Historical fiction

The Guardian of Lies by Kate Furnivall, Simon & Schuster

It’s 1953 and the Cold War is just beginning in France. Eloise was raised on a bull farm in the South but has followed her elder brother Andre to Paris. Eloise idolises her brother so when he joins the CIA as a spook, Eloise tries to follow suit. Alas her application is turned down so she joins an investigation agency. Their worlds are exciting until a mission involving both siblings leaves Andrew injured and Eloise determined to discover who betrayed him.

THE DAUGHTER’S TALE by Armando Lucas Correa, Simon & Schuster

In 1939 Nazi sympathisers rule the streets of Berlin. Bookshop owner, Jewish Amanda, is procrastinating about handing over “unpatriotic” volumes to be burnt. Cardiologist husband Julius pleads with her to hurry, so they can escape with their two daughters. But Julius does not come from his office. He was sent to a forced labour camp as a doctor, where he dies of an infection. But having saved the life of a Nazi officer’s son, he arranged two tickets to Cuba for the girls, where they could live with their uncle. He tells Amanda to board and flee to France. Will she go?

MEET ME AT LENNON’S by Melanie Myers, UQP

When uni student Olivia comes across The River Girl murder, a young woman killed on the banks of the river in wartime Brisbane, she feels compelled to dig deeper. And so begins a split timeline tale, flitting between the present day and the 1940s when Lennon’s social club was the place to meet US soldiers in the city and tensions simmered dangerously.

THE UNFORGIVING CITY by Maggie Joel, Allen & Unwin

The true story of Australia’s journey to Federation, when six colonies tried to unite as one, is the gripping backdrop for a novel about three people sharing a house in Colonial Sydney. The city is a melting pot of trouble as class struggles, women’s rights and the rise of unions bubble in the background.