A preview of fall 2026 in historical fiction

Fall is the big season in book publishing, and when it comes to historical fiction, readers have much to look forward to. This is the latest of my regular previews of upcoming historical novels that interest me personally, and there are 18 this time. I started out with 12, then added a few more, and a few more… and decided to set a limit or I’d never get this post finished! Which of these, or any others, are you  anticipating?

The Extraordinary Florence Stoker, Karen Brooks (HQ Fiction)
Release date: September 1
Biographical fiction about a Victorian woman who deserves to be better known: salon hostess, former fiancée of Oscar Wilde, wife of Dracula’s author, and fierce defender of her family’s rights and legacy. Many of Brooks’s previous historical novels had an American publisher, though it looks like this title from Australia (where it will be spring rather than fall in September) is available just as an ebook in North America and the UK currently.

The Pirate Queen, Ariel Lawhon (Doubleday)
Release date: September 8
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a major new novel about Grace (Gráinne) O’Malley, so-named Pirate Queen of 16th-century Ireland; her exploits were also dramatized by Morgan Llywelyn in her epic Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas (1986) and several others. Lawhon, who writes about daring real-life women, is heading further back into the past with this retelling about an Irish chieftain’s daughter who takes to the sea to defend her people against Queen Elizabeth’s invading English fleet. I’ve read and reviewed Lawhon’s previous three novels and am eagerly awaiting this one.

Silk and Sensibility, Mengxi Seeley (Shadow Mountain)
Release date: September 15
Re-imaginings and continuations of Jane Austen’s classic novels aren’t hard to find. Compared to Pride and Prejudice, her Sense and Sensibility hasn’t had as many spinoffs, and perhaps none as original in concept as this. Seeley sets her debut novel in Ming-dynasty China and focuses on two sisters of marriageable age who have different ideals about pursuing romance amid family and societal expectations.

Doom Painting, A. K. Blakemore (Granta)
Release date: September 24
In late 14th-century England, the social order is beginning to erupt due to widespread social and economic inequality. Blakemore’s literary epic of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, when a contingent of rebels from the countryside journeyed to London to demand redress from the child-king Richard II, spans nearly 600 pages. This is the author’s third novel. For North American readers, Scribner will publish it in April 2027.

Beneath a Fallen Sky, Scott Gould (Regal House)
Release date: September 29
In the southern Appalachians of northern Alabama in May 1910, the arrival of Halley’s Comet is imminent, which has local residents quaking that the world’s about to end. If so, how do they choose to approach what could be their last days? I’m interested to see the uncommon setting and how the characters react; plus, having worked at a planetarium/observatory during Halley’s Comet’s arrival in 1986, the topic is of personal interest.

The French Innkeeper’s Daughter, Diane McPhail (Kensington)
Release date: September 29
From rural Normandy to politically volatile early 18th-century Paris and the New World, McPhail’s latest Southern historical follows a bold woman on her travels via land and sea to become one of the earliest residents of the city of New Orleans.

Istanbul Dreaming, Denise Derya Brandt (She Writes)
Release date: September 29
This debut, which comes with blurbs from Marjan Kamali and Nadia Hashimi, focuses on a young Turkish woman who lands in Istanbul in the 1950s to evade her arranged marriage with her abusive husband, and the additional complications that arise when she falls in love with an American man.

The Nurse at Baker Hospital, Jocelyn Cullity (Regal House)
Release date: October 6
Disturbing happenings are afoot at a hospital for cancer patients in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, something nurse Della King discovers when she arrives for what she hopes is a wonderful job opportunity. This caught my eye with its storyline about a woman uncovering medical fraud as well as the publisher itself; everything I’ve read from Regal House so far (five historical novels) has been top-notch.

Murder on 34th Street, Mariah Fredericks (Minotaur)
Release date: October 6
I enjoy Fredericks’ historical mysteries, both her Jane Prescott novels and her later standalone titles, like The Wharton Plot. New York City should be getting in the holiday spirit at the time of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, but in 1932, someone’s threatening the life of the man who portrays Santa Claus. When tragedy strikes, the woman who organizes Macy’s operations behind the scenes is on the case to discover whodunit. Reader reports describe this as a cozy, nostalgic mystery.

