Historical Fiction Featuring Strong Female Protagonists

A “captivating villain origin story” (People Book of the Week) reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine. Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

Born into the elegant comfort of upper-class Russian society at the turn of the twentieth century, Zina yearns for independence and a life she can call her own. After the Bolsheviks topple the Czarist government, she narrowly escapes with her husband. But once they arrive in Tehran, tragedy strikes again, and she finds herself alone and impoverished. At a modest boarding house, Zina must start over. There she meets women from Russia and Iran — outsiders like her, seeking refuge. They support one another through childbirth, illness, political unrest, and a pandemic. Sweeping, tender, and unforgettable, Mistress of the Persian Boarding House is a moving portrait of the enduring bonds forged between women who choose each other as family.

When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him, in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes.

From the bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance and Everyone Is Lying to You comes a propulsive dual-timeline mystery drenched in art-world intrigue and brimming with family secrets, betrayal, and the intoxicating lure of power.

A compellingly heartbreaking debut novel about the echoes of Partition and four friends whose dark secrets lead to a life-changing night that comes back to haunt them decades later. Captivating and atmospheric, Under the Tamarind Tree shows us the high-stakes ripple effects of generational trauma, and the lengths people will go to protect the ones they love.

The award-winning author of The Leavers offers a visionary novel of friendship, art, and ambition that asks: What is the value of a meaningful life? Moving from the predigital 1980s to the art and tech subcultures of the 1990s to a strikingly imagined portrait of the 2040s, Memory Piece is an innovative and audacious story of three lifelong friends as they strive to build satisfying lives in a world that turns out to be radically different from the one they were promised.

Thirty years ago, in rural Fuzhou, Old Second and his wife Bao Mei frequented the Workers’ Cinema: A rundown theater where gay men cruised for love. While classic war films played, Old Second found intimacy with closeted men in the screening rooms. In the box office, Bao Mei sold movie tickets, guarding the secrets of the cinema and even finding her own happiness with the projectionist. But once Old Second’s passionate affair with his male lover was exposed, a series of haunting events unfolded, propelling these characters toward an uncertain future in America. Spanning decades, from post-socialist China to contemporary New York, Cinema Love is a tour de force about gay men and the women who marry them.

A story full of passion and revenge, following one family living on the Texas-Mexico border and a curse that reverberates across generations. “Fuentes has achieved something rare and indelible with this story of complex women” (Erika L. Sánchez).

Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City’s most impressive Gilded Age mansions.

It was called “The Titanic of the South.” The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah’s elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten — until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

A propulsive, extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ harrowing escape to Taiwan as the Communist revolution sweeps through China, by debut author Eve J. Chung, based on her family story.

What if your sense of duty required you to betray the man you love? Inspired by true events, American Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is the face of the Cold War you’ve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice.

A searingly original debut about two sisters and their flight from genocide — which takes them from Hollywood to Paris to San Francisco’s Cannery Row — each haunted along the way by the ghosts of their murdered friends, who are not yet done telling their stories

A searing and compassionate new novel about a young Black nurse’s shocking discovery and burning quest for justice in post-segregation Alabama, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench.

The lives of writers can often best be understood through the eyes of those who nurtured them and made their work possible. In The Sweetest Fruits, three women tell the story of their time with Lafcadio Hearn, a globetrotting writer best known for his books about Meiji-era Japan. Each is a gifted storyteller with her own precise reason for sharing her story. With brilliant sensitivity and an unstinting eye, Truong illuminates the women’s tenacity and their struggles in a novel that circumnavigates the globe in the search for love, family, home, and belonging.

This sweeping novel from the author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century.

From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mad Honey comes a novel about two women, centuries apart — one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays — who are both forced to hide behind another name.

A captivating debut novel about the tangled fates of two best friends and daughters of the Italian mafia, and a coming-of-age story of twentieth-century Brooklyn itself.

A teenage girl living in 1960s China becomes Mao Zedong’s protégée and lover — and a heroine of the Cultural Revolution. Forbidden City is an epic yet intimate portrayal of one of the world’s most powerful and least understood leaders during this extraordinarily turbulent period in modern Chinese history. The protagonist’s harrowing journey toward truth and disillusionment raises questions about power, manipulation, and belief, as seen through the eyes of a passionate teenage girl.

A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine — but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the author of Mexican Gothic.

An enthralling epic about two trailblazing female doctors in nineteenth-century New York from the international bestselling author of The Gilded Hour. In the city, it seems that the advancement of women has brought out the worst in some men. Unable to ignore the plight of New York’s less fortunate, these intrepid doctors and cousins draw on all their resources to protect their patients.

For fans of Pachinko and Lilac Girls, the heartbreaking history of Korea is brought to life in this deeply moving and redemptive debut that follows two sisters separated by World War II. Suspenseful, hopeful, and ultimately redemptive, White Chrysanthemum tells a story of two sisters whose love for each other is strong enough to triumph over the grim evils of war.

From debut author Asha Lemmie, “a lovely, heartrending story about love and loss, prejudice and pain, and the sometimes dangerous, always durable ties that link a family together” (Kristin Hannah).