30 Historical Fiction Novels for Your Reading Bucket List

Rules of Civility

Author: Amor Towles

Rules of Civility is a look at 1930s New York high society through the eyes of Katey Kontent, an independent 20-something who, with her friend Evelyn, finds her way into those hallowed circles by way of a chance meeting with Tinker Grey at a jazz bar.

Circumstances keep Katey on the invite list over the course of a year, as she works as a secretary by day and navigates the world of the wealthy by night.

Beautiful Ruins

Author: Jess Walter

What I love about Beautiful Ruins is its focus on the smaller-scale dramas of the people caught in the over-the-top dramas of Hollywood–in this case, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Minor characters in the novel, their relationship reverberates through the lives of the people around them, even decades after the fact.

We follow the story from the Italian coast in the 1960s to modern day Scotland and Hollywood. Beautiful Ruins is a reminder that everyone has a backstory and is the protagonist of their own life–even after the so-called main characters have left the spotlight.

The Vanishing Half

Author: Brit Bennett

The story of two Black twin sisters, raised in a small town where light skin is valued and sought after when building families. The two run to New Orleans as teens and then take very different life paths, only to be reunited decades later and forced to reckon with their choices.

The raves for this book are well-deserved; it features intricately drawn, multi-generational characters exploring race, identity, and family.

The Red Tent

Author: Anita Diamant

The Red Tent illuminates the lives of women who are only briefly mentioned in the context of the men around them in the Bible.

Dinah is more than just the daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph and their many brothers. She is a girl who grows up with four mothers, learning the feminine customs and the skills of midwifery in the red tent to which they all retreat each month.

She’s also the one whose life determines the fate of the entire family. This fictional imagining of Dinah grants her the hopes, fears, and–most of all–the agency she is denied in the male-centric stories of the Bible.

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven

Author: Chris Cleave

An hour after England enters World War II, socialite Mary North signs up for service and teaches students who were rejected from evacuation to the countryside. This turn brings into her life Zachary, a young black student; Tom, an education administrator; and Alistair, a soldier.

Mary, Tom, and Zachary face the bombings of the Blitz, while the ills of society–race, poverty, addiction–persistently remain. Alistair, meanwhile, faces brutality, starvation, and violence as a soldier in Malta.

Cleave tells a beautiful and surprisingly witty tale of love, loss, and bravery. Also check out my in-depth look at the history and writing of this book in my Story of the Story series.

As Bright As Heaven

Author: Susan Meissner

On the heels of the devastating loss of their infant son and brother, the Bright family moves to Philadelphia to join an uncle’s funeral home business. The family soon faces another devastation: the Spanish Flu pandemic that literally leaves bodies at their doorstep and an orphaned infant in their care.

The family isn’t immune to the losses wrought by the flu and World War I, and in their grief they grasp for hope and purpose in different ways, keeping secrets to protect themselves and one another. A heartfelt, engrossing look at a historical pandemic, and an especially relevant read during our modern pandemic.

The War that Saved My Life

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ada’s abusive mother has kept her locked inside her entire life, ashamed of her club foot. When the bombings of World War II start, Ada and her brother sneak away, to be evacuated from London with the other children.

They find themselves in Kent, placed with Susan Smith, a woman who does not want children but sees to both their health and education.

Ada finds solace in a pony, crutches, and freedom she’s never had. But she struggles with the trauma of her past and when the war comes to their doorstep the stakes are raised. I was enthralled by this middle grade book and I loved the sequel just as much.

Sarah’s Key

Author: Tatiana de Rosnay

In 1942 Paris, Jewish people are rounded up and sent away–often to their deaths. Sarah, 10 years old, hides her little brother in a cupboard, locking the door and promising to return.

What follows is the story of her desperate journey back to him, alternating with the story of a journalist 60 years later who is investigating the round up.

