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 Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol 3

Beth Brower · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

Between Two Fires

Christopher Buehlman · Horror

“Buehlman…slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn’t scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face…

historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · survival · grimdark

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

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

Homebound

Portia Elan · Literary Fiction

'A work of joyous and serious invention' KALIANE BRADLEY 'Gripping...

magical realism · historical fiction · multiple timelines

The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives

Elizabeth Arnott · Mystery & Thriller

A remarkable trio, whose lives were upended by their husbands' crimes, unite to catch a killer in 1960s California Beverley, Elsie, and Margot are…

historical fiction · psychological thriller · found family · 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

Cleopatra

Saara El-Arifi · Literary Fiction

Cleopatra tells her own story in this evocative and sensuous historical epic from the bestselling and award-winning author of Faebound and The Final…

historical fiction · forbidden romance

The Reformatory

Tananarive Due · Literary Fiction

"Gracetown, Florida. June 1950. Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for…

coming of age · historical fiction · trauma recovery · survival

Emma

Jane Austen · Romance

Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance.

romantic comedy · historical fiction · coming of age · she falls first

A Guardian and a Thief

Megha Majumdar · Literary Fiction

In a near-future Kolkata, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma's…

historical fiction · coming of age

The Calamity Club

Kathryn Stockett · Literary Fiction

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Ever since her beloved mother failed to come home…

coming of age · found family · historical fiction · trauma recovery

Daisy Jones and the Six

Taylor Jenkins Reid · Literary Fiction

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous…

historical fiction · found family · road trip · coming of age

A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing

Alice Evelyn Yang · Literary Fiction

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION A dark, magical realist debut family saga that moves through the Japanese occupation of Manchuria,…

magical realism · historical fiction · coming of age · trauma recovery

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

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

historical fiction · coming of age · survival

The Others

Sheena Kalayil · Literary Fiction

Secrets, lies and love as the DDR collapses.

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

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

The Red Winter

Cameron Sullivan · Fantasy

A bewitching historical fantasy from a debut author.

dark romance · historical fiction · forbidden romance · revenge plot · dark academia

SHE WHO REMAINS

Rene Karabash · Literary Fiction

High in the Accursed Mountains, in a village ruled by the ancient laws of the Kanun, Bekija escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin,…

historical fiction · coming of age · forbidden romance · trauma recovery

Honey

Jack Woodford · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

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

The Girl with a Thousand Faces

Sunyi Dean · Fantasy

A haunting dark urban fantasy set in historical Hong Kong, where ancient myths and local legends combine in a story of ghosts, grief and women who…

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

Beloved

Toni Morrison · Literary Fiction

Toni Morrison--author of Song of Solomon and Tar Baby--is a writer of remarkable powers: her novels, brilliantly acclaimed for their passion, their…

historical fiction · magical realism · trauma recovery · haunted setting · ghosts

Middlemarch

George Eliot · Literary Fiction

Eliot’s epic of 19th century provincial social life, set in a fictitious Midlands town in the years 1830-32, has several interlocking storylines…

historical fiction · small town · coming of age

Boy's Life

Robert McCammon · Literary Fiction

An Alabama boy's innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song.

coming of age · small town · trauma recovery · historical fiction

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

Fredrik Backman · Literary Fiction

Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day.

historical fiction · trauma recovery · found family · coming of age

Moby Dick

Herman Melville · Literary Fiction

A literary classic that wasn't recognized for its merits until decades after its publication, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick tells the tale of a whaling…

revenge plot · obsessive love · survival · historical fiction

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

I Capture the Castle

Dodie Smith · Literary Fiction

Cassandra, the 17-year-old narrator, lives an eccentric existence in a crumbling castle in the English countryside in the 1930s.

coming of age · historical fiction · found family

Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus · Literary Fiction

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman.

historical fiction · coming of age · workplace romance · opposites attract

Lady Chatterley's Lover

D. H. Lawrence · Literary Fiction

Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.

forbidden romance · historical fiction · slow burn · opposites attract

The Forgotten Midwife

Laura Anthony · Literary Fiction

Set in the dual timelines of present-day and 1950s Ireland and based on real historical events, a powerful, poignant novel of feminism and resilience…

historical fiction · coming of age · trauma recovery · multiple timelines

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

King of Ashes

S. A. Cosby · Literary Fiction

When eldest son Roman Carruthers is summoned home after his father’s car accident, he finds his younger brother, Dante, in debt to dangerous…

historical fiction · revenge plot · morally grey character · trauma recovery