Historical Fiction

Lady Tremaine

Rachel Hochhauser · Literary Fiction

IndieNext Pick • LibraryReads Pick "A bold and beautifully written examination of a mother's love told through the eyes of Cinderella's 'wicked'…

historical fiction · redemption arc · coming of age

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

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

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Stephen Graham Jones · Horror

, a chilling historical horror novel tracing the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.

gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · vampires · grimdark

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

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

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

East of Eden

John Steinbeck · Literary Fiction

Steinbeck considered East of Eden to be his masterpiece.

historical fiction · coming of age · redemption arc

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 Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol 3

Beth Brower · Literary Fiction

historical fiction

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

Odessa

Gabrielle Sher · Literary Fiction

In a powerfully imagined Russia at the height of the pogroms, a grief-stricken family turn to ancient magic to bring their daughter back from the…

magical realism · historical fiction · trauma recovery · grimdark

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

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

Foster

Claire Keegan · Literary Fiction

A small girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home.

coming of age · historical fiction · trauma recovery

The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah · Literary Fiction

historical fiction · survival · high stakes survival

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

Slaughterhouse-Five

Kurt Vonnegut · Literary Fiction

Billy Pilgrim returns home from the Second World War only to be kidnapped by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore, who teach him that time is an…

historical fiction · time travel · trauma recovery · anti hero · psychological thriller

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan · Literary Fiction

A stunning new edition of Claire Keegan's multi-award-winning, bestselling novel Small Things Like These.

historical fiction · trauma recovery

Hamnet

Maggie O'Farrell · Literary Fiction

England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike.

historical fiction · trauma recovery · forbidden romance

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott · Literary Fiction

Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women in two parts, each resoundingly popular and receiving critical acclaim.

coming of age · historical fiction · found family

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee · Literary Fiction

Harper Lee's classic novel of a lawyer in the Deep South defending a black man charged with the rape of a white girl.

coming of age · historical fiction

Still Life

Sarah Winman · Literary Fiction

"From the acclaimed author of Tin Man comes a captivating, lively new novel of people brought together across four decades of love, war, art, flood,…

found family · historical fiction · coming of age

Hungerstone

Kat Dunn · Horror

An orphaned, emotionally isolated heiress with no money marries a cunning steel tycoon for a chance to build back her life.

gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · grimdark · psychological thriller

Sarafina

Philip Fracassi · Horror

During one of the most violent battles of the Civil War, three brothers fighting for the Confederate army decide to go AWOL and make their way home,…

gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · haunted setting

The Book of Fallen Leaves

A. S. Tamaki · Fantasy

Shogun meets Game of Thrones in the blockbuster epic fantasy event of the year.

historical fiction · political intrigue · revenge plot

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke · Fantasy

Published in 2004, it is an alternative history set in 19th-century England around the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

historical fiction · slow burn · enemies to lovers

The Red Winter

Cameron Sullivan · Fantasy

A bewitching historical fantasy from a debut author.

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

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

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 Children of Gods and Fighting Men

Shauna Lawless · Fantasy

SHORTLISTED FOR BEST DEBUT AT THE BRITISH FANTASY AWARDS.

historical fiction · chosen one · quest

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