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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 2,089–2,112 of 2,135

  1. Timeless Love

    Judith O'Brien

    ★ 3.6 (484) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A modern teen time-travels to 1553 England to save a young King Edward VI, only to find herself entangled in a dangerous court and a forbidden romance that could alter history.

  2. David

    Mary Hoffman

    ★ 3.4 (483) average on GoodreadsCreativity

    In Renaissance Florence, an 18-year-old stonecutter's son named Gabriele finds his world of art and aspiration shattered when posing for Michelangelo's David thrusts him into a dangerous web of political intrigue, espionage, and murder.

  3. The Fisherman

    Larry Huntsperger

    ★ 4.4 (473) average on Goodreads

    Follow Simon Peter, the fisherman, as he recounts his journey with Jesus, from his initial reluctance to his role as a leader in early Christianity.

  4. The Pretenders

    Joan Wolf

    ★ 3.8 (466) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A baron, desperate for his inheritance, proposes a fake marriage to his childhood friend. Their pretend love becomes real.

  5. The Stepmother

    Caroline Lee

    ★ 4.1 (455) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a town where magic subtly intertwines with the Wild West, a desperate mail-order bride, fleeing a shadowed past, arrives to marry a doctor with a hidden identity, only to find herself entangled in a meddling godmothers' plot and a love story that challenges her dreams of a medical partnership and a 'happily ever after'.

  6. Gilded

    Karina Cooper

    ★ 3.7 (450) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In steampunk Victorian London, a defiant socialite hunts a killer and an alchemical secret while navigating a dangerous dance between a seductive ringmaster and an insistent earl, all vying for her heart and her future.

  7. Oracle

    Jackie French

    ★ 3.9 (447) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In an ancient world of acrobats and kings, a young girl's vision of the future starts a dangerous journey across Greece, mixing history, myth, and truth.

  8. Trapped in Ice

    Eric Walters

    ★ 3.8 (444) average on GoodreadsThriller

    Helen's diary becomes a chilling record of survival as her family and the crew of the Karluk abandon their ice-bound ship, battling blizzards, polar bears, and shifting floes in a desperate trek across the Arctic.

  9. The Wild Swans

    Peg Kerr

    ★ 3.7 (413) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Two outcasts, a 17th-century woman accused of witchcraft and a 20th-century man with AIDS, endure journeys of sacrifice and discovery, connected by family and a world that rejects them.

  10. Colibri

    Ann Cameron

    ★ 3.7 (409) average on GoodreadsChildren's

    Four-year-old Tzunún, called Colibrí, is taken from her Guatemalan home and renamed Rosa by her kidnapper, a wandering beggar who invents stories of a lost family while erasing her past.

  11. Casanova

    Andrew Miller

    ★ 3.0 (407) average on GoodreadsRomance

    In 1760s London, Casanova's relentless pursuit of a mysterious beauty leads him not to seduction, but to the brink of self-destruction in the murky Thames.

  12. Hook

    K.R. Thompson

    ★ 4.0 (390) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A shy print shop worker's life takes a swashbuckling turn when he's shanghaied by Blackbeard, leading him to captain his own ship, get lost under alien stars, and make fateful choices to save his love and crew, ultimately becoming the legendary Captain Hook.

  13. Snowfall

    K.M. Peyton

    ★ 3.9 (379) average on GoodreadsYoung Adult

    In 1920s Britain, a group of young rebels defies social norms, navigating class divides, adventures, and forbidden loves amidst winter sports and hidden lives.

  14. Jerusalem

    Cecelia Holland

    ★ 3.9 (341) average on GoodreadsSpirituality

    In the Holy Land of 1187 A.D., amidst clashing empires and religious fervor, a woman's passionate journey unfolds against the backdrop of Jerusalem's fate.

  15. The Victory

    Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

    ★ 4.3 (339) average on GoodreadsRomance

    As Napoleon's shadow falls over England, the Morland family navigates war, plague, scandal, and heartbreak, from London's fashionable salons to the bloody decks of Trafalgar.

  16. The Reckoning

    Kelley Armstrong

    ★ 4.2 (333) average on GoodreadsRomance

    A genetically engineered necromancer on the run from her creators finds her already complicated life dangerously intertwined with two brothers, one a sorcerer and the other a werewolf.

  17. Thrawn Janet

    Robert Louis Stevenson

    ★ 2.9 (328) average on Goodreads

    In a village where supernatural whispers chill the air, a minister confronts the terrifying secret of Thrawn Janet, a woman condemned as a witch.

  18. Song of Songs

    Beverley Hughesdon

    ★ 4.3 (317) average on GoodreadsRomance

    In ancient Israel, a captivating Shulamite maiden and a powerful king navigate a passionate, yet forbidden, love story against political intrigue and societal expectations.

  19. When the Rainbow Goddess Wept

    Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

    ★ 3.8 (312) average on Goodreads

    During the brutal Japanese occupation of the Philippines, a young girl named Yvonne flees into the jungle, finding comfort and strength in ancient myths of warrior women and rainbow goddesses as she sees terrible suffering and works to preserve her people's stories.

  20. The Poison Tree

    Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

    ★ 4.2 (311) average on Goodreads

    In early industrial England, where cholera and revolution threaten, the Morland family falls apart after a violent crime, revealing the dark desires unleashed when old traditions collapse.

  21. Harlem Duet

    Djanet Sears

    ★ 3.6 (305) average on GoodreadsRomance

    Set in Harlem, this play shows Billie's descent into madness after her husband, Othello, leaves her for a white woman. It is a modern retelling of Shakespeare's *Othello*, exploring race and passion.

  22. Virgin Soil Upturned

    Mikhail Sholokhov

    ★ 4.0 (296) average on Goodreads

    A Bolshevik arrives in a traditional Don village, starting a dangerous fight to bring its people into the Soviet future.

  23. Johnny Mad Dog

    Emmanuel Dongala

    ★ 3.9 (286) average on GoodreadsYoung Adult

    In the crucible of a Congolese civil war, a sixteen-year-old rebel, Johnny Mad Dog, collides with Laokolé, a girl his age desperate for an education, in a journey that explodes with the brutal realities of their intertwined coming-of-age.

  24. The Question

    Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

    ★ 4.3 (271) average on GoodreadsRomance

    As the Edwardian era begins and the Boer War approaches, the privileged Morland family navigates societal upheaval, personal desires, and the harsh realities of colonial conflict, testing their bonds and changing their futures.

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