage. She is happy to marry Felix Salt, although they barely know each other, and soon he is off to war.

    “Is the future knowable? Will our older selves be anything like our younger selves thought we would be? We can only find out by writing it down and then putting it out of our minds and letting life take its course. The unraveling of time should be mysterious, don’t you think?”

    Sweeping long periods of time, this descriptive book hits on most major historical events and how they may be experienced by small town white America. If it has any faults, it is probably a bit nostalgic, but those moments are always followed by a reality of the time that leaves this reader grateful to have been born later. Several songs are mentioned that keep me moving along with the Jenkins and Salt families. Every storyline is sandwiched within the context of American history.

    In many ways, it is the story of every midwestern town. The story explores patriotism, duty, honor, and what makes a family. Cal’s father Everett often writes letters to the current president expressing his dissatisfaction, these letters make me wonder what my great grandfather would have

    The characters are far from perfect, with the possible exception of Becky, they are flawed and afraid to be who they are meant to be. I think the characters will stay with me for a long time.

    For fans of Long Island Compromise, The Celebrants, Same As it Ever Was, and Blue Sisters.

    I think it is high time to ask if you have noticed that the ones who do the talking in war are never the ones who do the dying?

    Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. Book to be published September 2, 2025.

  • all the little houses by may cobb

    A small town in Texas, in the late 90’s. The have’s and the have-nots. Closeted gay guys. Con artists. Infidelities. Drunk and high teenagers. Bible thumpers.

    In many ways, this book is a tremendous amount of fun. It’s campy. It’s a big old soap opera. The characters are one dimensional and also full of secrets. What a ride.

    It’s also just a bit too ridiculous. I rolled my eyes so far back in my head that I lost my balance.

    But if this became a show on Netflix, I’d hit “add to watch list” so fast…

    Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC. Book to be published January 18, 2026.

  • the hounding by xenobe purvis

    This is one of those debut novels that you just kinda can’t believe is a debut. I am not familiar with The Virgin Suicides, so not knowing the source material, I think worked out for me as the story was pretty fresh. It was very reminiscent of The Crucible, small village in the 18th century, lots of world building and heavy on thematic elements. The five sisters are seen with caution and as outsiders. Independent women who don’t necessarily bend the knee to the patriarchy and behave in ways that seem pretty normal to a 21st century reader.

    The story is told from POV of many in their village, the pub lady, the ferry guy, the fiance. It doesn’t go into the POV of the sisters, and personally I believe that is supposed to be because the reader is the sister, seeing the internal dialogue of gossip and fear of someone different. The themes definitely make you think; its a way to think about our sometimes small minds, judgmental nature, how we make assumptions and put up boundaries.

    The ending is a bit ambiguous, I really loved the ending.

    Audiobook- the narrator aptly uses an accent and uses different voices for different parts, but there are many POV making me want to listen at a slower pace than I typically do (I typically listen at 2.0 but for this I went 1.5)- it is a shorter novel and you can’t afford to miss anything by zoning out for a few seconds. Although the book is short, the pacing is even, so when a plot point is introduced it is more subtle than in contemporary novels set in America. The narrator was excellent.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. Book to be published 8/4/25

  • sheer by vanessa lawrence

    It is impossible to be an ambitious woman. Max is born in 1975 and is inspired to create a beauty brand at the age of 6. She starts doing makeup for women in high school, then during college she is able to secure an angel investor which alters her course forever. It’s a cult-following beauty brand, and cult stories never end well, so they?

    The entire time she is closeted. The narrative spans Max’s life from age 6 to age 40. Interspersed with a 9 day period in 2015, we are learning the formative experiences for her building her brand.

    This story was so engaging and so realistic that only 30% of the way through the story I started searching the author to see if she had experience at a female entrepreneur unicorn company. Surely she worked at Away, at Glossier?? This story is a deep dive in those types of stories, you can create a culture and create a monster. This is such a powerful story; you will find no heroes or villains. Max is a compelling character. She is so very real.

    I am filing this as historical fiction. We do love to put a female entrepreneur on a pedestal and then knock her off of it.

    This is a very nuanced story with so many layers. And I promise you won’t be able to put it down. When I was watching the Pee Wee Herman documentary I couldn’t help but think that if he wasn’t closeted, it may have played out differently. This may be true for this fictional story as well.

    This is sure to be one of the best LitFic books of 2026.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for the ARC. Book to be published January 12, 2026.

