Summertime Reads for Historical Fiction Fans

by Nicola Harrison
Setting: 1942 Laguna Beach, California
Published June 20, 2023

During the War, Hazel left her Kansas home to become one of the "Rosie the Riveters" at Douglas Aircraft. But when the war ended, she was dismissed so a man could have her job. After her taste of a different lifestyle, she doesn’t want to return home to be a typical 1940s housewife. Instead, she takes a job for famous, but cantankerous, artist named Hanson Radcliff.

As Hazel thrives in Laguna, she hasn’t let go of her dream of returning to work with airplanes. But along the way, her life moves on and she befriends Jimmy, a hotel bartender with the potential to become more than a friend. Her life would be a dream for many, but is it enough for her?

by Molly Fader
Setting: Iowa, 1967 and 2019
Published 2022

This dual-timeline novel opens in 2019 at the funeral for BettyKay in a small town in Iowa. BettyKay’s daughters are shocked when Hollywood movie star Kitty Devereaux walks in and places something into their mother’s casket.

Over the course of the weekend, BettyKay’s daughters discover a whole other side to their mother as Kitty shares stories of their lifelong friendship, which all began in 1967 at a St. Luke’s Nursing School in the fictional town of Greensboro, Iowa.

BettyKay grew up on a farm in the Midwest and risked everything to attend nursing school against her parent’s wishes. Her assigned roommate, Kitty, came to Iowa to escape her past in Atlanta, but already had her sights set on Hollywood. The two, having little in common, became unlikely friends. Another new student, Jenny, completed their trio. Jenny had aspirations of becoming a doctor, but she knew that the combination of being a woman and being Black meant that the odds were stacked against her in the late 60s.

The bond these three women formed at their Iowa nursing school would carry them through the years as their lives led them in different directions - from the jungles of Vietnam to the movie sets of Hollywood.

The Book Girls Say… Author Molly Fader's mother attended nursing school in Iowa in the late 1960s. She explains that many of her mother’s stories are in the book, including details about nursing school life and working in hospitals in Iowa during that time.

by Alan Brennert
Setting: 1930s-1970s, Palisades Park, New Jersey
Published 2013

The Palisades Amusement Park was magical in the 1930s, especially for seven-year-old Toni. She helps out with her parent’s french fry stand along with her brother, Jack. Toni is especially fascinated by the high diver act, even though her mom tells her girls can’t be high divers.

Over the years, the family endures the world’s hard times - from the Great Depression and Pearl Harbor to race riots in the park. Each summer, they came back together at the park until it closed in 1971. The publisher says, “Palisades Park takes us back to a time when life seemed simpler—except, of course, it wasn't.”

The Book Girls Say... This historical fiction read was written by the author of Molaka’i, so if you’ve enjoyed that popular title, this would be a great pick!

by Laura Spence-Ash
Setting: 1940-1977 Boston, Maine, & London
Published March 21, 2023

As bombs fell on London in 1940, many parents made heart-wrenching decisions to send their children out of the city for their safety. In this book, we’ll watch Bea travel to America as an 11-year-old to spend the remainder of the war with the Gregory family. They live most of the year in Boston but spend summers on their private island in Maine.

As she becomes closer to the Gregorys, life feels right. Perhaps even better than with her old life in England. In 1945, she is suddenly called back home. While she’s reluctant to return, she does, but memories of her American family fill her thoughts. You’ll continue to see her try to balance both of her worlds as she tries to find love and a life of her own.

by Beatriz Williams
Setting: 1946 & 1954 New England
Published June 27, 2023

Emilia Winthrop lives on the stunning Summerly, an idyllic seaside estate. But Emilia is not in the main house, she’s the daughter of the year-round caretaker and a descendant of Winthrop Islands' original settlers. In June 1946, the first summer after the war, glamorous Olive moves into the guest house. Her life couldn’t be more different than Emilia’s. While Olive was traveling the world, marrying men, and being involved in politics, Emilia was caring for her incapacitated mother.

