Rhys Bowen Recommends Summer Historical Fiction Reads

As we battle the summer heat, I’m sure many of us are enjoying staying indoors and reading or finding a shady spot beside some water. So, I’m happy to share some suggestions for my fellow fans of the historical novel.

It seems we’re still obsessed with recent history and suddenly books are appearing set right after WWII. The first is by a dear friend and brilliant writer, Jacqueline Winspear. It’s called The White Lady (Read the review). The lady in question has been an operative and trained killer during the war and wants nothing more than anonymity and a quiet life when she is forced to face a brutal gang and corruption at Scotland Yard. 

My second book is by a favorite, Kate Morton, called Homecoming. It spans two time periods with a journalist in the present going back to Australia to solve an old murder from the 1950s.

Canary Girls, by Jennifer Chiaverini, focuses on the first great war and the girls who risked their health and lives to work in munitions factories. A great story of female bonding that exposes an aspect of war most of us knew nothing about. (It also comes out on August 8)

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis is another of her stand-alones set in New York City. This time a young woman breaks away from convention and her family to join the famous Radio City Rockettes but finds herself caught up in a race to find a bomber in the city.

And lastly, if you are dying to cool down then come to the wild and windswept Farallon Islands off the coast of California where a young woman goes as governess to escape her past in The Light on Farallon Island by Jen Wheeler.

You have a great summer of reading ahead of you.  Enjoy! 

The Paris Assignment releases August 8. Learn more here.

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