Historical Fiction

Historical fiction gives readers a chance to experience the past through the eyes of characters faced with the events, social conditions and politics of their time. These and other novels that bring the past to life are available to borrow from the Lititz Public Library.

A Memory of Violets : A Novel of London's Flower SellersA Memory of Violets: A Novel of London’s Flower Sellers by Hazel Gaynor
In 1912, a young woman working as a housemother in a home for orphaned flower girls finds a diary that sends her on a search for writer’s missing sister.

Citizens Creek by Lalita Tademy
Buying his freedom after serving as a translator during the American Indian wars, the patriarch of an African American family builds a remarkable life and legacy that is strengthened by his courageous granddaughter.

Sleep in Peace Tonight by James MacManus
In January 1941, during the London bombing Blitz, Churchill knows that England is finished without the aid of the US and Roosevelt’s emissary, Harry Hopkins.

The Legend of Sheba : Rise of a QueenThe Legend of Sheba by Tosca Lee
In the 10th century BC, the new Queen of Sheba inherits her father’s throne and wealth but new alliances threaten trade routes and King Solomon demands his tribute.

Some Luck by Jane Smiley
Thirty years in the lives of a farm family in Iowa parallels the changes taking place in America from 1920 through the early 1950s.

An Appetite for Violets by Martine Bailey
After accompanying her new mistress to Italy, the under-cook at Mawton Hall begins a culinary adventure that includes a dark secret and a murderous conspiracy.

Desert Gold by Wilbur Smith
A slave who serves as an advisor to the Pharaoh is caught in a whirlwind of danger in his efforts to destroy the Hyksos army by forming a questionable alliance with Crete.

Henna House : A NovelHenna House by Nomi Eve
Set in 1920 Yemen, a girl with parents in failing health fears she will be left an orphan and placed in a Muslim family until her aunt and uncle arrive in her village with an introduction to the rituals of henna tattooing.

Warburg in Rome by James Carroll
The new director of the US War Refugee Board in Rome discovers that Vatican officials are providing a clandestine escape route for Nazi war criminals.

Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke
Sweeping saga follows a young man from 1934 and a chance meeting with Bonnie and Clyde, to 1944 and the Battle of the Bulge, to Texas where he will seek his fortune.

The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor
One of the few steerage passengers to survive the sinking of the Titanic, a young Irish immigrant vows never to speak of the terror of that night until many years later when her tale offers inspiration and direction to her granddaughter.

Midnight in EuropeMidnight in Europe by Alan Furst
A Spanish lawyer travels to Paris in 1938, where he promotes the Republican cause before undertaking a mission to infiltrate Franco’s government.

All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon
A scarf covered with bright marigolds connects a woman who lost the man she loved in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 and the wife of a man who died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers in 2011.

I Shall Be Near You by Erin Lindsay McCabe
During the Civil War, a farmer’s wife cuts her hair, hems an old pair of pants and signs up as a Union soldier to be with her husband.

Under the Sun by Justin Kerr-Smiley
Set in the South Pacific during the last months of WWII, a RAF flight lieutenant is shot down and rescued by the Japanese commander of a nearby island listening post.

April 3, 2015