Outlander

Author: Diana Gabaldon

In 1945, English combat nurse Claire Randall walks through a circle of standing stones in Scotland and finds herself in 1743. Separated from her new husband by 200 years and at the mercy of a suspicious clan embroiled in conflict, Claire must use her cunning to survive and make her way back to the 20th century.

Young Highlander Jamie Fraser emerges as a potential ally and protector in an alien time and land. As she and Jamie grow closer, Claire faces decisions about her life–including when and where she wants to live, and who she wants to be with.

This entire series was completely immersive for me–dramatic, a little sexy, and unputdownable. (And the television series is excellent, too!)

The Pillars of the Earth

Author: Ken Follett

This massive tome about the building of a cathedral in the Middle Ages is filled with drama and intrigue, evil characters, romance, political maneuvering, and fascinating history. I call it soapy historical fiction, in the best possible way. Highly readable, hard to put down, and also a bit of a guilty pleasure.

I also loved the two sequels, World Without End and A Column of Fire. And Follett fans take note: a Kingsbridge prequel, The Evening and the Morning, is coming in September 2020!

The Nickel Boys

Author: Colson Whitehead

In the Jim Crow South, a simple mistake sends a black boy to a reform school where boys are brutalized and sometimes disappear. Tasked only with surviving, Elwood holds onto his ideals, shaped by the inspiring words of Dr. Martin Luther King. His friend Turner, however, is just as certain in his cynicism and their conflicting views bring them to a crossroad, leading to a choice that has repercussions for years to come.

Based on the real-life Dozier School in Florida, which only shut down in 2011 and where many unmarked graves have since been discovered, The Nickel Boys is heartbreaking, disturbing (though not overly graphic if you’re a sensitive reader), and highly recommended.

Life After Life

Author: Kate Atkinson

Life After Life takes us through the many versions of Ursula Todd’s life and addresses the question that often accompanies the deaths of the young: what if she had lived?

As Ursula makes different decisions or encounters different situations, she dies–or lives. Through each version of her subsequent life, we get the answers to that very question.

That Ursula’s recurring lives are set during two of the most devastating wars the world has ever seen is particularly poignant, as even today we look back on the lives lost and wonder, what if?

Kristin Lavransdatter

Author: Sigrid Undset

I’ve been wanting to read this one for ages, because it sounds like just the kind of epic historical fiction I love. Publisher’s description:

In her great historical epic set in fourteenth-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset tells the life story of one passionate and headstrong woman. As a young girl, Kristin is deeply devoted to her father, a kind and courageous man. But when as a student in a convent school she meets the charming and impetuous Erlend Nikulaussøn, she defies her parents in pursuit of her own desires. Her saga continues through her marriage to Erlend, their tumultuous life together raising seven sons as Erlend seeks to strengthen his political influence, and finally their estrangement as the world around them tumbles into uncertainty.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

When aging movie star Evelyn Hugo recruits Monique Grant, an unknown reporter, to write her biography, Monique can’t fathom why Evelyn would want her. She is quickly drawn into Evelyn’s winding tale, from her rise to stardom, her multiple marriages, and the dramas of her life.

Evelyn is an enigmatic character–fascinating, confident, and powerful. It’s no wonder, since she and her story are based on several of Hollywood’s leading ladies.

I loved the peek behind the curtain of the careful construction of Evelyn’s public life versus her private life. This was juicy, smart, and unputdownable.

The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Set in World War II Germany and narrated by Death, The Book Thief brings us Liesel Meminger. A foster girl who is taught to read and about quiet acts of resistance by her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel attempts to make sense of the horrors happening around her while living her day-to-day. When Max, a Jewish man, moves into the basement, Liesel shares her (stolen) books with him as he shares his stories with her.

That the story is narrated by Death hints at its direction, but the tragedy of World War II is never a question. It’s Zusak’s vividly imagined daily lives of Germans in World War II and a dutiful Death lingering in everyone’s shadows at that time that (perhaps ironically) bring this story to life.