 
The Housekeeper, Rose Tremain (Harper)
Release Date: October 6
Origin stories of classic novels are perennially popular, and Tremain’s newest novel about the backstory to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca should ignite interest for multiple reasons. It centers on the forbidden affair between a housekeeper at a mansion on Cornwall’s coast and the visiting Du Maurier. A star-studded film version is already in production. Reading this one now.

The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford, Nafissa Thompson-Spires (Scribner)
Release date: October 6
In small-town Oklahoma in the 1920s, a wealthy moonshiner with an eye for the ladies is dead, and the four women he left behind become suspects in his murder. Which of their stories is the truth? The debut novel from the multi-award-winning author of the short story collection Heads of the Colored People.

Flyweight, Courtney Ellis (Blackstone)
Release date: October 20
A change of subject (though not era) for the third historical novel from Ellis, whose first two books were romantic family sagas centered on WWI and its aftermath. Flyweight, set in East London in the early 1920s, looks at two female pugilists – the owner of a boxing ring and a married woman who develops an unexpected talent for the sport – who risk societal disapproval if they pursue their interests.

Royal Witch, Philippa Gregory (William Morrow)
Release date: October 20
Lately, Gregory’s novels have been hit or miss for me; I enjoyed her Fairmile series but passed on reading Boleyn Traitor, her retake (2025) on Jane Boleyn’s life. Royal Witch moves to a less familiar subject with its portrait of Eleanor Cobham, an English knight’s daughter who rose to become mistress, then wife, of the Duke of Gloucester, powerful uncle of the young Henry VI in the 15th century. Did she use necromancy to further her ambitions? We’re in prime Gregory territory here, and I’m intrigued.

Queen of Lombard Street, Lisa Kleypas (Avon)
Release date: October 20
I’ve been a library subject selector for Economics for 20+ years, so I look out for novels where my specialty and historical fiction overlap. There aren’t many (Hernan Diaz’s Trust is one). So I immediately grabbed an ARC of this upcoming work about a half-Spanish female economist with the ambition to build a bank for women, at a time and place (Victorian England) when women couldn’t open bank accounts of their own. Kleypas is best known for historical and contemporary romances; this is her first big mainstream historical.

The Stolen Women, Alysandra Dutton (Park Row)
Release date: October 27
Readers’ passion for classical myth retellings continues unabated, and this story is less familiar than many. Dutton’s debut novel, set just before Rome was founded, delves into the story of the Sabine women who vanished from their homes, a fact their fathers mysteriously deny, and an enterprising pair who want to locate and rescue them.

The Lost Kingdom of Daughters, Weina Dai Randel (Lake Union)
Release date: November 1
The Moso people of remote, mountainous southwestern China are an ethnic minority whose society is based in matrilineal traditions. (This BBC article about them shows the region’s gorgeousness: China’s Kingdom of Women.) Randel, known for illuminating aspects of Chinese history, has written a new novel about a woman of the Moso who finds her affections divided by two American brothers who arrive as strangers to her land. The blurb promises a multigenerational saga starting in the 1950s.

The Unfinished Work, Jeff Shaara (St. Martin’s)
Release date: November 10
Shaara is especially known for his expertise on the American Civil War and his ability to turn its battles and personalities into realistic, page-turning narratives. In his latest, he focuses on Abraham Lincoln, examining his public and private personas from November 1860, as a first-time President, through his famed Gettysburg Address... venturing into moments infrequently covered in history books. Living here in the Land of Lincoln, this will be a must-read for me.

The Last Prince of Florence, Zoe Sivak (Berkley)
Release date: November 17
Based on historical figures, Sivak’s sophomore novel (after Mademoiselle Revolution) tells the story of Simonetta, the mother of Alessandro de’Medici, first duke of the Florentine Republic. As a dark-skinned woman of African descent, Simonetta has a liaison with a son of the powerful Medicis and strives desperately to see her illegitimate son as Florence’s ruler.

And if you missed my preview of spring and summer historicals for 2026, please feel free to visit the earlier post; most of the books included are available now.

