Not Your Usual Historical Fiction

History is always changing behind us, and the past changes a little every time

we retell it. ~ Hilary Mantel

Historical fiction is one of our most popular genres. In looking around the store the other day, we found some great new titles that are a little bit different. These seven novels will take you on a trip into the distant and not so distant past.

The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane

Fiona McFarlane's blazingly brilliant new novel, The Sun Walks Down, tells the many-voiced, many-sided story of a boy lost in colonial Australia.

The Devil's Playground by Craig Russell

A riveting 1920s Hollywood thriller about the making of the most terrifying silent film ever made, and a deadly search for the single copy rumored still to exist, from the internationally acclaimed author of The Devil Aspect.

Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk

From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature: Part detective story, part historical epic--a bold and brilliant novel that imagines a plague ravaging a fictional island in the Ottoman Empire.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

James McBride paints a moving and human portrait of life for African Americans and Jews in the middle of the 20th century as they confront racism, prejudice, and poverty.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

The latest historical novel from Lisa See is inspired by the true story of a woman physician from 15th-century China.

Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls

"A wild ride through prohibition-era Virginia with a scrappy heroine at the wheel" (People).

California Golden by Melanie Benjamin

Two sisters navigate the thrilling, euphoric early days of California surf culture in this dazzling saga of ambition, sacrifice, and the tangled ties between mothers and daughters.