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  1. Genres
  2. ›Historical Fiction

Best Historical Fiction Books

Explore the best historical fiction books — comprehensive summaries, key takeaways, and insights from the standout titles in this genre.

2,135 summaries

Showing 1,345–1,368 of 2,135

  1. Accordion Crimes

    Annie Proulx

    ★ 3.6 (7k) average on Goodreads

    From the Louisiana bayou to the Alaskan wilderness, a single green accordion weeps and rejoices through a century of American immigrant struggles, linking the disparate lives and forgotten dreams of those who sought a new beginning.

  2. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint

    Brady Udall

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    After surviving being run over by a mailman at age seven, Edgar Mint, a half-Apache orphan, navigates the eccentricities of foster care and boarding school, holding onto his innate goodness and a quixotic quest to find and forgive the man who nearly ended his life.

  3. The Death of the Heart

    Elizabeth Bowen

    ★ 3.7 (7k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In 1930s London, an orphaned girl's innocent love collides with the polished cruelty of high society and a charming cad, leading to a heartbreaking betrayal illuminated by the flick of a cigarette lighter.

  4. The Citadel

    A.J. Cronin

    ★ 4.2 (7k) average on Goodreads

    An idealistic young Scottish doctor battles medical malpractice, social injustice, and his own moral compromises while striving to revolutionize healthcare in interwar Wales and England.

  5. Bella at Midnight

    Diane Stanley

    ★ 3.8 (7k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A blacksmith's daughter, betrayed by a prince and reclaimed by a knight, discovers her true lineage and embarks on a perilous journey disguised with enchanted gifts to save a kingdom and forge her own destiny.

  6. The Grand Tour

    Patricia C. Wrede

    ★ 3.7 (7k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Newlywed Regency ladies Kate and Cecy, expecting a leisurely European honeymoon, instead find themselves charmingly involved in a magical conspiracy threatening the Continent, complete with mysterious packages, assaulted valets, and a daring chase across enchanted lands.

  7. When Breaks the Dawn

    Janette Oke

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsYoung Adult

    Elizabeth and Wynn's stable life in the northern wilderness is disrupted by a transfer offer, forcing them to choose between an easier future and their commitment to the Beaver Creek community.

  8. Chiefs

    Stuart Woods

    ★ 4.3 (7k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A small Southern town's dark secrets unravel over decades through the eyes of three police chiefs, all linked by the ritualistic murder of a teenager in 1920s Georgia.

  9. The Reivers

    William Faulkner

    ★ 3.8 (7k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction
  10. Stage Fright on a Summer Night

    Mary Pope Osborne

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Jack and Annie are whisked to Elizabethan England where they must help a struggling William Shakespeare save his play from theatrical disaster.

  11. Legend

    Marie Lu

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a future dystopia, a military prodigy hunts the nation's most wanted criminal, uncovering government secrets that link their lives and endanger their world.

  12. Arabian Nights and Days

    Naguib Mahfouz

    ★ 4.1 (7k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Naguib Mahfouz reworks the Arabian Nights, blending genies, flying carpets, and familiar fables with the insights of a Nobel laureate.

  13. The Clockwork Scarab

    Colleen Gleason

    ★ 3.7 (7k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In steampunk Victorian London, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes, heirs to legendary family legacies, must overcome their rivalry and a trio of mysterious suitors to unravel the disappearance of society girls, all linked by a strange clockwork scarab before they become the next victims.

  14. Belle

    Lesley Pearse

    ★ 4.3 (7k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    After witnessing a murder, a young woman is forced into a life of luxury and danger as a courtesan, sparking a fight for freedom and love that takes her from London's back alleys to the vibrant world of New Orleans and beyond.

  15. The Other Side of the Bridge

    Mary Lawson

    ★ 4.0 (7k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In a remote 1930s farming town, the jealousy between two brothers over a woman starts a generational tragedy, showing the power of obsession and the reach of war.

  16. Hetty Feather

    Jacqueline Wilson

    ★ 4.2 (7k) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    In Victorian London, an orphan named Hetty escapes the Foundling Hospital to find her mother, all while dreaming of the circus.

  17. The House Between Tides

    Sarah Maine

    ★ 3.8 (7k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A woman escaping a failing marriage inherits a crumbling Scottish estate holding a century-old secret, forcing her to confront the past that still haunts the present.

  18. The Betrothed

    Alessandro Manzoni

    ★ 3.8 (7k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    In 17th-century Lombardy, two humble silk weavers' love starts a desperate fight against a harsh lord, famine, and plague, linking their lives with the birth of modern Italy.

  19. Against the Day

    Thomas Pynchon

    ★ 4.1 (6k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Pynchon's sweeping novel follows mathematicians, spies, and revolutionaries across the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from anarchist bombings in Colorado to early film sets, as they pursue theoretical physics and ancient conspiracies while the world moves toward war.

  20. The Seance

    John Harwood

    ★ 3.6 (6k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    In a Victorian world of shadows and spirits, Constance Langton inherits a cursed manor and a chilling mystery, forcing her to confront a generations-old disappearance that threatens to consume her, body and soul.

  21. Escape from Warsaw

    Ian Serraillier

    ★ 4.0 (6k) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    In war-torn 1942 Warsaw, four siblings embark on a dangerous, hope-filled journey across Nazi-occupied Europe to find their father in Switzerland after their mother's arrest.

  22. The Cossacks

    Leo Tolstoy

    ★ 3.8 (6k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    In the rugged Cossack lands, a jaded young nobleman's search for purpose is challenged by an intense passion for a captivating village woman.

  23. Blood Fever

    Charlie Higson

    ★ 4.0 (6k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A young James Bond uncovers a dangerous ancient Roman conspiracy on Sardinia after his cousin's mansion is ransacked, leading to a race to save a kidnapped boy.

  24. All the Broken Pieces

    Ann E. Burg

    ★ 4.0 (6k) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    Haunted by the bombs and the family he left behind in Vietnam, a young boy named Matt Pin navigates his new life in America, grappling with the choice between silence and candor, blame and forgiveness, fear and freedom.

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