The Things They Carried

Author: Tim O’Brien

The Things They Carried is a historical fiction novel set in the Vietnam War. It follows the men of Alpha Company, including the character of Tim O’Brien (based on the author himself).

With lyrical prose and sensitivity, it examines the experience of the war, as well as memory, truth, and fear. If you have any interest in the Vietnam War, this is a must-read.

Code Name Verity

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Code Name Verity is told through a journal written by “Verity,” a female English pilot captured in German-occupied France, and by her friend Maddie in the second half of the book. Verity has been tortured and she is writing for her life, charged by her captors with revealing codes and information about the Allies.

Both to fulfill her obligation and to maintain her sanity, she weaves the tale of a friendship and how she landed in her present situation. Often written with surprising humor, this book often has a light tone throughout that is only one of the misleading elements. If you haven’t read this one, don’t read much more before picking it up–the twists and spy games will be all the more satisfying.

Wolf Hall

Author: Hilary Mantel

Another historical drama that’s been on my list for a while, I look forward to giving this one a try. Publisher’s description:

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Author: Lisa See

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is the story of an intimate friendship between two 19th century Chinese women. At age seven, Lily is matched with her laotang–“old same”–Snow Flower, in a match that is meant to create a lifelong bond between the two.

They communicate in a language known only to women through messages written on a fan, breaking through the loneliness of life as a female in China: foot binding, arranged marriage, and motherhood. This is a fascinating look at an aspect of Chinese culture that was new to me, as well as a testament to the power of female friendships.

The Color Purple

Author: Alice Walker

I read this way back in high school, and it’s definitely time for a reread. Publisher’s description:

The Color Purple is the story of two sisters–one a missionary to Africa and the other a child wife living in the South–who remain loyal to one another across time, distance, and silence. Beautifully imagined and deeply compassionate, this classic of American literature is rich with passion, pain, inspiration, and an indomitable love of life.

Black Cake

Author: Charmaine Wilkerson

Following their mother’s death, twins Benny and Byron come together to listen to an audio recording she left them, along with a Caribbean black cake that they are told to eat when the time is right. But first, they must listen: to a history their mother never shared, that began when she was a teen on an island and unfolds in a shocking tale of murder, escape, and abuse—as well as long-held secrets about her own identity and the true nature of their family.

Black Cake is a masterful exploration of generational trauma and how fear can shape lives. Alongside the family narrative is a fascinating food-centered exploration of culture, tradition, and origin, and how those things are changed and shaped over generations.

The Book of Longings

Author: Sue Monk Kidd

This ambitious and daring novel imagines the life of Ana, the fictional wife of Jesus. Kidd creates a compelling narrative for this woman, casting her at the center of her own story and granting her a feminism and independence that someone like Jesus would have appreciated.

There is no evidence that Jesus ever married, but also none that he didn’t. Kidd’s focus on Ana’s and Jesus’ lives while he was in his 20s–10 years before he began his preaching–brings the life of Jesus the human into sharper focus, and makes a good case for why he would have married.

Memoirs of a Geisha

Author: Arthur Golden

Memoirs of a Geisha is a fascinating fictional look at the life of one geisha. Chiyo is sold to a geisha house at a young age, enduring difficult training and brutal treatment with the aim of becoming a geisha. The role involves artistry, entertainment, companionship, and is–at the time–essentially prostitution cloaked in an elegant veneer.

The paradox of a geisha’s life is her role of servitude coupled with her power over men. Chiyo–now Sayuri–spends her life devoted to beguiling men and becomes one of the most celebrated geishas in Japan. As World War II changes Japan, the role of the geisha will also be forever changed.

The Sweetness of Water

Author: Nathan Harris

Following the end of the Civil War, newly freed Black people are left to fend for themselves among resentful white people who do not want to hire them. When George Walker, a former northerner in Georgia, meets Prentiss and Landry in his woods, he offers them lodging and jobs helping him cultivate new peanut fields.