Are you missing the Tudor era? Check out these ten recent and upcoming novels

Are you a historical fiction fan looking back fondly on the years of Tudormania, when novels set in 16th-century England (especially about the royals) were eagerly scooped up by publishers?  The good news is these books are still around, in smaller quantities perhaps, but novelists are still writing them, and readers still want them. During these fraught political times, when it's necessary to escape the news headlines periodically for one's own sanity, I've been finding myself gravitating toward earlier historical settings more often, including the Tudor era. Here are ten recent books set then, and I'll be posting reviews of many in the coming months. 

A story of politics, philosophy, and gender-bending intrigue featuring Alexander "Sander" Cooke, a young man famed for playing female roles in Shakespeare's plays in Elizabethan London, and his best friend Joan, restricted from intellectual circles because she's a woman. William Morrow, Feb. 2025.

Jane (Parker) Boleyn, who has featured previously in the author's The Boleyn Inheritance and others, gets the full-length treatment in Gregory's next novel. Her return to the Tudor era explores Jane's motivations for her notorious actions. This is the US cover, perhaps designed to attract dark romantasy fans?  HarperCollins, Oct. 2025.

This is the first historical novel I'm aware of about Mark Smeaton, the court musician accused of committing adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn (a treasonous act) and executed along with others caught up in the plot against Anne. His personal story is little known.  SparkPress, May 2025.

A modern woman visiting an old Tudor mansion in Norfolk comes upon the story of Anne Dacre, later Countess of Arundel. She loses her beloved younger brother, perhaps at her stepfather's hands, and fights to take revenge.  Boldwood, March 2025.

A trio of enterprising women band together to write poetry and plays secretly, and ask a certain rakish actor to pose as the author when their scheming attracts unwanted attention.  This sounds like a fun spin on the "Shakespeare authorship" theme oft-expressed in historical fiction. Alcove Press, July 2025. 

In this debut novel, Robert Smythson, the English architect famed for his design of Hardwick Hall, Wollaton Hall, and other Elizabethan manor houses, looks into a suspicious death discovered during the rebuilding of Longleat in Wiltshire. Glowing Log Books, Sept. 2024.

Another lesser-known Tudor personage claims the spotlight here: Anne, daughter of Henry VIII's good friend Charles Brandon, whose story of marital turmoil and clandestine romance is intertwined with that of a modern heiress and a remote country house in both women's lives.  Boldwood, Jan. 2025.

Knowing Alison Weir's familiarity with Tudor-era notables, "the Cardinal" here could be none other than Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII's right-hand man (until he notably fell from grace). She explores his surprising career and personal life, including his affections for his longtime mistress.  Ballantine, May 2025.

Lady Margaret Clifford is a Tudor heir you may not have heard of; she was a granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary.  The novel details the political, religious, and romantic intrigue surrounding Margaret as the English throne passes to Lady Jane Grey and then Mary I.  This is first in a three-book series about women from the period. Sapere, Dec. 2024.

From the cover design and title, you might surmise that Wertman's latest Tudor novel retells the younger years of the future Elizabeth I in a narrative of hard-won wisdom and survival.  I enjoyed her novel The Boy King, about Elizabeth's half-brother, Edward VI.  Independently published, May 2025.

Historical fiction trendspotting: Sail the world with these recent and upcoming pirate novels

Ahoy there! Has anyone else noticed the number of historical fiction about pirates appearing lately? There are enough of them to warrant some notice. Besides the exciting storylines, another attractive angle to these books is that they're anchored in historical settings you don't often see.  Many of them deal with female pirates: some completely fictional, others based in legend. Below are eight that came out in the past year or so.  Looking ahead to the future, you'll see more, including Ariel Lawhon's next novel The Pirate Queen, about 16th-century Irish chieftain Grace O'Malley; and Rachel Rueckert's The Determined, about Anne Bonny and Mary Read, which is out from Kensington in 2025.

Briony Cameron's debut novel is based on the legend of Jacquotte Delahaye, a biracial woman of color from Saint-Domingue who reportedly became a pirate captain in the 17th-century Caribbean.  Atria, June 2024.

Immerse yourself in the political and cultural world of the Indian Ocean in the 12th century, full of bustling international trade and dangerous threats, in Chakraborty's historical fantasy novel. First in a series, it sees the title character—a widow, mother, and former pirate—tempted into one more adventure at sea.  Harper Voyager, February 2023.

