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favorite historical fiction
19
items Whether you want to go back several centuries or just a few decades, these books will transport you there! All my best recommendations for historical fiction, categorized by time period
Sections
5
Pre 1800’s
1800’s
1900-1950
1950-2000
Time Jump
Pre 1800’s
What was it like to be Vermeer’s muse? Chevalier explores that in this gorgeous novel
Girl with a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier
A teenage girl in seventeenth century Amsterdam finds herself navigating married life and escaping through curating a new dollhouse, enlisting the help of a mysterious miniaturist to help
The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton
An amazing play about the Salem Witch Trials in 1600’s Massachusetts
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
1800’s
Degas is known for his many paintings and sculptures of nineteenth century ballerinas - this book explores what the lives of these little muses were like
The Painted Girls - Cathy Buchanan
Two enslaved people - Cora and Caesar - undertake the perilous journey to freedom on the Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead
1900-1950
This is an incredible story set in WWII, oscillating between Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Werner, a German orphan with a skill for technology. Poignant and packed with gorgeous language, this book is a must read!
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
Ernest Hemingway had several wives - this novel takes the perspective of his wife during the time he lived in Paris
The Paris Wife - Paula McClain
World War II told through the eyes of death, focusing on the life of one young orphan learning to read and escape through books
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
A book club by the sea under the harsh circumstances of World War II - a story of friendship and the importance of books in bringing us together
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Bowers
Two boys on either side of a fence… this novel explores childhood during the Holocaust and the horrors that abounded
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - John Boyne
This novel offers a glimpse into the private life of C.S. Lewis through the eyes of his wife during their courtship
Becoming Mrs. Lewis - Patti Callahan
1950-2000
Inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s hit album Rumours, this book tells the story of the magnetic singer Daisy and her short lived but wildly successful collaboration with the band The Six.
Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
A pioneering female chemist in the 50’s and 60’s navigates grief and survival, accidentally becoming what she despised most: a tv homemaker
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
This book focuses on such an interesting perspective, telling the story of a girl in 1950’s Chinatown learning to navigate and embrace her sexuality despite familial and societal pressures
Last Night at the Telegraph Club - Malinda Lo
A story set in 1960’s Mississippi explores the relationships and boundaries between different social classes in this historical time
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
Two teens growing up in the 80s form an unexpected relationship
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
Time Jump
An incredibly suspenseful, incredible mystery surrounding Shakespeare’s folios, unfolding across generations in this expertly written book
The Bookman's Tale - Charlie Lovett
An incredible time jump novel featuring different generations at the New York Public Library… suspenseful and bookish and so so good
The Lions of Fifth Avenue - Fiona Davis
A fascinating premise of immortality and namelessness, with a great twist partway through! Half historical fiction, half contemporary, it’s a read you won’t be able to put down
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - V.E. Schwab