I can’t get enough of books featuring the bonds of female friendship and women helping other women – so much so that those themes
are at the center of my new historical fiction novel, Ship of Dreams, set aboard the Titanic. We’re talking women who have seen us at our best and our worst; who have sometimes let us down or come through in amazing ways and at their own personal cost. Friendship that doesn’t pass the test, and friendship that is full of love and acceptance. It’s a complex, beautiful dynamic to explore, and in addition to Hannah and Lou, my polar-opposites-but-devoted-to-each-other besties aboard the “palace of the seas” in my newest book, Ship of Dreams, I’ve put together ten fabulous historical fiction stories featuring the bonds between female friends and the communities they form that lift them up.
The Wartime Book Club by Kate Thompson
The friendship between the main characters, Grace and Bea, really inspired me to write about two friends in Ship of Dreams. Set on the island of Jersey during the German occupation in WW2, these two friends handle the concept of “resistance” in different but legitimate ways, and their devotion to each other is profound. Add in a plot based around book banning and it’s a WW2 fiction reader’s dream.
The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
I love examining friendships where the women are strikingly different from each other but have something in common that brings them together in the story, forming special bonds. In this novel, an opera singer desperate to revive her career and an embroideress from Chinatown join forces in pursuit of a relic of Beijing’s Summer Palace. With a delicious villain and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 as a backdrop, this is a page turner.
The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin
This book gives Bridgerton-meets-Victorian age vibes to me. There is no question that Lady Duxbury with her leadership and kindness is reminiscent of Lady Danbury, and the way the women of this secret club show up for each other, even when it endangers their own situations, is beautiful. Gorgeous growth arcs and bonus points for unusual courage, all with Martin’s “books about books” brand.
The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar
Audrey Coltrane is already an outlier, training pilots in Hawaii during the early days of the war. But she’s caught in the air during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the losses she witnesses are devastating. She joins the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots program, determined to keep flying. This band of sisters and fellow pilots brings her out of her shell and show her how to care again in a world generally reserved for men.
The Paris Housekeeper by Renee Ryan
As you can tell, I love it when characters from different worlds form bonds, usually out of necessity or a common goal, and this is one of these stories. Vivian lives at the Ritz and appears to be a Nazi sympathizer. Camille is a housekeeper desperate to keep a friend safe, and the two of them hide her friend right under her lovers’ nose. High stakes and characters who sacrifice their public reputations to do the right thing make this a stellar read.
Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce
There are times when I desperately want a comfort read. I discovered the Emmy Lake series by A.J. Pearce and have now read all four. Set during the Blitz, this first book in the series introduces us to a very green, very likable Emmy Lake who goes to work at Women’s Friend Magazine, and her best friend, Bunty. Prepare to laugh out loud and have your heart warmed… but watch out, because the poignant moments will have you reaching for tissues.
Queens of London by Heather Webb
If you liked Peaky Blinders, you’ll love this story of an all-female gang in 1920s London and its leader, Diamond Annie. Annie cares for and protects her girls, while demanding unconditional loyalty. Meanwhile, she keeps one step ahead of one of Scotland Yard’s female investigators, Lilian Wyles, who is determined to bring her down. Add in a young orphan, Hira, who has been taken under Annie’s wing, and things get complicated real fast.
Fast Girls by Elise Hooper
Based on real people, Fast Girls explores the relationship of three women who are members of the first integrated women’s Olympic team and travel to Berlin for the 1936 games. They come from different places and vastly different experiences, but fighting for their spots on the team and navigating a pre-war Germany bring them together. If you like untold stories of real, heroic women, this is for you.
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
More books about books! Set in post-war London, this story follows three ambitious women as they attempt to build their lives into something better while working at Bloomsbury Books. Vivien lost her fiancé in the war and now butts heads with the Head of Fiction, Alec; Grace is supporting her family after her husband’s breakdown after the war and Evie’s earned a degree at Cambridge only to lose a coveted position to a man. How they care for each other and lift each other up is heartwarming and inspiring.
On Isabella Street by Genevieve Graham
Toronto in the sixties, and psychiatrist Marion and hippie Sassy are as different as night and day, but they spark an unlikely friendship living in the same building on Isabella Street. The subject matter is weighty – the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the deinstitutionalization of mental health facilities – but the way the friends support each other is remarkable.