The South China Sea in the 19th century is the setting for this debut about a pirate queen of legend, Shek Yeung, and the risks she takes to solidify power in a patriarchal world. Bloomsbury, May 2023.

De Tores (who also writes as Francesca Haig) dives into the life story of Mary Read, who recounts her adventurous life, from her childhood, when she was raised as a boy, through her later years as a notorious pirate.  Bloomsbury UK, April 2024.

Howe (The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane) writes an exciting tale about Hannah Masury, an indentured servant who flees 18th-century Boston and dons a disguise as a cabin boy about a pirate ship. In a parallel timeline, a 1930s-era researcher uncovers Hannah's story. Henry Holt, November 2023.

Part three in her Joubert Family Chronicles, Mosse's The Ghost Ship tells a story about a vessel of secrets, romance, and piracy that moves from Europe to the Barbary Coast in the 1620s. Minotaur, July 2023.

The swashbuckling tale of Anne (Coleman) Bonny, a young woman from Ireland's County Cork who  immigrates to America in the early 18th century with her family and turns to a life of the sea on a quest for freedom and adventure. New Island Books, April 2024.

Based on the legend of pirate Samuel Bellamy, Rueckert's debut is an adventurous star-crossed love story about Sam, an orphaned sailor from Cape Cod, and the woman he loves, Maria Brown, whose affluent family refuses to entertain Sam as a suitor for her. Kensington, March 2024.

Ten upcoming historical novels for 2023 with memorable cover designs

So many novels set to appear in the coming months have cover designs that entice me to buy the book for that alone. The stories within sound just as intriguing.  Here are ten examples that caught my attention.

The blossoming cherry trees of Washington, DC, are the backdrop for this collaborative novel by the authors of The Personal Librarian. The two heroines are First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her friend and ally Mary McLeod Bethune. Berkley, June 2023. [see on Goodreads]

The colorful cover of Benjamin's latest novel, centered on a pair of sisters trying to succeed in the world of surfing in 1960s southern California, brims with nostalgia for this not-so-long-ago time. Dell, August 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Beautiful illustrations of the title flower grace the latest novel by Bilyeau, which promises to take readers into the dark world of organized crime and a clandestine speakeasy in Jazz Age NYC. Lume, August 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Peach and purple skies glow behind the figure of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, an African princess who became Queen Victoria's goddaughter. The author's first biographical novel is out from William Morrow in October. [see on Goodreads]

I loved Christie's first novel, Gutenberg's Apprentice; her second novel reflects her in-depth research into a character from her family history, Angus McDonald, a Scotsman who marries and raises a family with a Nez Perce woman in the 19th-century Rocky Mountains... and the cover showcases the region. High Road/Univ. of New Mexico Press, April 2023. [see on Goodreads]

What a cover!  I think this is my favorite of them all: the images of nature and dramatic color contrast, which hints at a story of dark violence. Irish debut novelist Fitzpatrick pens a chilling novel about a young woman's mysterious death and justice in late 19th-century West Virginia. Virago, April 2023; no US edition yet, but Americans can preorder it on Kindle. [see on Goodreads]

Elizabeth Fremantle's newest historical has a jacket design with the look of Elodie Harper's Wolf Den. This one examines the life and strength of 17th-century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi, a survivor of sexual violence who refused to stay silent. Michael Joseph, July 2023; this is the UK cover. It will also be out in the US from Pegasus the same month. [see on Goodreads]

As stunning as stained glass in a cathedral window, Claire Gilbert's novel, I, Julian, is written as a first-person account by medieval anchoress and visionary Julian of Norwich.  Hodder & Stoughton, April 2023. [see on Goodreads]

The illustrated medieval-style design with its deep blue background entices readers into a novel centering on the era that gave birth to Christine de Pizan (b.1364), an Italian-born French poet described as "the first woman to support herself as a writer." This dual-period literary novel will focus, per the publisher's blurb, on illuminated manuscripts, feminine creativity, and self-discovery. Turner, September 2023. [see on Goodreads]

I find this cover both attractive and creepy, which must be the intended effect. I had never heard of the "arsenic wallpaper controversy of the late 19th century" before. Varese's The Company centers on a young Victorian-era wallpaper heiress at odds with a rising company employee with malevolent designs (literally). John Murray/Baskerville, March 2023. [see on Goodreads]

New historical novels on my wishlist for winter and spring 2023

Is it just me, or is the marketing for upcoming books starting earlier than ever?  My inbox has been filling up with promotions for historical novels set to be published through next April and May.  Six months is a long time to wait, but most of the books below are available for review via NetGalley or Edelweiss now (and the others will hopefully follow soon). These will all appear early next year. 

