Best New Historical Fiction - August 2026
The Ladies Hall by Vanessa Miller
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: August 11, 2026
Synopsis:
Three courageous women realize it will take their hearts, their minds, their friendship, and their education to make a mark on the world in the fight for equality.
Oberlin College, 1884. Mary Church Terrell, Anna J. Cooper, and Ida Gibbs are used to standing out in a crowd. They're well known for their vocal stances on civil rights and women's suffrage. In fact, the Black women learned to debate at Oberlin College as they challenged the very belief systems that built the school, initially by becoming the first women to register for the men's four-year bachelor's degree, and later by demanding that they be recognized as American citizens with equal rights despite the color of their skin.
But before they met one another, their worlds were completely unalike. Wealth and prominence allowed Mary endless privileges, while poverty pressured Anna into servitude. It isn't until the women meet and forge a lifelong bond that they realize the power of their differences.
At Oberlin, the friends face classism, sexism, and racism, but they are determined to blossom and let the world see them for who they are . . . beyond all the labels.
Why We Recommend It!
A stirring novel of friendship, activism, and perseverance, The Ladies Hall illuminates the lives of three pioneering Black women whose shared pursuit of education and equality helped redefine the possibilities for future generations.
The House of Boleyn by Tracy Borman
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Release Date: August 4, 2026
Synopsis:
When nobleman Thomas Boleyn, lord of Hever Castle, is called to London in 1509 to present himself to the newly-anointed eighteen-year-old king, Henry VIII, Thomas's young daughter, Anne, implores him not to leave. "Well, make sure the prize you bring me is worth it, Father," Anne demands of him. "I will try," he responds. "But I'll wager even a crown wouldn't satisfy you." Such premonitions resonate convincingly throughout Tracy Borman's rich and compelling novel. Blending the history she knows so well with the creativity of her imagination, Borman brings the Boleyn family's three-decade rise and precipitous fall to vivid life.
Borman surrounds the main dramatic events of the Boleyn saga with a colourful tableau in which servants play key roles, familial and inter-familial rivalries threaten, and true love often loses out to keen ambition. Anne's ever-loyal attendant Agnes Frideswide, and Thomas Boleyn's perfidious steward Robert Cranwell, are as memorable as Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, or anyone in the increasingly dangerous orbit of Henry VIII's court, as he pursues Anne relentlessly, only to abandon her when she can't give him the son and heir he desperately seeks.
Why We Recommend It!
A richly imagined Tudor drama, The House of Boleyn reexamines one of England's most infamous families through a vivid portrait of ambition, loyalty, and the dangerous pursuit of power at Henry VIII's court.
The Secret Dressmaker by Jenny O’Brien
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Release Date: August 4, 2026
Synopsis:
Shelves of sequins in a kaleidoscope of colours. Bolts of silk and tulle against the back wall. The sewing room was the last place anyone had seen her daughter alive.
Manchester, 1942. Flora Toussaint packs parachutes for the RAF, haunted by the twin daughters she was forced to give up eighteen years ago. When British intelligence shows her photographs of her girls – now young women in occupied Paris – her world shifts. One is safe. One has vanished. And their father, the celebrated couturier Lucien Lumineau, is suspected of collaborating with the Nazis.
Flora agrees to a dangerous parachute into France, pose as a seamstress at the Moulin Rouge, and uncover the truth. Lodging above a brothel where Edith Piaf sings after hours and where Pablo Picasso still holds court, she mends costumes between shows, searches for any trace of her missing daughter between curfews, and circles closer to Lucien.
But Lucien isn’t the man she remembers. Neither is their history. And what Flora discovers will unravel everything she thought she knew – about Lucien, about her daughters, and about the night she gave them away.
Why We Recommend It!
A suspenseful World War II novel, The Secret Dressmaker blends espionage, family secrets, and emotional sacrifice as one mother risks everything to uncover the truth about the daughters she was forced to leave behind.
The Castle in the Glen by Rhys Bowen
Publisher: Lake Union
Release Date: August 4, 2026
Synopsis:
A ghostwriter plunges into danger as she unravels the dark secrets of a powerful Scottish family in a thrilling novel of romance and mystery by the bestselling author of Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure.
Australian writer Emma Callander has been recruited to complete the final historical mystery in a series by celebrated author Iris Blackburn. It’s 1964, and Iris’s memory is fading. She’s certain that only Emma can do justice to her novel about a murder on the Isle of Skye. When Emma ventures to Scotland for research, she discovers it isn’t fiction at all, but rather a true crime unsolved for more than fifty years.
It was 1904 when a couple’s suspicious drowning led to the disappearance of a mysterious young woman the locals called the Wild Girl. To this day the mystery is unforgettable, especially among the descendants of an aristocratic family who’ll do anything to keep their secrets buried. From the misty Highlands to a medieval castle, Emma and Tony Gordon, Iris’s handsome lawyer, work ever more closely to uncover them.
But while Iris may be known for her fiendishly clever twists, there’s one not even Emma could have seen coming.
Why We Recommend It!
An atmospheric Scottish mystery, The Castle in the Glen intertwines a decades-old crime with a modern literary investigation, revealing long-buried secrets beneath the shadow of an ancient Highland castle.
Agrippa by Robert Harris
Publisher: Doubleday
Release Date: September 1, 2026
Synopsis:
He was born feet first, a dangerous way to enter the world. His mother did not survive, and the nickname, Agrippa—mother killer—stuck. But the schoolyard taunting only served to harden his resolve and hone his predilection for aggression. In time, the name lost its sting and became instead a mark of his invincibility. It came to shape his destiny.
Agrippa was a mere commoner, a plebeian, his father a humble Stoic, but he earned the respect and fear of his peers. He defended a bullied young boy, Octavius, who turned out to be the nephew of Caesar himself, a chance encounter that would change the trajectory of his life. He eventually joined the ranks of the legionnaires and marched against their enemies. His prowess on the battlefield spoke for itself, and Caesar relied on him to protect his favored nephew. When Caesar was murdered in the Senate, Octavius inherited the empire in name only. To assume the mantle he would have to fight for it, and Agrippa, forever by his side, would be his closest advisor and the merciless agent of his military will.
As gripping and full of intrigue as his bestselling novel Conclave, Agrippa is Robert Harris’s monumental return to the world of ancient Rome on the precipice of dictatorship, a novel for our times.
Why We Recommend It!
An epic tale of ambition, warfare, and political transformation, Agrippa chronicles the rise of Rome's greatest military commander as he helps forge an empire alongside the young Octavian, heir to Julius Caesar.