As Olive and Emilia’s friendship grows, Olive encourages Emilia to find more adventure in life. However, an FBI agent shows up, claiming someone is transmitting vital intelligence to the Soviets from inside the estate.

Eight years later, Emilia is a professor at Wellesley College when Washington comes knocking again. Now the traitor she helped convict is being swapped for an American spy. She must finally confront the decisions from her past.

by Camille DiMaio
Setting: San Diego, California, 1958
Published 2019

Kate feels stuck in her family’s failing restaurant in San Fransisco. She jumps at the chance to escape when her grandfather makes a cryptic plea for her to “find a beautiful stranger.” This search takes her to the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego, where the movie Some Like it Hot is being filmed.

When she’s offered a position at the glamorous hotel, it feels like a dream come true. And her life continues to get better as new romance blossoms. However, the hotel has ghosts from the past, just like Kate. Sixty years earlier, a guest died at the hotel and still haunts the halls. The life of that turn-of-the-century guest and Kate’s present intertwine in surprising ways.

This book is included with Kindle Unlimited as of 7/18/23.

by Courtney Ellis
Setting: 1920s England
Published 2021

Alberta (“Bertie”) Preston is eager to jumpstart her career as a professional artist. When she receives a commission to spend the summer painting Castle Braemore, she hopes it will be her big break. But when she arrives, she finds that the once-opulent estate isn’t quite what it was before the war. The same could be said of its inhabitants, as well.

The Earl of Wakeford has been living in isolation ever since returning from WWI. He stays locked away in his room to hide his battle scars. While Bertie is eagerly welcomed by the earl’s siblings, she forms an unexpected bond with the reclusive earl. Soon she’ll start to uncover the long-kept secrets hidden within the castle.

The Book Girls Say… Reviewers describe this historical fiction romance as less like Downton Abbey and more like Beauty and the Beast.

by Rachel Beanland
Setting: 1934, Atlantic City, NJ
Published 2020

Each summer, the Adler family rents out their Atlantic City home to vacationers and moves into the cramped apartment above their bakery. Their daughters are now young adults, with Florence home from college and Fannie on bed rest during pregnancy following the loss of a baby. Florence plans to spend the summer training for her plan to swim the English Channel.

The small space becomes even more crowded when the father, Joseph, takes in a women he helped emigrate from Nazi Germany. When a tragedy strikes, mom Esther begins a web of lies in an attempt to protect her daughter Fannie. But will this really help in the long run?

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Also Included on This Book List:
Books Set in the 1930s

by Marjorie Hart
Setting: 1945, NYC
Published 2009

Fresh from their sorority house at the University of Iowa, Marjorie and her best friend Marty arrive in New York City hoping for summer jobs as shopgirls. After being turned away from numerous department stores, they find jobs at Tiffany & Co., becoming the first women to work on the sales floor and making them the envy of all of their friends.

Telling of the magical summer that the author spent in NYC with her best friend, Hart's short memoir allows us to see snippets of history through their eyes. As she reflects back on it many decades later, she recalls it as the best summer of her life, spent rubbing elbows with the rich and famous.

The Book Girls Say... This is a must-read for all fans of vintage New York glamour.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
95% Would Recommend to a Friend

Also Featured on This Book List:
Books Set in the 1940s

by Karen Swan
Setting: 1930s, remote Scottish Island
Published July 21, 2022

Effie Gillies has spent her whole life living on the small Scottish island of St. Kilda. She has a wild and free temperament well suited to dangerous rope work along the cliffs. When the Earl of Dumfries and his son, Lord Sholto, visit the island while the island’s men are away, Effie is asked to be their tour guide. Despite being from two very different worlds, the attraction between Effie and Lord Sholto is instant. But when a storm hits and the entire island must be evacuated, everything falls apart.

This historical romance is the first of three planned for the Wild Isle trilogy. Inspired by the true history of the island community of St. Kilda, the first book is filled with the glamour and intrigue of high society in the 1930s. The second book, The Stolen Hours, is set for publication on July 20, 2023, with the third book to follow later. The first book ends on a cliffhanger, so if you need resolution in your books, you might want to wait to read until the full trilogy is released.