Which ones are you interested in, or are there others you're eagerly anticipating?  I'm not sure when I'll get to these since my review schedule is packed over the next few months, but I hope to read them eventually.  For a more comprehensive look at historical fiction for 2023, please see the Historical Novel Society forthcoming title listing or this Goodreads list.

Janie Chang's newest novel (after The Library of Legends, which I enjoyed very much) takes her to WWI-era France, showing a Chinese woman's friendship with a Frenchwoman during a time of great strife, and what happens after secrets from the past are revealed. William Morrow, Feb. 2023. [see on Goodreads]

We know (especially from reading historical fiction) that many women of science and medicine weren't given the respect or credit they deserved for their work.  Lynn Cullen's timely historical novel focuses on epidemiologist Dorothy Horstmann and the quest to develop a polio vaccine in the 1940s and '50s. Berkley, Feb. 2023. [see on Goodreads]

The "Lioness of Boston" in Emily Franklin's novel is outspoken Gilded Age philanthropist and art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner, centering on how she became a leading light of the Boston art scene. Godine, April 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Another New England-set historical novel, and a debut for Gerstenblatt: the intertwining stories of three women of Nantucket as the island's great fire breaks out in 1846.  The trio includes a captain's wife, a free Black merchant, and astronomer Maria Mitchell.  MIRA, March 2023. [see on Goodreads]

The tagline of "Three women. Five centuries. One secret" gets me very curious!  An Englishwoman, an ancestress of the novel's contemporary heroine, was put on trial for witchcraft in the early 17th century.  Three women are linked by the gendered violence they've all faced, and perhaps by something else. I sense this will appeal to readers of Sarah Penner's The Lost Apothecary as well as fans of witch-themed fiction. St. Martin's, March 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Last week, the author was a presenter at Library Journal's latest Day of Dialog sessions for librarians. Charles Ignatius Sancho is a historical figure, a man who was born on a slave ship and became, among other achievements, an abolitionist, merchant, writer, and the first Black man to vote in Britain in the 1770s. The publisher describes his fictional diaries as "for fans of Bridgerton," which may be true, although this sounds like a very different (less fluffy, for one) sort of read. Henry Holt, April 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Because this title was postponed from the fall, there's been a lot of buzz about it on social media already. Kennedy's debut novel was a gothic feast, so I'm expecting the same of this new book, in addition to a deep dive into regional color and lore. It's described as a multi-period tale set partly in the Depression-era Ozarks that follows three women linked by family and an evil presence. Lake Union, Feb. 2023. [see on Goodreads]

I do enjoy Gothic sagas, and this one has classic elements: a supposedly cursed old mansion in Victorian England, a governess, creepy night-time noises, and creepier secrets. But the heroine in Lumsden's novel is a recent widow rather than a naïve ingenue, and I look forward to seeing what other tropes are upended. Dutton, Feb. 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Kate Morton's novels are auto-buys for me (she's among my favorite authors, and though they only appear every few years, they're worth waiting for) so of course I had to list her upcoming book here. Set mostly in Australia, Homecoming moves between contemporary times and 1959 as a journalist investigates a notorious, decades-old tragedy. Mariner, April 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Set in the British-ruled Caribbean following the Emancipation Act of 1834, this debut novel follows a courageous woman from a Barbados plantation in search of the five children who were sold away from her during slavery.  As with Paterson Joseph's novel, above, Shearer was a speaker at LJ's Day of Dialog. [see on Goodreads]

