2 New Historical Fiction Novels Featuring Strong Women

by Susan Roberts

Way back when I was in school, we never learned about real women who made contributions in the past.  Historical Fiction is changing that, and many of the newest books feature strong women who made a difference in wars and in the American way of life.  Today, I have two reviews of stories about women who made a difference – the first is about an Irish woman who emigrated to America after the potato famine in Ireland. The second is about a woman who worked as a spy during World War II. 

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Dear Missing Friend by Susan McGuirk

May 2026; Sea Crow Press; 978-1961864542
audio, ebook, print (268 pages); historical fiction

Three hearts.  Love lost.  One impossible choice.

This epistolary novel takes place in the United States from 1841 to 1870. Catherine immigrated from Ireland with her two brothers to escape the hunger in Ireland after their father died.  

She starts a correspondence with Patrick, whom she met on the ship bringing them to the US.  There was a bit of a spark between them, but they decided that establishing themselves in their new country was their primary concern and became writing friends. Their friendship over the years is a road map of the lives that many immigrants took when they first arrived. 

After not being able to find jobs in New York and facing discrimination because they were Irish, Catherine and her brothers moved to Sag Harbor, where one of her brothers bought land and started farming, and the other got a job on the docks.  After the alienation that the Irish felt in NY, plus the lack of jobs, the family began to make friends and feel like they had a real home after their move.  There, Catherine met Michael, who worked on a whale boat and was gone for months at a time.  Despite her brother’s objection, Catherine and Michael got married, and she was destined to a life of loneliness while he was away at sea.  

Catherine also exchanged letters with her younger brother, still in Ireland, her best friend from childhood, and other friends.  She wanted more out of life than keeping house, and her letters traced her changing life from a hotel worker to a teacher and governess.  She is ecstatic when her husband decides to give up being on a ship, but very unhappy when the gold rush starts in California, and he, as well as many men from their town, head west to make it rich.  She decided after that that she wasn’t going to wait for him but would try to fulfill her own dreams of becoming her own person.

I normally don’t like epistolary novels, but this one was a real exception.  Through the letters, the reader was able to learn about the immigrant experience and many of the immigrants’ goals to be successful and fulfil their dreams in America.  These letters had information, joy, and eventually grief as Catherine became a strong woman and fulfilled many of her dreams.  

Be sure to read the Author’s Notes at the end of the book, where she writes about the people in the book who were actual members of her family.

Buy Dear Missing Friend at Amazon

Massawa: A Tale of Espionage, Love, and Illusion by Pam Webber

June 2026; She Writes Press; 979-8896360988
ebook, print (336 pages); historical fiction

For fans of novels featuring strong, smart female protagonists, the first in a series about the novice female American spies in North Africa and the Mediterranean that changed the tide of World War II.

Kit Thomas is just beginning her career as a spy for the United States during World War II.  This book is an exciting and page-turning look at her growth from a novice to a successful addition to the spy network during the war.  The book takes place in Massawa – and I had to look that location up on a map and discovered that it’s a port city in Eritrea, on Africa's Red Sea coast. In the old town.  Kit and Mark, a British M16 agent, work together to find out where millions of dollars have gone missing and how the money is being redirected by Nazi sympathizers who want to shut down the only Allied naval base on the Red Sea—which is an essential resource in stopping the Nazi invasion of North Africa.  Not only is there suspense as they work to find out what is going on, but there is a conflict between Kit and Mark.  Even though they don’t really trust each other due to their countries differing agendas but at the same time there is a romantic spark between the two of them.  This is the first book of a new series that will feature Kit.  She was such an intriguing character whose skills grew during this book that I am looking forward to future books in the series.

Buy Massawa at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.

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