If you’re in the mood for novels that blend history with dark drama, female resilience, and a touch of the mystical, these three new reads might just be your next obsession.
Whether it’s the turbulence of the French Revolution, the eerie heat of rural Oxfordshire, or the wild chaos of the Yukon gold rush, these books all spotlight unforgettable women in times of danger and transformation.
Secrets, Sorcery, and Survival in Revolutionary France
The Tarot Reader of Versailles by Anya Bergman
Anya Bergman, known for her vivid novel The Witches of Vardø, returns with another atmospheric tale—this time set amid the chaos and bloodshed of the French Revolution.
The Tarot Reader of Versailles follows two bold women: the real-life mystic Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand, loyal to Queen Marie Antoinette, and Cait, a fiercely independent Irish kitchen maid with psychic abilities and a revolutionary spirit.
Despite their different allegiances, the two women find themselves navigating the deadly streets of Versailles together, using their gifts—and wits—to forge new futures.
Bergman doesn’t gloss over the brutality of the era either.
While the romantic subplots and rich storytelling add allure, the harsh truths of political upheaval and survival keep the pages taut with tension.
Witchy Whispers and Dangerous Rumors in Rural Oxfordshire
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
Set in a sweltering, shrinking village called Little Nettlebed in 18th-century Oxfordshire, The Hounding is Xenobe Purvis’s beautifully eerie debut.
The setting feels almost dreamlike—oppressive summer heat, a vanishing river, and the rising unease of a tight-knit community that doesn’t trust what it can’t understand.
At the center are the five Mansfield sisters, who are already outcasts—and whose oddness has sparked whispers that they can transform into dogs.
In a place where being different is dangerous, those rumors carry weight.
The story pulses with a sense of dread, and Purvis’s lyrical, moody writing captures the claustrophobia and slow-building menace of the village. Think The Virgin Suicides meets English folk horror.
It’s strange, unsettling, and utterly compelling.
Gold, Grit, and Guts in the Wild Yukon
The Rush by Beth Lewis
Beth Lewis takes readers to the frozen frontiers of 1898 Yukon in The Rush, where the gold rush has lured thousands into the snow-covered wilderness with dreams of riches—but left many desperate and lost.
Dawson City is lawless, rough, and full of secrets.
Amid this harsh backdrop, Lewis introduces us to three fiercely determined women.
Kate is a journalist searching for her missing sister; Martha runs a saloon and brothel and is trying to keep her empire from being taken over by violent men; and Ellen is stuck in a crumbling marriage with a gold-crazed husband.
When a woman is found murdered, their paths collide in a story that’s both gritty and gripping.
Packed with suspense, danger, and emotion, The Rush is a page-turning frontier mystery with a powerful heart.