Another of the debuts on this list, Kai Thomas's novel also takes place in the 19th century and covers a lesser-known part of North American history: the story of the Black and Indigenous people whose life stories played out along the Underground Railroad in the U.S. and Canada.  Viking, Jan. 2023. [see on Goodreads]

Verble is a literary historical fiction writer and Pulitzer finalist (for her debut, Maud's Line) who's an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. In Stealing, her fourth novel, she tells the story of a Cherokee child sent to live at a Christian boarding school, the harsh treatment and abuse she endures, and her determination to break away. Important history retold as fiction. Mariner, Feb. 2023. [see on Goodreads]

A visual preview of the winter 2022 season in historical fiction

Here's my latest seasonal preview of forthcoming historical novels, covering books to be published between January and March next year. I'm featuring 15 titles of personal interest (and I'll be lucky to have time to read them all!), and have aimed to include a range of settings and time periods. They're listed in alpha order by author surname. Will you be adding any to your TBR piles also?  Links below go to the books' Goodreads pages.

Kianna Alexander's Carolina Built (Gallery, Feb.) is biographical fiction about Josephine Leary, a woman born into enslavement who achieved huge success in the business world as a real estate developer in late 19th-early 20th-century North Carolina. Another American-set historical is Leah Angstman's Out Front the Following Sea (Regal House, Jan.), which follows a young woman accused of witchcraft in 17th-century New England. Yonder by Jabari Asim (Simon & Schuster, Jan.), called "The Water Dancer meets The Prophets" by the publisher, takes place on a plantation in the Southern states in the mid-19th century.

Karen Brooks always incorporates intriguing settings and plots, and her latest, The Good Wife of Bath (William Morrow, Jan.; already out in Australia) retells Chaucer's classic story of pilgrimage from the title character's viewpoint.  Danielle Daniel's Daughters of the Deer (Random House Canada, Mar.) has been on my list ever since I saw the publishing deal reported in Publishers Marketplace. Set in New France in the 1600s, it focuses on a Algonquin woman who agrees to marry a French settler in an alliance to save her people. Interestingly, Agatha Christie (and her mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926) has been the subject of several novels of late. Nina de Gramont's The Christie Affair (St. Martin's, Feb.) delves into the mystery from the perspective of Christie's husband's mistress. Lots of buzz for this one.

Basing her first novel on the true story of Queen Victoria's Yoruba goddaughter Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Anni Domingo's Breaking the Maafa Chain (Pegasus, Feb.; already out in the UK from Jacaranda Books) traces the separate journeys of two African sisters from their homeland to England and America, countries which have different views on slavery in the mid-19th century.  Melissa Fu's debut Peach Blossom Spring (Little, Brown, Mar.) promises to be a moving saga of about three generations of a family in China and America beginning in the 1930s.  A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande (Atria, Mar.) is described as a "sweeping historical saga," which the title emphasizes; it centers on the unexpected love story between a Mexican healer and an Irish immigrant during the Mexican American War.

Stephen Harrigan is an excellent prose stylist (his Remember Ben Clayton is a favorite of mine), and his upcoming novel The Leopard Is Loose (Knopf, Feb.), set in 1952 Oklahoma, shows the tumult of the postwar era through a child's eyes. Skipping over the Atlantic to England just after the Black Death, Peter Manseau's The Maiden of All Our Desires (Arcade, Feb.) plunges into the dramas of faith and flesh within a community of nuns. Louisa Morgan's The Secret History of Witches was a word-of-mouth hit, and her newest, The Great Witch of Brittany (Redhook, Feb.) is a prequel beginning in 18th-century Brittany that reveals the backstory of the powerful clan's magical matriarch, Ursule Orchière.

The wide-ranging, glamorous, hard-working 20th-century life of cereal heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post is depicted in Allison Pataki's The Magnificent Lies of Marjorie Post (Ballantine, Feb.)  Eva Stachniak, who most recently chronicled the life of Polish dancer-choreographer Bronislava Nijinska, moves to 18th-century France with The School of Mirrors (William Morrow/Doubleday Canada, Feb.), about the young women selected as potential mistresses for Louis XV. Lastly, The Last Grand Duchess by Bryn Turnbull (MIRA, Feb.) reveals the inner life of Romanov grand duchess Olga, eldest daughter of Nicholas and Alexandra.