The Book Girls Say… Author Karen Swan is known for setting her books in beautiful locations all around the world - from Spain and Rome to Norway and Canada. Her atmospheric prose will whisk you away to another time and place. If you’ve read any of Swan’s other novels, keep in mind that this one is a bit of a departure from her typical light, contemporary fare. There’s a thread of mystery running through the book, as well as what reviewers describe as “an extra edge” to this story.

Heads Up: This book includes some descriptions of animal death and abuse.

by Elin Hilderbrand
Setting: 1969, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard
Published 2019

This novel brings the late-1960s to life in vivid, nostalgic detail.

Each year, the children of the Levin family have looked forward to spending the summer in Nantucket with their grandmother. But in the summer of '69, thirteen-year-old Jessie is the only sibling who can make the trip. One of her older sisters is pregnant with twins, the other is caught up in the civil rights movement, and her older brother has recently been deployed to the war in Vietnam.

The summer proves to be an eventful one - Vietnam, Woodstock, the moon landing, the Chappaquiddick affair, Jessie struggling with her first heartbreak, and her grandmother with a few secrets of her own.

The Book Girls Say... After finishing this book, you’ll want to catch up with the Levin family in the Summer of ‘79 and the Summer of ‘89. Both of these short novellas are included in the short story collection, Endless Summer.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
100% Would Recommend to a Friend

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Books Set in the 1960s
The Ultimate Guide to Elin Hilderbrand Books

by Michelle Gable
Setting: 1950s, Hyannisport, Hollywood, & Rome
Published 2018

One of the many questions that linger decades after the death of John F. Kennedy is his relationship with Alicia Corning Clark. J. Edgar Hoover insisted that she was paid by the Kennedy’s to keep her relationship with John a secret. That relationship includes a rumored child.

This historical fiction delves into Alicia’s fascinating life as a Polish refugee who worked for the family at their summer home in Hyannisport. She’s especially dazzled by their son, Jack, a rising politician. The two become engaged, but the marriage is forbidden. At that point, Alicia moves on to Hollywood, dating famous actors like Kirk Douglas. However, she remains close to Jack over the years. Ten years later, on the eve of his inauguration, they must confront what they really mean to each other.

by Lecia Cornwall
Setting: 1936 Olympics, Berlin, Germany
Published Oct 11, 2022

During the summer of 1936, Germany began once again to rise in power. In denial about the threat of war, the English aristocracy looked to heal relations with Germany via the age-old institution of marriage. Debutantes flocked to Berlin - among them was Viviane Alden. But unlike the women looking for romantic matches, Viviane has a different purpose.

With camera in hand, she looks like just another pretty young tourist taking holiday photos during the summer Olympics, but in reality, she's seeking photographic evidence that Germany is rearming. To assist her mission, she’s paired with a journalist who is closely guarding his heart.

Viviane expected to encounter hatred and injustice in Germany, but with the eyes of the world on Berlin, the country was on its best behavior. As they graciously welcome tourists with a celebratory atmosphere of goodwill, Viviane is determined to uncover the truth.

The Book Girls Say… Reviewers describe this book as a perfect mix of adventure, intrigue, and historical romance.

by Renee Rosen
Setting: 1965, Manhattan
First published 2019

When Alice Weiss leaves her home in Midwestern Iowa to chase her dreams in NYC, she is lucky to land the job of a lifetime at Cosmopolitan Magazine which is under the new leadership of its first female editor, Helen Gurley Brown.

Not everyone is happy to see Helen at the helm of the magazine, with some editors and writers resigning and others cooking up a scheme to sabotage their new boss. Alice, on the other hand, remains loyal and is determined to help her new boss succeed as she shocks America by daring to talk to women about all things off-limits.

