Here is a list of the best Historical Fiction books, some I have read myself, some that I did research on, and all have great reviews!
- The Tuscan Secret: An absolutely gripping, emotional, World War 2 historical novel (2019)
- The Alice Network: A Novel (2017)
- Flight of the Sparrow: A Novel of Early America (2014)
- The Point of Light (Historical Fiction) (2019)
- The Secret Letter: Gripping and heartbreaking WW2 historical fiction (2019)
- Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel (2017)
- The Nightingale: A Novel (2017)
- Before We Were Yours: A Novel (2019)
- America’s First Daughter: A Novel (2016)
- Love & War (2019)
- The Hideaway (2017)
- A Column of Fire: A Novel (Kingsbridge) (2018)
- Mask Of Duplicity (The Jacobite Chronicles) (Volume 1) (2015)
- The Victory Garden: A Novel (2019)
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The Tuscan Secret: An absolutely gripping, emotional, World War 2 historical novel (2019)
is distraught when her beloved mother, , passes away.
The Alice Network: A Novel (2017)
Featuring an exclusive excerpt from Kate Quinn’s next incredible historical novel, THE HUNTRESS NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY BESTSELLER#1 GLOBE AND MAIL HISTORICAL FICTION BESTSELLEROne of NPR’s Best Books of the Year!One of Bookbub’s Biggest Historical Fiction Books of the Year!Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick!The 2017 Girly Book Club Book of the Year!A Summer Book Pick from Good Housekeeping, P…
Flight of the Sparrow: A Novel of Early America (2014)
Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1676. Even before Mary Rowlandson was captured by Indians on a winter day of violence and terror, she sometimes found herself in conflict with her rigid Puritan community. Now, her home destroyed, her children lost to her, she has been sold into the service of a powerful woman tribal leader, made a pawn in the ongoing bloody struggle between English settlers and native people.
The Point of Light (Historical Fiction) (2019)
May 1940 – Paris. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Claire hears the devastating news: the German army has invaded her homeland, and her beloved Paris has fallen. Within months, her life is turned upside-down. She takes in an orphaned Jewish toddler only days before her beloved German-born husband Remy is forcibly conscripted into the Nazi army. In desperation she connects with other young members of the French Resistance, determined to fight back in whatever way she can.
The Secret Letter: Gripping and heartbreaking WW2 historical fiction (2019)
receives a letter addressed to her in neat, unfamiliar handwriting, she notices the postmark is stamped from Germany – and it sends shivers down her spine… is devastated by the loss of her best friend, shy and gentle Lotte, cruelly snatched from her and sent to a concentration camp – the Star of David sewn on her faded, brown coat. As the Nazi’s power takes hold, Magda realizes she’s not like the other girls in her German village – she hates the fanatical new rules of the Hitler Youth.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel (2017)
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered.
The Nightingale: A Novel (2017)
France, 1939 – In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France … but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything.
Before We Were Yours: A Novel (2019)
For readers of Orphan Train and The Nightingale comes a “thought-provoking [and] complex tale about two families, two generations apart . . . based on a notorious true-life scandal.”* Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat.
America’s First Daughter: A Novel (2016)
From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still.
Love & War (2019)
True love never stops believingWhen two young lovers part on the eve of war, they are forced to forge their lives without one another and form families that will carry on their legacy of finding true love. But many years later, they find themselves together again. Will the circle be unbroken? Find out in this sweeping family saga of love lost and found.
The Hideaway (2017)
In this USA TODAY and Amazon Charts Bestseller, Sara is wrenched back to Sweet Bay, Alabama, by her grandmother’s will, where she learns more about Margaret Van Buren in the wake of her death than she ever knew in her life. After her last remaining family member dies, Sara Jenkins goes home to The Hideaway, her grandmother Mags’s ramshackle B&B in Sweet Bay. She intends to quickly tie up loose ends then return to her busy life and thriving antique shop in New Orleans.
A Column of Fire: A Novel (Kingsbridge) (2018)
As Europe erupts, can one young spy protect his queen? #1 New York Times bestselling author Ken Follett takes us deep into the treacherous world of powerful monarchs, intrigue, murder, and treason with his magnificent new epic, A Column of Fire. In 1558, the ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn apart by religious conflict.
Mask Of Duplicity (The Jacobite Chronicles) (Volume 1) (2015)
Following the death of their father, Beth’s brother Richard returns from the army to claim his share of the family estate. However, Beth’s hopes of a quiet life are dashed when Richard, dissatisfied with his meagre inheritance and desperate for promotion, decides to force her into a marriage for his military gain. And he will stop at nothing to get his way.
The Victory Garden: A Novel (2019)
As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage.When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate.
Best Historical Fiction Books Everyone Should Read
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some historical fiction books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Neo-Georgian Fiction: Reimagining the Eighteenth Century in the Contemporary Historical Novel
Author(s): Jakub Lipski and Joanna Maciulewicz
ID: 3009196, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2021, Size: 9 Mb, Format: pdf
The Nineteenth Century Revis(it)ed: The New Historical Fiction
Author(s): Ina Bergmann
ID: 3009199, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2021, Size: 4 Mb, Format: pdf
The Week at World's End: 'The Queen of Historical Fiction at her finest.' Guardian
Author(s): Emma Carroll
ID: 3397299, Publisher: Faber & Faber, Year: 2021, Size: 778 Kb, Format: epub
Please note that this booklist is not absolute. Some books are truly hot items according to The New York Times, others are composed by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant links you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.