Women’s History Month – recognized in March each year – highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. From stories about surviving world wars, immigration, historical photos, famous bridges and wedding dresses, we’ve got quite the selection of historical fiction for you. Here are our picks to honor Women’s History Month!

This Terrible Beauty by Katrin Schumann

Bettina must pick up the pieces and build a new life after surviving WWII. A marriage to a dangerous man and an illicit affair will cost her more than she could have ever expected, including being separated from her daughter. After a move to America and a decade of turmoil, the arrival of an unexpected stranger will help her to return home and take back what rightfully belongs to her.

Across a Broken Shore by Amy Trueblood

Willa’s family wants her to become a nun, yet all she desires is to help a doctor who has set up a field hospital near the new bridge that’s being built. While Willa tries to hide her chaotic life in medicine from her family, she becomes intrigued by a young ironworker. As risks mount near the bridge, Willa will have to decide if keeping a secret about what she really wants is worth it all.   

Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict

Lady Clementine is the story of the ambitious woman who was married to Winston Churchill. Through the darkness of war, Clementine continues to stand by her husband where she will not surrender to expectations or to enemies, and she will most certainly have a lasting influence during WWI and WWII as a remarkable woman to remember.

Glorious Boy by Aimee Liu

Anthropologist Claire and her husband Shep are forced to evacuate their home in 1942 when the Japanese invade. Just before they are set to leave, their young son and a local girl disappear. While Shep stays behind to find their son, Claire leaves for Calcutta and is completely cut off from her family. A desperate odyssey will follow as Shep and Claire will take risks to find and save their child, their ‘glorious boy.’

Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

When reporter Ellis Reed takes a photo of two children for sale, he never thought the photo would be published, he never expected the photo to lead to his big break. He never imagined the consequences would be so devastating. This is a story about love and redemption that was inspired by an actual photograph that shocked the nation.

The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood

When Emily’s husband asks that she give up her dreams to support him, she puts her life on hold. Her husband, Wash, is the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, and when he is injured on the job, Emily takes over, and what was once her husband’s dream becomes hers. Through obstacles and resistance, Emily directs the project, and her marriage, her principles and her identity. As the bridge is completed, will Emily recognize the woman she once was or will she step into the woman she has now become?

The Last Bathing Beauty by Amy Sue Nathan

In this heartfelt novel about fate and second chances, a young beauty queen embraces her last summer before college, competing in an annual pageant, spending time at the beach, and falling in love. Decades later, Betty, who is known as ‘Boop’ recalls the choices she made that one fateful summer when she thought her future would be everything she had imagined.

The Grace Kelly Dress by Brenda Janowitz

What’s a bride-to-be to do when she’s inherited a beautiful wedding dress she doesn’t want to wear? Rachel knows she will break her mother’s heart yet her mother is insistent she wears the family heirloom. There is history behind the mysterious dress – secrets from the original owner and the seamstress who made it. As the story of three women converges with the dress at the center of it all, the past will need to be confronted in order to embrace the future, and the secrets of the dress will need to be revealed.

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