My philosophy of life is, why live in the present when I can live (aka read about) the past? Of course, it’s important to be present and grounded (and I go to yoga to work on these things), but I LOVE disappearing into historical novels and escaping into worlds of the past. We retell and remember the big moments in history—the drama. And I love, love, LOVE the drama.
Also, facts: reading historical fiction makes you smarter. Yes, the “fiction” part of historical fiction means it’s not facts. But still, it gives us a framework for the past. It helps us map what happened when and where. And knowing what happened is important as history is notorious for repeating itself.
So now that I’ve made my two critical points—i.e. drama and smarts—I gift thee a list of historical fiction books that you should add to your TBR right now.
P.S. I was always told three points make the strongest argument so I will also add that historical fiction makes a great escape, and we all need some escapism sometimes!
Sometimes history is more than just a series of events that happened. History can act as a mirror for our current times. Told through interwoven alternating perspectives, Dreamland Burning brings the Tulsa race riot of 1921 to life while raising questions about the complex state of US race relations today. As the tagline on the cover so aptly reminds us, “history isn’t over yet.”
Shakespeare and assassins and star-crossed lovers? Sign me up! After Lady Katherine’s father is executed for being a practicing Catholic, she’s determined to avenge his death and kill Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile, one of Elizabeth’s spies, Toby Ellis, sets up a trap for any potential assassins of the queen: a new play by William Shakespeare to be performed especially for Her Majesty. When Toby and Katherine are cast as the leads, they’ll soon learn that love and betrayal are far more dangerous off-stage than on.
Moving, intelligent, and gripping, this story sheds light on an underrepresented and dark period of American history. Set during WWII, Margot and Haruko are imprisoned in an internment camp because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan. Thrown together by chance, Margot and Haruko strike up an unlikely—and secret—friendship.
If I could time travel, I would go to the late 60s/early 70s . Mostly because of the fashion. And the music. But also, because it was a time of revolutionary social change. Truth, Lies, and the Questions in Between dives into that moment. It’s 1973, the year of the Watergate hearings, the Equal Rights Amendment, and Roe v. Wade, and Patty Appleton, one of the Senate’s first female Congressional Pages, is driven to question everything she’s ever known. This story is made even more thrilling with real-life images and headlines spread throughout the text.
If you like your historical fiction seasoned with lots of romance, then you’ll adore this queer romance in graphic novel form. Set against the riveting social changes of the 1880s, Renegade Girls reimagines the life of America’s first stunt girl*, Nell Nelson. It’s thrilling, and since it’s a graphic novel you get to see the amazing outfits and what New York City looked like at the end of the 19th century. It’s a true escape.
Stunt girls: female investigative journalists who went undercover in factories and other workplaces to expose inhumane working conditions.
History! Murder! Mystery! SHERLOCK HOLMES! What more do I need to say? This riveting story follows Irene Adler as she teams up with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to discover who is murdering Oxford’s elite students in the All Souls class. Filled with the glitz and glamours of the Oxford elite, and beloved classic characters like Mr. Holmes, this utterly delicious mystery is food for the soul. (FYI, I know Sherlock is not a historical figure, but Sherlock Holmes the character *is* history).
If you love a historical romance about a radical, ambitious, and flirtatious woman who wears incredible dresses and has romantic dalliances with dashing gentlemen, then this is the book for you! Ida, in Love and in Trouble dives into the life of young Ida B. Wells and her life filled with lavish society dances, swoon-worthy gentleman callers, and a world ripe for the taking. This sweeping historical novel will steal your heart (and probably make you smarter, though I can’t promise anything).
Ok so, To Steal from Thieves is technically a fantasy novel. BUT! It’s set during the 1851 Great Exhibition in London and is filled with so many interesting historical details that I think it counts. This high-stakes heist novel shines a light on the working people of London as an alchemologist and a con man team up to steal a rare necklace. Do said alchemologist and con man fall for each other? You’ll have to read to find out.
If you like noir, thrillers, and crime stories, then you’ll be obsessed with this queer coming-of-age novel set in Depression-era Chicago. It’s everything! When Joe arrives in Chicago in 1934, his only goal is to make enough to save his family’s farm. Soon Joe discovers Chicago’s queer community but also gets caught up in the city’s crooked underbelly. As Joe becomes exposed to the city’s criminal scene, danger follows.
If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love airplanes. (Learn more about me and airplane books here). Elizabeth Wein is the master of (writing about) the air! And Stateless *is* a masterpiece. It’s an exhilarating historical novel about an air race, filled with all that good stuff like romance and betrayal. Each of the racers is hiding a turbulent and violent past, and any one of them might be capable of murder. Need I say more?
