Historical Drama Fiction

Gertrude and Claudius are the “villains” of Hamlet: he the killer of Hamlet’s father and usurper of the Danish throne; she his lusty consort, who marries Claudius before her late husband’s body is cold. But in this imaginative “prequel” to the play, John Updike makes a case for the...

From the bestselling author of The Piano Maker comes a stunning, profoundly moving story about motherhood, grief, marriage, and friendship. For fans of M. L. Stedman's The Light Between Oceans. Margaret Bradley is the most senior associate at a prestigious law firm, and she is on track to make...

Against the unforgettable backdrop of New York near the turn of the twentieth century, from the Gilded Age world of formal balls and opera to the immigrant poverty of the Lower East Side, bestselling author Susan Vreeland again breathes life into a work of art in this extraordinary novel, which...

The mid-1800s is a time of great change for James McGrother and his family. Friendship and loyalty draw the Irish fisherman into a world he would rather stay away from. Choices must be made that could bring the wrath of an old enemy upon James' head. How many fresh starts should a person have to make in their lifetime? Why is it that just when you think your boat has reached the shore, the tide turns and sweeps you back out to a stormy sea?

A Year of Broken Promises continues the story of James and Mary McGrother, a young Irish fisherman and his wife, who were the main characters in A Pocket Full of Shells. Even with the famine years behind them, tragedy and hardship does not stop. Promises made in good faith are broken along with the hearts of those making them. A solicitor, a constable, and a secretive organization all play parts in determining the fate of a young couple whose only desire is to provide for their family and live a simple life.

Having drawn comparisons to Gone with the Wind and Out of Africa, The Fever Tree is a page-turner of the very first order. Frances Irvine, left destitute in the wake of her father’s sudden death, has been forced to abandon her life of wealth and privilege in London and emigrate to the Southern...

"An enthralling story of secrets, sisters, and an unsolved mystery." —Kate Morton An evocative novel in the vein of Kate Morton and Daphne Du Maurier, in which the thrill of first love clashes with the bonds of sisterhood, and all will be tested by the dark secret at the heart of Applecote...

Following on the Giller Prize-nominated and Governor General's Literary Award-winning success of Ru, Kim Thúy's latest novel is a triumph of poetic beauty and a moving meditation on how love and food are inextricably entwined. Mãn has three mothers: the one who gives birth...

From the acclaimed author of The Evening Spider and The Broken Teaglass comes this psychological thriller about the murder of a psychologist in a quiet New England town and his former patient whose unreliable thread will keep readers guessing until the shocking end. I hear myself whispering. Not...

Tessa McWatt's breathtaking new novel explores love and endurance in the face of change and violence, and how people find wholeness and belonging when their own identities feel shattered. Northern India, 2009. Four travellers disembark from the Dhauladhar Express at the Pathankot train station...

These 13 stories by the author of The Invisible Man "approach the elegance of Chekhov" (Washington Post) and provide "early explorations of (Ellison's) lifelong fascination with the 'complex fate' and 'beautiful absurdity' of American identity" (John Callahan). First serial to The New Yorker...

Arrival meets Wild Dark Shore in this captivating novel that follows a family over fifty years—a bold and compassionate exploration of the universe around us and what it truly means to be human. “The Radiant Dark is incandescent.” —Sarah Jessica Parker It’s March 1980, and Carol Girard...

The author of the New York Times Notable The Great Glass Sea (“The most unexpected second book by a writer of note to appear in years.” —John Freeman, The Boston Globe) returns with a gripping adventure story that probes the expansive, shifting wilds of the Sierra Nevada during the Gold...

One of the most beloved novels from the critically acclaimed novelist Laurie Colwin, Goodbye Without Leaving explores a woman’s attempts to reconcile her rock-and-roll past with her significantly more sedate family life as a wife and mother. As a bored graduate student, Geraldine Colshares is...

From bestselling author Luanne Rice—a captivating and sexy novel of love, both enduring and unexpected. Year after year, Luanne Rice’s fans eagerly await her next book. Their enthusiasm is soon to be rewarded with The Lemon Orchard, Rice’s romantic new love story between two people from...

In this moving novel about the transformative power of storytelling, three women make life-changing decisions set in motion by the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco, shaping the legacy of their family’s Napa Valley winery forever, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris...

A mother becomes obsessed with finding the cure to a mysterious ailment that is spreading throughout her New England town in this kaleidoscopic novel about love's capacities in a changing world. “And if we weren’t afraid of the darkness? What world would we make then?” Eve is at a breaking...

“A carnivalesque tale spun in luscious, crackling prose, Freakslaw is the glittery punk offspring of Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love and Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus. You know those books you want to roll around in, rub on your skin, and clasp to your heart? Freakslaw is one.”...

A bookshop, a boathouse, and a budding new romance… When Sophie Bennet gets fired from her high-profile marketing job and dumped by her boyfriend for being "too boring," she decides to take a risk–fueled by wine–and launches a crowdfunding campaign called "Help a Boring Girl Buy a Bookshop...

Uncle Dixon always told Rennie to tell the bees everything, but somewhere along the way, Rennie forgot. Now, with her life at its lowest, she begins to see the bees in a new light. Will she believe again in the magic of the hives, and will she listen as the bees try to guide her home? Perfect...