Depression Historical Fiction

Set during the Depression in the South Chicago neighborhood of Sinclair's The Jungle, Betty O'Leary's family struggles to scrape by in this harsh, foul-smelling, yet compassionate area. The youngest in her Irish Catholic family, Betty is overshadowed by her pretty sister, Maureen, and when tragedy threatens to shatter her world, Betty is sent away to stay with relatives.

______________________________________ Are we defined by our faults? Victorian England - 1893 Naomi Gladwyn’s life went from abominable to amazing. Narrowly avoiding life in a dismal London workhouse, she ended up with an adopted family and dear friends. This new life, however, is not without its thorns. Much of her time revolves around Dark Books – books that are so emotional, so influential, that a reader cannot help but carry out what is written, often with deadly results. She now hunts these dangerous tomes with her father, Mr. Stafford. But a past mistake, a torturous secret, ...

First Place Winner, Fall 2023 Book Fest Award: Family Saga Every wedding seems like the beginning of a fairy tale, but sometimes the prince is actually a frog, or the big bad wolf. When Mary McGinn lost her husband, she was the mother of twelve children, and her oldest sons worked to provide for the family. She was always grateful for the sacrifices her children had made for the sake of their family, but now she needed to go back to work so that they could go on and live their lives. But finding work in depression-stricken Maine would not be easy for anyone in 1935, perhaps even more so for...

The 1930s. Art deco. Jazz. Flappers. And disaster. On their first anniversary, Ward and Mattie accidentally swap bodies. But this is to be expected when Ward horsed around with the scientific equipment at his lab. But will they be able to swap back , seeing they are hoplessy drunk?

Enid Campbell, granddaughter of a duke, grew up surrounded by servants, wanting for nothing except love. But when her brother died in the First World War, a new heir was needed, and it was up to Enid to provide it. A troubled marriage and three children soon followed. Broken by postpartum depression, overwhelmed by motherhood and a loveless marriage, Enid made the shocking decision to abandon her family, thereby starting a chain of events—a kidnap, a court case, and selling her son to her sister for £500 - that reverberated through the generations.

It's a boring, hardscrabble life for three sisters growing up on a Michigan farm in the throes of the Great Depression. But when young Nellie, digging for pirate treasure, discovers the tiny blue-black hand of a dead baby, rumors begin to fly. Narrated by Nellie and her two older sisters, the story follows the girls as they encounter a patchwork of threatening circumstances and take it upon themselves to solve the mystery.

Journey with a horseback librarian into the hidden crevices of Kentucky mountains. Feel her pain as she struggles not only to barely make ends meet, but as she also attempts to connect the pieces of her own life while her mom continues to make selfish decisions. Lena Davis is the daughter her mom never wanted. But she survived. Through stories. Because books didn’t judge. Books weren’t angry she was alive. Books never expected her to be anything but who she was.

In this brilliantly imagined novel, Amelia Earhart tells us what happened after she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared off the coast of New Guinea one glorious, windy day in 1937. And she tells us about herself.

A Stolen Artifact... A Man on a Mission... The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced the relocation of Georgia’s Cherokee Nation to its new home in Oklahoma. Any treaties made prior to 1830, allowing the Cherokee to continue to live in Georgia, were broken. Mohe had learned of the Trail of Tears from his grandfather. This trek took thousands of lives, but their bravery held fast. Now Mohe is intent on retrieving the Peace Pipe, which was used to cement the Tribe’s future in Georgia. The first step was completed. He had been accepted as a waiter for the President of the United States. Once ...

Swordsman, soldier, poet...and possessor of the biggest nose in all of France! Cyrano de Bergerac was all this and more, for behind his grotesque face beat the heart of a lover. And, being Cyrano, who could he fall in love with but the most beautiful woman in Paris?From this conflict of nose versus heart springs one of the most uproarious, tender, funny, painful, and action-packed stories of all time - a tale that has its roots in truth, for Cyrano de Bergerac really existed.

One bright spring morning in the woods of France, a soldier, blinded by the war, is found by a little girl named Coco, and her older sister Marcelle. In return for their kindness, the soldier tells the sisters marvelous tales, each story connected to the keepsake he carries in his pocket: a perfect, tiny, silver donkey.

