New Books in Historical Fiction

In this latest Books for Better Understanding video from Notre Dame Press, David Carlson facilitates a conversation between Marian Schwartz and Dan Mahoney about Aleksander Solzhenitsyn's March 1917 The Red Wheel, Node III available in English now for the first time. Schwartz and Mahoney discuss the historical, literary, and cultural significance of MARCH 1917.

Samantha: The Next Chapter (American Girl Publishing, 2026). From American Girl and New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis comes the next chapter of Samantha Parkington's story--now an adult searching for justice after her legacy is stolen in New York City in 1920. It’s 1920, and 25-year-old Samantha Parkington is working hard to educate women in New York about suffrage and encourage them to vote in their first presidential election that fall. But when Samantha’s large inheritance, including her childhood Mount Bedford home, is stolen in a shocking scheme, she goes from socialite to shop girl overnight and experiences a very different side of New York City living in a boarding house. Searching for clues regarding the theft of her inheritance, she infiltrates the business of a notorious criminal in New York City. Determined as ever, Samantha will do whatever it takes to find answers and save her family’s legacy.

It seems likely that most listeners to this podcast channel have heard of “shell shock,” the old name for what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder (usually abbreviated as PTSD). Even today, the long-term effects of combat tend to be under-estimated, but that was much more true in the years following World War I, when the diagnosis of “shell shock” first appeared. Terri Lewis’s When They Came Home (Miami UP, 2026) tackles this problem head-on. Based on the lives of the author’s grandparents, this beautifully written, compassionate novella follows the war experiences and long-term effects of combat on not only the soldiers themselves but their families, forced to confront what to them often appears incomprehensible behavior that affects their loved ones’ ability to function in the post-war world. The story focuses on Milton Fieth, a twenty-one-year-old farmer from Kansas who, like the other young men on his train, enlists out of a sense of duty to his country, hope of glory, and a free trip to France. The reality of the trenches horrifies him, and the loss of cherished comrades leaves him with massive survivor guilt for which he has no name. A year later, he’s back home, where he meets a young woman named Edith whom he courts and eventually marries. Only as the years turn into decades do both Milton and Edith realize that the scars left by those few horrific months will never heal completely. Terri Lewis, a former ballerina, won the Miami University Press 2025 Novella award for When They Came Home. Her debut novel, Behold the Bird in Flight, appeared in 2025. Her interests lie with historical fiction—not dates or wars but untold stories of daily lives, particularly forgotten women. Find out more about her and her books at here. C. P. Lesley is the author of two historical fiction series set during the childhood of Ivan the Terrible and four other novels, including one co-written with P.K. Adams. Her latest book, Song of the Silk Weaver, appeared in September 2026.

Our Strange Duet: Inspired by Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera (Delacorte Press, 2026) is a reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, spotlighting Christine Daaé as she rises to fame while torn between love, ambition, and the haunting secrets of the opera house from #1 New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig. This gorgeous hardcover edition of Our Strange Duet features stunning sprayed edges, custom character endpapers, a foil-stamped case, and a ribbon! She was never just the voice he shaped . . . A rising soprano with a gift she is only just learning to embrace, Christine Daaé has moved through the glittering world of the Opera Populaire longing to find her purpose. Instead, she finds herself caught between two men who refuse to let her slip quietly into the chorus. One is Raoul, her childhood friend turned devoted admirer, offering her a future filled with warmth, safety, and a love that feels like sunlight. The other is a mysterious masked figure who lurks beneath the Opera House: The Phantom. His brilliance, obsession, and dangerous devotion to nurturing Christine’s talents ignites a dark and complicated passion in her heart. As Christine’s star ascends, so does the tension between Raoul and the Phantom. She must decide who she is when the curtain falls—and what she’s willing to risk for the life she wants. Set against the sweeping, romantic world of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Our Strange Duet allows Christine Daaé to take center stage to tell her own story: fierce, emotional, and unforgettable. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/historical-fiction

In 2021, the NAACP Image Award-winning poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers made her fiction debut with The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois, a magisterial epic of African American historical fiction—an intimate yet sweeping novel with all the luminescence and force of Homegoing; Sing, Unburied, Sing; and The Water Dancer—chronicling the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War, to our own tumultuous era. Five years, and numerous awards and best-of lists later, Honorée joins the podcast on the anniversary of the novel’s publication to talk about what it meant then, what it means now, and that call from Oprah that shifted everything. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is an essayist, novelist, poet, and a student of United States history. She is the author of seven books spanning three genres, including the NAACP Image Award-winning poetry collection, The Age of Phillis. She was on the podcast on June 20, 2025 to discuss her book, Misbehaving at the Crossroad: Essays and Writing. You can find Honorée on Substack, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe, like, follow, and rate Additions to the Archive with Sullivan Summer on Instagram, Substack, and wherever you get your podcasts. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/historical-fiction