June invites us on a journey through time, unearthing stories that whisper from the shadows of history yet still pulse with urgent relevance. In this month’s lineup of historical fiction, we don’t just find novels, we discover doorways to forgotten worlds, characters whose lives are etched with the complexities of love, loss, and the indelible marks of conflict.
There’s a certain magic in how these books weave the past and present, inviting readers to not only witness history but to inhabit it, feel its textures, and wrestle with its contradictions.
June’s historical fiction book releases offer a tapestry rich with nuance and heart. These aren’t mere period dramas; they are carefully crafted explorations of identity, power, and survival, told with the kind of intimacy that lingers long after the last page is turned. If you have a soft spot for layered narratives that challenge and enchant, you’re about to find your next obsession. Let’s dive into the 10 best historical fiction books being released this June.
1. What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Set in California during the cultish counterculture wave of the 1970s, What Kind of Paradise follows a young woman whose search for meaning lands her inside a utopian commune that turns out to be anything but. Brown delivers a propulsive narrative that interrogates freedom, identity, and the fine line between faith and manipulation.
At the center of the novel is Ellie, a college dropout drifting away from her conventional family life, who stumbles upon the Eden Project, a commune promising peace and enlightenment in the Santa Cruz mountains. The dreamy setting and charismatic leader mask something darker, and Brown uses Ellie’s unraveling idealism to reflect on the disillusionments of a generation. Perfect for fans of Emma Cline’s The Girls, this novel balances lyrical prose with a razor-sharp social critique.
Why we recommend it: Brown has a talent for tearing open the soft underbelly of seemingly perfect lives, and this one lingers. If you’re drawn to layered mysteries with moral gray zones and a deeply human core, you’ll fall right into this web. Ideal for fans of Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty, but darker, dreamier, and just a touch more disquieting.
2. From the Valley We Rise by Elizabeth Musser
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
Spanning two continents and generations, From the Valley We Rise explores the journey of a Franco-American family rebuilding their lives in the wake of World War II. Musser weaves a multigenerational tale that captures both the devastation of loss and the quiet triumphs of survival.
The story alternates between rural Georgia and southern France, where the characters must come to terms with betrayal, love, and faith in a changing world. Musser’s signature emotional depth shines through here, especially in her portrayal of cultural displacement and familial bonds. This is a novel that doesn’t shy away from hard questions, and in doing so, offers a poignant, hopeful answer.
Why we recommend it: There’s an aching gentleness in Musser’s prose that feels like a prayer whispered into the wind. This is for readers who seek solace in faith-based fiction, historical detail, and resilient heroines who bleed sincerity. You’ll want to underline whole paragraphs just to carry them around in your heart.
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3. The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2025
In her first foray into historical fiction for adults, YA icon Maggie Stiefvater brings her trademark magical realism to the Cold War era. The Listeners tells the story of a group of teenage codebreakers at a secretive British listening station during the 1960s.
Taut, intelligent, and eerie, the novel dances between reality and dreamscape as the protagonists begin to question not just what they’re hearing through the wires, but whether they’re being heard back. With a cast of gifted misfits and atmospheric writing that thrums with tension, this book plays like a symphony of secrets. A must-read for fans of Kate Atkinson and Sarah Waters.
Why we recommend it: This is Stiefvater at her eerie, poetic best, a book that hums under your skin long after it ends. Readers who appreciate slow-burn speculative elements wrapped in lyrical writing (think Nina LaCour meets Madeline Miller) will find themselves spellbound. It’s tender, strange, and unsettling in the most beautiful way.
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletter4. The Silent Canary by Angela Bricker
Publication Date: June 4th, 2025
Angela Bricker’s debut novel dives deep into the lives of early 20th-century coal miners in Pennsylvania, centering on a mute young boy who bears witness to injustices others pretend not to see.
Bricker’s prose is rugged and poetic, capturing the grime, labor, and unspoken hierarchies of the mining town. The protagonist, known only as “Canary”, becomes both a symbol and a cipher, his silence challenging the reader to listen more closely to the world he inhabits. This novel excels in its blend of lyrical minimalism and gritty realism, inviting comparison to classics like The Grapes of Wrath.
Why we recommend it: For those who devour WWII fiction but crave a fresh vantage point, this debut offers both suspense and soul. Bricker doesn’t just recount history, she sings through it, in a minor key. Perfect for fans of Kristin Harmel or Martha Hall Kelly, especially those looking for voices that feel honest and unvarnished.
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5. To Love a Beast by Karen Witemeyer
Publication Date: June 10th, 2025
This historical romance set in late 19th-century Texas puts a unique spin on the Beauty and the Beast archetype. Witemeyer’s novel blends tender romance with a faith-forward message, offering both escapism and spiritual reflection.
The story centers on a scarred Civil War veteran and a fiercely independent woman who sees past his fearsome exterior. Witemeyer excels at writing chemistry and inner transformation, and To Love a Beast is no exception. With its blend of humor, heartache, and redemption, this novel will appeal to historical romance readers and those seeking redemptive love stories.