The Book Girls Say... We both loved stepping right into 1965 Manhattan as Alice adjusted from her Midwestern roots and learned how magazines are run. This novel is often described as Mad Men meets The Devil Wears Prada, but it's a huge bonus that the book was based on the real Cosmopolitan magazine and its first female editor, Helen Gurley Brown.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Also Included on This List:
Books Set in the 1960s

by Jessica Anya Blau
Setting: 1970s, Baltimore
Published 2021

Mary Jane tells the story of two very different family lifestyles and the 14-year-old girl trying to decide who she really is. Mary Jane is a quiet, book-loving girl from a traditional, conservative family in 1970s Baltimore. When she is offered a summer job nannying for a local doctor, her mom assumes their home is equally tidy and respectable.

However, the house is a huge mess and it's about to get crazier. The doctor has welcomed a rock star and his wife to stay at the home while he tries to get sober. Mary Jane has a lot to teach them about tidiness and schedules, and they open her eyes to a wild world outside her bubble. By the end of the summer, she has a better understanding of who she wants to be.

The Book Girls Say... This book is part historical fiction and part coming-of-age novel. It shows both positives and negatives of suburban life in the 1970s.

The Book Girls loved this one from the first chapter, and immediately missed Mary Jane, Izzy, and the rest of the characters as soon as the book was over. The author hit the perfect mix of innocence and having Mary Jane's eyes opened to different ways of life.

This book is included with Kindle Unlimited as of 5/8/23.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
93% Would Recommend to a Friend

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by Amy Sue Nathan
Setting: 1951, Michigan + Present
Published 2020

Betty Stern turned 18 in 1951 and was looking forward to her last summer at her grandparent's Jewish summer resort before heading off to college. She had big dreams of becoming a fashion editor in NYC.

During that life-changing summer, Betty collapses at the end of the beauty pageant, which ends up being the last time the pageant is held. In 2020, a financially-struggling manicurist decides to bring it back. By this time, Betty is in her late 80s, and no one knows she was the last winner or why the pageant ended.

The Book Girls Say... The book alternates between Betty's life that summer and a present-day gathering of her best friends from that summer. It's a great look at societal expectations between the two time periods.

This book is included with Kindle Unlimited as of 5/8/23.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Also Included on These Lists:
Books Set in the 1950s
Books with Characters in Their 80s

by Virginia Hume
Setting: 1944, 1970, 2008, Maine Coast
Published 2021

This novel introduces us to three generations of a family that spends summers in a seaside town on Maine’s rocky coastline.

Maren Larsen grew up in a small farming community in Minnesota, but in 1944, amid WWII, she was determined to do her part in the war effort. While working as a nurse at Walter Reed Medical Center, she’s swept off her feet by a doctor named Oliver, whose family summers yearly on the coast of Maine.

Twenty-six years later, in 1970, as the conflict with Vietnam rages, Maren and Oliver are at odds with their fiercely independent teenage daughter. Seventeen-year-old Annie has fallen for a man her parents disapprove of. By the end of the summer, the family has suffered a terrible tragedy, and Annie vows never to return to Haven Point, Maine.

In 2008, Maren’s grandaughter, Skye, arrives in Haven Point to help scatter her mother’s ashes. Skye has inherited her mother, Annie’s, view of Maine. Rather than seeing the coast's beauty and enjoying the regattas, clambakes, and sing-alongs, Annie believes the people to be snobbish and petty. But Annie never told Skye the full story of what happened during the summer of ‘70.

The Book Girls Say… This story is told from the perspectives of Maren and Skye and jumps around between the three timelines. Readers say it’s not hard to keep the timelines straight, but you might want to consider a different option if you don’t enjoy novels that go back and forth in time.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
96% Would Recommend to a Friend

Also Included on This Book List:
Books Set in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont

by Donna Russo Morin
Setting: 1895, Newport, Rhode Island
Published 2018

In the Gilded Age, wealthy New York families like the Vanderbilts and Astors escaped the heat of summer in Manhattan by traveling to Newport for the season. Pearl is the teen daughter of one of these families but yearns for a different life than her social-climbing mom expects.

