Historical Fiction

Dark Matter

Michelle Paver · Horror

A terrifying 1930s ghost story set in the haunting wilderness of the far north.

gothic atmosphere · ghosts · survival · psychological thriller · historical fiction

The Everlasting

Alix E. Harrow · Fantasy

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country.

slow burn · time travel · historical fiction · quest · he falls first

11/22/63

Stephen King · Sci-Fi

11/22/63 is a novel by Stephen King about a time traveller who attempts to prevent the assassination of United States President John F.

time travel · historical fiction · revenge plot

The Girl with a Thousand Faces

Sunyi Dean · Fantasy

Mercy Chan is a triad exorcist with a mysterious past.

gothic atmosphere · ghosts · historical fiction · urban fantasy · trauma recovery

The Unicorn Hunters

Katherine Arden · Fantasy

Anne of Brittany was a child when her land was invaded, her castle besieged, and her royal father driven to his death.

forbidden romance · historical fiction · enemies to lovers · political intrigue

Lonesome Dove

Larry McMurtry · general fiction

A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize— winning classic, Lonesome Dove, the third book in the…

historical fiction · road trip · survival · revenge plot

Dracula

Bram Stoker · Horror

To borrow a phrase used by one of the characters in the novel, Dracula is “nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance.” In her introduction to…

gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · vampires · historical fiction · paranormal romance

Persuasion

Jane. Austen · Romance

Persuasion tells the love story of Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth, whose sister rents Miss Elliot's father's house, after the Napoleonic…

second chance romance · historical fiction · slow burn

Land

Maggie O'Farrell · Literary Fiction

The award-winning, bestselling author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait, returns with a soaring historical novel set in Ireland in the years before…

historical fiction · small town

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol 3

Beth Brower · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

Heart the Lover

Lily King · Literary Fiction

*You knew I’d write a book about you someday.* Our narrator understands good love stories—their secrets and subtext, their highs and their free…

historical fiction

Palaces of the Crow

Ray Nayler · Literary Fiction

In Ray Nayler’s speculative novel of the recent past, four young teens caught between Nazis and the Red Army survive winter in the woods with the…

historical fiction · magical realism · survival · found family · coming of age

The Women

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the…

historical fiction · coming of age · found family · survival

Kindred

Octavia Butler · Sci-Fi

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California…

time travel · historical fiction · trauma recovery · survival · forced proximity

East of Eden

John Steinbeck · Literary Fiction

Steinbeck considered East of Eden to be his masterpiece.

historical fiction · coming of age · redemption arc

The Sword of Kaigen

M. L. Wang · Fantasy

On a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and…

historical fiction · coming of age · redemption arc

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Shannon Chakraborty · Fantasy

Cover illustration [as Cover Art]: Ivan Belikov Map design [as Cartographer]: Virginia Allyn Waves illustration [as Illustrator]:…

historical fiction · quest · found family

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller · Literary Fiction

This is the story of the seige of Troy from the perspective of Achilles best-friend Patroclus.

slow burn · historical fiction · coming of age · forbidden romance · found family

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Taylor Jenkins Reid · Literary Fiction

"Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life.

dark romance · historical fiction · forbidden romance · revenge plot

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

V. E. Schwab · Literary Fiction

This is a story about hunger. 1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of…

magical realism · historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · twist ending

Our Sister's Keeper

Jasmine Holmes · Literary Fiction

Mississippi, 1927. The groanings are coming. No town is perfect, but East Cobb comes close. It's a wealthy all-Black Free Town--untouched by white…

historical fiction · haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · ghosts · closed circle

Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen · Literary Fiction

When Mr. Dashwood dies, he must leave the bulk of his estate to the son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters…

romantic comedy · historical fiction · slow burn · second chance romance · opposites attract

Honey

Jack Woodford · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

historical fiction · survival · high stakes survival

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

Despite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close.

historical fiction · coming of age · survival

Atmosphere

Taylor Jenkins Reid · Literary Fiction

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember.

historical fiction · coming of age · forbidden romance

The Lion Women of Tehran

Marjan Kamali · Literary Fiction

When Homa, a girl from her childhood, reappears in her privileged world, Ellie, amidst Iran's political turmoil, joins her in pursuing their goals…

coming of age · historical fiction · political intrigue · trauma recovery