Neighbors resent George and his wife, Isabelle’s, fair treatment of the men, but they both appreciate the men’s presence. The growing resentments reach a tipping point, resulting in a tragic murder and cascading acts of violence that could destroy the town. Harris’s debut is a fantastic, heartbreaking exploration of the tumultuous period of Reconstruction.

Fall of Giants

Author: Ken Follett

Fall of Giants is the first in another epic historical trilogy from Ken Follett. While the Pillars of the Earth trilogy was set over multiple centuries, Fall of Giants is placed squarely in the 20th century. The story follows five families across the world through World War I, the Russian Revolution, and women’s suffrage. This trilogy felt heavier on the political history than the soapy drama than the Pillars of the Earth (though there’s a bit of that as well!).

While, for me, this historical fiction series didn’t have the same “unputdownable” quality, it’s still another compelling, meticulously researched epic with richly drawn characters who bring the history alive. The books are extremely long but worth the read.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Author: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

There aren’t many World War II novels that could be described as “charming,” but The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is just that. Told as a series of letters between an author in post-World War II England and the residents of the island of Guernsey, we learn how books helped them survive the German occupation. An impromptu book club, invented as an excuse for missing curfew, becomes a touchpoint for the various residents of the island.

Charming as it is, the book doesn’t shy from the realities of the war and what it meant for the island to be occupied. Between the epistolary storytelling and the book club at the center of it all, this is truly an ode to power of words.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Author: Jamie Ford

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet takes us between two time periods: 1986, when Henry, a Chinese-American joins others in Seattle as a hotel with belongings from people sent to Japanese internment camps is opened up, and 1942, when he first meets Keiko a young Japanese girl whose family is sent to those camps. The book is both romance and family story, and it also looks at Japanese-Chinese relations in America at the time, the internment of Japanese citizens, and the jazz scene in Seattle.

Alias Grace

Author: Margaret Atwood

Based on a true case from 1843, the story focuses on Grace Marks, a young woman who at the age of 16, was convicted of the murders of her employer, Mr. Kinnear, and a fellow housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery. Her alleged accomplice, James McDermott, was also employed in Kinnear’s home. The two were arrested in a hotel after the murders, wearing the victim’s clothes and carrying items stolen from the home. Grace insists she has no memory of the key events.

Now, eight years later, McDermott has been executed. Grace remains in prison and psychiatrist Dr. Simon Jordan to draw out lost moments of Grace’s memory in the hopes of exonerating her. Read my full review of both the book and Netflix series.

All the Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr

This Pulitzer Prize-winning World War II novel tells the story of a blind French teen, a young German soldier, and how they come together during the war in occupied France. This is a book to be read slowly to fully appreciate the rich descriptions and sensory-laden language.

A girl finds refuge running her hands across the snails lining a grotto; a boy closes his eyes and visualizes the electrons allowing the voices to carry over the airwaves; an old woman whispers a few words to sustain a resistance, finding the only power she has. Doerr’s telling is a reminder that wars aren’t just history, but personal and deeply felt.

Homegoing

Author: Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing is an epic generational novel following the family lines of two half-sisters born in Ghana 300 years ago: one is married off to an English slave trader while the other is sold into slavery. Each chapter follows a new descendant of the women, illustrating how events and injustices of the past reverberate through the lives and struggles of future generations.

An astonishing, emotional novel that deftly answers the question of how the descendants of slaves continue to be oppressed by the institution of slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic racism, even 150 years after abolition. One of my best reads of 2017.

March

Author: Geraldine Brooks

This Pulitzer-Prize winning novel brings imagines the life of Little Women father Mr. March, absent for most of that famous novel to serve as a Union chaplain in the Civil War.

The tie to the Little Women provides points of familiarity, but fans hoping for a new perspective on the girls will be disappointed. Instead, the novel provides insight into one man’s experience of the Civil War, life as an abolitionist, and his human fears, failings, and moral quandaries when faced with the violence of war and the horror of slavery.

This was a slow read, at times, but worth it for fans of both Little Women and historical fiction.