Outside, the flowers are in bloom, and inside, I’m looking forward to all the great new historical fiction books coming out this month. Whether you’re reading them inside or outside, though, it’s impossible to argue that May is a great month for historical fiction. With new books from award-winning and fan-favorite authors like Isabel Allende (The House of the Spirits) and Natalie Jenner (The Jane Austen Society) and stories featuring such famous writers as Louisa May Alcott and Miguel de Cervantes, you know you’re in for a treat. (If that tickles your fancy, you might also enjoy these 50 must-read novels about writers, by the way.)
In addition to famous authors, May is also bringing us a book about Sweeney Todd’s infamous partner-in-crime, Mrs. Lovett, a sweeping historical tale about a family who gain supernatural abilities from a deal with the devil, and stories set in the dark underbellies of London and Portland. From dark to uplifting, these new historical fiction books give you your pick. So go on, venture back through the decades and centuries into these stories of yore, where the history isn’t just taking place in the past, but very much still with us in the present.
Austen at Sea by Natalie JennerRelease date: May 6, 2025 Two sets of siblings board a boat to England with plans to meet Jane Austen’s last surviving brother, Sir Francis Austen. The Stevenson sisters, Charlotte and Henrietta, find inspiration in Austen’s novels amidst a world that only lets women rise so far. Nicholas and Haslett Nelson are bachelors and rare booksellers, lured by the promise of a never-before-seen Austen artifact. Sir Francis, it seems, has some matchmaking in mind. But first, they’ll have to make it across the Atlantic on a journey that will change them all for good. |
The Butcher’s Daughter: The Hitherto Untold Story of Mrs. Lovett by David Demchuk and Corinne Leigh ClarkRelease date: May 6, 2025 Sweeney Todd‘s Mrs. Lovett gets her moment in the spotlight with this horrifying tale of Victorian London. In the empty apartment of a missing woman, a series of increasingly frightening letters are found that document the correspondence between an intrepid journalist and the woman she believes to be the infamous partner of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber and baker of Fleet Street. |
My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel AllendeRelease date: May 6, 2025 Isabelle Allende’s newest novel follows an independent young writer who pursues her dreams of writing all the way to Chile, where a brewing civil war provides her with both the opportunity to advance her career as a journalist and to learn more about the Chilean father she never knew. Along with a fellow reporter, she enmeshes herself in the affairs of the country. But as the war escalates, her sense of identity and her life are increasingly at risk. |
The Devil Three Times by Rickey FayneRelease date: May 13, 2025 Eight generations of a Black family, from a woman who awakens aboard a slave ship to her descendants more than a hundred years later in West Tennessee, find themselves in the unique position of having the devil on their side. The devil sees an opportunity to get back in God’s good graces by helping out Yetunde and her descendants, not only granting them supernatural powers but showing up in their times of greatest need. |
A Daughter’s Place by Martha BátizRelease date: May 20, 2025 Following the death of her mother, the illegitimate daughter of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, must pose as a maid in the house of her aunts even as she waits for her father to return from Seville. Catalina, Miguel’s devoted wife, is also waiting, blissfully unaware of 15-year-old Isabel’s existence. The years pass as Cervantes works on the book that will make him famous for centuries to come, and Isabel grows, falling in and out of love and wishing for the legitimacy denied to her by the rigid social mores of Golden Age Spain. |
The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorrisRelease date: May 20, 2025 In 1888 Portland, Celia passes as white to protect herself from the raging anti-Chinese sentiment poisoning the U.S. But when she wakes underground, drugged and disguised, in the subterranean labyrinth of the Shanghai Tunnels, she realizes she’s been “shanghaied.” Now, at risk of being shipped off for forced labor, she tries to piece together the events that brought her here and figure out some means of escape. |
The Blackbirds of St. Giles by Lila CainRelease date: May 27, 2025 After escaping a Jamaican sugar plantation, siblings Daniel and Pearl travel to London, hoping to make good on their promised freedom for Daniel’s service in the American War of Independence. But when Daniel finds trickery instead of freedom, he and Pearl wind up in the dark and dangerous alleys of St. Giles. Run by a cruel man named Elias, St. Giles is not the future they hoped for. But underneath Elias, a group of Black men known as the Blackbirds of St. Giles are defying his rule. Along with the Blackbirds, Daniel might finally find the freedom he’s been fighting for. Lila Cain is a pseudonym for co-authors Marcia Hutchinson and Kate Griffin. |
Did you miss out on all the best April historical fiction? It’s not too late to catch up on last month’s new releases. Check out the best new releases from March, too, while you’re at it.
The following comes to you from the Editorial Desk.
This week, we’re highlighting a post that offers you a guide to all things cozy genre books! Get to know some outstanding cozy mysteries, cozy horror, and a whole lot more. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
A Guide to All the Cozy Genres
Cozy has certainly become a buzzword attached to genre fiction. It all started with cozy mysteries, which have been around for decades. Now we’re seeing cozy science fiction and fantasy, and even cozy horror. So what exactly does “cozy” mean?
There are some common traits of so-called cozy books. Generally, they evoke a charming atmosphere with their setting. In cozy mysteries, this is often a small town—think of a quaint village in the English countryside. Fantasy adds some magic to that quaint village; horror adds ghosts. For science fiction, coziness often manifests as a ship, space station, or colony with a tight-knit crew. Readers can expect rich descriptions of the setting and a lot of atmosphere for a fully transporting reading experience.
Another common factor in these books is the stakes of the story. Cozy mysteries are somewhat confounding because the crimes they solve are typically murders! Nevertheless, the reader is not subjected to gory details or put in a position of extreme suspense. Likewise, cozy fantasy and sci-fi novels may deal with the aftermath of a large-scale conflict, but the characters are likely to be dealing with smaller, more internal or interpersonal challenges.
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Source : Great New Historical Fiction for May
