Peregrine Hill by Nina de Gramont
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: November 10, 2026
Synopsis:
At the dawn of the 20th century, widow Isabelle Bishop still believes in love—but she knows only money can save her. After losing her husband and three of her children in a shipwreck, she has one chance to rescue what remains of her family: her daughter Mariah and her elderly mother. When Isabelle captures the attention of John Whitten, one of New York’s wealthiest men, she dares to hope that fortune might finally favor her.
But Whitten’s interest is not in Isabelle—it’s in eighteen-year-old Mariah, still reeling from a romantic but disastrous scandal. When Whitten discovers the secret mother and daughter have tried to keep buried, he uses it to his advantage, threatening to expose them unless Mariah accepts his proposal. For the sake of their survival, Isabelle makes a devil’s bargain: She will urge her daughter into a marriage she knows could destroy her.
Mariah quickly realizes her husband’s home is a gilded cage. Yet even under his watchful eye, she begins to carve out passions of her own, finding an unexpected ally in her ambitious maid, Hetty, and daring to imagine a life beyond her constricted world. Together, she and Hetty risk everything to claim a measure of power and self-determination in a world that attempts to deny them both.
From the glittering parlors of Gilded Age New York to the windswept cliffs of Rhode Island, Peregrine Hill is a novel in the tradition of Edith Wharton and the Brontë sisters, about unlikely love affairs and the impossible choices women have always been forced to make.
Why We Recommend It!
Set against the opulence of Gilded Age New York, Peregrine Hill follows two women fighting for independence in a world where wealth, marriage, and power dictate their futures.
The Other Kind of Lion by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Release Date: November 3, 2026
Synopsis:
A war widow and a neglected boy form a chosen family in a profoundly moving multigenerational saga about the transformative power of kindness by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.
It's 1970 in rural California where Shirley Bennett, a forty-year-old Vietnam War widow, lives with her two sons. It's a routine life until she sees Cash Pierce, a scruffy eleven-year-old boy, trailing the fence alongside her Appaloosa, Phoenix. The horse has never given such a welcoming nicker to anyone but her late husband. Even her stubborn old dog Edsel takes to the boy. Out of curiosity and compassion, so does Shirley.
Abandoned by his father, his mother in jail, and being raised by his teenage brother, Cash is lonely, bullied, but smart as a whip and starved for attention. Shirley begins inviting him for dinners, providing lunch money, sewing his shirts, and offering the maternal care he desperately needs. Neither realizes that such simple acts of kindness create a bond that will span five decades and redefine family itself. No matter where life takes Cash, he will never forget her.
Through war, loss, grief, illness, second chances, and years of separation, they will meet again. Shirley was there for Cash. Now it's his turn to be there for Shirley when she needs him the most.
Why We Recommend It!
Set in rural California during the aftermath of the Vietnam War, The Other Kind of Lion explores the enduring power of kindness, chosen family, and the unexpected bonds that shape our lives.
The Three Lives of Mary Sutton by Allyson Johnson
Publisher: She Writes Press
Release Date: November 10, 2026
Synopsis:
For fans of Marie Benedict and Rachel Beanland, this debut novel shows a grittier side of the Gilded Age as two young women struggle to find their own way in 1880s New York, where the cards are stacked in favor of men.
In 1878, young Mame Sutton escapes her oppressive father through a quick marriage to the charming stage manager of a New York theatre, while her younger sister Lizzie makes the same escape by eloping with a young Jewish jeweler. Which sister has made the better choice?
Life for Mame in a theatrical boarding house in 1878 offers new kinds of friendships and unexpected challenges. Through the tales of the theatre workers, she gets a backstage look at the Gilded Age of the Astors, Goulds, and Rockefellers, but she has no share in the freedom given to the ladies of the stage. Her husband’s view of a wife’s role is as narrow as her father’s idea of a daughter’s role was. How can Mame break free?
For Lizzie, marriage into the Cohen family offers warmth and support, but also cultural differences and expectations which she finds hard to master. Her husband, though loving and tolerant of her mistakes, is financially dependent on his family. Lizzie longs for a life apart from the Cohen world.
When disasters shake their worlds, can the sisters help each other onto new paths?
Why We Recommend It!
Set amid the glitter and grit of 1880s New York, The Three Lives of Mary Sutton follows two sisters navigating marriage, societal expectations, and the difficult pursuit of independence.
Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice by Gracie Mardsen
Publisher: Viking
Release Date: November 10, 2026
Synopsis:
A young woman makes a bargain with a shapeshifting demon who promises her power, if she will give up love--a painful price that sets her on a dark journey in this historical fantasy inspired by Taiwanese myth
Eleventh century Taiwan. In a small village, far from the political conflicts of the royal dynasty, a too-young Yu’er is sold off to be married at the word of a jing, a shapeshifting-demon who prophesizes that her parents will thus gain wealth beyond their imagination. Her new husband Xiaozhu is, like her, barely more than a child himself—but he’s kind, and, over the years, Yu’er heals as they build a home together. They become allies, then friends, then lovers.
Until misfortune befalls them, once again at the hands of a demon. They’re left destitute and estranged. Reeling from loss, and determined to never leave her fate in another’s hands, Yu’er decides to strike her own bargain with a jing: she will have all the agency and riches she desires. She just has to leave Xiaozhu and their home together, forever—a price that will cost her more than she then understands.
Yu’er’s choice sets off a saga that will lead her to the heart of the royal court, and bring her more power than she ever dreamed of, but may kill her humanity along the way, in this sweeping tale of love, revenge, and redemption.
Why We Recommend It!
Steeped in the mythology of eleventh-century Taiwan, Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice follows a woman whose pursuit of power and independence threatens everything she once held dear.
All Different Kinds of Free by Jessica McCann
Publisher: History Through Fiction
Release Date: November 10, 2026
Synopsis:
A free woman of color kidnapped and sold into slavery fights for her family and her freedom, sparking one of the most pivotal Supreme Court cases in American history.
This fully revised15th Anniversary Edition of Jessica McCann's award-winning debut novel brings new attention to the astonishing true story of Margaret Morgan-a free woman of color whose life changed forever on a frigid Pennsylvania night in 1837. When Maryland bounty hunters burst into her home, Margaret and her children are violently abducted, torn from everything they know, and sold into slavery. But even as her body and spirit are tested beyond imagining, Margaret refuses to stop fighting for her freedom and for the family ripped away from her.
Her ordeal sparks a firestorm that reaches the U.S. Supreme Court in Prigg v. Pennsylvania, a landmark decision that marked the first major pro-slavery ruling by the federal government and helped lay the groundwork for the states' rights battles that would erupt into the Civil War. While history often records the case as a constitutional turning point, McCann's engrossing novel shifts the focus to the woman at its center-restoring Margaret to her rightful place as a symbol of courage, resilience, and unyielding hope.
Richly researched and emotionally powerful, All Different Kinds of Free illuminates a critical but overlooked chapter of American history through the eyes of a woman who refused to be forgotten. This special anniversary edition celebrates both Margaret's legacy and McCann's enduring contribution to historical fiction.
Why We Recommend It!
Set against the brutal realities of slavery in nineteenth-century America, All Different Kinds of Free brings to life the remarkable true story of a woman's fight for freedom and justice.
