The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon was one of the most popular historical fiction releases of 2023. If you finished the novel and are hoping to find similar books you may also like, look no further!
Looking for Jane
Heather Marshall
This clever and satisfying #1 international bestseller for fans of Kristin Hannah and Jennifer Chiaverini follows three women who are bound together by a long-lost letter, a mother’s love, and a secret network of women fighting for the right to choose—inspired by true stories.
Publication Date: February 3, 2023
Go As a River
Shelley Read
Set amid Colorado’s wild beauty, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a resilient young woman whose life is changed forever by one chance encounter. A tragic and uplifting novel of love and loss, family and survival—and hope—for readers of Great Circle, The Four Winds, and Where the Crawdads Sing.
Publication Date: February 28, 2023
Code Name Hélène
Ariel Lawhon
Based on the thrilling real-life story of socialite spy Nancy Wake, comes the newest feat of historical fiction from the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia, featuring the astonishing woman who killed a Nazi with her bare hands and went on to become one of the most decorated women in WWII.
Publication Date: March 31, 2020
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation.
Publication Date: June 29, 2021
Take My Hand
Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a searing and compassionate new novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible injustice done to her patients.
Publication Date: April 12, 2022
Where the Light Enters
Sara Donati
Obstetrician Dr. Sophie Savard returns home to Manhattan in the early spring of 1884 after the death of her husband. With the help of Dr. Anna Savard, her cousin and fellow physician she plans to continue her work aiding society’s disadvantaged women. As Sophie sets out to construct a new life for herself, Anna’s husband, Detective Jack Mezzanotte calls on them both to consult on two new cases: the wife of a prominent banker has disappeared into thin air, and the corpse of a young woman is found with baffling wounds that suggest a killer is on the loose. In New York it seems that the advancement of women has brought out the worst in some men.
Publication Date: September 10, 2019
The Surgeon’s Daughter
Audrey Blake
Nora Beady, the only female student at a prestigious medical school in Bologna, is a rarity. In the 19th century women are expected to remain at home, so her unconventional, indelicate ambitions to become a surgeon offend the men around her. Everything changes when she allies herself with Magdalena Morenco, the sole female doctor on-staff. Together the two women develop new techniques to improve a groundbreaking surgery: the Cesarean section.
Publication Date: May 10, 2022
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
Lisa See
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
Publication Date: June 6, 2023
Midwives
Chris Bohjalian
On a winter night in rural Vermont, a seasoned midwife named Sibyl Danforth takes desperate measures to save a baby’s life. She performs an emergency cesarean section on a mother she believes has died of stroke. But what if—as Sibyl’s assistant later charges—the patient wasn’t already dead? The ensuing trial bears the earmarks of a witch hunt, forcing Sibyl to face the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience.
Publication Date: April 1, 1997
The Light of Luna Park
Addison Armstrong
A historical debut about a nurse who chooses to save a baby’s life, and risks her own in the process, exploring the ties of motherhood and the little-known history of Coney Island and America’s first incubators. The Light of Luna Park is a tale of courage and an ode to the sacrificial love of mothers.
Publication Date: August 10, 2021
