Historical fiction critics’ picks
Recent social reviews are spotlighting historical fiction: Jenna Ness’s The War Orphan’s Courage got 4.5 stars as a WWII finale of hope and hardship, and E.M. Swift Hook’s The Fugitive’s Sword earned a 5‑star nod from Tony Riches social social. Another unnamed historical novel was praised as “riveting, spellbinding” and is getting notable traction online with likes and reposts social.
The War Orphan’s Courage is billed as Book 3 of the Orphans of St Agnes trilogy, with a March 11, 2026 release date listed on the author’s site. jennaness.com A March 13, 2026 review on NovelsAlive highlights that the finale shifts focus back to protagonist Josie while reuniting characters Josie, Lucie and Margot and places them under direct threat from a Nazi officer. novelsalive.com Jenna Ness’s retail listings note that the Jenna Ness name is a pseudonym connected to an author who has sold roughly four million romance novels and appears on USA Today bestseller lists. amazon.com The Fugitive’s Sword is by Eleanor Swift‑Hook (publishing as E.M. Swift Hook) and was released on October 8, 2024 as the opening volume in the Lord’s Learning/Lord’s Legacy sequence. goodreads.com Tony Riches published a full review on his blog praising The Fugitive’s Sword, and that endorsement also appears on the book’s retail listing. tonyriches.blogspot.com The title praised online as “riveting, spellbinding” matches Andrew Joseph White’s The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, a London‑1883 gothic YA novel that Shelf Awareness uses that phrase to describe, and the author’s TikTok post about the book has amassed roughly 13.8K likes. shelf-awareness.com
