History is a tapestry of critical events and influential figures, but what if one thread were pulled or woven differently? Alternate history novels allow us to explore these intriguing possibilities, presenting worlds where the past diverges from what we know. Here we’re highlighting stories that challenge our understanding of history, offering imaginative twists on real events.
Follow the Stars Home by Diane C. McPhail
A captivating reimagining of Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt, the intrepid expeditionist who, with her husband Nicholas Roosevelt, designed and co-captained the first steamboat to travel the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Eight months pregnant and with a toddler in tow – Lydia braved violent earthquakes and treacherous waters on the first steamboat voyage to conquer the Mississippi River and redefine America.
Bonfire Night by Anna Bliss
Spanning from England’s anti-fascism protests of 1936 through the aftermath of WWII, this moving, intricately wrought historical novel brings together a young Irish Catholic photographer and a British Jewish medical student, each discovering the price of love, art, and ambition…
The Diamond of London by Andrea Penrose
This dazzling historical novel is based on the real life of Lady Hester Stanhope, a British aristocrat born into an illustrious family of swashbuckling war heroes and brilliant political leaders. Lady Hester was a Regency-era adventuress who lived on her own terms and defied all conventional strictures of what a woman could and couldn’t do during the Regency era.
We Are Only Ghosts by Jeffrey L. Richards
An exhilarating, brutally candid saga about sexuality and war, tenderness and trauma, first love and fierce hate, as a teenage boy’s unexpected, complicated relationship with a Nazi officer in a WWII death camp is resurrected in 1960s New York City. We Are Only Ghosts depicts queer love against the horrors of death camps and the psychosis of those who got out alive—haunted forever by those who did not—balancing the violence and hatred of war and its aftermath with many poignant moments of tenderness and joy.
A Murder Most French by Colleen Cambridge
The City of Light is surging back to life in the wake of war, and its citizens are seizing every opportunity to raise a glass or share a delicious meal. But as American ex-pat Tabitha Knight and chef-in-training Julia Child discover, celebrations can quickly go awry when someone has murder in mind. Set in midcentury Paris and starring Julia Child’s fictional best friend, this magnifique reimagining of the iconic chef’s years at Le Cordon Bleu blends a delicious murder mystery with a unique culinary twist.
To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower
While not as famous as her older siblings Wilbur and Orville, the celebrated inventors of flight, Katharine Wright is equally inventive – especially when it comes to solving crimes – in USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s radiant new historical mystery series inspired by the real sister of the Wright Brothers.
The Flower Sisters by Michelle Collins Anderson
Drawing on the little-known true story of one tragic night at an Ozarks dance hall in the author’s Missouri hometown, this beautifully written, endearingly nostalgic novel picks up 50 years later for afolksy, character-driven portrayal of small-town life, split second decisions, and the ways family secrets reverberate through generations.
A Jewel in the Crown by David Lewis
This riveting new historical caper series features a gifted young socialist turned counter-espionage spy on a World War II mission orchestrated by Winston Churchill himself. Propulsive, well-researched, and incorporating real historical events, David Lewis’s series is perfect for readers of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series.
Fleeing France by Alan Hlad
Driving an ambulance in France after the fall of Dunkirk, an American nightclub singer races to evacuate a British pilot and a Jewish orphan across more than 4,000 miles towards a precarious freedom in this emotional, action-packed story of sacrifice, hope, and devotion inspired by real wartime events.
A Time for Defiance by James D. Shipman
Releases November 26th
In a gripping tale of sisterhood, survival, and resistance for readers of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff, a young woman in Nazi-occupied Holland joins a unique taskforce within the Dutch Resistance, wielding her youthful innocence and beauty to lure Nazis to their death.
Reprinted with permission from Kensington Books.