  • wayward girls by susan wiggs

    An amazing story that I loved. Based on a true place and terrible trauma that happened at a girls boarding school in Buffalo, New York. The time period is the Vietnam war, although the very end is present day. For lots of reasons, girls were sent online with the nuns and ran a laundry. They didn’t learn anything at all! The main character is Marin who went to escape her creepy stepdad. Angela was sent as conversion therapy since she is gay.

    The story is deeply emotional, will make you cry and even laugh a little. It’s a long journey about how resilient young women can be. If you like stories of injustice and historical oppressive systems with a redemption arc, I highly recommend this book!

    Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow and Harper Audio for the audiobook. Book to be released July 15, 2025.

  • burn down master’s house by clay cane

    Burn Down Master’s House is a historical retelling of 4 different stories of enslaved people in the American south. While it does not shy away from the horrors, dehumanization and brutality of slavery, it also has an overriding theme of hope and violent rebellion. We don’t often hear the stories of the slaves who fought back, who resorted to violence and destruction in the face of extraordinary violence. This book is masterful in the way that it draws a modern reader into a narrative in a way that will challenge us. Slave stories at one point were outright lies, whitewashing the horrors of the atrocities into a “Gone With the Wind” nostalgic sweet slavery story, Then we have the pitiful tragedies, 12 years a slave, “trauma porn”- although I don’t love the term I don’t have a better one. This type of scenario is much more empowering.

    The scenarios are brutal, dehumanizing, violent and tragic. Gruesome. If you want to try this but have a difficult time with that, maybe read the introduction, skips Luke and Henri’s story, and read the last 3 stories. If you are good you can go back to Luke and Henri, where we get the title “Burn Down Master’s House.”

    This book is for those ready to confront the past with a righteous anger.

    Thanks to NetGalley and Dafina for the ARC. Book to be published January 2026.

  • the amalfi curse by sarah penner

    Positano and the amalfi coast is perhaps one of the most beautiful and magical villages on this planet. It’s easy to imagine how an author might spend some time there and start imagining actual magic over centuries.

    The narrative has multiple POV, but mainly with Mari, a sea witch/strega who is in love with Holmes and not the man she is meant to marry. She has had much tragedy in her life losing her mother and sister to the sea, but she is a leader amongst her sisters that keep Positano safe and free from harm and pollution. We also read from Holmes Foster’s perspective, her beloved, on a ship with unsavory characters.

    The last main narrative is from Haven, a sea archeologist who recently lost her father and has gone to Positano to continue his work, deep sea diving to uncover the truth of why so many ships have since in that area, and as a scientist she doesn’t believe in The Amalfi Curse.

    What I liked best about this book was the setting, it is a very slow start and harder to follow on audio, so I gave up at 50% and reread from the beginning with a physical book. Much easier to keep the characters and time periods straight. I liked the chemistry between Haven and Enzo, although this was a small insignificant storyline.

    The villains are villainous, they are all greedy men without regard for the sanctity of the sea. The main criticism is that it definitely starts slow, not much happens in the first half. It is more clever plotting than it is a mystery.

    3 stars for me on this one. I tried not to have expectations on this novel since I loved The Lost Apothecary, but it’s difficult to not make comparisons.

  • next time will be our turn by jesse q sutano

    I am unwell- THAT ENDING! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

    Izzy is talking to her beloved grandmother Nainai, who is an accomplished woman in Indonesia. Nainai has just entered the Chinese New Year party with a tall beautiful woman on her arm and shared a public kiss. The scandal!

    And so the story jumps back to 1996 when Nainai (whose name is Magnolia) is 16 and following her big sister Iris to Los Angeles. Magnolia is smart but insecure, brilliant but impulsive.

    Themes of found family, the bond of sisterhood and a gigantic criticism of patriarchal norms and purity culture, this book has a very ambitious goal to hit and knocks it out of the park. It has elements of romance but is truly, instead, Magnolia’s coming of age story. The themes change and attack culture both in the US and in her homeland. The time jumps are seamless and get right to the heart of the questions we ask… what traditions make sense to carry with us and what is best left behind?

    Five stars. I usually reserve fives for books that both surprise me and make me cry. This story is extremely engaging. But seriously, is there a genre Jesse Q Sutano can’t write??

    Critics will say… “how corny.” SHUT UP CHEESE HATERS SONE OF US HAVE HEARTS

    Thanks to @netgalley and Berkeley he for the ARC. Book to be published November 11, 2025.