One girl yearning to prove herself. Another desperate to escape pain. A dog trying to save them both. Penny Brighton despises being treated like a baby. Now that Papa is sending her to Alaska to stay with her uncle during the waning days of the Great Depression, she's thrilled by the chance to prove she's strong and capable. But her excitement turns to dread when she reaches Juneau and there's no one to meet her. Refusing to panic, she follows a deaf bull terrier to a boarding house and agrees to wash dishes in exchange for room and board while searching for her uncle. But when she meets ...

An urgent note from a friend spurs Ann Gay to visit her recently married cousin, Jacqueline Heaton. Upon her arrival at Fiddler's Fingers, a remote, pine-grown estate on Lake Superior, Ann immediately senses her cousin's fear - someone has been playing increasingly malicious tricks on the Heatons, a proud family of Minnesota lumber tycoons, and all signs point to Jacqueline as the instigator. Ann quickly resolves to take Jacqueline and her young daughter, Toby, away from the danger. But what began as seemingly trivial pranks escalates to direct attacks and ultimately murder.

LYNN BUCHANAN IS LOOKING FOR HER BIRTH MOTHER After losing her parents and learning she is adopted, Lynn travels to the SE section of Missouri, known as the bootheel, to search for her mother. When she tangles with handsome Mitch Stratton, her plans and dreams are thrown into a tailspin. Mitch must focus on keeping his cotton gin operating and providing jobs for his employees. Meeting the newfound sister of his best friend is a complication to his plans--and his heart.

In depression era Mercy’s Gate, Martin is struggling to keep it together for his students, his business, and his town. But there are no prospects for Christmas and no cheer in a small town dying from the inside out - until Ollie and her mysterious “Uncle Rasper” jump off a passing freight train and become squatters in Martin’s potato barn. Are these two bums con artists out to fleece the good people of what little they have left? Or are they the spark this small town needs to rekindle the spirit of Christmas? Ollie’s just passing through. Mercy’s Gate’s one Main Street is no ...

Murder is nothing new in the Depression-era city, especially to war veterans Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn and his partner ‘Bonnie’ Archie McDaid. But the dead man found in a narrowboat on the Forth and Clyde Canal, executed with a single shot to the back of the head, is no ordinary killing. Violence usually erupts in the heat of the moment – the razor-gangs that stalk the streets settle scores with knives and fists. Firearms suggest something more sinister, especially when the killer strikes again.

Captain Scott Williams was a fisherman by birth, a devoted husband and became a hero to many during the Great Depression. During the fall of the stock market, millions were left with nothing, millions had lost hope. After losing his wife, Williams set out on his last fishing trip only to find comfort, not only on the open waters of the Atlantic, but in those he helped along the way. This is his story.

A paster’s wife asks Brianna to look for her beloved mother, Bernice, who went missing three years ago. At first Brianna refuses. She has a plateful of talents but has no desire to be a detective. When it’s pointed out to her that she’s been at loose ends for a time and not doing anything of note except training with Titus, a street combat expert, and dancing the night away in speakeasies, she relents. The fact that Bernice disappeared when seeking information about something of high value also peaked Brianna’s interest. It’s 1931, the Depression is well underway, times are tough,...

It is 1929. The world is about to change. Finn Evans is a successful Boston banker harboring a secret that threatens to unravel his carefully constructed idyllic life. Isabelle Lazar, a young Ukrainian farm woman, endures unspeakable hardships in her homeland as she fights to save her family from the Soviet Union's iron grip. Barely escaping the Terror-Famine, she washes up alone on America's distant shores.

Colton, Montana, 1931: Struggling through the Great Depression, Maddy Aldridge agrees to run an illegal speakeasy in order to save her family's mercantile store. Keeping her dangerous new business partner at arm's length is no easy task, but her bravery faces its biggest test when Jack Rucker unexpectedly comes home. He left town seven years ago, breaking his promise - and her heart. Now Jack is willing to do anything to earn her forgiveness...anything except reveal one important truth: that he's a Prohibition agent on an undercover assignment.