Ginerva is also in Newport for the summer, but she’s a new immigrant from Italy and joins the household as a servant and seamstress. Pearl and Ginerva become fast friends, but Pearl can’t let her family know she’s befriended a member of the staff. The realities of their approaching adulthood became real when Pearl accepts a “suitable” marriage proposal that will pull her further into society life.

The Book Girls Say… This is the perfect novel for fans of Downton Abbey if you’re looking for an American twist on the upstairs/downstairs life.

by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White
Setting: Late 1800s-Present, Newport, Rhode Island
Published May 17, 2022

Spanning the Gilded Age to the present day in three different timelines, this novel is set among the summer mansions of Newport, Rhode Island.

In the present day, you’ll meet Andie, the producer of a reality show called Mansion Makeover. She’s in Newport to renovate the once fabulous, but now slowly crumbling Sprague Hall. However, she has more than construction problems. The mansion comes with a reclusive heiress who still lives in the house, but insists that no one speaks to her and that no one touches the boathouse.

In 1958, you’ll meet Lucia, aka Lucky, Sprague, who fled Mussolini’s Italy with her grandmother. They return to her Nana’s Newport house, which she hasn’t seen since 1899. One night in the boathouse, she uncovers a shocking truth that changes everything she thought she knew.

In 1899, mining heiress Maybelle Sprague was taking singing lessons from Ellen, who had been hired to help polish Maybelle for her entrance into society. Maybelle's stepbrother has just purchased a home among Newport’s elite and hopes to marry Maybelle off to an Italian prince. However, Ellen has a checkered past that the family doesn’t know about.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
95% Would Recommend toa Friend

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Books Set in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont

by Tanya Rumford
Setting: 1960s & present-day, Georgia
Published May 30, 2023

Four adult cousins are left a mysterious item and a VHS tape after the death of their Grandma Imogene. As kids, the cousins spent summers together at Gram and Gramp’s lakehouse, but they haven’t seen each other in two years.

Emeline, Wyatt, Geoff, and Belinda each have their own struggles and are eager to pay their respects and return back to their own lives. However, the VHS tape sends them on an unexpected adventure to Daytona Beach to learn more about their grandma’s past. Will their own secrets tear the cousins apart before they discover what she has hidden?

This heartfelt light suspense novel alternates narrators, including sections of the book that follow Imogene's summer of 1963.

If you love an air of mystery in your summer reads, be sure to check out our lists of the best summer cozy mysteries and the best summer thrillers.

by Roxanne Veletzos
Setting: Hungary, 1940s-1950s
Published 2021

Wealthy aristocrat Eva is engaged to a doctor and spending her last single summer at her family's estate in Sopron. However, she meets a Romani fiddler and artist, Aleandrao, and they quickly fall in love despite the differences in class that make them look incompatible to outsiders.

The outbreak of war separates Eva and Aleandro, but their chance meeting that summer leads to decisions that change their individual futures.

The Book Girls Say... This historical fiction spans well beyond WW2 in Hungary and will also help you learn about the Hungarian uprising of 1956.

Also Included on This List:
Books Set in Eastern Europe

by Susie Orman Schnall
Setting: 1939, New York
Published 2020

In this novel, the main characters are Maxine, who dreams of being a journalist for the New York Times, and Vivi, who wants to be an actress in LA.

When Vivi is given a chance to be the star of the Aquacade synchronized swimming spectacular at the World's Fair, the lives of these two big-dreaming women collide. They navigate a summer of opportunity and adversity together as friends who what to achieve so much more than society expects.

by Kimberley Freeman
Setting: 1901 & 2011 Queensland, Australia
Published 2012

This dual-timeline novel transports you to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. In 1901, a ship sank, and only one passenger survived. Isabella Winterbourne’s husband had been commissioned to transport a jeweled mace to the Australian Parliament. As the sole survivor of the shipwreck, Isabella must brave the elements to survive and deliver the priceless gift.

In 2011, Libby Slater leaves her life in Paris to return to her Australian hometown. Having recently lost the love of her life, she hopes that reconciling with her sister, who she hasn’t spoken to in 20 years, might help her grieving process.