Why we recommend it: Sometimes, all we need is a good swoon, and Witemeyer never fails to deliver. For fans of faith-infused historical romance with a hearty helping of redemption and longing, this Beauty and the Beast retelling will absolutely charm. Cozy up, light a candle, and let your heart sigh a little.
6. Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Hazel Gaynor reimagines the world behind the curtain in Before Dorothy, a tender, evocative prequel to The Wizard of Oz that follows a young L. Frank Baum and the woman who inspired his most iconic heroine. Set in the windswept Midwest of the late 19th century, the novel blends fact and fiction to trace how dreams, trauma, and storytelling can transcend hardship.
At its heart is Maud Gage Baum, daughter of a suffragist, wife of a struggling showman, and mother navigating grief, whose resilience and imagination quietly influence the birth of a legend. Gaynor paints Maud not as muse, but as co-creator, bringing a feminist lens and emotional depth to a story we thought we knew. Expect lyrical prose, historical richness, and a dash of wonder.
Why we recommend it: Gaynor has a gift for animating forgotten women and grounding fairy tale origins in real emotional terrain. For fans of The Paris Library and Finding Dorothy, this is a quietly powerful tribute to the women who shape our cultural myths from behind the scenes.
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7. The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Kristin Harmel returns with a devastatingly beautiful tale of identity, resistance, and reinvention in Nazi-occupied France. The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau follows a Jewish cabaret singer whose life is upended when she assumes the identity of a murdered German officer’s mistress to survive.
As Colette infiltrates the inner circle of a high-ranking Nazi official, she balances a precarious double life, performing for the enemy while secretly aiding the Resistance. Harmel’s narrative pulses with danger and longing, her prose steeped in questions of who we become when the world demands we disappear. It’s a story of courage wrapped in silk gloves and smoky jazz.
Why we recommend it: Harmel is at her finest here, elegant, unflinching, and emotionally resonant. Perfect for readers who loved The Nightingale or The Alice Network, this novel is both a wartime thriller and an elegy for the lives women were forced to rewrite.
8. The Teacher of Auschwitz by Wendy Holden
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
Wendy Holden delivers a haunting and deeply human narrative in The Teacher of Auschwitz, telling the true story of a young woman who risked everything to teach children within the horrors of a concentration camp. Inspired by historical accounts, the novel explores how knowledge and hope became acts of defiance in the darkest of places.
Holden’s protagonist, a Polish educator named Zofia, finds strength in the quiet miracle of language and learning, even as her world collapses. The prose is restrained yet deeply affecting, and Holden balances harrowing reality with luminous moments of resistance and solidarity. This is not an easy read, but it’s an essential one.
Why we recommend it: For readers drawn to stories of survival, sacrifice, and the unbreakable human spirit, this novel offers a searing, unforgettable portrait. Holden continues to honor real-life heroines with sensitivity and power, making this a must-read for fans of Lilac Girls or The Book Thief.
9. These Heathens by Mia McKenzie
Publication Date: June 17th, 2025
These Heathens isn’t just historical fiction, it’s a reckoning. Set in the Reconstruction-era American South, Mia McKenzie’s novel centers on a group of Black women carving out lives, love, and liberation in a hostile landscape.
Told with fierce intelligence and unapologetic prose, McKenzie’s book is both an intimate portrait and a radical act of storytelling. Her characters are complex, defiant, and vividly alive. With echoes of Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler, These Heathens challenges the genre’s boundaries while honoring its deepest purposes: to remember, to resist, and to reimagine.
Why we recommend it: Sharp, unflinching, and pulsing with raw honesty, McKenzie’s novel is a gut-punch in the best way. This is for readers who want their fiction to challenge, to confront, and to crack something open. If you’ve ever loved Toni Morrison, Kiese Laymon, or simply stories that don’t flinch, this one demands, and deserves, your attention.
10. Thus with a Kiss I Die by Christina Dodd
Publication Date: June 24th, 2025
With gothic flair and romantic suspense, Christina Dodd’s Thus with a Kiss I Die reimagines Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of post-WWI Italy, where a war widow and a disgraced soldier uncover a conspiracy rooted in family betrayal and forbidden love.
The novel follows Alessandra, who inherits a crumbling villa in Verona only to discover a past riddled with secrets, including a mysterious portrait, a forbidden affair, and whispers of a vendetta that never died. Dodd’s narrative is lush and fast-paced, steeped in atmosphere and brimming with intrigue. It’s a story where passion meets peril, and fate is anything but scripted.
Why we recommend it: Dodd channels the drama of classic literature into a compulsively readable historical thriller. If you love moody Mediterranean settings, star-crossed lovers, and buried family skeletons, this tale of revenge and redemption will keep you breathless until the final twist.
As June’s historical fiction offerings remind us, the past is never truly gone; it reverberates through the stories we tell, shaping how we see ourselves and the world. Whether you seek tales of resilience, love, or untold truths, these ten books offer a rich tapestry of voices ready to captivate and challenge.