As this story intertwines between the centuries, the women learn to navigate life’s losses and hardships in search of love and happiness.

by Helen Simonson
Setting: 1914, England
Published 2016

Head back to 1914 and join this interesting cast of characters in the coastal town of Rye, England. Medical student Hugh visits his aunt Agatha and her husband, who works in the Foreign Office. He isn’t too worried about the building tension over the Balkans. The summer is too beautiful for them to be concerned.

Mix in the new, attractive Latin teacher Beatrice, who is mourning the loss of her father (and his financial support). While everyone is distracted with their own problems and the summer creeps closer to fall, they have no idea how much their lives are about to change.

The Book Girls Say… This book is a great pick if you love slow-burning character studies, but not the best choice if you prefer a quick plot-driven read.

Also Included on This List:
Books Like Downton Abbey

by Sarah Jio
Setting: 1942, Bora Bora
Published 2011

In the summer of 1942, at the height of WWII, 21-year-old Anne joins the Army Nurse Corps and is sent to serve in the South Pacific on the island of Bora-Bora.

She has a fiance back home that was chosen for her from birth, and whose father has paid to ensure that he won't be drafted. After arriving in Bora-Bora, she finds herself drawn to a soldier named Westry. Together they spend many blissful hours under the thatched roof of an abandoned beach bungalow. But they are driven apart when they witness a crime and then Westry is redeployed to Europe.

Years later, back home in Seattle, Westry is never far from Anne's mind. When a letter arrives, she hopes that maybe they'll finally be reunited.

The Book Girls Say... This historical fiction is perfect for fans of WWII romance, and though it may be a bit predictable, readers say it's a joy to read.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
100% Would Recommend to a Friend

by Jess Walter
Setting: 1962 and 2012, Italy
Published 2013

This is a split timeline book set in 1962 and 2012. The 60s portion will transport you straight to a small town on the Italian coast. You’ll meet a boy with big dreams who falls for a visiting American actress, and then 50 years in the future, you’ll see a struggling actress in Hollywood.

The Book Girls Say... The book is a social satire about Hollywood, and those who love it, REALLY love it. Others find the book disjointed, and it has more 3-star ratings than 5-star ratings. However, if you love satire, pick it up!

by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Setting: 1955-56, Monaco
Published 2019

At the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, Grace Kelly seeks refuge in a small boutique to escape the flash-bulbs of the press. She becomes fast friends with the shop owner, Sophie Duval, and even creates a plan to help Sophie's struggling perfume business.

James Henderson, a British press photographer following Grace Kelly, also likes Sophie. The following year, James is assigned to cover Grace Kelly's wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco. James hopes he'll also have the opportunity to be reunited with Sophie.

The Book Girls Say... While both the Cannes Film Festival and Grace Kelly's wedding take place in the spring, rather than the summer, this novel is a sun-drenched journey along the Cote d'Azur, making it the perfect summer read. It's filled with romance, friendship, and tragedy.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐
100% Would Recommend to a Friend

Also Included on This List:
Books Set in the 1950s

by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Setting: 1956-1983, Malibu, California
Published 2021

The successful Riva siblings are always the envy of those around them in Malibu. Their father is legendary 70s singer Mick Riva, but each of the four siblings found success of their own in pursuits, like professional surfing and photography.

The book primarily takes place during on the day of Nina's famous end-of-summer beach house party in 1983. By midnight, the party is out of control. Before dawn, Nina's mansion has been burned to the ground. During this unforgettable night, each sibling has secrets revealed.

The Book Girls Say... It's a bit hard for us as 1980s babies to accept that a book set in the early 1980's could be considered historical fiction. However, the first half of this book alternates between the hour-by-hour account of the events unfolding in 1983 and the families backstory. We learn the story of their parents relationship, beginning in 1956, and following them through the height of Mick Riva's stardom in the 70s.

Book Girls' Readers Rate This Book ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
96% Would Recommend to a Friend

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